Thanks! Tonight I'm gluing shut the first speaker of my Needle Deluxe's with leather baffle and slate sides: http://i.imgur.com/Di5GyT2.jpg
Tomorrow I'll find out if the glue came out on the wrong sides, ruining the speaker, or if it (hopefully) looks like the most Deluxe Needle ever built 😛
Whoa! Slate speakers. I've been thinking about how/if I could incorporate granite baffles. But slate is SO much more elegant. Good luck!
I am victorious! \o/
Here's my new Needle SuperDeluxe build.
It has upgraded RLC components (not because you'll actually hear the difference, just because it makes me *feel* better 🙂), a leather baffle and slate sides.
Yes, it weighs a ton. I have to make sure this thing doesn't fall on one of my kids or I'll have to make a new one. A new kid, that is.
Here's my new Needle SuperDeluxe build.
It has upgraded RLC components (not because you'll actually hear the difference, just because it makes me *feel* better 🙂), a leather baffle and slate sides.
Yes, it weighs a ton. I have to make sure this thing doesn't fall on one of my kids or I'll have to make a new one. A new kid, that is.
And it was actually not all that expensive.
I bought 2 slate floortiles of 100x50cm - each tile is just big enough to cut out 2 sides - for 45 euros total, spent 15 euro on a diamond blade for my anglegrinder (which I already had but is the cheapest grinder I could find), and 13 euros on some special color-deepening oil to treat the slate with.
so all in all 73 euros to get slate sides.
(At least, if I hadn't made a measurement mistake cutting the first panels... so to build my 2nd speaker I have to order more slate... but that's just stupidity tax I reckon 🙂)
Ah, the stupidity tax. There's a lot of that around these days. Beautiful work, and well worth the cost in my mind. Maybe one day I'll start to experiment with stone and/or concrete. Thanks for posting this.
Carl
That's looks awesome, the white is great.
My newest, FAST with Alpair 7 in sealed 5 liter and SDX10 in 48 liter ported at 22Hz. Crossed over via PC with FIR crossover at 2nd order LP and 1st order HP at 225hz.
Damn pff. Those are some sexy *eh* speakers 😀
I am victorious! \o/
Here's my new Needle SuperDeluxe build.
It has upgraded RLC components (not because you'll actually hear the difference, just because it makes me *feel* better 🙂), a leather baffle and slate sides.
Yes, it weighs a ton. I have to make sure this thing doesn't fall on one of my kids or I'll have to make a new one. A new kid, that is.
Very nice!
I like speakers made from different materials.
Enjoy the music!
Pygmy; while as a couple you may still retain the technical acumen to do so - it's rather like riding a bike, no? - and as much fun as I can remember can be had in the process, I think making a new kid should be done for other reasons, and would certainly require pre-approved WAF. 😉
I'd definitely provide lateral stability for such a design - outriggers, wide plinth base plate of slate or quartz countertop offcuts, etc.
I'd definitely provide lateral stability for such a design - outriggers, wide plinth base plate of slate or quartz countertop offcuts, etc.
Large metronomes
Hi everyone, my first post here. My large Metronomes, AN 10" filled with raw silk pile and hand veneer with spotted gum. Still working on the sound though, the AN drivers are a bit too "shouty" and need some notch filtering as well as the BSC. They do look good and excellent WAF....
Hi everyone, my first post here. My large Metronomes, AN 10" filled with raw silk pile and hand veneer with spotted gum. Still working on the sound though, the AN drivers are a bit too "shouty" and need some notch filtering as well as the BSC. They do look good and excellent WAF....
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WOWZERS!!!
Beautifully executed! May I ask - are these the first speakers you ever built, or do you have a track record?
(And if so, what is it? 🙂 )
Thanks for the kind comments! They are not my first speakers, I also have a pair of frugal horns with MA drivers and a pair of Thors. All are nice in their own ways, the FH are truly impressive and excellent value for money, but the Thors are the most accurate and musical. I will post a few photos of the others! My amplifiers and DACs are DIY too. Cheers!
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Wow - looks superb !
So, the shouty bit can be fixed.
Firstly, some toe-in or toe-out so that you aren't listening directly on axis. I have the 15" drivers and they are a little too 'hot' directly on axis - but it's a very narrow hot-spot so you don't need to be off axis much.
Secondly, some cone treatments are needed. A little smear of something gooey on the backside of the cone, roughly 1cm wide strip around the outside edge where the cone meets the surround and a few mm around the backside outside edge of the whizzer cone. IIRC it was a smear of silicone glue pushed gently around the cone surface with my finger tip.
Thirdly, you'll need to let the cones break-in over quite a few hours.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/217893-bigun-audio-nirvana-super-15-a.html
Some photos of final assembly, the raw silk clings terribly to any rough surface including hands and the wood! But it has a wonderful effect as speaker stuffing and IMHO much better than acrylic or wool, because you can tune the stuffing by pulling out the silk almost infinitely as needed. That big sheet is for both cabinets.
The veneer was glued on with Sellys thixotropic glue, my wife and I worked together to paste up the two faces and then rub the sheets into place.... not easy work. The finish is polyurethane about 6 coats and then 000 grade steel wool, finally beeswax. After 12 months there are some bubbles coming up that I must iron down, but not too terrible.
The cabinets are 19mm Australian eucalyptus ply, not really Audio grade but ok I guess. I did add in quite a lot of bracing after initial listening. Thicker multiply would be better perhaps.
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Congratulations. Very nice.
My recommendations with the AN10 for musical and flat response WITHOUT any electronic correction, always are:
1) Get as much bass as you can.
2) Build a front horn to enhance the midrange.
3) When you are happy with the result, apply Dammar varnish (DIY), 3 layers, one at a time, after curing time elapses: 6 months or more depending on weather...
Mine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWuOMCUsdWU&t=11s
I will improve the bass soon. Now directly connected to a V-Fet SE amp. 😎
Good luck.
M.
Many thanks Bigun, I'd not thought about changing the angle... I just had them sitting pointing at my listening position! I've been measuring the response with different notch filter combinations and you're quite right, sitting a bit off the direct line of fire and its much smoother. Simple things first! I have silicone glue as well....
Very interesting! You make up the varnish from turps and resin? What effect does the varnish have on the frequency response, did you measure at all? I've been measuring and in the range 2KHz to 10KHz, the AN10 is like a sawtooth, all ups and downs from (say) 80db +10 / -15, but below 2kHz and over 10, very smooth... Love those horns!!
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You want to avoid sound reflecting of the back of the enclosure and out through the cone - perhaps be generous with the silk at that area.