Some updates on my build.
- One of the cabinets all glued up, except for the front baffles. The front baffle will be removable for my build, in case I want to experiment with different wide-band drivers later. I am planning to start with the Vistaon B80. Need to rout the speaker mounting holes on the baffle pieces.
- The second cab is ready to be buttoned up - pics with areas inside the cabinet lined with natural jute felt shown below. You can also see the and cross-over placement in on the images. Please note I have made a "window" towards the bottom of the back-panel. There will be screwed-on panel here, which can be removed to take out the XO for tweaking and adjust the poly-fluff at the bottom of the speaker. There are a couple of horizontal braces between the divider and the back panel. The material is 18 mm ply for the build.
- For housing the wide-band unit in its own closed chamber, I followed xrk971 and Vunce, and chose plastic sports cones. The seller gave me multiple colors...🙂 I truncated the cones a bit towards the narrow end - this is little bit different from what the others did. X's cabinet maker used the full length of the cone and made a hole in the divider to accommodate the narrow top of the cone. Instead in my case, I made the cone a little bit shorter and closed the end with a piece of PVC sheet bonded with epoxy. I am also thinking about reinforcing the open end of the cone with 5-6 mm ply, will try to get that done tomorrow.
- Front baffles need to be done - the last major piece of work before sound. 🙂
- One of the cabinets all glued up, except for the front baffles. The front baffle will be removable for my build, in case I want to experiment with different wide-band drivers later. I am planning to start with the Vistaon B80. Need to rout the speaker mounting holes on the baffle pieces.
- The second cab is ready to be buttoned up - pics with areas inside the cabinet lined with natural jute felt shown below. You can also see the and cross-over placement in on the images. Please note I have made a "window" towards the bottom of the back-panel. There will be screwed-on panel here, which can be removed to take out the XO for tweaking and adjust the poly-fluff at the bottom of the speaker. There are a couple of horizontal braces between the divider and the back panel. The material is 18 mm ply for the build.
- For housing the wide-band unit in its own closed chamber, I followed xrk971 and Vunce, and chose plastic sports cones. The seller gave me multiple colors...🙂 I truncated the cones a bit towards the narrow end - this is little bit different from what the others did. X's cabinet maker used the full length of the cone and made a hole in the divider to accommodate the narrow top of the cone. Instead in my case, I made the cone a little bit shorter and closed the end with a piece of PVC sheet bonded with epoxy. I am also thinking about reinforcing the open end of the cone with 5-6 mm ply, will try to get that done tomorrow.
- Front baffles need to be done - the last major piece of work before sound. 🙂
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Fantastic progress Zman01!!
Will the modified cone flat end be glued to the center baffle?
You know what the next step is.......Break out the router!!
Will the modified cone flat end be glued to the center baffle?
You know what the next step is.......Break out the router!!
X,
Finally got the speakers done yesterday. Managed to put in a few hours of listening after that.
Just to recap, my build is done using a Visaton B80 as the mid-tweeter. X has already tried out the RS225 + B80 in his stand-mount version of the FAST, but for the RS225 TL design, this is probably the first and only build using these drivers.
I have been playing music of various genres, however a lot of it is pop and rock music from the mid 80s onwards.
Initial impressions are very positive. xrk971's cross over design makes for a really nice integrated design with these drivers. The mid-range has excellent resolution (as expected from a high quality wide-band unit), and the integration with the woofer is very well done. Vocal and speech intelligibility is very good, the brain does not have to work hard to make out the details. Separation of voices and instruments is also very good, different voices in the choruses can be made out easily.
The bass is articulate and goes deep. Bass guitar sounds detailed and tight. What I am also liking is the overall balance - though there is plentiful bass, it is not overpowering or annoying.
I am playing the speakers with my Modulus-86 amp. I listen to music at moderate levels, and the ~30 watt amplifier is coping fine; but probably a more powerful amp will provide a good listening experience at higher SPLs, as the sensitivity is around 82dB IIRC.
The mid-tweet has satisfactory high frequencies for most content, however it would be slightly lacking the shimmer and air that a good quality tweeter has. This is not entirely a bad thing - bright and edgy recordings that can sound fatiguing on a lot of 2 way/multi-ways with tweeters (especially if you crank up the volume) can sound more enjoyable on a FAST speaker like this.
Altogether, I am enjoying the sound. Thank you X for sharing this excellent design with the DIY community.
Off now for some more listening. 🙂
Finally got the speakers done yesterday. Managed to put in a few hours of listening after that.
Just to recap, my build is done using a Visaton B80 as the mid-tweeter. X has already tried out the RS225 + B80 in his stand-mount version of the FAST, but for the RS225 TL design, this is probably the first and only build using these drivers.
I have been playing music of various genres, however a lot of it is pop and rock music from the mid 80s onwards.
Initial impressions are very positive. xrk971's cross over design makes for a really nice integrated design with these drivers. The mid-range has excellent resolution (as expected from a high quality wide-band unit), and the integration with the woofer is very well done. Vocal and speech intelligibility is very good, the brain does not have to work hard to make out the details. Separation of voices and instruments is also very good, different voices in the choruses can be made out easily.
The bass is articulate and goes deep. Bass guitar sounds detailed and tight. What I am also liking is the overall balance - though there is plentiful bass, it is not overpowering or annoying.
I am playing the speakers with my Modulus-86 amp. I listen to music at moderate levels, and the ~30 watt amplifier is coping fine; but probably a more powerful amp will provide a good listening experience at higher SPLs, as the sensitivity is around 82dB IIRC.
The mid-tweet has satisfactory high frequencies for most content, however it would be slightly lacking the shimmer and air that a good quality tweeter has. This is not entirely a bad thing - bright and edgy recordings that can sound fatiguing on a lot of 2 way/multi-ways with tweeters (especially if you crank up the volume) can sound more enjoyable on a FAST speaker like this.
Altogether, I am enjoying the sound. Thank you X for sharing this excellent design with the DIY community.
Off now for some more listening. 🙂
Zman,
Congratulations on your new TL speakers! I am glad they are sounding good - I think the woofers can improve somewhat with some breaking in. But they sound great out of the box. The B80 is a nice mid-tweet. Happy listening!
Any photos?
Congratulations on your new TL speakers! I am glad they are sounding good - I think the woofers can improve somewhat with some breaking in. But they sound great out of the box. The B80 is a nice mid-tweet. Happy listening!
Any photos?
I'm strongly considering building a pair of these. Was leaning towards the bigger TL floor speakers to avoid the need for a sub, but unfortunately they're going to be too big for the wife...
So my maximum dimensions are probably 28" tall x 12" deep x 10-16" wide.
Anyone have any thoughts? I'm thinking I probably just need to go with a bigger sealed or low tuned bass reflex, but I'm wondering if its worthwhile to pursue a different folding scheme for a smaller TL box.
So my maximum dimensions are probably 28" tall x 12" deep x 10-16" wide.
Anyone have any thoughts? I'm thinking I probably just need to go with a bigger sealed or low tuned bass reflex, but I'm wondering if its worthwhile to pursue a different folding scheme for a smaller TL box.
Suicufnoc,
If you go for a less tall speaker, wouldn't you have to put them on stands? I am not sure that with 28" height you would get the mid-tweeter up to the optimum levels.
If you go for a less tall speaker, wouldn't you have to put them on stands? I am not sure that with 28" height you would get the mid-tweeter up to the optimum levels.
They will unfortunately not be at optimum level, may have to tilt them back a little or build that tilt into the front baffle.
Hi Zman,
So we are all dying to see what your TL creations look like in your listening room. Have you had a chance to drive it with a circa 100w amp yet? They really come alive with a 65w+ amp.
Cheers,
X
So we are all dying to see what your TL creations look like in your listening room. Have you had a chance to drive it with a circa 100w amp yet? They really come alive with a 65w+ amp.
Cheers,
X
Suicufnoc- My recommendations is to build the FAST as designed and get a new wife...LOL Seriously, I keep thinking of way's to make them "better" and it's almost impossible. They are really amazing and not really that big. My only gripe with the basic design is that they need to be five inches taller to be at perfect sitting height. I'm the only one who seems to care about this, but I feel it's important. The bass is hard to beat and the mids & highs are glorious. I would like to find some way to try a super tweeter version using an AMT tweeter. I'm use to that sound and I miss it on POP music. I think my hearing in the upper octaves is muffled and that's why I like a lot of tweeter action.
I'll probably end up building the sealed version essentially as-is and building a separate sub. Thinking about building a small sealed sub with a LAB12, but open to suggestions.
I've ordered the main 4 speakers for the project.
Yeah, a tweeter is tempting too... I'll be using dsp and bi/triamping and could integrate it well...
I've ordered the main 4 speakers for the project.
Yeah, a tweeter is tempting too... I'll be using dsp and bi/triamping and could integrate it well...
I use a basic $100 Polk PSW10 powered sub with the sealed version and it sounds great. Of course, a more high end subwoofer can, and will sound better, but for $100 - you are going to have a lot of enjoyment for the money and saving the hassle of building one.
X,
Sorry for the delay in uploading pics - had to clean up a few things before taking the snap. 🙂 The speakers are still in raw ply - probably will go for a solid black front baffle, and a natural finish for the rest of cabinet. Enjoying the sound as is, and next steps on cabinet work will take some time (do not hold your breath on that 😀).
The preamp in the pic is a Salas DCG3, the amplifier is a Modulus-86, and the DAC is an SMSL Sanskrit 10th. Music is on a Intel NUC mini-PC. Point noted on an amp with more watts - will have to get working on that soon.
Sorry for the delay in uploading pics - had to clean up a few things before taking the snap. 🙂 The speakers are still in raw ply - probably will go for a solid black front baffle, and a natural finish for the rest of cabinet. Enjoying the sound as is, and next steps on cabinet work will take some time (do not hold your breath on that 😀).
The preamp in the pic is a Salas DCG3, the amplifier is a Modulus-86, and the DAC is an SMSL Sanskrit 10th. Music is on a Intel NUC mini-PC. Point noted on an amp with more watts - will have to get working on that soon.
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Nice work, Zman! Your setup is very clean and compact. The mini PC music server is tiny. The wood paneling used on the speakers looks very nice. Black goes with everything though.
Thanks for the photo.
Thanks for the photo.