Greetings.
I was very happy with my Frugalhorn Alpair 7.3s until one of them suffered an untimely accident involving the better half and some enthusiastic spring cleaning. I’m saying nothing but she never really liked the aesthetics of the ‘horns, preferring the Metronomes that have been relegated to the office. I can see her point, our living room is 6m x 4m, and the speakers fire across the shorter distance. The 0.45m depth of the ‘horns meant they stuck out further than ideal, especially as they work best pulled away from the wall. So something with less depth was in order and, as the 7.3s are NLA, it gave me the excuse for a new build. EJ Jordan’s Eikona SL-A seemed to fit the bill in terms of size, with some good reviews out there.
The advice is for 12mm birch ply but I only had 15mm, so 15 it was. Apart from that they are as per the plans on the Jordan site. The covering is Furniture Marmolium because I had some left from another project - and it's lovely stuff.
When I first fired one up in the workshop on a little tripath amp and compared it to the remaining F'horn I was a bit worried about what I thought was a lack of bass. It turns out that the Eikona's are just less efficient than the horns and need a decent amp to drive them, and they are designed to work against a wall.
With them in position and driven by my Passlabs F5 and Topping DX3-Pro they go loud enough for me and and they go low. So low I don't feel any lack of bass. And the highs and midrange integration are as good as you'd hope for from a driver at this pricepoint. Actually no. I'm listening to the Unthanks' The King of Rome and I've got shivers down my back, you can't ask for more than that. Highly recommended, I think this lockdown's not going to be so bad after all. 🙂 All the best everyone, stay safe, Gus
I was very happy with my Frugalhorn Alpair 7.3s until one of them suffered an untimely accident involving the better half and some enthusiastic spring cleaning. I’m saying nothing but she never really liked the aesthetics of the ‘horns, preferring the Metronomes that have been relegated to the office. I can see her point, our living room is 6m x 4m, and the speakers fire across the shorter distance. The 0.45m depth of the ‘horns meant they stuck out further than ideal, especially as they work best pulled away from the wall. So something with less depth was in order and, as the 7.3s are NLA, it gave me the excuse for a new build. EJ Jordan’s Eikona SL-A seemed to fit the bill in terms of size, with some good reviews out there.
The advice is for 12mm birch ply but I only had 15mm, so 15 it was. Apart from that they are as per the plans on the Jordan site. The covering is Furniture Marmolium because I had some left from another project - and it's lovely stuff.
When I first fired one up in the workshop on a little tripath amp and compared it to the remaining F'horn I was a bit worried about what I thought was a lack of bass. It turns out that the Eikona's are just less efficient than the horns and need a decent amp to drive them, and they are designed to work against a wall.
With them in position and driven by my Passlabs F5 and Topping DX3-Pro they go loud enough for me and and they go low. So low I don't feel any lack of bass. And the highs and midrange integration are as good as you'd hope for from a driver at this pricepoint. Actually no. I'm listening to the Unthanks' The King of Rome and I've got shivers down my back, you can't ask for more than that. Highly recommended, I think this lockdown's not going to be so bad after all. 🙂 All the best everyone, stay safe, Gus
Attachments
Hi Gus, thanks for sharing. I like the slim profile with the green and orange complimentary combo, adds a bit of pizazz to the room. And hopefully, it will prevent any accident from your "better half."
Any sonic preference between the A7.3 and the Eikona?
Any sonic preference between the A7.3 and the Eikona?
Both are fantastic, I'm going to go for the Eikona's but it's really close. Maybe the SL-As go lower but the 'horns have greater mid-bass presence???
:^)
Can you link the plans?
The sideview looks much the same as the Compact Floorstander miniOnkens which fill the same niche as these.
dave
Can you link the plans?
The sideview looks much the same as the Compact Floorstander miniOnkens which fill the same niche as these.
dave
Hi Dave,
Here you go DIY - Eikona SL compact loudspeaker - E J Jordan Designs
Another build of the SL (the "B" version in this case) here: https://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=27554.645)
Gus
Here you go DIY - Eikona SL compact loudspeaker - E J Jordan Designs
Another build of the SL (the "B" version in this case) here: https://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=27554.645)
Gus
Thanx. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery :^) First CFS was in 2011.
My Eikona are in Hawking Memorial Obelisks.
dave
My Eikona are in Hawking Memorial Obelisks.
dave
Attachments
Sorry to disappoint but the SLA is nothing to do with your design; I wasn't aware of it until you posted it above.
The benefits of sloping baffles for smaller enclosures are so obvious, it's surprising more loudspeakers don't have them. A couple of prior examples:
Meridian M1 in 1977
Naim IBL in 1987.
And once the shape was established, the downward-firing port was a given.
I like gus900's elegant solution to the stand and the colours are fab.
Hi Gus,
Congratulations, they look great. I built a pair of SLA cabinets a while back - the ones without a slope - and really enjoyed their performance.
I added a bit of height to the cabs otherwise they are as per Jordan's plans.
I also have built Frugel Horns, standard and XL and really loved them but for me the Eikonas were worth the extra cost. My current favourites are the TL3s using two pairs of drivers but I've also recently built the new Mini TL which are great standmounters. and also go surprisingly low.
Congratulations, they look great. I built a pair of SLA cabinets a while back - the ones without a slope - and really enjoyed their performance.
I added a bit of height to the cabs otherwise they are as per Jordan's plans.
I also have built Frugel Horns, standard and XL and really loved them but for me the Eikonas were worth the extra cost. My current favourites are the TL3s using two pairs of drivers but I've also recently built the new Mini TL which are great standmounters. and also go surprisingly low.
Hi Ian,
I saw your CNC'd TL3's over on LencoHeaven. They look amazing, I'm going to have to try it myself one day. I actually quite fancy building myself a diy cnc machine, but that's another story.
I saw your CNC'd TL3's over on LencoHeaven. They look amazing, I'm going to have to try it myself one day. I actually quite fancy building myself a diy cnc machine, but that's another story.
Glad you're enjoying them. 🙂
I should point out in the interests of clarity that the Eikona 2 is in fact one of the driver options for FHXL; I get the impression this is not widely realised.
Last edited:
@gus900 I've got one thats been broken down into bits you could have super cheap. Its 5'x6' and can cut 4'x4'. (in Bristol too). CNC that is.
Dave I really like the look of those compact floor standers but a search did not reveal much info besides they are not part of the plan set for all drivers. I assume these are part of the paid plan set. Do you have a listing of the drivers you have plans for and possibly the basic dimensions?
Thanx. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery :^) First CFS was in 2011.
My Eikona are in Hawking Memorial Obelisks.
dave
In case it isn't clear from Dave's image, the two drawings on the left are the plans for the Eikona SL-A.
Thank you Colin, no that wasn't clear to me from Dave's posted image, I'm much obliged to you.
I did catch that after looking at it for a bit and downloaded the pdf SL design guide. Lovely speakers. Sorry for taking away from the Eikona design build thread just wanted to see what the speaker options are for this same style. I do have a Eikona specific question. Is there any better photos of the port detail. I can't quite reconcile the build photo's to the design guide. Open at front and back?
Edit - I think I got it. The plans have the sides extending down to form the stand while this build has a completely different style to stand with the speaker side truncated to where the port exits. Correct?
Last edited:
@Spiggs What may be confusing you from the Eikona SL plans is that the bottom section is open front and back, i.e. the sides extend down to make a stand. The port ends at the horizontal blue dotted line @700mm.
For my SL-As I opted to make the stand out of some bits of oak I had lying around, so mine don't have the sides extending down.
Edit: you're correct!
@TimbreAudio - don't tempt me! Seriously, don't. I need to build a new workshop first.
For my SL-As I opted to make the stand out of some bits of oak I had lying around, so mine don't have the sides extending down.
Edit: you're correct!
@TimbreAudio - don't tempt me! Seriously, don't. I need to build a new workshop first.
Last edited:
Hi @Spiggs, as Gus says the SL cabinets each have sides which extend below the base to form a stand. The front and back of that area is therefore open to the elements to allow the vent to work into open air.
It seemed a neat way to do it and the cabinets were designed to be easy to make (especially the SL-B, which has a vertical baffle without a 7º slope).
Gus has cheerfully ignored my plan and taken his own route for the stand - and rather fine it looks too.
It seemed a neat way to do it and the cabinets were designed to be easy to make (especially the SL-B, which has a vertical baffle without a 7º slope).
Gus has cheerfully ignored my plan and taken his own route for the stand - and rather fine it looks too.
email me an di can get you all the info you need.
These were probably, as pointed out by Colin, possibly influenced by the NAIM speaker he showed, i had seen that. This design evolved when Bernie and i were listening to the 1st Fonken Floorstander and he asked if it could be done such that the void at the bototm could be removed. I took the sloped baffle idea from the FH3 so the box could be shorter and merged it into the design to get the current shape. First done for the EL70 the box has been done for A10.3/p/FF165wk, and a wider one for the A10p/FF165, for a bit more volume and bass extention.
Here a set of the wide ones for FF165wk, made in solid with the vent out the bottom.
The alignment is the same miniOnken alignment. It would be fairly easy to adapt the design for other suitable loudspeakers. That should include the Eikona.
dave