Just wanted to get back to something simple for my new home. I started with my super lightweight bamboo enclosures filled with my custom FR151's, along with a miniDSP 2x4HD, and it's sure fun, but as an incorrigible DIYer: I wanted another project. 😱
So, using the same 2x4HD, what are the options?
Well, i'm not a big fan of 2-ways... It's either fullrange or 3/4 ways.
But what about a 2.5-way?
A 2.5-way is the poor man's 3-way, which means I use the highpass channels to feed both the mids and tweeters, and I finish the job with some basic passive xovers (6db/oct in my case, cannot be simplier).
I'm not saying it's an easy task to make it work properly nor that the results can compete with an elaborate 4-way system, but it can be excellent for the money/time spent.
So here is my new little 2.5 project:
Tweeter: RAAL 64-10 (ribbon)
Midrange: Visaton B200 (widely used as a fullrange)
Sub/woofer: JL audio 8W1v3 (4 total)
Dayton 12'' passive radiator (tuned @ more or less 33hz)
Very thin on-wall enclosures, made of 10mm bamboo
MiniDSP: 315hz xover @ 48db/oct BW
Tweeter/mid @ 4.5khz @ 6db/oct
Amplifier: ICEpower
Basically, I chose a recipe with what I had on hand. But first I designed the project using (2) TW1 subwoofers and finally added bamboo panels to modify the whole thing to fit (4) 8w1v3, for a better 150-300hz response, which is not the Visaton's forte and even less the TW1's...
After few hours spent on the measures and EQ, I can say: mission accomplished. 🙂
Now, all I need is to finish the job with some protective grill to cover that DIY mess 🙄
So, using the same 2x4HD, what are the options?
Well, i'm not a big fan of 2-ways... It's either fullrange or 3/4 ways.
But what about a 2.5-way?
A 2.5-way is the poor man's 3-way, which means I use the highpass channels to feed both the mids and tweeters, and I finish the job with some basic passive xovers (6db/oct in my case, cannot be simplier).
I'm not saying it's an easy task to make it work properly nor that the results can compete with an elaborate 4-way system, but it can be excellent for the money/time spent.
So here is my new little 2.5 project:
Tweeter: RAAL 64-10 (ribbon)
Midrange: Visaton B200 (widely used as a fullrange)
Sub/woofer: JL audio 8W1v3 (4 total)
Dayton 12'' passive radiator (tuned @ more or less 33hz)
Very thin on-wall enclosures, made of 10mm bamboo
MiniDSP: 315hz xover @ 48db/oct BW
Tweeter/mid @ 4.5khz @ 6db/oct
Amplifier: ICEpower
Basically, I chose a recipe with what I had on hand. But first I designed the project using (2) TW1 subwoofers and finally added bamboo panels to modify the whole thing to fit (4) 8w1v3, for a better 150-300hz response, which is not the Visaton's forte and even less the TW1's...
After few hours spent on the measures and EQ, I can say: mission accomplished. 🙂
Now, all I need is to finish the job with some protective grill to cover that DIY mess 🙄



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Nice and thin! Got to love bamboo.
Visually it's kind of messy; that's a lot of black to have scattered left-and-right as it were. I'm sure it's for design reasons but I feel like they'd be less imposing if the drivers were more vertically aligned (maybe even just the JLs).
Sorry if that sounds like more criticism than praise; I just don't have any feedback on the more technical parts of the design. They look well built and I bet they sound wonderful.
Visually it's kind of messy; that's a lot of black to have scattered left-and-right as it were. I'm sure it's for design reasons but I feel like they'd be less imposing if the drivers were more vertically aligned (maybe even just the JLs).
Sorry if that sounds like more criticism than praise; I just don't have any feedback on the more technical parts of the design. They look well built and I bet they sound wonderful.
Did you get a dip in the response due to the on-wall placement? If so, did you deal with it in the crossover?
How do you like that little Raal?
How do you like that little Raal?
How did you deal with reflections from back wall? I have been looking at slim box designs and hear this concern being raised in many discussions.
How can a speaker using three different drivers be anything less than a 3-way?
It is a three way, but only two channels per side are fully dsp controlled. The mids and highs are then split from one dsp channel with first order passive components. 2.5 way is just something to call it; being less than full DSP 3 way, but clearly more than 2 🙂