A while back, I visited John Krutke's web site and fell in love with his Silver Flute project. Since I was looking for an inexpensive 2 way speaker project, I decided to give it a try.
I received the parts a few weeks ago but did not begin building the enclosures until this last week-end as it was too cold in the shed ehhhhhh the workshop
I built the X-overs one evening last week and started work on the enclosures satruday morning. I routed all the holes for the drivers, the input cup and the port. I also glued the sides and the tops/bottoms of the enclosures. Yesterday, I had planned on gluing the backs, gluing the foam and attaching the X-overs before gluing the front baffles. But I didn't 
I just couldn't wait to hear them so I got a hold of my old trusty masking tape and assembled all the parts together. I then hooked them up to my stereophile Sony receiver
and just sat there listening to them for the better part of the evening. Except for John's 3 TB projects, this is my first DIY speaker project. I also haven't had the chance to listen to mega $$$ audiophile speakers so I can't compare them to high end audio products but I can definitely tell that they sound way better then any thing I have heard so far. Now I understand why you don't see many graphic equalizers in higher end audio setups. You just don't need them !
I haven't had time to take pictures yet. I will do so later on today and will post them for you to see. In the mean time, you'll excuse me, I have to go listen to them a little more.
I received the parts a few weeks ago but did not begin building the enclosures until this last week-end as it was too cold in the shed ehhhhhh the workshop
I built the X-overs one evening last week and started work on the enclosures satruday morning. I routed all the holes for the drivers, the input cup and the port. I also glued the sides and the tops/bottoms of the enclosures. Yesterday, I had planned on gluing the backs, gluing the foam and attaching the X-overs before gluing the front baffles. But I didn't I just couldn't wait to hear them so I got a hold of my old trusty masking tape and assembled all the parts together. I then hooked them up to my stereophile Sony receiver
and just sat there listening to them for the better part of the evening. Except for John's 3 TB projects, this is my first DIY speaker project. I also haven't had the chance to listen to mega $$$ audiophile speakers so I can't compare them to high end audio products but I can definitely tell that they sound way better then any thing I have heard so far. Now I understand why you don't see many graphic equalizers in higher end audio setups. You just don't need them !I haven't had time to take pictures yet. I will do so later on today and will post them for you to see. In the mean time, you'll excuse me, I have to go listen to them a little more.
gmilitano said:
I purchased all the parts from Madisound. It cost me around 130 USD for all the parts except the wood and finish. You need about 1/3 of a 4 X 8 MDF panel. I paid 30 $ CDN for the 4 X 8 which means around 10 $ CDN or 13 USD plus another 15 $ CDN (20 USD) for the flat black paint and the black bed liner.
So for around 160 USD you can get a pretty decent pair of speakers. I can even provide you with the parts list if you want. Just email me privately and I'll send it to you.
It's great to hear that these still sound good. There was some major concern on madisound's forum about the new batch of Silver Flute drivers. Krutke was going to pull this design off his website, but he ordered a new batch of drivers and felt that his current design still worked well enough.
I'm building a home theater system for my cousin soon, and I decided to go with Krutke's Silver-Vifa design, although I do intend to use shielded drivers in the center channel, and I'm also going to use a couple small sealed cabinets for the rear speakers. The variations should give me a good chance to experiment with a few things, while still working well for her home theater.
I've been dieing to use those silver flutes! I just hope somebody tests the 6.5s and 8s soon too. I've heard that their parameters vary considerably from the published specs on Madisound's website, and are capable of much better bass extention than their published specs would indicate.
I'm building a home theater system for my cousin soon, and I decided to go with Krutke's Silver-Vifa design, although I do intend to use shielded drivers in the center channel, and I'm also going to use a couple small sealed cabinets for the rear speakers. The variations should give me a good chance to experiment with a few things, while still working well for her home theater.
I've been dieing to use those silver flutes! I just hope somebody tests the 6.5s and 8s soon too. I've heard that their parameters vary considerably from the published specs on Madisound's website, and are capable of much better bass extention than their published specs would indicate.
454Casull said:
You're right. John did pull this design off the day after I had placed my order with Madisound.
Jim85IROC said:I wasn't aware that he did. When I heard that he planned to yank it, I downloaded the page to my PC.
Fortunately, I had also saved that page on my computer. Nevertheless, I emailed him to inquire about it. He told me that he'd heard about the new batch of drivers and that he wanted to see for himself what the new batch sounded like before deciding what to do next.
He eventualy found out that the changes are minor and don't necessitate any corrections to the X-over. This is really a cool project. It sounds great, there is good bass extention, and it is quite affordable. They are not quite bookshelf size if it's what you're looking for. But I'm willing to trade size for quality anytime. After I have the courage to yank the duct tape off and finish them (it's gonna be hard, I already love them so much
) I'll design speaker stands for them. I'll post pictures of the finish product to show you how it turned out.Gotta go listen to them some more
John's indicates now on his site that has also verified that you can upgrade the tweeter from the Vifa D27TG15 to the Vifa D25AG-35 aluminum done tweeter as a drop in replacement. This adds about $10.00 a tweeter and uses the same crossover as before.
I will be building another pair of the slant front cabinets and am thinking I will probably try the upgraded tweeter for it's wider dispersion. I am very happy with the first pair though.
I will be building another pair of the slant front cabinets and am thinking I will probably try the upgraded tweeter for it's wider dispersion. I am very happy with the first pair though.
John's Silver Flutes
I heard John's speaker at the NW Audio Meet just a week or so ago. I've been meaning to say something nice about these speakers. Just been too busy. I thought they sounded great in the less than ideal surroundings. I didn't think much more than that until I looked at his website and saw how inexpensive the overall project. They sound much better than a $150 speaker has any right to.
I'm ordering parts tomorrond. Should be a great set of speakers to have around the house. I glad to see other people agree!
Mike
I heard John's speaker at the NW Audio Meet just a week or so ago. I've been meaning to say something nice about these speakers. Just been too busy. I thought they sounded great in the less than ideal surroundings. I didn't think much more than that until I looked at his website and saw how inexpensive the overall project. They sound much better than a $150 speaker has any right to.
I'm ordering parts tomorrond. Should be a great set of speakers to have around the house. I glad to see other people agree!
Mike
Re: John's Silver Flutes
The design is $100 for drivers and crossover parts if you follow his sale part recommendations (but I think he is not counting shipping. The upgraded tweeters add about $20. As you say that gets you to about $150/pr with MDF, binding posts etc.
I recommend the 2-segment slanted front cabinets. They take a bit more time but I do think they are a notch better than a pair with "temporary" straight fronts I built.
The pair you heard at NWWA DIY Audio Meet 2004 did not have any internal volume taken up with the crossover. I ended up making the crossovers external because they seemed to take up a fair amount of space in the box.
audioslave said:
The design is $100 for drivers and crossover parts if you follow his sale part recommendations (but I think he is not counting shipping
. The upgraded tweeters add about $20. As you say that gets you to about $150/pr with MDF, binding posts etc.I recommend the 2-segment slanted front cabinets. They take a bit more time but I do think they are a notch better than a pair with "temporary" straight fronts I built.
The pair you heard at NWWA DIY Audio Meet 2004 did not have any internal volume taken up with the crossover. I ended up making the crossovers external because they seemed to take up a fair amount of space in the box.
Did any of you guys try them on a flat baffle with the tweeter above the mid? This is the way I plan to construct them unless I find a major difference in sound between that and the woofer on top like John reccomends. When I build my own pair I'll build the 2-part front baffle, but for this project, I want simplicity and a conventional appearance.
Jim85IROC said:
It is not entirely clear from the text on his page but logically the "tweeter on the bottom" version is meant to be listened with your ears on axis with the woofer. If you are about 8-9 ft away this puts the tweeter about 1/4" farther away.
Having the tweeter on the bottom allows the speaker stands to be lower since the tweeter is now below ear level.
You could accomplish the same sound with the tweeter on top. You would listen on axis to the woofer and the tweeter would be above it. The speaker stands would just have to be higher. You would lnegate some of the effect as you stand up and move around the room, where as in the tweeter on the bottom the effect would be increased.
Presumably you are not planning to change the tweeter position horizontally. His placement was specifically done to get the right baffle step.
I assume then that you will build a pair of the straight fronts as designed and "turn them upside down". You should be able to try the orientation both ways then by simply turning the speaker upside down.
I can't see why it would make any difference in your listening position as long as you position the speaker woofers on (verical) axis to your ears. The vent is in a slightly different height but this would seem to be a truly minimal effect.
I'll be testing them.
I'm building the front 2 speakers with the same drivers that John used. I'm building the center channel with the shielded equivalents in a sealed enclosure, and I'm building the surrounds with the shielded woofers in smaller sealed enclosures.
The impedance and frequency response curves look similar enough that I'm hoping for only minor audible differences. The shielded drivers model better in the small sealed enclosures, which is why I'm using them for the rears. I'm using shieled drivers for the center channel incase she ever winds up putting this stuff near a tube TV, although her current tv is a projection unit.
I'm building the front 2 speakers with the same drivers that John used. I'm building the center channel with the shielded equivalents in a sealed enclosure, and I'm building the surrounds with the shielded woofers in smaller sealed enclosures.
The impedance and frequency response curves look similar enough that I'm hoping for only minor audible differences. The shielded drivers model better in the small sealed enclosures, which is why I'm using them for the rears. I'm using shieled drivers for the center channel incase she ever winds up putting this stuff near a tube TV, although her current tv is a projection unit.
Finally finished this project
After taking an involontary break from this project, I finally used this long week-end to finish it. Boy am I glad I did. These babies look fantastic. Take a look here.
As I said earlier, I felt they sounded really good in their "duct tape version" before I even applied accoustic foam inside the box. My sick mom is going to stay here for another 7-10 days so I might not be able to listen to them the way I'd like it for a while. Once I do, I'll let you guys know how I like them.
While we're at it, I'd like to thank John "Zaphoid" Krutke for his cheap but effective designs (I also built his 3 TB designs), Al of Raw Acoustics, Tim as well as many other contributors of this forum for their support and the knowledge they are willing to share with the members of this forum.
Darn, I starting to feel like an Oscar winner. I better stop before everybody falls asleep.
After taking an involontary break from this project, I finally used this long week-end to finish it. Boy am I glad I did. These babies look fantastic. Take a look here.
As I said earlier, I felt they sounded really good in their "duct tape version" before I even applied accoustic foam inside the box. My sick mom is going to stay here for another 7-10 days so I might not be able to listen to them the way I'd like it for a while. Once I do, I'll let you guys know how I like them.
While we're at it, I'd like to thank John "Zaphoid" Krutke for his cheap but effective designs (I also built his 3 TB designs), Al of Raw Acoustics, Tim as well as many other contributors of this forum for their support and the knowledge they are willing to share with the members of this forum.
Darn, I starting to feel like an Oscar winner. I better stop before everybody falls asleep.
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