I decided to build the Kensho Two – M2 off Göran's website "AudioExcite" after purchasing the ribbon tweeters
from the swap meet and the woofers on sale from Madisound. The crossover caps were also on sale from Parts Connexion.
Boxes were made with 3/4 Baltic Birch ply, also first time veneering with paper backed Mappa Burl wood veneer.
from the swap meet and the woofers on sale from Madisound. The crossover caps were also on sale from Parts Connexion.
Boxes were made with 3/4 Baltic Birch ply, also first time veneering with paper backed Mappa Burl wood veneer.
I made the front baffles same as the discontinued parts express curved cabinets. Sprayed with flat soft iron metallic paint and primer, then sprayed with crystal clear enamel. And yes, those are slot ported Speedster speakers and folded TABAQ TL for Tang Band speakers in the background. We'll save those for another thread.
All voids in the veneer filled and sanded.
Then after 4 coats of brush on water based polyurethane and 4 coats of spray on water based polyurethane, with light sanding in between each coats.
We are ready to spend 1/2 a day outside wet sanding with sandpaper ranging from 400 grit to 5000 grit.
Then after fully sanded, we polish and wax them with automotive products.
Then after 4 coats of brush on water based polyurethane and 4 coats of spray on water based polyurethane, with light sanding in between each coats.
We are ready to spend 1/2 a day outside wet sanding with sandpaper ranging from 400 grit to 5000 grit.
Then after fully sanded, we polish and wax them with automotive products.
Lets put these together!!!!!
Boxes lined with 1/2 inch denim, crossovers installed and port tube cut 25% bigger than recommended, will tune later.
TESTING 1-2-3
One final test before attaching the baffle.
A little lambs wool which I removed most later and speaker gasket around the baffle edge.
Boxes lined with 1/2 inch denim, crossovers installed and port tube cut 25% bigger than recommended, will tune later.
TESTING 1-2-3
One final test before attaching the baffle.
A little lambs wool which I removed most later and speaker gasket around the baffle edge.
Speaker binding post, tweeter resistor switch installed.
All hooked up playing music! Bass is pretty impressive for a bookshelf speaker. Göran nailed it when he said "ribbon shimmer and effortless treble resolution paired with a very good dispersion, both horizontally and vertically".
Brought over to the living room and placed them where my wife's Viva Voce Speaker's from Meniscus sit (should do a build thread on those also).
All hooked up playing music! Bass is pretty impressive for a bookshelf speaker. Göran nailed it when he said "ribbon shimmer and effortless treble resolution paired with a very good dispersion, both horizontally and vertically".
Brought over to the living room and placed them where my wife's Viva Voce Speaker's from Meniscus sit (should do a build thread on those also).
Very nice. Loe the veneer (the µMar-KenSET i am listening to have very similar.
Lovly holey brace, but it is not oriented optimally.
dave
Lovly holey brace, but it is not oriented optimally.
dave
The general rule is that the subpanels created by the brace should have higher aspect ratios than teh panel it divides.
In addition, communicating reactive energy from the woofer to more box sides means it is didtributed across more box so becomes less likely to cause the box to move. In that box besides front to back, some stub braces to breakup the sides would likely be useful.
dave
In addition, communicating reactive energy from the woofer to more box sides means it is didtributed across more box so becomes less likely to cause the box to move. In that box besides front to back, some stub braces to breakup the sides would likely be useful.
dave
Funny how coincidences work, after a long time of deliberating on what "kind/size" speaker I should build for my daughter, I decided on this design yesterday morning.....at the end of the day I see this detailed build report.
Thank you for the creative ideas and great photos.
Once you have some listening time on these units, I would really like to know your opinion of the sound quality overall, but specifically, your thoughts on this ribbon tweeter.
Cheers from northern Alberta......
Thank you for the creative ideas and great photos.
Once you have some listening time on these units, I would really like to know your opinion of the sound quality overall, but specifically, your thoughts on this ribbon tweeter.
Cheers from northern Alberta......
I love Fountek ribbons… there is some concern around the internet that their company is going to give up the ghost.
They look lovely and I bet they sound great.
But what I really like is what you've done for tweeter level adjustment. Not sure I've seen anyone else add a switch that goes beyond giving 2 choices. I just figured out the other day how to use a DPDT ON-ON-ON switch to give you a choice between 3 resistor levels in addition to already figuring out how to use a SPDT ON-OFF-ON toggle switch to do close to the same thing.
For the benefit of all readers, you might want to just explain what you've done here and maybe include a little wiring diagram as well. It's really a neat trick to be able to make those adjustments after the whole speaker is put together in its final form.
But what I really like is what you've done for tweeter level adjustment. Not sure I've seen anyone else add a switch that goes beyond giving 2 choices. I just figured out the other day how to use a DPDT ON-ON-ON switch to give you a choice between 3 resistor levels in addition to already figuring out how to use a SPDT ON-OFF-ON toggle switch to do close to the same thing.
For the benefit of all readers, you might want to just explain what you've done here and maybe include a little wiring diagram as well. It's really a neat trick to be able to make those adjustments after the whole speaker is put together in its final form.
Goran is suggesting an isolation compartment for the ribbon tweeter, Doesn't look like that was part of your build. Any thoughts for/against this??? I'm completely new to the ribbon tweeter world.
"I recommend using a separate compartment for the Fountek ribbon tweeter if you are building your own enclosure and not using the Dayton enclosure option." -- Goran
"I recommend using a separate compartment for the Fountek ribbon tweeter if you are building your own enclosure and not using the Dayton enclosure option." -- Goran
Amazing how that works!!! Your daughter will be impressed with the sound quality and should play all music well.
I read his recommendation to build a separate compartment for the tweeter but decided to use duck seal around the plastic horn to reduce ringing. I haven't done that yet but zip tied some 1/2 inch denim temporally.
Thanks, best looking ones I done so far.
Here's the schematic and wiring diagram I used. The colors listed are the colors of wire I used. For the R2 resistor I chose the 8.2 and 6.8. So far listening, I mostly use the 6.8 resistor. I used some DPDT On On switches I had and wired both positive and negative side of the resistor, positive side shown.