high performance, low cost 5 inch 2-way

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#22
He is getting a F10 of 40, good news for me! Of course, I have the round frame, 8 Ohm which isn't exactly the same. He agrees with me, great performance for the price. His box size is in the range of what I want to try. Thanks for the links!
 
#25
I actually saw this when I was doing research for what to build next. I trust Curt's judgement. I wanted a smallish 2-way for "B" speakers and PC, etc. I also wanted it to be budget priced but still sound very good. I already had the original 6 inch 16PFC and knew they were quite good for the money but I need something a little smaller. The round frame 8 Ohm 13 PFC seems to have the flattest and most extended FR of all of these so that is why I chose it above other offerings. I usually like to cross above 4 KHz whenever possible; these can do that.
 
#26
The best I can tell the C-Note box is about 9.0 liters. If I can get the empty boxes without drivers, components, etc. I think I'll give it a try. I would most likely add a new MDF front so I could make my drivers fit better; I would also add a 1/2 inch thickness high density cork panel on top of that. This could increase box size to over 10 liters then accounting for stuffing, damping, etc; the effective volume would be maybe 11 to 12 liters (not subtracting for driver and X/O volume). This would have an F3 about 100 and an F10 about 45 Hz; exactly what I think I want. I use cork between the drivers and baffle board quite often; it has many advantages. Better seal with the driver baskets, better damping and reduced hard edge diffraction (almost as effective as a felt covering over the baffle board).
 
#27
Hi OSG,
Not sure if you have already made up your mind and locked in the drivers. My latest 5in 2-way is quite cost effective with RST28F and DC130A woofer. Modest XO parts and sounds fantastic. Full plans are here.
RST28F and DC130A Foamcore Homage to LS3/5A

They measure very well too - having a nice transient response and good balanced sound. Several people have built them and it has been unanimous agreement that they sound great.
 
#28
I already have my drivers and am still playing with the design. PE drivers are also supposed to be very good value but I haven't tried many myself. The SB13PFCR is a special paper pulp type of cone but not the more expensive Papyrus like that in the Satori line up. It does a good job of self damping though regardless. I tend to like paper and paper composites for mids and mid bass over other cone materials, especially aluminum.

The basket is plastic but in this size, probably makes very little difference because we are not dealing with higher SPLs or deeper bass What I like about these SB13's in particular is the FR is smoother, flatter and more extended than the original versions with the odd shaped frame (the breakup peak is much lower also). I am using higher quality X/O parts than one would normally on a budget system but that is because I already had them in my "stock". I found that the ClarityCap CSA 250 Volt caps. are a good match for soft dome tweeters; they can be a little too bright sounding on some hard domes but soft domes do well with these. I also really like the Goertz flat foil inductors; I normally use 14 AWG equivalent but here I am using 16 AWG equivalent. The X/O is high enough and impedance high enough that 14 gauge would probably be overkill on this particular design. I am going for an extended f10 so the goal is a closed box Q less than 0.6 (near Bessel); closer to 0.5 (critically damped). This helps with transients more so than the normal Q of 0.707 (Butterworth).

CSA polypropylene audio capacitor from ClarityCap

Goertz 16 AWG Copper Foil Inductors

Cheers and thanks for the input and links; this helps everyone else in search of such a good sounding, smaller and inexpensive design...
 
#29
J. S. Bach - Suite in G minor BWV 995, Klaudyna Żołnierek - lute - YouTube

This is a really good sounding YT. 13 course Baroque Lute. I can't seem to find a CD or FLAC download; would love to purchase this "album" I sent an e mail to the recording Engineer to see if such a thing is available; so far I have struck out online searching. Anyone out there happen to have this on CD? If so; who is the supplier??? Thanks!
 
#30
I have one side in 15 liters sealed, the other side in 6 liters sealed. Neither is ideal. I just ordered a truck style dual 8 inch woofer box, sealed each side; 0.33 ft^3 or about 9.35 liters. I will modify so it will be closer to 11+ liters. This is a quick and easy thing to try. My arthritis is so bad some days I can barely get out of bed. Building boxes from scratch right now isn't going to happen. Once the weather warms up in late spring; I'll be back at it. Until then, I am forced to take short cuts. This box was very inexpensive. PE got back to me; the C-Note boxes are not available without buying the entire kit. NOT for me; I already have over 50 drivers; I don't need any more, especially ones I'll never use and aren't worth trying to sell. More later...
 
#31
OK, COVID boredom call it! I just put a $90 copper foil capacitor on a $35 silk dome tweeter which I bought for $24. HUGE improvement!!! Just bored obviously! BUT, what does this tell you??? Even budget drivers can "wake up" when given really good amplification and crossovers. Would anyone in their right minds do this to sell??? Obviously NOT, but it does prove we can hear the better X/O components making a big difference regardless of what the purists think or believe!
 
#32
Bach BWV995

oldspkrguy said:
J. S. Bach - Suite in G minor BWV 995, Klaudyna Żołnierek - lute - YouTube

This is a really good sounding YT. 13 course Baroque Lute. I can't seem to find a CD or FLAC download; would love to purchase this "album" I sent an e mail to the recording Engineer to see if such a thing is available; so far I have struck out online searching. Anyone out there happen to have this on CD? If so; who is the supplier??? Thanks!
Click to expand...

I have this on CD, but it's played on guitar by Sharon Isbin. Erato CD, 825646175185. The album is called "Bach for Guitar". I haven't seen a CD of this music played on the lute although you would think Julian Bream must have done it.

Lovely music, although the sound is a bit thin; I ripped it as a WAV file and then used Audacity to 'normalise' the recording level.

Re the original post, I built a pair of very nice sounding bookshelf speakers with the Peerless 830656 and Vifa BC25TG, cabinet and crossover design were very kindly provided to me by Ralph Giralfino of this Forum. Modest cost, very good sound.


Geoff
 
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#33
I also did a 2-way with a Peerless and Vifa, similar to yours, it was very nice! I have a CD with guitar also on these Bach works; very well recorded, I'll look it up later. The recording people got back to me, there are no recordings available for sale either on CD or FLAC download; this is a real shame because the sound quality is quite good even for YouTube. That 13 course Baroque Lute sounds amazing, very clean, rich and full sounding!
 
#35
oldspkrguy said:
I also did a 2-way with a Peerless and Vifa, similar to yours, it was very nice! I have a CD with guitar also on these Bach works; very well recorded, I'll look it up later. The recording people got back to me, there are no recordings available for sale either on CD or FLAC download; this is a real shame because the sound quality is quite good even for YouTube. That 13 course Baroque Lute sounds amazing, very clean, rich and full sounding!
Click to expand...


There is software which enables you to record sound from YouTube, provided it's for personal use. Maybe also try second hand LP stores, you can usually find a record of anything.



Geoff
 
#36
that is too good. I have been using copper foil caps for about 2 years now. And completely agree with your findings. Copper foil caps on even an inexpensive tweeter make a huge difference. Try a .02uf copper foil cap bypass on the midrange cap....
 
#37
Many people make fun of bypass caps but again; I know for SURE they really do work! I use the CDE 940 C series; I have tried many values. For some tweeters, I used 0.047 uF alone; for others I used 0.015 uF with also a 0.15 or 0.22 or even 0.33 uF combined. Some of the capacitor comparison write ups we read can get carried away but at the same time; there is some truth and I have to agree with the CDE 940 C series as being a very good option.
 
#39
New discovery, on Sony Vivarte label.

J.S. Bach - the works for lute -Suite G minor BWV995 1~3 Lutz Kirchhof - YouTube

A newer release from 2013 I believe is a two CD set. Great reviews for the Baroque style Lute and Theorbo (large lute). I can't find the 2 CD 2013 set in stock so far though.

Complete J S Bach works for lute, YT sounds good here...plenty of "bite" in the strings, some lutes sound more mellow or rounded; not here!
 
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