No. The A35 is internally cut in half at the mid-way point in two sections, the bottom half for the woofer and the top half for the tweeter. The two sections have an aperiodic vent between them. Instead of being externally vented, it is internally vented.
At this time, my version is internal + externally vented with the SEAS circular aperiodic vent.
My friend Susan inherited a pair of A35 (in excellent condition) and I was impressed with the sound. At some point and time, I'll be comparing the two speakers (A26-36 kit) to the older version. Her A35s still have the original capacitor.
This site is full of precious information. Thank you. I'm continuing to "tune" my A35 cloned speakers to my room. It ain't easy as the saying goes.
Taking a cue from this and other sites; looking at the stands that come with the current JBL-100 classics, I've decided to position the speaker
lower to the ground, just shy of 8 inches and about 10 inches from the wall that sits behind the speakers. I then introduce a slight tilt backwards and angle the speakers just a bit towards my listening position. I'm about 11 feet away from the speakers. Results: improvements across the board: better bass (taut and controlled); amazing highs and the best part is that whatever comes out of the tweeter is just purity in sound: piano key strikes reverberate like a real piano and float in the air; horn instruments are projected and voices have meat to them, so to speak. It's the type of sound I love and I wish for more...depth (of field), power, projection....oh well.
But wait I'm not done yet. The "tone" was not perfect. Upper bass, lower midrange needed work. So did the mid-range to the presence region (it was too recessed). Oh dear, much work awaited me and I thought, I can't do this with the speaker! How do I tune this? Onto the next paragraph and "Heresy EQ execution".
I have an RME ADI-2 DAC as my pre. It has a paramedic equalizer. I've been using it for a variety of speakers to good effect. I've used a combo of the "Harman" curve and my ears. Tuning one song to sound good does not mean all material will sound good (leaned the hard way). I've selected material from 1) Dave Brubeck's Take Five (to see if I can properly reference the pianos and Sax in the right measure). Once #1 is complete, I then moved onto 2) Holly Cole with her extensive vocal range, lower mids to 4 khz wails and accompaniment of deep reaching bass and of course piano. I had to go between her and some rock pop material to fine tune it (and I can't fine tune it enough, but I do what I can). Once I got this dialed in and it was the most exhaustive of exercises, then #3) Daniel Lanois' "I love you" from the album Shine (heck the whole album) which challenges any system in the upper bass lower midrange reaches: get it wrong and it will sound dark and recessed. I've heard it very dark with decent tube amps (Rogue = awesome) and decent speakers (Harbeth). At an audio show in Montréal, the album sounded "awful" (and so said the owner of Rogue audio, but I digress), so I know what I'm looking for.
Conclusion: I've got the parametric EQ dialed in for my room and it's sounding 'very decent'. I can now pop in any material and listen to it with little fuss. I do have Bass (set to 80 Hz) and Treble (set to 4.5 Khz) controls should I decide to further tune the sound on the fly with my remote, but the impact of these two adjustments is minute, not like the B&T from the old days. And I'm ok with that, it meets the need. not using Loudness at this time. LoL.
The A26 kit, and I will highlight the tweeter, is an amazing combo. It's not a killer combo (at least with my limited knowledge and abilities), but I will say this speaker system does some things better than my Dynaudio S40s. I love my Dyns and I'm keeping them for the living room! But the 10 inch paper woofer throws a nice sounding wide soundstage. I wish it provided more depth to the soundstage, but the upper bass is so well defined that I would not trade it for anything unless I could improve on the sound and maintain what is currently in place. The tweeter, I'm now convinced, is a killer component and worth it's cost (until the time someone actually demonstrates one to me that sounds better!). Not sure if the Birch construction plays into it here, or the fact it resides in a dedicated portion of the cabinet, but there are resonances of instruments floating in the air right in front of me that defy any sound from a speaker I've heard before. The projection of trumpets and saxophones kinda tricks me into thinking I'm listening to a modern horn loaded tweeter (Hmmm, that would be a fun project with the A26 woofer). It's never harsh or ear piercing, the highs hang and it just feels wonderful overall.
Next steps: in search of the perfect 8 inch tall angled dedicated speaker stand for these A35-A25 clones.
Now what do I call them (A35 cabinets with an aperiodic vent to the rear using the A26 kit components). ? The ML A30.5 speaker kit?
PS: Patricia Barber is now spinning with no adjustments to tone and it sounds just 'perfect'. So happy (it's been done before).
Taking a cue from this and other sites; looking at the stands that come with the current JBL-100 classics, I've decided to position the speaker
lower to the ground, just shy of 8 inches and about 10 inches from the wall that sits behind the speakers. I then introduce a slight tilt backwards and angle the speakers just a bit towards my listening position. I'm about 11 feet away from the speakers. Results: improvements across the board: better bass (taut and controlled); amazing highs and the best part is that whatever comes out of the tweeter is just purity in sound: piano key strikes reverberate like a real piano and float in the air; horn instruments are projected and voices have meat to them, so to speak. It's the type of sound I love and I wish for more...depth (of field), power, projection....oh well.
But wait I'm not done yet. The "tone" was not perfect. Upper bass, lower midrange needed work. So did the mid-range to the presence region (it was too recessed). Oh dear, much work awaited me and I thought, I can't do this with the speaker! How do I tune this? Onto the next paragraph and "Heresy EQ execution".
I have an RME ADI-2 DAC as my pre. It has a paramedic equalizer. I've been using it for a variety of speakers to good effect. I've used a combo of the "Harman" curve and my ears. Tuning one song to sound good does not mean all material will sound good (leaned the hard way). I've selected material from 1) Dave Brubeck's Take Five (to see if I can properly reference the pianos and Sax in the right measure). Once #1 is complete, I then moved onto 2) Holly Cole with her extensive vocal range, lower mids to 4 khz wails and accompaniment of deep reaching bass and of course piano. I had to go between her and some rock pop material to fine tune it (and I can't fine tune it enough, but I do what I can). Once I got this dialed in and it was the most exhaustive of exercises, then #3) Daniel Lanois' "I love you" from the album Shine (heck the whole album) which challenges any system in the upper bass lower midrange reaches: get it wrong and it will sound dark and recessed. I've heard it very dark with decent tube amps (Rogue = awesome) and decent speakers (Harbeth). At an audio show in Montréal, the album sounded "awful" (and so said the owner of Rogue audio, but I digress), so I know what I'm looking for.
Conclusion: I've got the parametric EQ dialed in for my room and it's sounding 'very decent'. I can now pop in any material and listen to it with little fuss. I do have Bass (set to 80 Hz) and Treble (set to 4.5 Khz) controls should I decide to further tune the sound on the fly with my remote, but the impact of these two adjustments is minute, not like the B&T from the old days. And I'm ok with that, it meets the need. not using Loudness at this time. LoL.
The A26 kit, and I will highlight the tweeter, is an amazing combo. It's not a killer combo (at least with my limited knowledge and abilities), but I will say this speaker system does some things better than my Dynaudio S40s. I love my Dyns and I'm keeping them for the living room! But the 10 inch paper woofer throws a nice sounding wide soundstage. I wish it provided more depth to the soundstage, but the upper bass is so well defined that I would not trade it for anything unless I could improve on the sound and maintain what is currently in place. The tweeter, I'm now convinced, is a killer component and worth it's cost (until the time someone actually demonstrates one to me that sounds better!). Not sure if the Birch construction plays into it here, or the fact it resides in a dedicated portion of the cabinet, but there are resonances of instruments floating in the air right in front of me that defy any sound from a speaker I've heard before. The projection of trumpets and saxophones kinda tricks me into thinking I'm listening to a modern horn loaded tweeter (Hmmm, that would be a fun project with the A26 woofer). It's never harsh or ear piercing, the highs hang and it just feels wonderful overall.
Next steps: in search of the perfect 8 inch tall angled dedicated speaker stand for these A35-A25 clones.
Now what do I call them (A35 cabinets with an aperiodic vent to the rear using the A26 kit components). ? The ML A30.5 speaker kit?
PS: Patricia Barber is now spinning with no adjustments to tone and it sounds just 'perfect'. So happy (it's been done before).
Picture of my, what started as an A26 build. A friend of mine build the cabs and they are extremely well done.
Liberty was taken with the tweeter position for aesthetic reasons although the A35 speaker design was used for the build.
I listen to them with the tweets inside, slightly angled towards me and they sound fantastic. 8 inches off the ground with a bit of tilt.
* Please note that 2 aperiodic vents are in use: one internal and one external (I was working on the cabs to add the second vent when I took the pictures). This has improved the bass response.
I very much like the bass quality of this speaker: very detailed; as are the highs.
It's not a perfect speaker, but a very enjoyable one and has a permanent spot in my home in one of my systems.
* I noticed a speaker built around the JBL L100 dimensions with these drivers: I wonder if the bass would be improved in a slightly bigger cabinet?
Liberty was taken with the tweeter position for aesthetic reasons although the A35 speaker design was used for the build.
I listen to them with the tweets inside, slightly angled towards me and they sound fantastic. 8 inches off the ground with a bit of tilt.
* Please note that 2 aperiodic vents are in use: one internal and one external (I was working on the cabs to add the second vent when I took the pictures). This has improved the bass response.
I very much like the bass quality of this speaker: very detailed; as are the highs.
It's not a perfect speaker, but a very enjoyable one and has a permanent spot in my home in one of my systems.
* I noticed a speaker built around the JBL L100 dimensions with these drivers: I wonder if the bass would be improved in a slightly bigger cabinet?
Attachments
JT120 - I assume you have not yet made up your mind and are still looking? yes?
Are you open to the idea of a subwoofer, or better yet, a pair of small subwoofers?
Are you open to the idea of a subwoofer, or better yet, a pair of small subwoofers?
This is above the price level where one would expect higher sound quality from a well designed 3 way compared to a well designed 2 way. Is 2 way a firm constraint?
I would really like to build something that sounds good without a sub for now but I would not rule out thoughts of a sub in the future.
I wanted to have cabinets in the under 20 liter range and most kits or open source designs I’ve seen are 2 ways. I also felt a 2 way was an easier build overall.
My A26 (or modified version of it) was an easy build and I love the 1st order crossover. My friend Michael built the cabs.
If you go to YouTube, you can see a compare of Dynaudio speakers: Evoke 20, Contour 20, Special 40 and Heritage Special.
After careful listening, I noted differences between the speakers between the different order cross overs.
It's not perfect, but my A26 clone, now called the ML A30.5 is such a great speaker to listen to!
If you go to YouTube, you can see a compare of Dynaudio speakers: Evoke 20, Contour 20, Special 40 and Heritage Special.
After careful listening, I noted differences between the speakers between the different order cross overs.
It's not perfect, but my A26 clone, now called the ML A30.5 is such a great speaker to listen to!
Attachments
If you are building someone else's design then the number of ways doesn't really matter much but if you are designing your own first speaker then I would agree that a 2 way using standard range drivers can be a good place to start. This would be closer to a budget of $500 rather than $1000. Expensive drivers for a small 2 way configuration don't make much sense in terms of performance for the money but, of course, this isn't the only relevant criteria for most of us.
Compact 20 litre 3 ways for desktop(ish) use are around but for mains in a room one would normally opt for something a bit larger to help support clean bass output. Here is an example within your budget (if you avoid expensive boutique crossover components) although it may contain one or two design choices that don't fit your requirements.
Anyway, not trying to put you off a 20 litre 2 way just flagging up that $1000 looks a bit high.
It is an interesting old fashioned configuration that has largely disappeared. Not sure what prompted SEAS to bring out their 10" midwoofer as a standard range driver (most of their retro drivers are expensive) but it requires a tweeter that can operate at low frequency. There are one or two suitable large tweeters around at premium prices but I am not aware of any at standard range prices. Anyone?
It would seem like a perfect fit for any number of small full-range or wide-band drivers, which are basically just cone tweeters by any other name.
The 'woofer' design is a proven performer, and it never ceases to confuse me as to why they insist making various compromised 'dome' designs for the upper frequency ranges.
Yes you are correct, I think my cost estimate should have been more like $750 for a pair with all material cost in. I was not planning on boutique crossovers but did plan on using air core inductors (14 ga on LF), medium price caps and resistors.
I know using a woofer as large as 8” will require a lower crossover point and the cost of a waveguide type tweeter can be expensive in the designs I’ve seen so far. I would really like to stick with a 2 way.
Building my knowledge and tweaking is my goal, not looking for a one and done.
In order to be wideband drivers they will have a strongly resonant, uneven and beaming high frequency. Those with an interest in high fidelity are inevitably going to shy away.
The problem with the retro SEAS 10" driver is that it tends to want something like a 1.5" dome tweeter which used to be around decades ago but isn't so much these days. If there was such a thing around $50 with decent performance I might be tempted. But a budget speaker with a $250 tweeter?
Domes have a lot of unique issues as well though. Rocking modes, uncontrolled ring radiator effects smearing the acoustic centre (forward-back), or energy spikes in the middle of the dome at resonance.
On the other hand, something about them was deemed better than scaled-down woofers, and while 3-4" full-range drivers can be really nice, they're still a stop-gap solution, hampered by their ambition to go down to 100Hz and 3.5mm xmax and so on.
Madisound also recommend a lower cost tweeter. The TDFC from SEAS. I've used in another build. It's a nice and bright tweeter. But I much prefer the T35. Just now I was listening to Dire Straights 'Why Worry' and there was air to the sound; similar to a Wilson speaker I heard years ago in Montréal: it left an indelible imprint on my audio brain; it was an Ah-Hah moment when I listened to it again with the T35. Yeah expensive, but how much is a Wilson? Just saying, it's all relative.
I've use a sealed sub in the past, with a pair of Reference 3A Decapos: it was amazing. And subs keep improving. If you do go with a sub, then you free up a lot of constraints with your speaker build. + you can improve the performance overall if you have the room to install a sub. I am very happy with my build, but it's not bass heavy and I think that's the nature of the A26 driver: tuneful bass, but not too low.