System Pictures & Description

[Pato666]

Navin:
I think that by using many capacitors in a paralleled bank may reduce error, I believe that 10 caps @ 20% in parallel will result on 2% bank, also it reduces loss due to heat I think. And maybe there's an even better response for a bank than a single cap.
Well, i'm too new on this, I'm just trying to think and guess what maybe could be a possible reason for so many caps.

I like the idea

[SimontY]

I'd expect it to be a sonic reason, and not so much a technical one. Many parallel caps could make it impossible to hear the signature of any single cap.

Simon

ps. I once put something like 22nF PP and 300pF silvered mica alongside a couple of bigger caps and the effects were subtle but I felt positive, if anything.

[dtm1962]

Simon is partially correct. The main reason I use different (always high quality) caps are the individual cap. signatures become blended. I try to use PP & PS & Teflon in parallel to balance the different characteristics. Different capacitors have resonances at different frequecies so the combination may add/subtract to neutralize any specific resonances.

Seconadary reason is the values available to use... Teflon is good only up to 0.56uF (Popcan size!) while Polystyrene is good up to 1.0uF and finally PP can be had up to 300uF. So I try to keep all Solen capacitors out of the Midrange & Tweeter signal's path because they have a tendency to sound non-ideal. I find Clarity PP & Polystyrene and Teflon bypasses to sound best here.

And finally I wanted use the capacitors that I had since I had already spent over $300 on the crossovers alone!

[Tuakko]

Hi all

I got this speaker system done few weeks ago but have tested it only few times. So far the impressions have been quite promising although measurings I´ve made havent´t been too professionally executed. Much of the equalizing and adjusting is done with just listening. Bass region is maybe lacking the final punch but above those frequencies there is exceptional precision and imaging. Tweeter is really smooth and realistic without any hint of hardness or risk of listening fatique.

The 7" woofer and 1" tweeter are ceramic Accutons. The setup is active and done with Hypex AS2.100. Internal volume is roughly 16 litres and tuned to 45 hz. Enclosure design is my own making and done with 21 mm sheets of Finnish birch plywood.

[DorinD]

I have already presented here my system of 3 way horns and 1 way bandpass sub-bass, and want to add some recent pictures.

[SunRa]

Hello Dorin,

I remember seeing your system on a local forum a couple of years ago. I bet it sounds well!

By the way, I remember Dr. Geddes and Mr. LeCleach advising to mount horns and waveguides on baffles (even ones with proper roundovers). It seems it helps with diffraction effects.

Good luck with the future developments of the system!

edit:

@ Tuakko, that is a very, very nice layered enclosure. I bet it's stiff. I think that is one of the best techniques to build an enclosure.

[DorinD]

Hi SunRa,
Thank you for your encouraging words!
Dorin

[Oscar Hinde]

Hi everyone!

This is my first post in the forum and I've decided to use it up in this thread by showing you guys my very first DIY projet!
Over the past few months I've been working on the Low Budget Speaker design by Tony Gee. It felt just right as a first project: simple, not too expensive and displaying more than enough quality elements in the design. XOvers feature all Mundorf components, the tweeter cap being a Supreme Silver/Oil (I decided to spend a bit of money on this department).
The speakers are paired with a Unison Research Unico P amp. I'm extremely happy with this piece of equipment! It gets along very well with the LBS speakers.
CD is an old but perfectly functional Sony deck and the turntable is an even older Denon DP-35F.

[Dr.EM]

Looks good! I've always rather liked the look of that design, or in particular that woofer. Such a smooth and extended response and good bass performance in a rather low cost driver is very attractive. How do you find the sound? Does it have much detail or is it more of a "smoothing things out" sort of sound which is easy to listen to but mabye doesn't have so much resolving power?

[Oscar Hinde]

Originally Posted by Dr.EM

Looks good! I've always rather liked the look of that design, or in particular that woofer. Such a smooth and extended response and good bass performance in a rather low cost driver is very attractive. How do you find the sound? Does it have much detail or is it more of a "smoothing things out" sort of sound which is easy to listen to but mabye doesn't have so much resolving power?

Hi! Thanks a lot for the compliment You're right in saying that those woofers are the highlight of the design. They sound quite detailed indeed if you consider what I payed for them. Midrange presentation is very decent. I wouldn't call them a background music speaker at all: they allow for pretty intense listening sessions, eyes closed and all . It's quite easy to distinguish different instruments of similar character on them. I was listening to a mix of a band I'm working with the other day: we had two accoustic guitar tracks doing the same rhithmic pattern for a sort of natural chorus effect. I could distinguish the two spearate instruments perfectly among the rest of the band. Actually, guitars, pianos and other midrange inclined instruments sound really, really good on them, so that tells you quite a bit about their capabilities. I'm listening to a lot of piano sonatas since I installed them, lol. They are surprisingly dynamic too, and they can play quite loud indeed retaining all their clarity. Mabe the bass can get slightly overpowering and even dull at times but that probably has more to do with my room than anything else. I'm going to be moving to a larger house soon so I haven't really bothered about spending much money on room treatment.
The tweeter also behaves well although it's definately the weakest link of the speaker. I'm an audio engineer by trade and I've worked on many different studio monitors. This tweeter lacks the capabilities of some of the other tweeters I've heard but we have to keep in mind that I payed 30€ for each. So all in all it's a great sounding speaker. Ridiculously good considering the cost, actually.
I mailed Tony Gee about the tweeter and he suggested mabe trying the Seas H1211-06 27TDF or even the Seas Excel E0011-06 T25CF002, but this last one may be overdoing it a bit. I'll probably rebuild the whole thing this summer, making a more solid cabinet and trying some other tweeter out to see how it feels.

Cheers!