I just bought my first kit speaker, the Tritrix TL from parts express. It arrived Wednesday and weather permitting, I plan on assembling it over Labor Day Weekend. I'm fairly confident in my woodworking and electronics / soldering skills. I plan on finishing the cabinet with a half inch roundover bit, sanding to 220 grit, and applying a black primer followed by Rustoleum hammered black spray paint.
My biggest question mark is where and how much Acoustifill stuffing to use to get optimal results. Reports suggest using 1/4 to 1/2 bag per speaker to kill resonance without muffled sound. Also should I try to "break in" the woofers prior to assembly or let nature take it's course after it's finished?
A low frequency sine wave (below fs, 30Hz or so) at low/moderate volume to free air drivers for a few hours would be easy. This could be done while the glue is drying. Without an enclosure, the woofers would have decent free air travel at low wattage without generating loads of SPL to disturb family.
One more question? I realise the woofers are in series (4 ohm + 4ohm = 8 ). Should tweets and woofers be wired in phase or out for this build?
And another question about room position. Should I toe in the speakers? Do tweeters go towards outside or inside of the pair?
My biggest question mark is where and how much Acoustifill stuffing to use to get optimal results. Reports suggest using 1/4 to 1/2 bag per speaker to kill resonance without muffled sound. Also should I try to "break in" the woofers prior to assembly or let nature take it's course after it's finished?
A low frequency sine wave (below fs, 30Hz or so) at low/moderate volume to free air drivers for a few hours would be easy. This could be done while the glue is drying. Without an enclosure, the woofers would have decent free air travel at low wattage without generating loads of SPL to disturb family.
One more question? I realise the woofers are in series (4 ohm + 4ohm = 8 ). Should tweets and woofers be wired in phase or out for this build?
And another question about room position. Should I toe in the speakers? Do tweeters go towards outside or inside of the pair?
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That's up to you....in te big scheme of things it doesn't really matter. Your expectations are high I imagine
In that case I would burn them in before. 90% of burnin is done after an hour or two.That should be visible in the crossover diagram.
Toe-in ...again it's up to you. Some manufacturers have on opinion on toe-in and will tell you...do or do not. In the end...it really is how YOU prefer it.
The crossover from this kit is a simple symmetrical 2nd order. The drivers are connected in phase in the crossover schematic. Reverse the polarity of one of the drivers may risk a dip in the response at the crossover frequency.
Good luck and enjoy your build.
took the kit out and looked at it. One issue is we have cats and I'm concerned one of them might try to enter the rear chamber and get stuck. I may put 1/4" chicken wire over the back openings.
Did some mounting of the xover parts on some crap wood tonight. I still need to buy a few supplies at the store though. I zip tied the inductors (placed the little one at right angle to the plywood) and superglued the caps and resistor. Hopefully cyanoacrylate doesn't interact with them negatively. The caps are super light anyway. My mom only has low temp glue sticks which are useless for structural support. I'll get bolts for mounting the crossover to the back wall behind the speakers.
Still need advice regarding usage of the nylon acoustifoam. It's much denser than cotton or poly. Don't wanna put too much or too little.
Did some mounting of the xover parts on some crap wood tonight. I still need to buy a few supplies at the store though. I zip tied the inductors (placed the little one at right angle to the plywood) and superglued the caps and resistor. Hopefully cyanoacrylate doesn't interact with them negatively. The caps are super light anyway. My mom only has low temp glue sticks which are useless for structural support. I'll get bolts for mounting the crossover to the back wall behind the speakers.
Still need advice regarding usage of the nylon acoustifoam. It's much denser than cotton or poly. Don't wanna put too much or too little.
Okay progress so far. Work sucks so sorry for not uploading sooner.
Week 1 (Labor Day weekend) got the crossover assembled and tested the drivers naked. The naked drivers sounded shouty and loud with notably absent bass (which is to be expected as they need an enclosure or baffle of some sort to operate properly). I used the Kinter amp from my briefcase boombox for the audio.
Weekend after Labor Day, got the first cabinet assembled.
Weekend after that, the second cabinet.
3/8" roundover for beveled edges. Sanded and painted today, used about 4-and-a-half cans of Rustoleum Hammered Black spray paint in multiple coats.
Next weekend, install the drivers, break them in a bit, and add stuffing until I hit nirvana!
And then maybe do an A/B test with the amp to compare to my old Polk Monitor 40 Series II. Both are MTM design but the Tritrix definitely has superior drivers, Xover, and construction.
I also ordered some flame decals off Amazon to spruce up the baffle a bit. I attached a preview of what it might look like when I'm done.
Week 1 (Labor Day weekend) got the crossover assembled and tested the drivers naked. The naked drivers sounded shouty and loud with notably absent bass (which is to be expected as they need an enclosure or baffle of some sort to operate properly). I used the Kinter amp from my briefcase boombox for the audio.
Weekend after Labor Day, got the first cabinet assembled.
Weekend after that, the second cabinet.
3/8" roundover for beveled edges. Sanded and painted today, used about 4-and-a-half cans of Rustoleum Hammered Black spray paint in multiple coats.
Next weekend, install the drivers, break them in a bit, and add stuffing until I hit nirvana!
And then maybe do an A/B test with the amp to compare to my old Polk Monitor 40 Series II. Both are MTM design but the Tritrix definitely has superior drivers, Xover, and construction.
I also ordered some flame decals off Amazon to spruce up the baffle a bit. I attached a preview of what it might look like when I'm done.
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When you add stuffing to the transmission line be certain the passage of air flow to the back port is not blocked by any stuffing materia, drooping can be a problem at times. Transmission lines can be very good if engineered particularly well and may well need a bit of fiddling to get the required absorption right. Teased wool fibres were often used in the earlier designs of yesteryear.
C.M
C.M
How does one affix the stuffing to ie the rear baffle? I've seen pics where people wadded tons of acoustistuff behind the speakers using the braces as a retainer. It is easy enough to pull the drivers out and stuff the holes.
The instruction paper (backside of mds sheet) said to use .5 lb of stuffing per cubic foot along the entire length of the transmission line but I think this would be a bit much and muffle the sound. Or the company wants you to overstuff the enclosure so they sell you more stuffing. I've got two pounds to play with after weighing them on a postal scale.
I got the speakers set up today and blasted Bach's Fougue in D minor (from Bill Murray's Organ Blaster) for a couple of hours at high volume to break them in. The bass performance is phenominal given the size of the drivers and has a clean sound to it that's not "boomy" at all like most vented enclosures. I have an old 8" 50w Sony sub but I don't think it will be needed much with the new speakers, even for HT use.
I was thinking just stuff a couple wads in through the woofer holes to suit. There is some slight midtone resonance with the hollow cab but overall they are deeper and warmer sound overall than the old polks. The silk tweets are incredible too without obnoxious ringing or overt brightness.
If I can kill the resonance (it's difficult to hear but present) and extend the bass rolloff even more without ruining the TL by muffling the output, that would be super. Perhaps less is more. Still they sound great currently unstuffed.
The instruction paper (backside of mds sheet) said to use .5 lb of stuffing per cubic foot along the entire length of the transmission line but I think this would be a bit much and muffle the sound. Or the company wants you to overstuff the enclosure so they sell you more stuffing. I've got two pounds to play with after weighing them on a postal scale.
I got the speakers set up today and blasted Bach's Fougue in D minor (from Bill Murray's Organ Blaster) for a couple of hours at high volume to break them in. The bass performance is phenominal given the size of the drivers and has a clean sound to it that's not "boomy" at all like most vented enclosures. I have an old 8" 50w Sony sub but I don't think it will be needed much with the new speakers, even for HT use.
I was thinking just stuff a couple wads in through the woofer holes to suit. There is some slight midtone resonance with the hollow cab but overall they are deeper and warmer sound overall than the old polks. The silk tweets are incredible too without obnoxious ringing or overt brightness.
If I can kill the resonance (it's difficult to hear but present) and extend the bass rolloff even more without ruining the TL by muffling the output, that would be super. Perhaps less is more. Still they sound great currently unstuffed.
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A transmission line like this one needs the polyfluff damping to attenuate (muffle if you want) the unwanted pipe harmonics. The well teased damping should be sufficient to friction fit the space it needs to fill.
Here is an example of 40 g of acoustastuff in the shipping baggy and properly teased out. It takes quite a while to get it right.
Too little damping and you will have ripple in the frequency response, too much and you will attenuate the low bass. This is tempered by the room. room placement, and your taste.
dave
Here is an example of 40 g of acoustastuff in the shipping baggy and properly teased out. It takes quite a while to get it right.
Too little damping and you will have ripple in the frequency response, too much and you will attenuate the low bass. This is tempered by the room. room placement, and your taste.
dave
It's been a while coming. The paint finish was rought and felt like tree bark so I sanded it down with 220 grit and repainted two weekends ago. After six days, I applied the decals I ordered from Amazon, removed all stuffing, "fluffed" it out, and reinserted lightly above the braces. They turned out gorgeous.
Overall the audio quality is phenomenal and it doesn't really need a sub. Bass extends down to 30Hz or so with a smooth rolloff. No "boomy" sound at all like typical ported enclosures. Drums and musical instruments it's almost like they are in the room. I'm probably going to retire the Sony 50W 8" sub I used to have as it won't contribute much beyond the natural bass these speakers produce, and the typical "boom-boom" effect from bass overemphasis (cranking the sub gain or rolloff too high) is not hifi. I may pair them with the 12" Dayton sub from PE at some later date, but in all honesty it isn't needed. The lows of the woofers and the clear highs of the silk tweets are phenomenal, and in my living room, I'd likely go deaf before I could crank out music loud enough to "bust" them. It's concert worthy when I crank it up with rock music, yet the midbass is strong and vibrant even at low levels which was my chief complaint about the Polks (perceived hole in the midbass spectrum when played at low volume levels). Overall the tonal balance is more warm and mellow than the Polks too. The ever so slight response dip in the mid highs (compared to the Polks Monitor 40s, from the brief A/B test that I performed with them both hooked in) actually adds warmth and vibrance.
Onto the finish. The hammered black created a nice textured satin finish after resanding and the second application. I painted the cinder blocks with the same finish and placed them underneath to raise the tweeters up to ear level when seated, and added felt pads to the bottom of the cabinet. Nevermind the TC9 birdhouses, they're disconnected for now and just add to the decor. The fire decals just scream out "rebel" while keeping a touch of class.
EDIT: Stupid me when I cropped the photo put the right speaker on the left side and visa versa. The tweets should face the outside walls...
Overall the audio quality is phenomenal and it doesn't really need a sub. Bass extends down to 30Hz or so with a smooth rolloff. No "boomy" sound at all like typical ported enclosures. Drums and musical instruments it's almost like they are in the room. I'm probably going to retire the Sony 50W 8" sub I used to have as it won't contribute much beyond the natural bass these speakers produce, and the typical "boom-boom" effect from bass overemphasis (cranking the sub gain or rolloff too high) is not hifi. I may pair them with the 12" Dayton sub from PE at some later date, but in all honesty it isn't needed. The lows of the woofers and the clear highs of the silk tweets are phenomenal, and in my living room, I'd likely go deaf before I could crank out music loud enough to "bust" them. It's concert worthy when I crank it up with rock music, yet the midbass is strong and vibrant even at low levels which was my chief complaint about the Polks (perceived hole in the midbass spectrum when played at low volume levels). Overall the tonal balance is more warm and mellow than the Polks too. The ever so slight response dip in the mid highs (compared to the Polks Monitor 40s, from the brief A/B test that I performed with them both hooked in) actually adds warmth and vibrance.
Onto the finish. The hammered black created a nice textured satin finish after resanding and the second application. I painted the cinder blocks with the same finish and placed them underneath to raise the tweeters up to ear level when seated, and added felt pads to the bottom of the cabinet. Nevermind the TC9 birdhouses, they're disconnected for now and just add to the decor. The fire decals just scream out "rebel" while keeping a touch of class.
EDIT: Stupid me when I cropped the photo put the right speaker on the left side and visa versa. The tweets should face the outside walls...
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