Frugel-Horn XL for Alpair 10.3/10p, Fostex FF165wk, more

frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
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Yes. In post #13 Chris posts pictures of his A10p centre… looks like i haven’t posted plans. These are a reshaping of one of the standard miniOnken for the driver — there are 5 configurations for the A10x for each cabinet volume — Trapezoid, Rectangular, Classic Golden Ratio (CGR), Compact Floorstander (CFS), and Centres for each with the same tuning.

dave
 
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breaking in Alpair 10.3

I read that breaking in the 10.3s can take a while and I've seen some posts of people rigging up drivers to get some hours on them before installing, so I decided to put my 10.3s in an open baffle, no research or prior experience, just something to mount them in. Then I ran across posts suggesting this might harm the drivers.
Building my FHXLs might take a little while as I'm trying to make them shiny and I'd like to break in/listen to the 10.3s meanwhile. Any real simple designs out there I can bang together with a nail gun and 3/4" paint grade real quick?
Thanks,
Doug
 

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frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
I read that breaking in the 10.3s can take a while and I've seen some posts of people rigging up drivers to get some hours on them before installing, so I decided to put my 10.3s in an open baffle, no research or prior experience, just something to mount them in. Then I ran across posts suggesting this might harm the drivers.

Always a good idea. You have to keep the levels down anyway when you are doing initial break-in so there is little to no chance of damaging the drivers. I give all the drivers i work on an initial low-level 2-300 hr breakin -- drivers unbaffled sitting on their magnets. They still need real world use to fully break them in, but the worst is over brfore i ship them. The A10.3 can use a particularily long amount of breakin... 500-1000 hrs to get to their best.

dave
 
ssffrhd,
I broke in a pair of A10.3 in 'sealed' 0.25 ft^3 cardboard boxes. Shown below is a pair of PA-130 drivers in the same boxes. I put on the local classical public radio station & let them run all day at low volume for a few weeks. I have to say that even in these crude boxes, the A10.3 sounded good!

Cheers, Jim
 

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I have made a few sets of loudspeakers and have never made a separate box to "break in" drivers. I quite enjoy listening to them as they stretch themselves out and become what they are to be. It is an interesting experience listening to the changes.
I think it is not really necessary to "break them in". Just realize they are going to change over the first hundred or 2 hours. Enjoy the transition it is an interesting experience.
 
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More than breaking in the drivers, I wanted to listen to them. I'm excited about the FHXLs (not my fault you guys have this website that distracts me with an amp camp amp build, and a pair of nScan-Kens that keeps me from completing my original project) but I'm also excited about the A10s. I think I'll throw together a couple boxes because even NPR news sounds awful with the drivers out in the open.
Doug
 
hi

i already made a donation in the past but never asked for the cnc plans (DXF, DWG). Can you send it to me?
i'm in portugal and the closest wood factory has 2500mmx1250mm and 2500mmx1500mm sheets.

i think your cnc cut plans are in 4x8 feet, right? do they have the rebate for the markaudio drivers?

Also, in terms of plywood, the factory is offering grades B, S, BB. what is the reasonable choice if im in the lacquering route?

thank you
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
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i already made a donation in the past but never asked for the cnc plans (DXF, DWG). Can you send it to me?

You have to email me with the specific pages you need and what version of DXF or DWG you can handle.

i'm in portugal and the closest wood factory has 2500mmx1250mm and 2500mmx1500mm sheets.

4x8 is close to 2500x1250 (metric a bit larger). If you have the CAD plans, easy enuff to tweak — you likely need to anyway, the allowed kerf in the drawings is 5mm a CNC is usually larger.

do they have the rebate for the markaudio drivers?

All the Mark Audio driver drawings are at frugal-while.com. We typically use tha A7.3 and A10x without the decorative bezel cover.

Also, in terms of plywood, the factory is offering grades B, S, BB. what is the reasonable choice if im in the lacquering route?

That is a question for someone else — Chris?

dave
 
I'm not familiar with the "S" grade (a Euro thing, perhaps?), and quality / figuring etc could vary quite a bit, depending on whether the face veneer is a whole piece slice, slip or book-matched, but the BB would probably be your best bet.

Note that with the Frugels, a sizeable amount of inside panels of rear mouth is visible, so if your cut / machining plan is a for a single pair per sheet, I'd suggest laying the parts out for contiguous grain pattern direction around the enclosure. It's little details like that, along with aligning / centering figuring patterns whenever possible, that I think make for more elegant finished enclosure.

The particular product we use for our flat packs is a US applied Maple veneer face on Euro sourced BB core - the maple takes natural clear coat finishes like NC lacquer like a dream, and unless marked up much by rough handling in the shop, doesn't need a lot of sanding prep. Depending on quality of your product, your mileage may vary .
 
The best plywood is grade B, at least here in Portugal. We also have some grade A but the price of one sheet is ~110€. Dont know if the grade B will be considerably cheaper but i dont think so. I will go with grade B

Regarding the orientation of the plywood pieces, that is a very good idea. Will the dxf file respect this? My choice is 18mm ply.
 
Let me jump in here for a moment; if your question is regarding a DXF for programming of CNC - something which I handle for the production of the Planet10 flat pack kits - you should know that Dave's drawing is for only one side panel.

When I run these, I very tightly nest and rotate the parts on the 4x8 sheet for maximum yield, while maintaining close to vertical grain alignment. That exact spacing depends on the tool bit diameter allowance, and is something that should be confirmed by your machine operator .

There is at least one manufacturer in England producing kits for the FHs who machines the internal dadoes on both side panels, with a slight margin for variation of thickness of materials.

In theory a DXF file should be readable by any CADCAM software (industry default over here is AutoCAD), but if you think you might have some proprietary requirements, it might be easier to draw your own - something I always do.
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
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i was asking for a dxf file or dwg from page 10 of the frugal horn xl.

I was on it. Somehow i got in my head you asked for only a dxf, i only have a dwg done. But if a dwg is fine it is on its way.

Drawing C1 — does not observe grain matching, You will need to move the top between the sides to get the matching Chris suggested earlier. All the cut plans were done with optimization of material the prime driver.

dave