Better? How?
There are many small speakers similar to Martello. Whether they are better depends on what criteria are important.
If you want to spend more money on the driver you can build something sonically better. FF85wk, Alpair 5.2/6/2 come to mine.
And for the same (? or similar) Fountek, check out the Fountek Five.
dave
There are many small speakers similar to Martello. Whether they are better depends on what criteria are important.
If you want to spend more money on the driver you can build something sonically better. FF85wk, Alpair 5.2/6/2 come to mine.
And for the same (? or similar) Fountek, check out the Fountek Five.
dave
Thank's Dave.
I can find the Alpair 6p in Italy and they are in the established budget.
Is this the project?
http://frugal-phile.com/boxlib/P10free/mMar-Ken6-1v0-map-231009.pdf
Do others exist?
Dario
I can find the Alpair 6p in Italy and they are in the established budget.
Is this the project?
http://frugal-phile.com/boxlib/P10free/mMar-Ken6-1v0-map-231009.pdf
Do others exist?
Dario
That is for the 1st A6. But it works with the A6p if you just leave out the vent spacer.
There is an entire A6x planset with a number of boxes for both A6s from ,2 litre to 5 litre (not every driver fits every size box). Tuning details (and baffle & holey brace differ too) aside this is the deluxe box for the A6p mFonken103SolT Build.
dave
There is an entire A6x planset with a number of boxes for both A6s from ,2 litre to 5 litre (not every driver fits every size box). Tuning details (and baffle & holey brace differ too) aside this is the deluxe box for the A6p mFonken103SolT Build.
dave
The full plansets have a subscription fee. You have to pay and i will give you a URL to the current planset (they have a tendency to grow).
Full subscription details here: planet10-hifi miniOnken Plan-Set Subscriptions
dave
Full subscription details here: planet10-hifi miniOnken Plan-Set Subscriptions
dave
Hi everybody,
I finally built mine.
They are made with MDF.
Internal braces are... sections of used drum sticks! Drum sticks are typically made with hickory, a very hard and dense wood. A small speaker is a perfect way to recycle them.
Internal panels are lined with both wool felt (top, left and right sides) and recycled cotton felt (back and front side).
The finish is some Black Limba veneer (aka Fraké for french readers, aka Terminalia superba) that was sanded+varnished several times. Black limba was chosen to have a scandinavian look.
I love my Martello speakers, the little guys sound great !
I'm now planning to design and build an associated subwoofer.
I finally built mine.
They are made with MDF.
Internal braces are... sections of used drum sticks! Drum sticks are typically made with hickory, a very hard and dense wood. A small speaker is a perfect way to recycle them.
Internal panels are lined with both wool felt (top, left and right sides) and recycled cotton felt (back and front side).
The finish is some Black Limba veneer (aka Fraké for french readers, aka Terminalia superba) that was sanded+varnished several times. Black limba was chosen to have a scandinavian look.
I love my Martello speakers, the little guys sound great !
I'm now planning to design and build an associated subwoofer.
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Wow! - a very clean build. I like the use of round dowel for bracing - drum sticks !
I've never heard of Black Limba before, it's really very nice.
For a subwoofer maybe consider a push-push topology which uses two woofers combined in one enclosure and the way they operate is such to reduce 2nd harmonic distortion. I made a subwoofer using this method for my home theatre and it is used everyday. I used 8" drivers but for smaller room maybe 6" would be good: https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/subwoofers/140069-altair-sub-2x-trio8s.html
I've never heard of Black Limba before, it's really very nice.
For a subwoofer maybe consider a push-push topology which uses two woofers combined in one enclosure and the way they operate is such to reduce 2nd harmonic distortion. I made a subwoofer using this method for my home theatre and it is used everyday. I used 8" drivers but for smaller room maybe 6" would be good: https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/subwoofers/140069-altair-sub-2x-trio8s.html
Thank you Bigun !
It's not that clean actually, it was the first time I used veneer but I'm quite happy with the result.
Thank you for the suggestion but I already made my mind and even bought the driver for a Voxel-like mini-sub. I think it's enough for my desk.
Just wanted to put out a quick update and a few piccies of a new Martello alive today. I wanted some small desktop/workspace speakers and these seemed to fit the bill perfectly. I'm still waiting for the intended amp to be freed up for this purpose so for now im listening to them in my living room and letting them burn in a little. They handle the room very well indeed, i am listening to "The Folk Singer" as i write this, and it is rendered perfectly and with nice dynamics. They are not bass monsters, but they manage more than i'd expect for such a small speaker not right agains the wall.
I decided to stick to the visible plywood look i'd used for my pensils and alpair bookshelf speakers. I like the look of plywood edges and i think it frames the driver nicely. I had to assemble the speakers a little differently to accomplish this but nothing major. Driver holes were routed last after all the cabinet had been assembled. Lined insides with 10 mm felt and installed a notch of 0.33mH/8.2uF/4.7R.
SWMBO commented they look like mini pensils 🙂 Last shot is the little guys on top of their big brothers 🙂
Thank's Bigun for the design, great sounding and compact, i look forward to trying it on my desktop!
I decided to stick to the visible plywood look i'd used for my pensils and alpair bookshelf speakers. I like the look of plywood edges and i think it frames the driver nicely. I had to assemble the speakers a little differently to accomplish this but nothing major. Driver holes were routed last after all the cabinet had been assembled. Lined insides with 10 mm felt and installed a notch of 0.33mH/8.2uF/4.7R.
SWMBO commented they look like mini pensils 🙂 Last shot is the little guys on top of their big brothers 🙂
Thank's Bigun for the design, great sounding and compact, i look forward to trying it on my desktop!
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Some time spent listening later and i have to say these little drivers really do well, very balanced and detailed sound overall. They started out a bit boxy sounding but that disappeared pretty quickly. I've only listened in my living room with them on top of the Pensils. They don't go as deep to no surprise, but they are not shy, and in a small room and closer to a wall i don't think they will be slouches. Nice!
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I am pretty much done already. We are all staying home due to the virus and having much more time than usually :-/
My speakers have a bit different cabinet, the front is leaning by 11 degrees, the height is a bit smaller and they are some 2 cm deeper. Width and internal volume stayed the same, I have also kept the original design of the bass reflex port. I like the idea of the triangle divider 🙂
And that causes the question regarding the tunnel length. Please see the part of the original scheme below: is the place marked with the red “X” a part of the bass-reflex tunnel?
I guess not, but I would like to hear an opinion. If it is, I should put a small brace behind the port, right where the piece of wood with “Flugger” name is placed on the last photo. Should I?
My speakers have a bit different cabinet, the front is leaning by 11 degrees, the height is a bit smaller and they are some 2 cm deeper. Width and internal volume stayed the same, I have also kept the original design of the bass reflex port. I like the idea of the triangle divider 🙂
And that causes the question regarding the tunnel length. Please see the part of the original scheme below: is the place marked with the red “X” a part of the bass-reflex tunnel?
I guess not, but I would like to hear an opinion. If it is, I should put a small brace behind the port, right where the piece of wood with “Flugger” name is placed on the last photo. Should I?
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Hi - when calculating the port it’s common to take into account the part you marked ‘X’ so adding a brace will ensure you have reproduced the design correctly. I love that vibrant red colour.
The boxes are ready. Well, except that edges are not rounded yet and the paint is not applied, but I could not wait to test them 😉
As soon as I glued it all together, applied the filler and sanded it, I have installed the speakers and started to burn them in.
And I must admit that I am astounded. I would never expect that big sound from such little boxes. The midrange is very clear, with vocals a bit retracted, and the bottom is surprisingly well presented and controlled. Soundstage effects are exceptional, thanks to the small front and a single driver design.
The speakers sound great with just what I had laying around, a cheap Tripath amp fed from the analog output of Chromecast Audio. Never thought that budget audio may give so good result 😀
As soon as I glued it all together, applied the filler and sanded it, I have installed the speakers and started to burn them in.
And I must admit that I am astounded. I would never expect that big sound from such little boxes. The midrange is very clear, with vocals a bit retracted, and the bottom is surprisingly well presented and controlled. Soundstage effects are exceptional, thanks to the small front and a single driver design.
The speakers sound great with just what I had laying around, a cheap Tripath amp fed from the analog output of Chromecast Audio. Never thought that budget audio may give so good result 😀
