"Tired2way" speaker building.

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Some impressions from today. I will focus on Nora Jones "feels like home" since it was really this CD that was the biggest issue. Before any extra bracing or rods was inserted, this cd was actually impossible to listen to! The voice was so in your face and unpleasant I thought it was something wrong with that recording since other CDs sounded pretty good. Now it is a big difference, voice is not disturbing anymore, more controlled and laid back, and some of the piano notes that hit through is reduced significantly. Is it perfect? No, you can still hear a little coloration from the cabinet but it is not disturbing and on more normal CDs you never hear it. Seems like "feels like home" put my speakers to its toughest test of all my CDs and now I can enjoy it too. Salas, have you listened to this CD on you friends speakers? Would be interesting to hear how it sounds. And with this I consider this speaker project closed for my part :).
 
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ΙI will see into it next time I will visit him. Seems like it had notes they were hitting your cabs resonances right between the eyes. His are mahogany. Yes, for a wooden cab I think you did a very good and detailed bracing job. I wish long time enjoyment of your efforts. Music at home is nice, domesticates the moral.
 
I have evaluated what I have right now, and after putting in about 1 litres of bracing the bass is a little more prominent now, but I have not decided if it is too much or just about right. I am contemplating putting in another small rib at the back making it look like a + to further strenghten the back panel, but I am afraid it might affect bass output making it too prominent. Its volume is only 0.1 liters but since I already is on the edge of loosing balance this might be a bad move since it is not very easy to remove 0.1 litres afterwards (but possible if I use a knife and cut out some parts of the bracings here and there so I will not lose any stability that matters).
I have calculated the total volume of the box as it is now, and it is near 44 litres at the moment. I also tried to move them a little from the back wall and got better bass balance that way, so if I put in that extra bracing this can help if bass gets to prominent. I also put one extra stone each on my stands (making it 2 in total) because I heard a little improvement in sound field and bass clarity. Getting closer to maximize potential I hope :).
 
Ok Salas, then it will probably not do any harm with that little volume loss. And since it is at the back on the panel itself, I do not think air flow will be affected very much either. If I get rid of more panel sound it is a step forward. I will take it slow and listen before I decide if I want to do this or just leave it as it is. It is not bad at all as it is.
 
I did the modification I talked about, and it further dampened the back panel a little so it was a good move I think. The bass is as before to my ears. I also tried with the front panel on the stands and it seem to have a positive effect on bass, without it I have a sligt peak in the bass response that is lowererd a little with the panel on. I will also try to reposition the speakers and see if that can smooth the response further.
I think that since the bass level is slightly higher now it easier excites the room nodes, I will investigate that with sending test frequencies with my mobile phone as source since I now have a "smart phone".
 
Ok now I am finally done!

Had a friend over Friday night for listening and we draw this conclusion:
Bass level is pleasing to listen to, a little more bass than earlier but since I always perceived bass to be a little shy it is of no concern, it is even a little positive. The bass peak I had we thought was on the edge of getting disturbing, so I tried a little bigger distance to back wall tonight ( about 5 cm) and it helped, it tamed the peak enough I think, and also the extra space might help to reduce the back wave from the speaker box and drivers a little too. Also we noticed that toe-in was too large before, so less of that helped to open up the sound stage significantly, it made it more enjoyable to listen too so I will keep it.
I am very happy with what I got right now, I encourage others to try build this speaker with Salas consent since he and Mikvous did the original that I copied. Just be careful with the speaker cabinet to get it right and it will be a very nice speaker!:) Thanks to Salas for his patience with me, a great fellow he is.
 
Test CD

I did some listening tests today and bass is working nice in my new listening position. I also preferred a little more distance to back wall (100 cm to front) because it makes the sound more dimensional and airy, and I think bass works good. The Nora Jones CD is sounding better than before so something is right. A few cabinet resonances from the back can just be heard sometimes but no big deal at all. I was thinking what if you use something on the outside of the back to further dampen it, what is effective? I could just hang something at the back and try it out. That way I do not have to put anything on the wall itself. How do you do this the best way? Suggestions?
 
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Don't know, I had never used something outside after the build for that purpose. Only felt I had used for reflections around tweeters. During build just 6mm veneered panels used like ''outer skin'' had a surprisingly stiffening effect on a man height tall speaker once.
 
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