The "Elsinore Project" Thread

[jdkJake]

They look great irext! There is a lot of character in that veneer. Very, very nice.

How did you fashion the waveguide?

[habsrock93]

Can't remember if this question has been asked ( I have read all the pages over the last few months , what inductor would be recomended to get as close as possible to the designed crossover? Air core, iron core 1.8mH or 2mH? is less DCR better? I can't wait to build these speakers

Thanks!

Dave

[irext]

I'd like to say I fashioned the waveguide myself but the truth is I purchased them from Joe Ras. I'm reasonable with a router but not that good. Plus I was impatient to get them going (as you could imagine).

[jdkJake]

Originally Posted by habsrock93

Can't remember if this question has been asked ( I have read all the pages over the last few months , what inductor would be recomended to get as close as possible to the designed crossover? Air core, iron core 1.8mH or 2mH? is less DCR better?

I would think you would want air core wherever possible for the best performance, but that does not rule out iron core which are more affordable. It all depends upon your budget and thoughts on premium components. An air core for the big 18mH would be quite expensive, but are available as well. I went with an iron core for that piece myself.

The goal for the 1.8/2.0mH is to find a part of that inductance range with a low DCR, in this case no more than 1R. Lower being better.

[irext]

I also used iron/ferrite core for the 18mh (2 x 9mh in series) and air core for all the others. The series resistance of the 18mh (L4) needs to be known to calculate the value of R2. The total of R2 and the series resistance of L4 needs to be as close to 8ohms as possible. (as per Joes notes). I measured mine with a low ohms meter as I didn't trust the given specs.

[jdkJake]

irext, did you etch those boards yourself? They turned out nice.

[jdkJake]

Put together the main wiring harness that ties into the speakON connector. The speakON spades fit one side of the peerless drivers perfectly (the positive side). The negative, not so much. A bit of "modification" and rework is needed to get a good mechanical grip on the small spade negative side of the drivers (same with the tweeter lugs) using the neutrik spades. In hind sight, I should have gotten the proper spade for those lugs. But, the neutrik spades were already installed and solder into the harness and I was able to get them to work just fine. It would be nice if this was a standard across all connectors. Perhaps it is, but, I was unaware of it if it was.

In any case, installed the drivers, screwed them down tight and also installed the neutrik jack. So far, I am happy with the neutrik system. Very clean and neat.

[jdkJake]

Well, the drivers (and the waveguide) certainly added some mass. An additional 19.4lbs (8.8kg) of it to be exact. Very tricky to move around. I would have relocated them to a different room to get better pics, but, I need to go get a new dolly for moving these bad boys around! Very difficult to move around once the driver holes have been filled. Waveguide looks great, thanks again to Joel for making those available. They are truly first rate.

Cabinets are complete and stuffed (finally!!). Time to get cranking on that cross over. All the parts are in-house. Just need to start building it.

[irext]

I did the PCB's myself. I designed them using Protel PCB design software and used photo paper on a laser printer to create the etch resist. You use an iron to press the resist onto the bare copper PCB. Then etch using ferric chloride. It takes a lot of practice runs to get it right! Trouble is I have changed several components for better quality ones (mainly caps) and they are a lot larger. Maybe I will do a new artwork. I love the look of your cabinets JK. They look very professional. If I was building mine now I'd definitely use the round waveguides and most definitely use the 8 way Neutrik Speakon connectors they would be so much more convenient.

[jdkJake]

Originally Posted by irext

I did the PCB's myself. I designed them using Protel PCB design software and used photo paper on a laser printer to create the etch resist. You use an iron to press the resist onto the bare copper PCB. Then etch using ferric chloride. It takes a lot of practice runs to get it right! Trouble is I have changed several components for better quality ones (mainly caps) and they are a lot larger. Maybe I will do a new artwork. I love the look of your cabinets JK. They look very professional. If I was building mine now I'd definitely use the round waveguides and most definitely use the 8 way Neutrik Speakon connectors they would be so much more convenient.

I have heard about the iron on technique. I see a lot of folks using the UV light technique as well. I need to learn how to do that one day as it sure is convenient being able to make a custom PCB. If you consider doing new artwork, you might want to check out this link on coil placement to minimize interference effects between the parts. (Placement of coils in crossover networks).

Thanks for the kind words on the cabinets. I am very pleased with how they turned out. Installing the drivers really brought everything together as far as the overall look. I could not be happier with the results.