Half Chang build

FE207E Half Chang Build

I will be doing a Half Chang build over the next several weeks. I will eventually be giving these speakers to my son.

I have purchased two FE207E drivers and have purchased the parts for the baffle step. For the baffle step I am using the guidance given by Martin King on his Quarter-Wave website for the FE207E virtual project. I chose parts for a high damping factor since the speakers will be SS driven. The baffle step I chose uses a 1.8 mH Super Q inductor in parallel with a 6 ohm mills resistor. I have also included the zorbel recommend by Martin. My plan is wire it up and let it rip.

For the enclosure I will be using 70 mm Baltic birch. I am having the lumberyard cut the birch since my motto is to measure 2-3 times and cut it either too short or too long. I have used this lumberyard in the past and they do wonderful work that is well worth the additional cost to have it done right.

I have a few of questions:

(1) How tight should the internal brace fit to the back of the FE207E? I will be doing duct seal on the frame and a couple of layers of felt on the back.
(2) Any suggestions on how to connect the negative terminal to the frame? Do you drill a hole and mechanically fasten the wire or do you solder it?
(3) Any thoughts on using a super-tweeter? I am thinking of adding a FT17 capped off. If I go this route where should I mount the tweeter? Under the FE207 off to the outside at about 28" above the floor?

I should be starting the project in a week or so. I will post pics as I go. Comments and suggestions are most welcome.

Thanks to Scott, Dave and others for developing and sharing these wonderful projects. It was tough deciding what to build!

Bill
 
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Re: FE207E Half Chang Build

Badwater said:
I will be using 70 mm Baltic birch

Holy snapping... overkill probably -- how many plys in 2 3/4" BB?

(typo? :))

(1) How tight should the internal brace fit to the back of the FE207E? I will be doing duct seal on the frame and a couple of layers of felt on the back.

very tight the felt should let the brace reach the actual metal of the magnet (perhaps best to put the felt on the brace

(2) Any suggestions on how to connect the negative terminal to the frame? Do you drill a hole and mechanically fasten the wire or do you solder it?

The terminal strip is mounted to the basket with a rivet -- you can solder to that. If you want to absolutely ensure electrical connection to the basket, scrape some of the paint on the opposite side of the strip and bridge some solde.

(3) Any thoughts on using a super-tweeter? I am thinking of adding a FT17 capped off. If I go this route where should I mount the tweeter? Under the FE207 off to the outside at about 28" above the floor?

Chris & i have talked possibilities... for our 1st FE207eN (in Demetri) we are just going to mount it above centrally (as dicated by the elliptical sBaffle)

dave
 
Do we have a Half Chang design that would fit a Pio A11?

Pio A11 4.5" fullrange

I don't remember where I got them exactly, but here are some recent DiYer measured specs for them

Qts .578
Qms 1.96
Qes .82
Vas 3.43 l
Fs 109.14
Re 6.95
BL 4.51
Sd 63.1 cm^2

I prototyped a BR that WinISD told me was "optimal" and its kinda physically small and sounds it, even though its actual frequency extension is plenty low for my purposes. My prototype BiB for it, which has some issues, and really only beats the BR's extension by a few Hz, sounds alot bigger and pleasant. I was wondering if a half chang for it might get me alot of the "big" with some of the control and detail that the small BR has.

Kensai
 
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Joined 2001
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Badwater said:
Another question: The brace is to be offset to prevent standing waves from forming.

We aren't talking standing waves inside the box (althou an offset holey brace should help against that to0), but in the box panels.

I typically offset the brace so that an edge rests on the centre-line if we have a centred driver placement, centered on the back of the driver, if it is offset.

dave
 
Thanks. My current plan is to place two layers of felt the back of the driver and cut the brace to fit. To provide a tight fit I will add felt to the brace. The driver will be torqued to that necessary to seal and seat the driver. As recommended I will set the edge of the brace on the driver centerline.

I will pick up the cut lumber on Friday and start the build. Photos will be forthcoming.

Bill
 
Badwater said:
This is message for Scott. I will be building the Half Chang's soon and planned to implement the BSC recommended by Martin King his MLTL 207E virtual project. The circuit is here:

FE207E Baffle Step with 6 ohm resistance

Is baffle step necessary for this design? The speakers will be SS driven.

Thanks for all the help and a great design.

Bill

Should do fine. Martin implemented a variation on Jim's pair with 206s to good effect.
 
Quick question: I'm close to finishing the HC's w/ FE206e for my daughter & son-in-law. I noticed that there is a slight warp in the ply :( which resulted in the vent being almost 1/16" too wide. Is it time to panic & mod the vent w/ 1/16" panel to fill it, add a piece to lengthen it, or just try it & hope for the best. I don't know just how sensitive the tuning is to the vent X-section, but I know it will shift the tuning freq.

Thanks & Merry Christmas,

Jim
 
Jim Shearer said:
Quick question: I'm close to finishing the HC's w/ FE206e for my daughter & son-in-law. I noticed that there is a slight warp in the ply :( which resulted in the vent being almost 1/16" too wide. Is it time to panic & mod the vent w/ 1/16" panel to fill it, add a piece to lengthen it, or just try it & hope for the best. I don't know just how sensitive the tuning is to the vent X-section, but I know it will shift the tuning freq.

Thanks & Merry Christmas,

Jim
It will, but you will more than likely here little to no audible difference(fraction of a Hz change in tuning),...

If it was half an inch I would be slightly worried, but don't lose sleep over it :)
 
We have two cats and, luckily, we were able to "train" them from when they were kittens not to go on the furniture (at least when we are around ;) - The leather chairs show scars from their cavorting about when we are not there to yell at them.). Not visible in the photo are the clear plastic protectors on the corners of the sofa - they are probably no longer needed but were vital when the cats were kittens.

We still need to do a lot of vacuuming to keep the cat hair under control but, by and large, the cats seem to be honoring a sort of understanding about who goes where... or maybe it's us...