Paul Carmody's website shows that the tweeter in the Classix II has reverse polarity; I recall the original Parts Express product page showed normal polarity, which would be wrong. It should have been fixed by now, but it's worth checking.
Resistors are cheap, even in Oz, so if you want to use more expensive parts it won't cost much more.
Geoff
Resistors are cheap, even in Oz, so if you want to use more expensive parts it won't cost much more.
Geoff
I did notice that the 8 ohm version of the Peerless tweeter needed to be inverted. But in my modeling with the 4 ohm version, normal polarity seems to produce the best response.
Whether the tweeter is 4 or 8 ohms doesn’t matter for polarity, as far asI know. I would ignore the model and build the crossover exactly as specified, or it won’t sound right. I reversed polarity by accident and ineptitude of one of my tweeters when building my Classic and it sounded off.
Geoff
Geoff
Okay, I will take your advice. That's the beauty of these endeavors, we can experiment until we like the results.
It's not really my advice - thank Paul Carmody, the designer.
I found the Classix II really good with my 60s and 70s rock albums, many of which are a bit worn and weren't very well recorded or mixed. They're alos non-fatiguing and I could listen to them for hours.
Good luck with your build
Geoff
I found the Classix II really good with my 60s and 70s rock albums, many of which are a bit worn and weren't very well recorded or mixed. They're alos non-fatiguing and I could listen to them for hours.
Good luck with your build
Geoff
Project Update: Cerwin Vega L7 rebuild: The Dappers.
The project is about 80-85% done. I have two working speakers. For the final build I decided to use the Dayton Audio DC160-8 woofer and Peerless BC25TG15-04 tweeter with a 2 inch by 12 inch rear port.
The final design was based on the Classix II bookshelf by Paul Carmody as recommended by Geoff Millar.
For the crossover I used Solen, Jantzen, Dayton, and Audyn capacitors along with 18 gauge air core inductors. For resistors I used Dayton Precision 1% audio grade resistors. I decided to mount the crossovers on the exterior of the back of the cabinet just below the ports.
I added an internal brace between the drivers and 30mm sonic barrier fiber mat. The original baffles were cut away and I made new ones out of ¾” MDF. I did add a slight round over to the inside edge of the driver cut outs and recessed the tweeter.
The speakers sound very nice – better than any speakers I have owned for many, many years. In fact, the last sound system that I had that sounded as good as this was in one of my previous vans. These speakers are paired with a subwoofer I built using the Epique E150HE-44 5 ½” DVC subwoofer.
I did some initial testing with the Dayton DATS V3, the MiniDSP UMIK-1 mic, and REW. I still need to create .frd and .zma files to analyze in Xsim to see how to improve the crossover.
But the speakers are up and running. I have more pure copper wire to replace the speaker wire in the crossovers and will be soldering it all soon.
The project is about 80-85% done. I have two working speakers. For the final build I decided to use the Dayton Audio DC160-8 woofer and Peerless BC25TG15-04 tweeter with a 2 inch by 12 inch rear port.
The final design was based on the Classix II bookshelf by Paul Carmody as recommended by Geoff Millar.
For the crossover I used Solen, Jantzen, Dayton, and Audyn capacitors along with 18 gauge air core inductors. For resistors I used Dayton Precision 1% audio grade resistors. I decided to mount the crossovers on the exterior of the back of the cabinet just below the ports.
I added an internal brace between the drivers and 30mm sonic barrier fiber mat. The original baffles were cut away and I made new ones out of ¾” MDF. I did add a slight round over to the inside edge of the driver cut outs and recessed the tweeter.
The speakers sound very nice – better than any speakers I have owned for many, many years. In fact, the last sound system that I had that sounded as good as this was in one of my previous vans. These speakers are paired with a subwoofer I built using the Epique E150HE-44 5 ½” DVC subwoofer.
I did some initial testing with the Dayton DATS V3, the MiniDSP UMIK-1 mic, and REW. I still need to create .frd and .zma files to analyze in Xsim to see how to improve the crossover.
But the speakers are up and running. I have more pure copper wire to replace the speaker wire in the crossovers and will be soldering it all soon.
Attachments
Looking good!
I really wouldn't worry about modifiying the crossover: maybe if you thought the top end was too bright/too laid back you could play with the L-Pad on the tweeter, but changing the major parts could create some issues. I suggest living with them for a month or too, play different music and then see if you want to do something. A good idea to mount the XO where you can get ready access, but it will get dusty over time - maybe make some sort of cover?
FWIW, I've not seen any posted mods to the crossover on the Forums I look at and a lot of people have built these.
Geoff
I really wouldn't worry about modifiying the crossover: maybe if you thought the top end was too bright/too laid back you could play with the L-Pad on the tweeter, but changing the major parts could create some issues. I suggest living with them for a month or too, play different music and then see if you want to do something. A good idea to mount the XO where you can get ready access, but it will get dusty over time - maybe make some sort of cover?
FWIW, I've not seen any posted mods to the crossover on the Forums I look at and a lot of people have built these.
Geoff
That's a shame, as it does put quite a limit on what you can do > But then again creates a 'somewhat fun challenge'.
PS. Using Ebay or such does create the opportunity for changing amplifiers at quite a low cost 🙂
Hi GeoWorx,
If you feel like fiddling around with the x-over some more.
I've used the German boxsim software from visaton. It's free and is a real help. It's not super easy to use but you seem to understand alot already so I don't think you'll have a hard time using it. Boxsim has a crossover optimiser that fine tunes your crossover to make the response as flat as possible. You'll need to enter correct measurements of the drivers in the enclosure to get the best results.
Hope this helps,
Xa4
If you feel like fiddling around with the x-over some more.
I've used the German boxsim software from visaton. It's free and is a real help. It's not super easy to use but you seem to understand alot already so I don't think you'll have a hard time using it. Boxsim has a crossover optimiser that fine tunes your crossover to make the response as flat as possible. You'll need to enter correct measurements of the drivers in the enclosure to get the best results.
Hope this helps,
Xa4
I mounted them to the back and am planning on making polycarbonate plastic covers. I have the materials, just need to finish soldering the components and then I'll cover them, plus tidy of the wiring).
And I agree, I am just enjoying them for now and listening to all kinds or music, especially tracks that I have fond memories of how they sound on "good" systems. So far, coupled with the sub woofer it has been an amazing experience.
Attachments
I you relieve the DC160 of really low stuff, they should play louder than usual without running out of puff.
Excellent speakers, as you say.
Geoff
Excellent speakers, as you say.
Geoff