Since Cleopatra was known to be the most beautiful women in ancient Egypt, I thought that's how I would model my pair of stand mount speakers. I design to make them look good first, then sound, then well that is my priorities.
The drivers are SBAcoustic Satori MR16PNW-4 and Satori TW29RN-B. I chose the MR16 over the P16 because the MR version has a slightly better high frequency extension but sacrificing the bass but I don't seem to mind much. The xover is 1st order time-aligned so all the drivers are in positive polarity. Overall the sound is very musical if a bit laid back which I don't mind.
In term of cabinet design, I prioritize look over function, meaning the volume is about 9.5 liters. The ideal volume is about 13.5 liters for the optimal .707 critically damped, but that means the size might get a little too big for a pair of stand mount. I think 9.5 looks about perfect and just right and that is all that matters. The bass sounds a bit bubbly with the smaller enclosure but not that big deal. It does give some warmness which may not be a bad thing.
The front baffle is slanted at about 7.8 degree but had I done over again, I think 7 degree is better but well you can't get everything you want.
Currently it's not quite finish yet but that is my next step. It will be wrapped in beautiful curly figured maple and sealed with super blond shellac. I made a test sample of the veneer and it looks fantastic.
About the xover, there are a lot of debates about 1st order time aligned vs higher order, and although each has strength and weakness, the reason I use first order because it just sounds more musical than other types. It's like Kate Upton vs. Gwyneth Paltrow. Some might like Paltrow but not my thing. I am more Kate Upton.
I've read that Vandersteen speakers have a reputation for sounding dark and slow well I feel that that is how my this speaker sounds. I supposed I can make it sound really bright but whenever I fine tune the xover how I like, the sound always sound slightly dark. As I said, every xover has strength and weakness, but I like mine. I think it has to do with getting the baffle step aligned with the rest of the freq. spectrum. With 2nd, it's probably easier to aligned the 200 - 400 hz region to the bass.
Another positive aspect about 1st which I don't hear anyone talking about is in its what I would call "self consistency". That is my terminology since I don't think anyone had mentioned it. That is when you change any single component in the signal path, it affects the entire frequency range, so the result sound is not inconsistent. Yes, it may sound bright or dark but it's consistent in the entire freq. range so in that respect, it's not unpleasant.
The drivers are SBAcoustic Satori MR16PNW-4 and Satori TW29RN-B. I chose the MR16 over the P16 because the MR version has a slightly better high frequency extension but sacrificing the bass but I don't seem to mind much. The xover is 1st order time-aligned so all the drivers are in positive polarity. Overall the sound is very musical if a bit laid back which I don't mind.
In term of cabinet design, I prioritize look over function, meaning the volume is about 9.5 liters. The ideal volume is about 13.5 liters for the optimal .707 critically damped, but that means the size might get a little too big for a pair of stand mount. I think 9.5 looks about perfect and just right and that is all that matters. The bass sounds a bit bubbly with the smaller enclosure but not that big deal. It does give some warmness which may not be a bad thing.
The front baffle is slanted at about 7.8 degree but had I done over again, I think 7 degree is better but well you can't get everything you want.
Currently it's not quite finish yet but that is my next step. It will be wrapped in beautiful curly figured maple and sealed with super blond shellac. I made a test sample of the veneer and it looks fantastic.
About the xover, there are a lot of debates about 1st order time aligned vs higher order, and although each has strength and weakness, the reason I use first order because it just sounds more musical than other types. It's like Kate Upton vs. Gwyneth Paltrow. Some might like Paltrow but not my thing. I am more Kate Upton.
I've read that Vandersteen speakers have a reputation for sounding dark and slow well I feel that that is how my this speaker sounds. I supposed I can make it sound really bright but whenever I fine tune the xover how I like, the sound always sound slightly dark. As I said, every xover has strength and weakness, but I like mine. I think it has to do with getting the baffle step aligned with the rest of the freq. spectrum. With 2nd, it's probably easier to aligned the 200 - 400 hz region to the bass.
Another positive aspect about 1st which I don't hear anyone talking about is in its what I would call "self consistency". That is my terminology since I don't think anyone had mentioned it. That is when you change any single component in the signal path, it affects the entire frequency range, so the result sound is not inconsistent. Yes, it may sound bright or dark but it's consistent in the entire freq. range so in that respect, it's not unpleasant.
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I can imagine this speaker looking very nice once it's venered and polished. Good work! Since you clearly stated that you are satisfied with how it sounds, I won't start borring you with simple but still potentially rewarding modifications which would in your opinion probably end like being a rather step back than step forward.
The purpose of an aperiodic vent is to lower the Q value of the driver in an enclosure. That would have made sense if it were a very high Qts unit in a too small of an enclosure, which is not the case with this SBA. In fact, one has to take into account the loudspeaker position in a room and personal preference, then consider if it makes sense to alter the Q at all.
I tried using slightly higher coil for the woofer but it would introduce a dip around 500hz which recesses the vocal too much. .82mh was like the best compromise. The sweet spot I guess is smaller but I am the only person listening so it's probably not a problem.
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I've updated my xover and I am confident this should be it. I added two additional notch filters - one for the tweeter to tame the sibilance around 4 - 8khz region, one for the another peak at 3khz for the woofer. I also changes the attenuation on the tweeter a bit.
Overall the sound is more balance and I feel a lot more comfortable with it.
I just finished the veneer with figure maple and waiting to apply shellac. I show a bit of an example of how the veneer would look after shellac with the back panel.
As for the Satori, I don't think it's night and day vs. the Seas paper cone. It has that paper sound but it provides a bit more detail, more micro dynamic, a bit more sophisticated, a bit more bass, basically it sounds like the Seas paper cone but just a little better in almost every way. I used to have the Seas magnesium and that is a night and day vs. Seas paper cone but it has break up so 1st order probably won't work.
I could make the cabinet a little bit larger to give better bass transient. If I play very loud, the bass feels a bit congested. But I can't help but thinking it looks just right - not too big not too small. It has the right width, height, and depth. It is very easy on the eyes. Currently the dimension is 190mm X 300mm X 310mm and overall volumn is about 10.5liters.
The reason I went on out of my way to use 1s order because I do feel it is very musical. I built a pair of Troels Jenzen and those are very well designed but I couldn't help but thinking they sound a bit dry and sterile vs. my 1st. I also reworked Troel PMS (Poor man stradivari) to 1st order and I couldn't believe how much more musical and 3 dimensional the sound compared to his original xover. I guess people have their own personal preferences, but I am a believer of 1st order filters.
Overall the sound is more balance and I feel a lot more comfortable with it.
I just finished the veneer with figure maple and waiting to apply shellac. I show a bit of an example of how the veneer would look after shellac with the back panel.
As for the Satori, I don't think it's night and day vs. the Seas paper cone. It has that paper sound but it provides a bit more detail, more micro dynamic, a bit more sophisticated, a bit more bass, basically it sounds like the Seas paper cone but just a little better in almost every way. I used to have the Seas magnesium and that is a night and day vs. Seas paper cone but it has break up so 1st order probably won't work.
I could make the cabinet a little bit larger to give better bass transient. If I play very loud, the bass feels a bit congested. But I can't help but thinking it looks just right - not too big not too small. It has the right width, height, and depth. It is very easy on the eyes. Currently the dimension is 190mm X 300mm X 310mm and overall volumn is about 10.5liters.
The reason I went on out of my way to use 1s order because I do feel it is very musical. I built a pair of Troels Jenzen and those are very well designed but I couldn't help but thinking they sound a bit dry and sterile vs. my 1st. I also reworked Troel PMS (Poor man stradivari) to 1st order and I couldn't believe how much more musical and 3 dimensional the sound compared to his original xover. I guess people have their own personal preferences, but I am a believer of 1st order filters.
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Sorry for the delay but I didn't check my post for awhile, but I attached the zip file of the simulation and the tweeter and woofer files.
I didn't use a "Circuit Block", but I used the basic topology then adjusted the component values until I got the phase about right. 1st order is a little tricky. If I delay the tweeter is sort of a fine act - delay too much or too little will affect either the low freq. or higher freq. response.
The Seas mag. sounds quite different. If I can recall correctly, the mag. has more weight and detail on the lower register and there is a feeling of "density" to the sound especially the lower frequency - for example the male voice - that is very distinct that I don't find it in the Satori or Seas paper cone. I have the Seas mag. 7in. driver and I thought subjectively it might have a little more bass weight than the Seas 8in. paper.
The Satori is not that different than the Seas paper cone, just a little better in almost every way. As I said, it's not day and night. Fundamentally it has the same sound as paper, but in every respect it's better.
This is probably my final update. A bit of a role reversal. The lift around 2-3k actually caused by the tweeter and the 4-8k caused by the woofer so the notch filters got switched. I also modify the delay circuit to attenuate the low end of the tweeter.
She's just absolutely beautiful to look at.
She's just absolutely beautiful to look at.
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