OK, here's a pic, not the best I know, I'll get some proper ones in once I've finished the speakers externally (stained the plinth and top moulding) Excuse the room, I'm half way through red-ecorating the house... Again... I get speakers, the mrs gets wallpaper, I'm happy with that.
I should give my honest impressions now I'm out of the honeymoon phase 🙂
The BIBs are a very nice sounding speaker within certain parameters (I said I was picky earlier)
On well mixed material they work amazingly well, with badly mixed material they accentuate the badness (perhaps I'm being unfair, it's not really the speakers fault after all)
The bass has good extension, very much present after the speakers I had these drivers in before. Initially I think I had them over damped at the bass so I was getting more of a 50-60Hz rise out of them which, though pleasant to hear bass again, became a little grating and boomy over time.
I've readjusted the stuffing to get a more even response to my in head measuring equipment (although it could have been a placement issue, I haven't RTA'd my room yet)
So now I have a flatter extension but it's a little thin for my taste, I'm going to try the inline resistor and cap if necessary. Corner loading would help this too I expect.
I understand now about tuning the speaker to the room.
Vocals are stunning, I was listening the other night and the mrs was sitting on the couch between the speakers, I swear Ben Harper was singing out of her. I should have got her to move her mouth along with the music... Heh heh.
The speakers definitely disappear nicely with correct positioning, very happy with that.
I still have a little heat in the upper mids to tame, damping the basket etc with blutack helped a lot, I think perhaps phase plugs will help more in my room. Or maybe lifting the bass will help make it less obvious.
I've never, ever heard anything produce a sense of space like these do ! Absolute magic.
Things I've learnt:
Adjusting the stuffing after you've glued all the sides up is not easy... GAH @#$!@# !
Vinyl is great to wrap speakers in, goes on easy, unfortunately I missed a couple of small spots with the contact adhesive and they are lifting a bit due to the woodburner in the room causing hefty expansion/contraction cycles. I might pull the vinyl and re-apply it if I can. It's not too noticeable, but I always tend to focus on the flaws when I've built things that live in the lounge.
Yes, you can get away with putting six foot speakers in a room. As long as they are right up against the wall the footprint really isn't much different from 'normal' speakers with dead space behind them.
I have a squeezebox as a source so I continually flick through all sorts of songs, on to the next before they finish. This annoys the mrs a lot 😉 Ah well, I'll stop it and start listening to music rather than the speakers again soon enough.
You can play Tool, Deftones and White Zombie as well as delicate intimate music. It hurts a little at the moment, I'll fix that though.
Things still to do / play with:
Baffle.
Resistor and cap.
Pennant down the pipe.
RTA room.
Phase plugs.
Overall, I'm extermely pleased with these speakers and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone. In fact I have recommended them to people who are now going to build them too.
If anyone is thinking about building them go for it, easy to build and great sounding.
I should give my honest impressions now I'm out of the honeymoon phase 🙂
The BIBs are a very nice sounding speaker within certain parameters (I said I was picky earlier)
On well mixed material they work amazingly well, with badly mixed material they accentuate the badness (perhaps I'm being unfair, it's not really the speakers fault after all)
The bass has good extension, very much present after the speakers I had these drivers in before. Initially I think I had them over damped at the bass so I was getting more of a 50-60Hz rise out of them which, though pleasant to hear bass again, became a little grating and boomy over time.
I've readjusted the stuffing to get a more even response to my in head measuring equipment (although it could have been a placement issue, I haven't RTA'd my room yet)
So now I have a flatter extension but it's a little thin for my taste, I'm going to try the inline resistor and cap if necessary. Corner loading would help this too I expect.
I understand now about tuning the speaker to the room.
Vocals are stunning, I was listening the other night and the mrs was sitting on the couch between the speakers, I swear Ben Harper was singing out of her. I should have got her to move her mouth along with the music... Heh heh.
The speakers definitely disappear nicely with correct positioning, very happy with that.
I still have a little heat in the upper mids to tame, damping the basket etc with blutack helped a lot, I think perhaps phase plugs will help more in my room. Or maybe lifting the bass will help make it less obvious.
I've never, ever heard anything produce a sense of space like these do ! Absolute magic.
Things I've learnt:
Adjusting the stuffing after you've glued all the sides up is not easy... GAH @#$!@# !
Vinyl is great to wrap speakers in, goes on easy, unfortunately I missed a couple of small spots with the contact adhesive and they are lifting a bit due to the woodburner in the room causing hefty expansion/contraction cycles. I might pull the vinyl and re-apply it if I can. It's not too noticeable, but I always tend to focus on the flaws when I've built things that live in the lounge.
Yes, you can get away with putting six foot speakers in a room. As long as they are right up against the wall the footprint really isn't much different from 'normal' speakers with dead space behind them.
I have a squeezebox as a source so I continually flick through all sorts of songs, on to the next before they finish. This annoys the mrs a lot 😉 Ah well, I'll stop it and start listening to music rather than the speakers again soon enough.
You can play Tool, Deftones and White Zombie as well as delicate intimate music. It hurts a little at the moment, I'll fix that though.
Things still to do / play with:
Baffle.
Resistor and cap.
Pennant down the pipe.
RTA room.
Phase plugs.
Overall, I'm extermely pleased with these speakers and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone. In fact I have recommended them to people who are now going to build them too.
If anyone is thinking about building them go for it, easy to build and great sounding.
Attachments
Hi, I just played around with Inguz DSP EQ on the Squeezebox again, adding 2db from 200Hz shelving down to 0db at 50Hz
Everything suddenly sounds smoother, even the previously hard to listen to stuff.
Would this be the same effect as if I added the series resistance at the expense of a few Db of efficiency ?
From what I've read a resistor by itself in series is to reduce a constant rising FR ? What is the difference between this and a BSC ?
How does the resistor know where to start attenuating ? Is it simply making the speaker a harder load to drive for the amp ?
OK, please don't make too much fun of me, I wish I knew more about this stuff.
Cheers,
Sedge.
Everything suddenly sounds smoother, even the previously hard to listen to stuff.
Would this be the same effect as if I added the series resistance at the expense of a few Db of efficiency ?
From what I've read a resistor by itself in series is to reduce a constant rising FR ? What is the difference between this and a BSC ?
How does the resistor know where to start attenuating ? Is it simply making the speaker a harder load to drive for the amp ?
OK, please don't make too much fun of me, I wish I knew more about this stuff.
Cheers,
Sedge.
Yes, it's a similar end result to adding some series resistance in the LF regions anyway, except the resistor will have an effect on the entire FR, not just the bass frequencies. That answers your other question re how does it know where to start affecting the response -it doesn't; it affects everything. Basically, it artificially increases the Qe of the driver while lowering Re & Bl slightly.
Baffle-step compensation is completely different. A passive-circuit is used to attenuate everything above a specific freqency determined by the baffle width, due to the transition from 2pi to 4pi radiation of all freqencies below this point, resulting in a 3 - 6db loss of SPLs at the listening position. If you have active Eq, you can do the same, or boost the LF (better IMO to cut down to reduce driver excursion). The BIB doesn't need it -it's got sufficient gain from the cabinet to counter the losses.
Baffle-step compensation is completely different. A passive-circuit is used to attenuate everything above a specific freqency determined by the baffle width, due to the transition from 2pi to 4pi radiation of all freqencies below this point, resulting in a 3 - 6db loss of SPLs at the listening position. If you have active Eq, you can do the same, or boost the LF (better IMO to cut down to reduce driver excursion). The BIB doesn't need it -it's got sufficient gain from the cabinet to counter the losses.
You will Jeff, you will. 😉 The box itself is done, Ron's got the dimensions & CAD drawing & (when he has spare moments) is working up a curved front for them.
Scott,
On these BVRs, does the expanding vent count toward the total port length, or is it disregarded and just considered a flange?
Kensai
On these BVRs, does the expanding vent count toward the total port length, or is it disregarded and just considered a flange?
Kensai
Thanks, Scott. Just thinking of hacking together some experimental stuff out of mainly precut materials and didn't want to end up tuning so low that it just sucks out all the bass.
Kensai
Kensai
Hi,
Sorry to be a pain, before I go out and buy resistors, do I need to get a certain wattage ? I don't want to blow anything up ? I can series/parallel a bunch up to make x wattage at 2-3 Ohms. Will getting them at too high a wattage cause any issues ?
I was going to play safe and try and make it around 30w.
Is that enough ? Too much ?
It's a little odd, I'm fine with running all my music from a digital source into a DAC and then to the amp but deep down I have an aversion to using DSP EQ at the source.
I'd rather run a physical filter than believe the DSP EQ doesn't hurt the music somehow.
I expect it's because I didn't write the code, I don't trust that comprimises weren't made with regards to ease of processing over audio quality.
Sigh, but I'm fine to compromise the less is more approach to components in line ? Who knows ?
Anyway, I guy I work with has lent me his TA10.1 amp to try out with the speakers... So, I've got something else to try this weekend 🙂
Cheers,
Sedge.
Sorry to be a pain, before I go out and buy resistors, do I need to get a certain wattage ? I don't want to blow anything up ? I can series/parallel a bunch up to make x wattage at 2-3 Ohms. Will getting them at too high a wattage cause any issues ?
I was going to play safe and try and make it around 30w.
Is that enough ? Too much ?
It's a little odd, I'm fine with running all my music from a digital source into a DAC and then to the amp but deep down I have an aversion to using DSP EQ at the source.
I'd rather run a physical filter than believe the DSP EQ doesn't hurt the music somehow.
I expect it's because I didn't write the code, I don't trust that comprimises weren't made with regards to ease of processing over audio quality.
Sigh, but I'm fine to compromise the less is more approach to components in line ? Who knows ?
Anyway, I guy I work with has lent me his TA10.1 amp to try out with the speakers... So, I've got something else to try this weekend 🙂
Cheers,
Sedge.
Kinda talking to myself now I think, but if it helps someone else that's cool...
Right, BIBs, I failed to mention the bay window in the middle of the wall where the speakers go. They only butt up against the wall on one side really, the other is empty.
I moved them back out wider tonight and the bass sorted itself out again.
Sigh, they are a bit wide for solid imaging, but much greater depth and smooth listenable presentation.
I think I need a new wall 🙂
OK, I REALLY should have mentioned that in the initial postings...
What can I do ? Stay with DSP EQ and move the speakers closer together but feel a bit cheated.
I'm thinking I'll wait for the Chilli Chang and have a go at them, would they would provide enough non boundary required gain ?
So close, but not quite there 🙁
Cheers,
Sedge.
Right, BIBs, I failed to mention the bay window in the middle of the wall where the speakers go. They only butt up against the wall on one side really, the other is empty.
I moved them back out wider tonight and the bass sorted itself out again.
Sigh, they are a bit wide for solid imaging, but much greater depth and smooth listenable presentation.
I think I need a new wall 🙂
OK, I REALLY should have mentioned that in the initial postings...
What can I do ? Stay with DSP EQ and move the speakers closer together but feel a bit cheated.
I'm thinking I'll wait for the Chilli Chang and have a go at them, would they would provide enough non boundary required gain ?
So close, but not quite there 🙁
Cheers,
Sedge.
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