166es-r in a austin a166 & construction ?

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#21
rjbond3rd said:


Hi hifiZen, the gentleman REC1 who responded with the colorful comment is in fact the very same ronc, Ron Clarke, designer of the BLH's in question.
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Oh, hah! :fim: :blush: ... now there's irony - I was the one completely missing the context. For some reason, I haven't seen his posts on the subject here (or if so, I didn't realize who it was), so I was thinking Ron wasn't posting on this forum, just over at fullrangedriver.com. There would seem to be some threads / posts I've missed on this topic(?). Ahh, well at least that was worth a good chuckle.

Anyway, it looks like I have a few long work days coming up, so I shall return to the AutoCAD drawings this weekend, and post the first cut files, with dimensions...

Now that I think of it, is there another set of plans for the A166 posted somewhere? The only drawings I have are the PDF posted at planet10's site.
 
#22
serenechaos said:
... (looking from the top), the rear deflector was made square, not triangular, and the speakers were corner loaded.
...
I've also tried using a super tweeter, had best results with a Heil AMT crossed in ~15 kHz, but still not happy with it.
Other problems with this system; namely that of long path BLHs...
But regardless, it remains the best BLH, and by itself the best single driver "fullrange" speaker I've ever heard
Robert
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So at least initially, I won't have the option of corner loading these... my listening room dictates that they end up against the long wall. So I will start with the triangular wedge, plus a detachable base such that in the future I can change the wedge easily.

Anyone tried modding the 166esr's with phase plugs? It seems like a good idea, but I'd hesitate to try it myself, since it's an irreversible one-shot deal.

Really looking forward to starting construction on these...
 
#23
hifiZen said:
Anyone tried modding the 166esr's with phase plugs?
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Yeah, a old vacuum tube works well.
Like Steve Deckert uses in his corner horns.
Something like a 6DJ8 is just the right length/dia.
Free & easy.

hifiZen said:
It seems like a good idea, but I'd hesitate to try it myself, since it's an irreversible one-shot deal.
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Not if you're careful.
Just be REAL careful cutting the dust cap, & it can be glued back on.
Robert 🙂
 
#24
...others may take offense at the apparent (though unintentional, I'm sure) insult to Ron...

No insult taken, i work for Hindus, nobody could insult me more.

Re: Opinion.

In my work an opinion never matters. Yes sometimes i use SWAG ,but its still based on results from the past (which lessens the SWAG effect).

The A166 was designed around the FE166. Other drivers of simular values will work but not to the exacting degree that the original design was based.

Sorry! i am old and cranky and under a great work load.

ron

(if i had known i was going to live this long i would have taken better care of myself)
 
#27
I'm interested as well in an optimized for 166esr horn...

so far the closest to that would be the Spawn model Hiro with the 166esr specific angle for the stacked corner deflectors posted somewhere here.

A166 is an option but the specific changes for this driver don't seem well documented..

I think there were 300 pairs sold in North America... so maybe we can take attendance here and if all are willing to pay 20$ via paypal for a proper set of autocad drawings maybe some nice horn developer will put a few hours into this.

If not, I'm going with Hiro, easy build and nice footprint.

Thanks
paba
 
#29
paba said:

so far the closest to that would be the Spawn model Hiro with the 166esr specific angle for the stacked corner deflectors posted somewhere here.
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do you have a link to that?
i thought about the hiro, liking the footprint too but my stock of baltic birch ply are 5'x5' sheets and it calls for 6' sides.
 
#30
paba said:
I'm interested as well in an optimized for 166esr horn...
I think there were 300 pairs sold in North America... so maybe we can take attendance here and if all are willing to pay 20$ via paypal for a proper set of autocad drawings maybe some nice horn developer will put a few hours into this.
paba
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you could count me in.
 
#32
hifiZen said:
More like this you mean... with the suprabaffle flush instead of proud of the front panel? I had to move the driver centerline up to prevent the magnet crashing into the back of the CC, but with a single layer of ply, the inside cone diameter is indeed a lot less.
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would the compression chamber be reduced (as called for/es-r), with the suprabaffle flush? any negatives with it flush vs. protruding?

can you guy's give a consensus of the iris bvr /166es-r? i'm thinking that it won't weigh 100+lbs like the hiro or fostex rec. blh and i wont have to buy more lumber as my stock of 5'x5' B.B. will do.
 
#33
#34
I am glad veryoldcat likes them.

Just got back to work due to hurricane Ike, i stayed @ home and rode it out.
Unbelievable energy in a hurricane. Ripped up a concrete 4x4 post right out of the ground in my patio fence, tore the bricks right off the building. The destruction was amazing. Most ppl here are still without power and living on brought in bottled water and MREs. The sound ,as the eye passed, was like a train passing by and someone screaming outside my window. Not much scares me in my old age, but this did. (Quote:" As an old lion senses the end he gets very brave")

Back to topic: I have never truly worked out the numbers on power requirements for the A166, but i designed in a great deal of loading on the rear of the cone. I doubt that a spud SET will overcome the load in one portion of the sine wave at LF. A good gainclone or PP tube or general quality amp with at least 8-30 watts should perform well.

ron
 
#35
All neighborhoods... and possibly entire coastal communities...

will be inundated during high tide. Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single family one or two story homes will face certain death. Many residences of average construction directly on the coast will be destroyed. Widespread and devastating personal property damage is likely elsewhere. Vehicles left behind will likely be swept away. Numerous roads will be swamped... some may be washed away by the water. Entire flood prone coastal communities will be cutoff. Water levels may exceed 9 feet for more than a mile inland. Coastal residents in multi-story facilities risk being cutoff. Conditions will be worsened by battering waves. Such waves will exacerbate property damage... with massive destruction of homes... including those of block construction. Damage from beach erosion could take years to repair.
 
#38
REC1 said:
All neighborhoods... and possibly entire coastal communities...

will be inundated during high tide. Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single family one or two story homes will face certain death. Many residences of average construction directly on the coast will be destroyed. Widespread and devastating personal property damage is likely elsewhere. Vehicles left behind will likely be swept away. Numerous roads will be swamped... some may be washed away by the water. Entire flood prone coastal communities will be cutoff. Water levels may exceed 9 feet for more than a mile inland. Coastal residents in multi-story facilities risk being cutoff. Conditions will be worsened by battering waves. Such waves will exacerbate property damage... with massive destruction of homes... including those of block construction. Damage from beach erosion could take years to repair.
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Hi Ron,

What an awful horrible mess! Sorry-ness is no real help, certainly; but I offer my deepest concern and sympathies. As an artist, I have a major collector who has a great deal of my work stored in Baytown, TX. I haven't even had the nerve to ask her if all the work is ok, but if NOT, 10 years of my best work is wiped out.

On a happier note, Ron, anyone that is capable of a nice build of your Austin design has a GREAT deal to look forwards to: anyone capable of building these, should immediately go for it! I used the Decware modded FE166, and stuck very closely to the drawings on the Planet10 site.

When I say very closely, there are some extremely miniscule changes that happened due to the adaptation of .75" Europly, instead of the .70" Baltic Birch.

I've listened to a lotta speakers, and these definitely fall into the extra super special category.

Double kudos, Ron, for all the fussing it took to model these guys. They are incredible, and "thank you" doesn't even come close.

Karl
 
#39
REC1 said:

I have never truly worked out the numbers on power requirements for the A166, but i designed in a great deal of loading on the rear of the cone. I doubt that a spud SET will overcome the load in one portion of the sine wave at LF. A good gainclone or PP tube or general quality amp with at least 8-30 watts should perform well.
ron
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in going with the higher efficiency 166es-r's i had wanted to use a 2a3set or even a 45set since they've been reported to work well with the cain&cain abby's. i hadn't thought about rear cone loading. would i be better off building the spawn iris bvr for that application?
as a side note, have a mint scott 222c 18watt pp tube amp but i didn't want to use it for these. i suppose a 8watt 300b set would do but i don't currently have one and didn't like the way my previous two 300b set amps created a new tropical climate in the room in all months but winter.
any thoughts or experience's please?
 
#40
mp9 said:

in going with the higher efficiency 166es-r's i had wanted to use a 2a3set or even a 45set since they've been reported to work well with the cain&cain abby's. i hadn't thought about rear cone loading. would i be better off building the spawn iris bvr for that application?
as a side note, have a mint scott 222c 18watt pp tube amp but i didn't want to use it for these. i suppose a 8watt 300b set would do but i don't currently have one and didn't like the way my previous two 300b set amps created a new tropical climate in the room in all months but winter.
any thoughts or experience's please?
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To the extent that any 2A3 or 45 works with the Abbys it will work with the Austins. I found 15 watts (triode connected PP el-34's) to be way more than enough in a large room, it should only take a couple of watts to hit the linear excursion limits of the driver at 40hz.


Sean
 
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