As long as they sound good to your ears, i think that's all it matters 😉
For your first DIY project, I think the only bad thing is that you've set yourself a high standard for future projects 😀 . Which is a good thing.
Did you mock up the exact same baffle as the plan on MK's page?
I'm attracted to the MTM more for some reasons and I might just do that instead. But, please post up some pics. In the mean time, enjoy and see what you can do to make it better.
I might just skip with the chipamps for now and work with what I have.
I'll start mine soon I hope.
Kev
For your first DIY project, I think the only bad thing is that you've set yourself a high standard for future projects 😀 . Which is a good thing.
Did you mock up the exact same baffle as the plan on MK's page?
I'm attracted to the MTM more for some reasons and I might just do that instead. But, please post up some pics. In the mean time, enjoy and see what you can do to make it better.
I might just skip with the chipamps for now and work with what I have.
I'll start mine soon I hope.
Kev
Sorry I didn't respond to the rest of your post.
I did end up going with the MTM baffle. The dimensions are the same as MK's design. I put the tweeter in the center and the two mids equidistant on either side. In retrospect it may have been better to offset the tweeter a bit, albeit mostly for aesthetics, but it still looks pretty cool. I spoke to monte about it briefly and he suggested that there should be no difference between the two, except that the tweeter will obviously be physically lower, hence a slighlty lower on-axis listening position.
As for chipamps, they turned out to be a reasonably large expense for me. Because I didn't have access to any quality metal working tools I spent alot for pretty low quality and certainly not very attractive cases. They still look Ok, but I'm not that happy with them. Soundwise they are great, but i'm not sure if the one lm3886 channel will be powerful enough (or be able to handle the low impedance) of the two mid's in parrallel - I am still yet to test this.
On the plus side for chip amps, I am still very proud of myself for building a fully functioning amp. It took a fair bit of reading, and alot of time making sure I wasn't going to electrocute myself. My advice to other beginners is the following: Yes, boards are very easy to solder, they come with great instructions etc. BUT there is still alot of other work to do, most especially case fabrication and wiring etc. This is not as easy as it looks and is in fact about 90% of the work (In my experience!!) though obviously others may find these parts much easier than I did.
Having built one chipamp (or one set of chipamps) I now feel confident i could do it much more easily and effectively next time. I highly recommend BrianGT's chipamps, he is very friendly and helpful, but obviously the Chipamp forum is the place to discuss all this. Sorry for the off topic conversation in here.
One last problem I now have, which is really bothering me, is that since I started building these (months ago now), we have acquired a pool table, and it has been put exactly where I planned the listening position to be. The room was ideal. Now I may have to settle for a different room which is not so ideal. Compromises, compromises!!
Photos to come on the weekend of the very bare RS Dipoles so far.
Pete.
I did end up going with the MTM baffle. The dimensions are the same as MK's design. I put the tweeter in the center and the two mids equidistant on either side. In retrospect it may have been better to offset the tweeter a bit, albeit mostly for aesthetics, but it still looks pretty cool. I spoke to monte about it briefly and he suggested that there should be no difference between the two, except that the tweeter will obviously be physically lower, hence a slighlty lower on-axis listening position.
As for chipamps, they turned out to be a reasonably large expense for me. Because I didn't have access to any quality metal working tools I spent alot for pretty low quality and certainly not very attractive cases. They still look Ok, but I'm not that happy with them. Soundwise they are great, but i'm not sure if the one lm3886 channel will be powerful enough (or be able to handle the low impedance) of the two mid's in parrallel - I am still yet to test this.
On the plus side for chip amps, I am still very proud of myself for building a fully functioning amp. It took a fair bit of reading, and alot of time making sure I wasn't going to electrocute myself. My advice to other beginners is the following: Yes, boards are very easy to solder, they come with great instructions etc. BUT there is still alot of other work to do, most especially case fabrication and wiring etc. This is not as easy as it looks and is in fact about 90% of the work (In my experience!!) though obviously others may find these parts much easier than I did.
Having built one chipamp (or one set of chipamps) I now feel confident i could do it much more easily and effectively next time. I highly recommend BrianGT's chipamps, he is very friendly and helpful, but obviously the Chipamp forum is the place to discuss all this. Sorry for the off topic conversation in here.
One last problem I now have, which is really bothering me, is that since I started building these (months ago now), we have acquired a pool table, and it has been put exactly where I planned the listening position to be. The room was ideal. Now I may have to settle for a different room which is not so ideal. Compromises, compromises!!
Photos to come on the weekend of the very bare RS Dipoles so far.
Pete.
Hi guys, here's a very very late update 😱
After listening to my setup for a few months, I have some comments.
(my set up includes a pioneer elite dvd player -> dcx2496 ->akai amp, pioneer elite amp, a cheesy 2 channel for the tweeters -> 2 Seas TFFC, 4 RS180, 4 12" subs in the same configuration as Linkwitz' Phoenix)
So far, the dipole is probably one of the most analytical speakers I've heard. I'm not too sure if it's a positive thing for many people. On certain recordings (most recordings out there), the speakers reveal a bit more than I want. But, on good recordings, it becomes almost too smooth.
What I enjoy most about the speakers is when I'm watching a DVD movie. Hollywood hires really good recording engineers in their movies. Even in stereo mode, the stage becomes much more extended and almost 3-D like. The only gripe I have agaisnt the system now are the dipole subs. They do get quite loud but not realistic level loud. When turned up, they will distort and I can certainly hear them bottom out.
Next up on my system, I'm buying the DEQ from a member here and hope to clean up the room modes. I already bought the chipamp lm4886? kits enough for 6 channels. All I need now is the time and money to get my amps done.
I'll get some pictures up after I clean up my living room 😀
After listening to my setup for a few months, I have some comments.
(my set up includes a pioneer elite dvd player -> dcx2496 ->akai amp, pioneer elite amp, a cheesy 2 channel for the tweeters -> 2 Seas TFFC, 4 RS180, 4 12" subs in the same configuration as Linkwitz' Phoenix)
So far, the dipole is probably one of the most analytical speakers I've heard. I'm not too sure if it's a positive thing for many people. On certain recordings (most recordings out there), the speakers reveal a bit more than I want. But, on good recordings, it becomes almost too smooth.
What I enjoy most about the speakers is when I'm watching a DVD movie. Hollywood hires really good recording engineers in their movies. Even in stereo mode, the stage becomes much more extended and almost 3-D like. The only gripe I have agaisnt the system now are the dipole subs. They do get quite loud but not realistic level loud. When turned up, they will distort and I can certainly hear them bottom out.
Next up on my system, I'm buying the DEQ from a member here and hope to clean up the room modes. I already bought the chipamp lm4886? kits enough for 6 channels. All I need now is the time and money to get my amps done.
I'll get some pictures up after I clean up my living room 😀
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