Finally finished my orions

[srfranci]

Took me 4 years from my junior year in college to my junior year in med school to finish, and only about two grand for everything in the photo. Everything was hand cut and sanded, literally with blood and sweat all over. On top is my jukebox computer, middle is the XO, and bottom the amp, an 8 channel lm3886 amp. Definitely the best sounding speakers I've ever owned. Didn't have the cash/time to modify the suspension for the midrange, the second tweeter, or a pair of thors. Maybe one day.


Couple questions. All of my channels are running about -10mV when connected to the speakers and about -1-2mV when open. That normal? Any long term damage on the speakers or significant impact on excursion length?

The other is my computer and xo are making nasty ground loops. I ungrounded the XO to the wall since the input and output channels are grounded to the amp star grounds which fixed one loop. The computer was also making a nasty one so I bought a ground loop isolator. The buzz is all gone, whisper silent, but I was wondering if an extra transformer in the signal path will mess up the frequency response?

[DcibeL]

Lovely! Do you plan on applying any finish to the wood?

10mV is nothing to be concerned about.

You can measure frequency response of your line level signals by running the output back into the computer. You can use some software to generate a frequency sweep, or even a noise generator, record the input on your computer and look at the frequency response that way.

[srfranci]

I wanted to, but I don't have the facilities. Apartments in LA don't have garrages I think I'll just keep them bare then one day when they are worn out put them in rackmount cases

[CLS]

Hi,

There're some water-base paint available (including some clear coats). You may use this kind of paint in the house without poisoning yourself (and families).

Or even simpler, just apply some PVA glue (with some degree of dilution) on the cut surfaces. Then sand them a little when dried and it's done. I did this on a rack made of MDF and it's pretty durable. I think your plywoods should be even better.

[Drew Eckhardt]

Congratulations!

Originally posted by srfranci
I wanted to, but I don't have the facilities. Apartments in LA don't have garrages I think I'll just keep them bare then one day when they are worn out put them in rackmount cases

Shellac actually smells nice, looks good on plywood, and dries to the touch in half an hour.

Water based wall paint and primer put on with a brush look decent on the side panels once you get a couple feet away, and are an easy match for your decor. Even Ripe Currant trim.

[oublie]

Originally posted by srfranci
...
The other is my computer and xo are making nasty ground loops. I ungrounded the XO to the wall since the input and output channels are grounded to the amp star grounds which fixed one loop. The computer was also making a nasty one so I bought a ground loop isolator. The buzz is all gone, whisper silent, but I was wondering if an extra transformer in the signal path will mess up the frequency response?

How are you connecting the computer to the crossover are you using an external dac or just the onboard soundcard? I found using an external sound card or internal with optical spdif with an external dac - even a cheap one - will get rid of any computer noise and make a huge improvement in the sound.