Not so eco Econowave deluxe

[paulspencer]

In a bit of a collaborative effort, I've been working on an econowave project to be showcased at an upcoming waveguide shoot out. This one belongs to Antripodean, but here are some pics from yesterday ...

18 sound wg and faital pro cd



Assembled box:



Drivers inserted:



We fired one up yesterday, but you can't really listen to one, and measurements and xo needed.

More pics and details on the blog:
Red Spade Audio: Econowave deluxe

I also found a good source of reticulated foam, more about it here:

Red Spade Audio: Where can I find reticulated foam in Australia?

[Pano]

Sweet! Nice simple looking box. Good drivers. Keep us up to date.

[norman bates]

check out post #8, except I'd make the foam 1/2" smaller than the mouth.
Conical Horn Dip

I thought I'd like to try that horn (faital pro 1.4"), but the throat looks squirley to me. The open cell foam in the throat should help.

I'm working on covering all the horn mouth on my horn, it is helping.
Cymbals and voices are more accurate, and bass has improved (higher info on bass transients).

Norman

[paulspencer]

Norman,

One of the compression drivers went kaput. I opened it up to have a look, the wire had come loose. Easy to fix if done carefully. Couldn't pass up the chance to get a photo, you can see it here:

Red Spade Audio: Looking inside a Faital pro compression driver

It's a 1" exit by the way. And I wonder if it's best described as a ring radiator, it doesn't have the usual inverted dome.

I've fired them both up today with a basic crossover put together and I have to say it's sounding pretty good! Nice and effortless. There is no sense of any limit in my small room.

[norman bates]

great !!!!!

Which horn is that ?

Active crossover is great for quickly assembling something, and I assume you are boosting the highs. Even 3db boost in the high end can make an ok system great.

Norman

[paulspencer]

It's the 18 sound something or other! Hmmm, it's on my blog somewhere on the waveguide shootout. It's a metal waveguide, quite solid and not cheap.

I have used cut rather than boost so far, but I really need to spend more time with it. Antrip wanted to hear it before I rushed off to a family dinner thing (late). So it was quick and dirty, only good enough to have a listen to one song then rush out. I used a shelving filter in DCX, two actually. A few quick indoors gated measurements. Voila! I like the speed with which you can knock up a crossover with active. The bits are all now so cheap it's hard to imagine using passive crossovers again.

[Flaesh]

Originally Posted by norman bates

Which horn is that ?..

18sound xt1086

[Antripodean]

Yes, it's the Eighteen Sound XT1086 waveguide. Acoustic Elegance TD10M midbass & Faital Pro HF10TX compression driver.

[Salas]

Paul you had some some directivity plots with the Dayton 10'' loading a Selenium looking good on your blog. Is there something for the 18 Sound to compare? Why you opted for the 18 Sound?

[paulspencer]

This is Antripodean's speaker. Yes there is, in the last GTG we measured the 18 sound used here.

BTW here is the compression driver, people will find this interesting:
Red Spade Audio: Looking inside a Faital pro compression driver

We had to do a minor repair, the lead in wire had come loose.

Here is the waveguide event:
Red Spade Audio: Waveguide shootout

That's where the plots are. Here is the one for this combo



You'll have to ask Antrip about the why. I think it may be part curiosity, wanting to try something different. I'm sure it's not the reason, but the phase plug looks cool! Kind of glows like a plasma tweeter!