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Mar-Ken10.2 & Pensil 10.2

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Ok. That helps. So my question now is, how would you categorize the two enclosures we have been speaking about. How are the design goals different in terms of final sound

Here is one of my Pensil's fresh off the finishing table.

I would categorize the two enclosures we have been talking about as easy to build and harder to build. I haven't heard, AFAIK, the pensil design, but I have heard many variations of the Fonken family. I would say that the pensil design will give a wonderful entry into the "fullrange" sound and the Fonken family will take you to the next level of refinement.

I've used one set of drivers in several cabinet designs that were specific to that driver and I can say that they were not close to the same sonically. They each had strong points and weaknesses and I had to decide which compromise was generally right for me.

Would you have made the same decisions? I don't know what you like (or what your wife likes), what type of Music you prefer or many other things that are important.

There is only one sure way to really know and that's by building both types of cabinets and then just listen. Both will sound pretty good, you've improved your skill, learned a lot and will have a great gift for someone special.

Best Regards,
TerryO
 
Mar-Ken's up and running.
Just had to give 'em a go prior to veneering--
They offer much promise, with a "weight & authority" that is hinted at, even at low volume.
IMG_1700.jpg
don
 
Mar-Ken's up and running.
Just had to give 'em a go prior to veneering--
They offer much promise, with a "weight & authority" that is hinted at, even at low volume.
View attachment 220036
don

OK Don,

You've managed to do two sets of speakers and I haven't even started mine...show-off!
All I've got to show for my time is a few gypsum, mudded, sanded, and painted walls. Oh, I forgot... a lot of cedar kindling for next winter.

Now I have to do some driver mods for Bud's Audio Club presentation next month. I'll start that tomorrow!

Oh well...

By the way, what veneer are you planning on using on those?

Best Regards,
Terry
 
I would categorize the two enclosures we have been talking about as easy to build and harder to build. I haven't heard, AFAIK, the pensil design, but I have heard many variations of the Fonken family. I would say that the pensil design will give a wonderful entry into the "fullrange" sound and the Fonken family will take you to the next level of refinement.

I've used one set of drivers in several cabinet designs that were specific to that driver and I can say that they were not close to the same sonically. They each had strong points and weaknesses and I had to decide which compromise was generally right for me.

Would you have made the same decisions? I don't know what you like (or what your wife likes), what type of Music you prefer or many other things that are important.

There is only one sure way to really know and that's by building both types of cabinets and then just listen. Both will sound pretty good, you've improved your skill, learned a lot and will have a great gift for someone special.

Best Regards,
TerryO

Wow, with a statement like that, I have no choice but to build them. Thanks for the time.
 
Hi Terry: It's a sickness, right?!!
Long suffering wife asking when I'm gonna start the fence rebuild--I tell her the tools are booked-up for a bit. There ARE priorities after all.
Thinking of a birch veneer, or that lovely (green) bondo!!
Seriously, a huge thanks to Dave, Chris, Terry, Mr.Mark Fenlon, Scottmoose, et al, for their help, making plans, drivers &c. available.
But for them, some of us would be listening to, well, fill in the blanks!!
Best, don
 
Last edited:
Hi Terry: It's a sickness, right?!!
Long suffering wife asking when I'm gonna start the fence rebuild--I tell her the tools are booked-up for a bit. There ARE priorities after all.
Thinking of a birch veneer, or that lovely (green) bondo!!
Seriously, a huge thanks to Dave, Chris, Terry, Mr.Mark Fenlon, Scottmoose, et al, for their help, making plans, drivers &c. available.
But for them, some of us would be listening to, well, fill in the blanks!!
Best, don

Don,

"There's nothing, absolutely nothing, that says DIY like Bondo!"

Imagine for a moment, the delighted look on your wife's face when she sees the beautiful, muted pastel shades of green upon the light beige color of freshly sanded MDF. She's certain to be captivated by the soft, gentle interplay of tasteful colors captured in the morning sunlight, streaming in through the window.

There are very few things that say "I love you, Dear." like carefully crafted speaker cabinets with an exquisite Bondo finish. She'll probably completely forget about the fence and start planning a second honeymoon!

I just hope you're able get back in time for the Fest in August!

Best Regards,
Terry
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
I've not heard any miniOnken vrs Pensil comparos. We do have Pwnsil7 & dMar-Ken7 to do so sometime. Even when i do hear i don't know that i'll comment. As one of the designers it is not my place.

The 2 families have quite different design briefs. Pensil is designed to give good end-to-end performance & be simple to build.

miniOnken are targeted at extracting the maximum downward dynamic range (DDR), and to stay true to the maxim that most of the music is in the midrange.

dave
 
Thank you to all who have offered some insight into the potential differences between these two cabinet designs.

Dave, I appreciate your position and admire you for it :) Is it possible to give an estimate as to what the F6 or even F10 would be for the MarKen, please? I realise there are many factors at play here, not least the room. If you were to say somewhere in the 50's though, my mind would be make up ;)

By the grace of God or the Power of Greyskull, don't know which, I tracked down some Baltic Birch ply with a healthy count of 11 layers. I had to settle on 16mm as the 18mm didn't have the grain running the length but width of the board :/ All the same, I'm very happy to be able to try some nice ply instead of mdf... It's very easy to work but bloody horrible stuff. Besides, Birch is quite a lovely grain and colour.

Oh yeah, the plans suggest 18mm, I'm hoping 16 is ok.
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
Is it possible to give an estimate as to what the F6 or even F10 would be for the MarKen, please?

I have to estimate from the sims i have. F3 somewhere under 60 Hz, F6 about 44 Hz, F10 gets another 10 Hz.

I had to settle on 16mm as the 18mm didn't have the grain running the length but width of the board...
Oh yeah, the plans suggest 18mm, I'm hoping 16 is ok.

A plan-set for you would include 16mm drawings. Baffle may be a tad thin, have to see, and if you can get A10.2 with the bezel cover loose, life would be easier (in NA they come loose -- at least all the ones i have)

dave
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
Formost the bezel covers create an annular ridge around the driver. Without the bezel cover the driver to baffle transition is essentially flat.

From a practical pov the bezel cover means that you need a wider, thicker baffle. On the Mar-Ken10.2 it can get dicey fitting the driver on the baffle without it sticking out.

Alpair 10.2 and some grey Alpair12 are/have been available from Madisound with loose bezel covers (you just hve to ask).

dave
 
And I thought why is the cover loose?

Formost the bezel covers create an annular ridge around the driver. Without the bezel cover the driver to baffle transition is essentially flat.

From a practical pov the bezel cover means that you need a wider, thicker baffle. On the Mar-Ken10.2 it can get dicey fitting the driver on the baffle without it sticking out.

Alpair 10.2 and some grey Alpair12 are/have been available from Madisound with loose bezel covers (you just hve to ask).

dave

Dave,

If you recall I was struggling to get required depth for flush mounting my Alp 12s... my drivers were bought from Madisound and one of the boxes had "loose cover" written on it. It bothered me... why should the cover be loose? Now I know it's an option...

I still have around 1-1.5 mm of the driver (with cover) which is proud of the front baffle - easiest way to solve the problem is to the loose the cover? Here the cabs are Super Pensils.

I am putting grilles on anyways, so no worries on the aesthetics here.

-Zia
 
You can only loose the bezel covers, if both drivers have loose ones, there is no-way to remove them once glued on.

dave

Oh... the other one had nothing written on the box - so not sure. Now both are fixed in the break in boxes so can't check now.

For final fixing if I decided to keep the bezel covers on, do I need to glue down the loose one? After turning the screws things look nice and tight.

-Zia
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
Yes the bezel cover needs gluing -- the screws do not hold it down (it is a tight fit thou -- care must be taken removing it). I used some spots of 5min epoxy (on a copper one that was not supposed to have a removable bezel cover -- gave me quite a fright when i 1st looked at it, as the holes were not aligned and i thot i was going to have to send it back).

dave
 
The Mar-Kens look very cool. Very high WAF. I'm building a Pensil 10.2 in a week or so in baltic birch ply. If they sound amazing I will try to build the Mar-Kens to do a non biased comparison. I think this needs to be done. It will take forever since both sets of drivers need to be fully broken in. Hopefully someone will be able to do the comparison before me.

I am a professional cabinet maker by trade, ironically I like the simple designs because fabrication work is no longer fun since I do it full time. Still, Dave's designs are detailed enough that it's no big deal to build them. I wish the architects I work with did drawings like that, things would be easier.

My 10.2's have loose covers if that helps. Just got them from Madisound.
 
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