Eminence Coaxial Towers

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Craigtone,

I´m also planing to build a speaker with the Eminence Beta 10CX. First I wanted to use the APT 50 driver after reading quite a lot of positive comments on a german build project (CT235 from Klang&Ton). But looking at the specs I´m not sure. The ASD 1001looks a lot better and the Selenium you used even more so.

You said you got a flat response with the original Eminence values for the crossover. Was this calculated or measured?

William

The response was calculated based on the impedance and response curves of the box and the HF driver. I do plan to measure once I get them completed and will gladly share the results.
 
Ivanlukic,

I'm not sure. If you look at the specs of the selenium driver it is a lot flatter than the APT50 and high frequency extension is at least equal. But you could be right of course, specs don't tell everything.

I haven´t build any speakers myself for quite some time (I mean without having a ready to build project like the CT235) and I would like to do some things myself like looking for drivers, figuring out the crossovers and do some measurements. Just for fun:)

William
 
I'm not an HT guy, more on the pro end, but I would question using eminence for HT. I definitely wouldn't suggest their compression drivers unless you are looking for relative "stability" at high SPL low(ish). IMO to get pro performance with HT (I shudder to use the word) detail BMS is the way to go but no way one could match the price.

Craig or anyone have any thoughts on that?

-Matt
 
Absolutely! There are MANY, MANY better options for HF drivers out there. I have heard very good things about B&C too but that was not in the budget for me for this project. I used the Selenium based on a recommendation from a trusted friend and so far, I am very happy with the results. The nice thing is that swapping HF drivers down the road is simply an unplug & unscrew operation, so you can tweak to your hearts content! This is part of the reason I put the L-Pad on my version so I can use HF drivers of varying sensitivity and just literally ... dial them in!
 
I believe that anyone who intend to build loudspeakers using cheap Eminence woofer like Beta 10CX is not aiming to achieve the utmost in linearity. The charm of these drivers lies elsewhere. Therefore, probably, APT50, is sufficiently good. Many people used APT 50 with Beta 10CX and nobody complained about sound quality. Expensive speakers like WLM Diva floorstanders use this combination. There is no point in buying cheap woofer and add disproportionally expensive HF driver! Bear in mind that Craig is going to use these loudspeakers for Zeppelin kind of music.

Eminence xover is universal xover for several combinations of Beta CX drivers and compression horn drivers. Therefore, it is not ideal for any of these combinations. But K&T project CT235 xover is specifically designed for Beta 10CX + APT50.
 
Also, it is wrong to judge the quality of any compression horn driver from manufacturers response curves which are very optimistic. If you measure any of these drivers, no matter how cheap or expensive, you shall see that response is anything but flat. The only reason to buy more expensive driver is that it has more thermal capacity, if you need it.
 
I believe that anyone who intend to build loudspeakers using cheap Eminence woofer like Beta 10CX is not aiming to achieve the utmost in linearity.
Good heavens, over 100dB linearity is the last thing I'd want. Think of how high the peaks would be! Dynamic compression is the only reason I can hear anything at my age. :p


Rockin' hard since before Zep,
Keriwena

:hohoho:

PS: Don't sell the Eminence PA drivers short - some of them sound very good, indeed. Their distortion is not the fatiguing kind. (That was actually the secret of the 604's.)
 
to add another variation to the theme, I built a kit sold by oaudio.de, or blue planet acoustic. Eminence CX10 mixed with a celestion cdx1-1425 driver in a 60 liter cabinet.

I like them a lot. Big soundstage, tunefull but not overwhelming low end. Sometimes a little shouting on the midrange, bit dependig on the source, but not annoying to my ears.
Rock solid drivers that can whitstand prying little fingers is another strong point in my situation :)
 
Here are some pics of the completed build. I still need to secure the wires out of the port hole and finish the cabinets, but they are functionally complete.

The sound is very impressive! I built these to replace my old Klipsch RF-7 towers that were too much speaker for my new listening room since we moved. I'll say right off the bat that these sound better than the RF-7's in stock form. The highs are not as forward as the Klipsch and the bottom end doesn't need as much amplifier "push" to come alive. They even sound great on my 2W ECL86 SET amp.

The thing I find unique about them is how much they replicate "live music". I have heard a similar statement about Tekton speakers which also use Eminence drivers. I am not sure if it is the fact that most PA systems use Eminence drivers or just the voicing of the drivers? Listening to music is definitely enjoyable and engaging again!

The best part is their ability to play ANYTHING! They are not the do-all-end-all in terms of neutrality (my Markaudio's handle that), but they do have the ability to handle all genres (unlike the Markaudio's).
 

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The thing I find unique about them is how much they replicate "live music". I have heard a similar statement about Tekton speakers which also use Eminence drivers. I am not sure if it is the fact that most PA systems use Eminence drivers or just the voicing of the drivers? Listening to music is definitely enjoyable and engaging again!
Very cool! Engaging is important. I like speakers that make me want to dance.

It's likely the dynamics that make things sound live. I can't explain it with theory, but efficiency has always made me happier than frequency response.
 
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Well consider me inspired I have ordered the Beta 10 CX and ASD1001 compression driver to build a similar speaker for a friend. The selenium driver is probably better than the ASD1001 but is not very obtainable in the UK.

If anyone in the UK is interested they can be found here with unfortunately a long lead time on the Beta 10 CX:
Eminence ASD1001 1" Screw-in Throat Compression Driver 50W from Eminence 19.20 Excl VAT IN STOCK (3 Jan 2013)
Eminence Beta 10CX 57.70

Playing around in speaker workshop suggests a 3rd order filter on the woofer with a target of 3rd order rolloff at 2.5KHz and Impedance compensation on the woofer can work, I think I will have to actually measure the tweeter on the horn. Fun times!
 
Well consider me inspired I have ordered the Beta 10 CX and ASD1001 compression driver to build a similar speaker for a friend. The selenium driver is probably better than the ASD1001 but is not very obtainable in the UK.

If anyone in the UK is interested they can be found here with unfortunately a long lead time on the Beta 10 CX:
Eminence ASD1001 1" Screw-in Throat Compression Driver 50W from Eminence 19.20 Excl VAT IN STOCK (3 Jan 2013)
Eminence Beta 10CX 57.70

Playing around in speaker workshop suggests a 3rd order filter on the woofer with a target of 3rd order rolloff at 2.5KHz and Impedance compensation on the woofer can work, I think I will have to actually measure the tweeter on the horn. Fun times!

Sounds like a great project! I am curious what the ASD1001 sounds like as I almost used that instead.

Why 3rd order? I ask because Eminence tuned their crossover using a Spectrum Analyzer and it ended up 2nd order at 2.5KHz. When I simulated it, it came out completely flat. I am also a big proponent of K.I.S.S., so the less components in the signal path, the better! :p

(Unless of course you are covering up a resonance or BSC for a bad box ...)
 
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