TLB Transmission Line Revisited

[Forster]

Hello,

I have not built a TL system before and after much research find myself intrigued with the TLb design available for view here : http://www.t-linespeakers.org/projects/tlB/index.html

I have searched the forum for past comments on this design and there seems to be a general consensus that the design is well thought out. What I have not found are comments on its performance.

For those who have built this speaker, how does it sound? Is positioning critical? Any 'tweaks' that you have found helps performance. Does listening fatigue enter the picture with extended playing? etc.

Many thanks for your help.

Forster

[Forster]

Hello,

Well, I have finally finished construction of the TLB Transmission Line speakers and have them singing like larks!

I did not deviate significantly from the original design though I made one or two small changes.

1) MDF, .75" was used and the inner strengthening panels adjusted in width to maintain the internal volume.

2) The four 3" wooden dowels supporting these quite heavy speakers worried me. As the speakers are dipole in nature, they need to be moved away from walls regularly and I felt sure that the dowels were actually a poorly designed feature.

To circumvent the problem I used 5.5" screw bolts, through the base of the speaker stand, and through 3" metal tube spacers. They were then screwed into predrilled holes into the speaker base. They are rock-solid. The boxes were finished in cherry veneer and tung-oiled numerous times.

The tweeters were covered with black leatherette cloth and a 3/8" square was routed from three sides of the the edges of the tweeter box and oak quadrant mitered and fitted into the egdes. The edges sat 1/6" proud allowing the cloth to rest flush against them.

In the next post I will try to give a listening impression.

Some images ( please excuse my photographic technique ) which I hope will show how these speakers look when finished.





Thanks for looking.

Forster

[kelticwizard]

Thanks for showing them, Forster.

Very, very nice work all around.

[Forster]

Hello,

Listening 'tests' so far evidence a very intriguing speaker indeed.

My equipment consists of a Heybrook TT2 turntable, Hadcock arm, Shure V15V, Nakamichi Pre-amp, Onkyo M-305 (105wpc ) main amp, Luxman D117 CD player.

I have only 100 hours or so of music having been played through the TLB. The immediate reaction is one of astonishing, almost startling detail at the top end, with excellent spacial definition and a huge soundstage owing to the bipolar design. Positioned five feet from a back wall and three feet from the side walls, the soundstage extends well out into the yard!

As is the case with all good loudspeakers, the TLB is not kind to inferior recordings. It makes an adequate job of handling badly recorded or produced musical pieces, almost as if its bored with them, but put on the rack a top level recording, say the ECM jazz range and hold onto your socks. I played Jon Hiseman’s ‘Tempest’, recorded in the mid 70’s and Alan Holdsworth’s guitar was out of the box and all around the room. A very impressive feat. Ravel proves with the Deutches Grammaphon recording of 'L'enfant et les Sortileges', that these speakers are at home with the classics too.

Now, if you like a gut-wrenching bass, forget these speakers. If you like deep extended bass, forget them again. The bass though well-defined, solid and balanced is not deep. It is in the treble and top end that these speakers excel and imho you would have to travel a long way and pay a lot more money to find speakers that sound as clean and balanced as these.

Perhaps some more experienced speaker afficianados could recommend a subwoofer design that might compliment the speakers for those who cry if their ears do not vibrate to the lower registers, but they are just fine for me!

Next project, a high-end pair of small monitor speakers.

Best regards to all - Forster

[vinylkid58]

Very nice Forster, lovely finish too. Did you stick with the Vifa drivers spec'd in the original article?

Jeff

[Forster]

kelticwizard,

Many thanks for your kind words.

Jeff,

Yes, I did. Here is an image of them in situation :



Cheers - Forster

[Hezz]

Nice project !!

You need some really fast subwoofers for those. There are some large TL subs that would be ideal.

http://www.t-linespeakers.org/projects/steve/index.html

[Forster]

Hezz,

Now that Sonotube Woofer design does look interesting! You have wetted my appetite, though I am not sure that I could get away with it aesthetically. Is it essential to the design for the tube to be upright?

Best regards - Forster

[Hezz]

I don't think the TL needs to be upright it could be lying down but if too close to the floor I don't know what the effect would be. A few inches off the floor would probably work just fine.

There are a few TL experts who might be able to answer your question.

[lineup]

nice project

TLB = BIPOLAR Transmission Line speaker
in this case using
- two Vifa P13WH-00-08 woofers 5"
- two Vifa D27TG-45-06 soft dome 1"
per speaker

so you need buy
* 4 of those 130 mm VIFA woofers ( P130 )
* 4 of those 027 mm VIFA tweeters ( D27 )

tweeters have separate custom enclosure
and placed on top of the floorstander TL



this image shows well the mounting of woofers, back to back
and is the reality of the this nice 'transparent' image of the TLB
See my attachment: