More progress today, routing of the edges and driver recesses completed.
The Dewalt 621 is a really good router for hand held work, has a lot of adjustability and power but is still small enough to move around easily. Pretty good dust collection too.
1/4" roundover for the back side to avoid losing any strength in the dado housing joint.
With a little bit of sanding the 1/2" roundover matched the 16mm MDF quite well.
The Dewalt 621 is a really good router for hand held work, has a lot of adjustability and power but is still small enough to move around easily. Pretty good dust collection too.
1/4" roundover for the back side to avoid losing any strength in the dado housing joint.
With a little bit of sanding the 1/2" roundover matched the 16mm MDF quite well.
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Yeah, that one from Coverdale/Page is fun... The drummer sure had a Bonham vibe to his playing.
I'll have to admit playing Judgement Day loud on the Arrays is fun.
This is one band where I had it all on Vinyl, I had trouble to get the right CD's to get me back to the sound I liked so much.
Never found that sound for Led Zeppelin until the 2015 remasters came out.
Good progress by the way!
I'll have to admit playing Judgement Day loud on the Arrays is fun.
This is one band where I had it all on Vinyl, I had trouble to get the right CD's to get me back to the sound I liked so much.
Never found that sound for Led Zeppelin until the 2015 remasters came out.
Good progress by the way!
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I bet it is! Now that is a track with all the studio tricks on the drums, gated kick, ultra EQ's hats etc. nicely done though.
Many CD's had very little thought put into them when they were released as the medium was supposed to be perfect! Because of the inherent limitations of vinyl it seems more effort was put into making sure the mastering was right. I imagine a certain amount of rose tinted earmuffs might come into play too
Thanks, I'm hoping the next few days will have even more!
Looking great!
Thanks!
More progress today
Cutting the oak boards to make the bases, I use this setup for cuts where the dimensions aren't critical
Still produces a nice cut though
The tongue and groove edges didn't fit as well as I had hoped straight from the board
Lie Nielsen to the rescue
Now the edges are much better
I love using a hand plane, so much better taking shavings than making dust!
Gluing up the blanks
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Yes, in these pictures the driver is just placed in with a bit of foam tape underneath so it will be a few mm lower when fixed. The felt is 4.8mm thick so there should be more than enough room for the excursion of the driver. I can always add a little more if needed.
It is actually very nice and is the most leather like I could find. The material is quite thin so it is good for this application. The edging can be a bit tricky but you should be able to hide it in your shadow gap. You could stretch it over your baffle roundover and it should be OK for the rebated driver too. In the test it was stuck down with double sided tape but I will use PVA rolled on both surfaces and left to dry then using an iron to re-set the bond. Same technique works well with veneer.
Great!
As I own Open baffles too and my opinion of them is similar as yours, I'be very interested to know how this Line array would compare soundwise to an Open Baffle...
Thanks! I am hoping that the presentation from the finished arrays will be more universally pleasing. I think the ability to process them independently of crossover interaction will help, we shall see although probably not that soon. Making them is one thing measuring and processing another.
That is a very cryptic location, somewhere on planet earth but in a country that no longer exists
Yep, take your time. We are also in this hobby because we like to build speakers, not just listen to them. Technically speaking, all of us have at least one pair of speakers, and we should be happy with that. But, there's always that itch...to try something else and build yet another pair of speakers. When I built my Open Baffles almost 10 years ago, I thought that I won't ever need another pair, because Open baffles were so good. But....linr arrray was always appealing as well.
I just wonder if they will manage to go low enough, or will you need subwoofers. But, no hurry, we shall find out about that later...
I just wonder if they will manage to go low enough, or will you need subwoofers. But, no hurry, we shall find out about that later...
I seem to spend more time building things than I do listening to them. I need to remedy that.
I know they will go low enough, the better question is low and loud enough.I just wonder if they will manage to go low enough, or will you need subwoofers. But, no hurry, we shall find out about that later...
Who knows when wesayso has finished his subs I might feel the need to keep up with the Jones's and build my own!
It is pure curiosity on my part that made me decide to try this sub road.
I didn't really need to, for music. My intention is not targeted at going any louder, but to create headroom and possibly more left/right balance below 100 Hz.
I do expect to win something for Home Theatre explosions. If my room can handle it.
I didn't really need to, for music. My intention is not targeted at going any louder, but to create headroom and possibly more left/right balance below 100 Hz.
I do expect to win something for Home Theatre explosions
. If my room can handle it.I do expect to win something for Home Theatre explosions
What sort of SPL's are you getting now before your room gives out and starts vibrating too much?
That would depend on the spectrum used in the song. I would not want to go beyond ~95 dB average at the listening spot. At that point the room does hit trouble (especially my metal ceiling). Though I've measured up to 125 dB at the listening spot with a raw un-equalised measurement. That definitely rattled my ceiling and gave me a scare.
To keep me honest I measure the average SPL level at the listening spot with an SPL meter. It's easy to turn it up and not notice it's "that loud" when it remains clean.
I usually listen to ~85 to 88 dB average at the listening spot. At this point the room can still handle everything without rattling. The peak value will be above that average depending on the dynamic range of the music played.
I let JRiver handle the volume to have each song play at a similar level.
Of course I've turned it up louder and it's fun, but this average value works for just about any music I play. It's kind of like a zoom button. Play it louder and it seems to move you in a little closer.
All my measurements have been calibrated with the SPL meter. Playing noise within REW to set the right value according to my RadioShack SPL meter. That meter is always nearby. When I first finished the arrays and played with basic EQ I had it playing pretty loud and only realised how loud when I tried to have a conversation. You don't really notice how loud you are when it's clean.
To keep me honest I measure the average SPL level at the listening spot with an SPL meter. It's easy to turn it up and not notice it's "that loud" when it remains clean.
I usually listen to ~85 to 88 dB average at the listening spot. At this point the room can still handle everything without rattling. The peak value will be above that average depending on the dynamic range of the music played.
I let JRiver handle the volume to have each song play at a similar level.
Of course I've turned it up louder and it's fun, but this average value works for just about any music I play. It's kind of like a zoom button. Play it louder and it seems to move you in a little closer.
All my measurements have been calibrated with the SPL meter. Playing noise within REW to set the right value according to my RadioShack SPL meter. That meter is always nearby. When I first finished the arrays and played with basic EQ I had it playing pretty loud and only realised how loud when I tried to have a conversation. You don't really notice how loud you are when it's clean.
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Holy Mo .... Thats instant ear damage!
125dB at a 4 meter listening position = 128dB at 2 meters and 131dB at 1 meter.... Well into the $30,000 plus live sound / PA gear price and performance bracket... These rigs will have approx 10 times that Sd and use serious bass bins below 80 Hz.
That little 3.5 inch Vifa must be a "special" driver...
Cheers
Derek.
You did catch the raw and un-equalized part of it didn't you?
I am at ~ 3 meters and that 125 dB was at the ~300 Hz peak in a raw measurement.
It was scary as ....
I shave off about 10 dB of that peak in normal operating conditions.
Those little Vifa's can take some punishment though. This was a one time event when I just started out with my measurement sessions. I made very sure not to have that happen again. Though I've had some other scares with un-equalized lines when I forgot to turn off the amps and carelessly clicked on a piece of music. My heart skipped a beat each time.
I am at ~ 3 meters and that 125 dB was at the ~300 Hz peak in a raw measurement.
It was scary as ....
I shave off about 10 dB of that peak in normal operating conditions.
Those little Vifa's can take some punishment though. This was a one time event when I just started out with my measurement sessions. I made very sure not to have that happen again. Though I've had some other scares with un-equalized lines when I forgot to turn off the amps and carelessly clicked on a piece of music. My heart skipped a beat each time.
Man, tell me about it - add the "study" and learning times (time spend on diyAudio and other sires) to that. Serial DIYer's curse.
Keep on having fun!
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Long term hearing damage above 100dB....
Caught it alright.... Did you catch the 25 voice coils ...!
125dB at 3 meters = 129dB at 1 meter, at 300Hz.... You shave off 10dB in normal listening conditions.... Down to a calming 119dB at 1 meter!
I reckon on a calm evening with the right wind direction I could just about hear your music on the English coast...!
Cheers
D.
You did catch the raw and un-equalized part of it didn't you?
I am at ~ 3 meters and that 125 dB was at the ~300 Hz peak in a raw measurement.
It was scary as ....
I shave off about 10 dB of that peak in normal operating conditions.
Caught it alright.... Did you catch the 25 voice coils ...!
125dB at 3 meters = 129dB at 1 meter, at 300Hz.... You shave off 10dB in normal listening conditions.... Down to a calming 119dB at 1 meter!
I reckon on a calm evening with the right wind direction I could just about hear your music on the English coast...!
Cheers
D.