As for bass, wouldn't it be possible to do something like http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=290-407 in a H-frame? I don't need to go that very deep, so maybe OB works for me? Or maybe my room makes OB impossible?
As far as I know, open baffle usually requires a decent amount of distance between the woofer and the wall. Additionally, after hearing the initial test of the twin EL70, I get the feeling that a really good woofer setup is required to improve upon what it already does.
It makes me curious about building an Exodus Anarchy tapped horn or something similar to take care of the bottom end.
It makes me curious about building an Exodus Anarchy tapped horn or something similar to take care of the bottom end.
Rullknufs,
I've also read about the distance between woofer and wall that Lerg mentions in his post - so for smaller rooms OB isn't feasible it seems.
Lerg,
Are your drivers broken in yet? A woofer would definitely help with things, but the EL70s should not be too bad themselves.
I am thinking about tapped horns too, with SDX7.
What material have you tried with the Mar-Kel^2s?
I've also read about the distance between woofer and wall that Lerg mentions in his post - so for smaller rooms OB isn't feasible it seems.
Lerg,
Are your drivers broken in yet? A woofer would definitely help with things, but the EL70s should not be too bad themselves.
I am thinking about tapped horns too, with SDX7.
What material have you tried with the Mar-Kel^2s?
The material is baltic birch, and the spacers are curly maple. Veneer is zebrawood, and the EL70s are great for low end response, far better than they should be. The EL70s that I put in for testing were not broken in, the EL70eN that will find the cabinet as their final home have many hours on them.
Lerg,
I misunderstood you a bit earlier - I though you had found the bass response lacking 😱 ... you had actually meant a nothing short of a really good woofer will have additional impact on the low end that the dual EL70 already delivers. Good to know - my Wessex is nearly finished. 😀
By material I had meant music you played on them for testing. 🙂
-Zia
I misunderstood you a bit earlier - I though you had found the bass response lacking 😱 ... you had actually meant a nothing short of a really good woofer will have additional impact on the low end that the dual EL70 already delivers. Good to know - my Wessex is nearly finished. 😀
By material I had meant music you played on them for testing. 🙂
-Zia
I've built a pair of (unsteady) stands today.
Tried some listening now and WOW what a difference in soundstage. They are approximately 90-92cm tall and right now the inner walls of the speakers are around 150cm apart from eachother. Can't move them more without changing cables and i'm not in the mood for that at the moment.
Picture is coming later tonight. In my dusty work clothes from a 5 hour job today with dad building a house (sort of).
Tried some listening now and WOW what a difference in soundstage. They are approximately 90-92cm tall and right now the inner walls of the speakers are around 150cm apart from eachother. Can't move them more without changing cables and i'm not in the mood for that at the moment.
Picture is coming later tonight. In my dusty work clothes from a 5 hour job today with dad building a house (sort of).
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Phone-camera. Not the best but you can see the stands 😛
I'm planning on making a 6mm thick plank of the same material to put on the front of the speaker, making a hole for the driver and sanding the edges.
Also going to put the planks of the stands in a concrete plate to get it more stable and putting some sort of plate on top. But this works for now, but don't touch the stands or the speakers because it's really wobbly! 😀
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Phone-camera. Not the best but you can see the stands 😛
I'm planning on making a 6mm thick plank of the same material to put on the front of the speaker, making a hole for the driver and sanding the edges.
Also going to put the planks of the stands in a concrete plate to get it more stable and putting some sort of plate on top. But this works for now, but don't touch the stands or the speakers because it's really wobbly! 😀
Thick stone tiles or cut-offs from quartz kitchen countertop shop's sink cut-outs make great bases for stands. Stick some felt pads on the bottom and attach a small square of wood to the uprights and glue with silicone to unsealed stone surface and you'll have a pretty sturdy stand.
They just keep getting better don't they ?
Or actually your brain is normalized to the patterns of their particular signature & "distortions" and can concentrate on decoding the information. The relaxation in your listening in not all in the components' break-in, much is in your head. 😉
I'm actually going to cast a concrete slab and stick the planks parallel into it with maybe 10-15cm distance between them. Haven't decided on what to have as a top-plate but i guess i'll find something.
By the way, guess what these stands costed me (including the pieces that i'll have for the baffle later on).
68 SEK or around $11 🙂
My dad visited the local sawmill to buy some planks for a doghouse we're building (and then selling) and he got some pieces for me, and lots of other planks all for free. Apparently they were "leftover parts", even though they were 1-3.5m long 😛
Similarily i just got all the material i need for my next geodesic dome (8' greenhouse)
dave
Made a cast form today, of material i've gotten for free 🙂
Going to cast them tomorrow morning.
The idea is to place the planks parallel to eachother, and screw them onto a 1" thick plank to make sure they don't move. Then screw them to the cast form and then just pour in the concrete and see what happens.
Going to cast them tomorrow morning.
The idea is to place the planks parallel to eachother, and screw them onto a 1" thick plank to make sure they don't move. Then screw them to the cast form and then just pour in the concrete and see what happens.
Casting the stands today. Still waiting for them to get ready. I think i can take them out of the form tonight.
Will do!
Pictures can be seen here in the swedish forum Minhembio.com - Hemma hos Ala_95 - DIY CSS EL70
Pictures can be seen here in the swedish forum Minhembio.com - Hemma hos Ala_95 - DIY CSS EL70
Minhembio.com - Hemma hos Ala_95 - DIY CSS EL70
New pictures of almost finished stands 🙂
The left one came out much better than the right one. The right one has a crack from the center all the way to the edge, and doesn't look as nice either. Thats why i put it in the corner 😛
New pictures of almost finished stands 🙂
The left one came out much better than the right one. The right one has a crack from the center all the way to the edge, and doesn't look as nice either. Thats why i put it in the corner 😛
Magic!
My parents just left to Stockholm so i'm home alone, so had a quick listening session.
Diana Krall - A Case of You (Live in Paris), it was magical! The soundstage is perfect and the speakers play the music in such an emotional way. When the song was over i was deeply relaxed and was almost asleep.
I still can't believe you can get such a good sound for so little money. You compromise on the ability to play very loud with much bass but everything else i so much better than anything in this price range.
My parents just left to Stockholm so i'm home alone, so had a quick listening session.
Diana Krall - A Case of You (Live in Paris), it was magical! The soundstage is perfect and the speakers play the music in such an emotional way. When the song was over i was deeply relaxed and was almost asleep.
I still can't believe you can get such a good sound for so little money. You compromise on the ability to play very loud with much bass but everything else i so much better than anything in this price range.
We just so happen to have our Mar-Kel70 playing (subbed our CHR-Ken with CHR70.3 (stock))... and i agree with you totally.
dave
dave
Mar-Kel^2 should be up and running tonight, I hope to hear what you are finding with your Mar-Kel70 but with a bit more impact and headroom. I hope that it does not disappoint.
I like everything about the Mar-Kel70^2 except for low end extension, which isn't a surprise since it is a 7cm driver and to be expected. Everything else is handled very well, a very good driver and enclosure pair overall. If they were mine they would be paired up with something to handle the bottom end and I would be extremely happy with them.
Without that extra reinforcement, I would like them, but they wouldn't feel complete for some genres of music, or films.
I have to say that the boxes do an excellent job of controlling excursion on the drivers, somewhat bass heavy content doesn't send drivers flying with slightly elevated listening levels.
Overall, an excellent driver, design, and listening experience, and my only criticism is that a 7cm driver is a 7cm driver and can't produce bass like a good 25cm+ driver can, but it still does a really good job in most cases.
I will post a picture tomorrow, they aren't works of art, but not bad for my first time with veneer, or any real cabinet making.
Without that extra reinforcement, I would like them, but they wouldn't feel complete for some genres of music, or films.
I have to say that the boxes do an excellent job of controlling excursion on the drivers, somewhat bass heavy content doesn't send drivers flying with slightly elevated listening levels.
Overall, an excellent driver, design, and listening experience, and my only criticism is that a 7cm driver is a 7cm driver and can't produce bass like a good 25cm+ driver can, but it still does a really good job in most cases.
I will post a picture tomorrow, they aren't works of art, but not bad for my first time with veneer, or any real cabinet making.