Perhaps too small to work as a loaded horn, but has anybody heard them?
Link below shows the kit.
Uses the Fostex FE 126EN
Strassacker: Speaker Building, Components
Another mini setup, this time a TL design, by Bernd Timmermanns. Again, too small to work well?
Strassacker, Komponenten: Lautsprecher, Frequenzweichen, Bauelemente
Link below shows the kit.
Uses the Fostex FE 126EN
Strassacker: Speaker Building, Components
Another mini setup, this time a TL design, by Bernd Timmermanns. Again, too small to work well?
Strassacker, Komponenten: Lautsprecher, Frequenzweichen, Bauelemente
I can’t comment on the 2-way except that indeed one can have a useful small TL (for example the microTower, and the Woden BabyLabs) — althou if you don’t know if it is a properly modeled line i would avoid.
the little “horn” is going to be more of a badly designed TL, and a major clue is here:"The crossover consists of a LRC notch filter wired in series. The wave trap reduces the level between 0.3 and 6 kHz”. It essentially depresses stuff above 300 Hz because the enclosure does not have gain below the mass-corner.
126En really wants to be in a horn. Frugel-Horn Mk3, Austin A126, Kongo, or the Wodem Maeshow would be my leading suggestions.
Anything smaller will be bass shy, but theri is an optimum size miniOnken centre i designed for those with FH3s that needed centres and surrounds. Struggles to reach 100 Hz.
dave
the little “horn” is going to be more of a badly designed TL, and a major clue is here:"The crossover consists of a LRC notch filter wired in series. The wave trap reduces the level between 0.3 and 6 kHz”. It essentially depresses stuff above 300 Hz because the enclosure does not have gain below the mass-corner.
126En really wants to be in a horn. Frugel-Horn Mk3, Austin A126, Kongo, or the Wodem Maeshow would be my leading suggestions.
Anything smaller will be bass shy, but theri is an optimum size miniOnken centre i designed for those with FH3s that needed centres and surrounds. Struggles to reach 100 Hz.
dave
I’m not sure if the FE126EN will work as this design is older and was for the FE126E but maybe Dave can chime in with his thoughts since he drew the plan:
http://frugal-phile.com/boxlib/iBIBk-FE12x-map-060307.pdf
Admittedly, the iBIBk is not a mini at 52” (1321mm) tall.
http://frugal-phile.com/boxlib/iBIBk-FE12x-map-060307.pdf
Admittedly, the iBIBk is not a mini at 52” (1321mm) tall.
I’ve built a few different enclosures using both FE126E & EN, and while they certainly have their charms, it’s probably fair to say that for either “micro”, “desk-top” etc BLH, and satisfying output in the bottom 3 or so octaves are contradictory.
If you already have the drivers, and enclosure size/ floor space are not limitations, the Maeshowe would be my suggestion. The front mouth Madisound BK12 is a reasonable compromise between performanhce and floorspace.
On the other hand, if compact size is a prime factor and sufficient power available, either the Fostex FF85 or 105WK can work very well in quite compact simple vented enclosures - for example, either the several Planet10 microFonken variations, or Scott Lindgren’s Woden Baby Labs. The latter designs being folded MLTLs are larger, but frankly I think deliver more satisfying low frequency extension.
Application and expectations are key, I think.
If you already have the drivers, and enclosure size/ floor space are not limitations, the Maeshowe would be my suggestion. The front mouth Madisound BK12 is a reasonable compromise between performanhce and floorspace.
On the other hand, if compact size is a prime factor and sufficient power available, either the Fostex FF85 or 105WK can work very well in quite compact simple vented enclosures - for example, either the several Planet10 microFonken variations, or Scott Lindgren’s Woden Baby Labs. The latter designs being folded MLTLs are larger, but frankly I think deliver more satisfying low frequency extension.
Application and expectations are key, I think.
Dave, thanks for the above. Having seen what's on offer, the MicroTower Castles are the ones for me! Any advice on driver selection?
Thanks Dave. Really appreciate that. Bearing in mind in have no kit (pre kids had some branded goods but all had to be sold off) and am starting from zero again, is there any stereo AMP you would recommend and any other purchase (speaker cable, power cords etc) for that matter that is optimised around these speakers?
Forget about fancy wire & power cords - invest instead on high quality plywood if building your own enclosures.
As Dave mentioned, I’ve built several pairs of “Castle” micro-towers - i.e. with one driver mounted on top ( loved end of line), but not specifically with the A7.3. I’m pretty sure he’s drawn plans for them. What I’d highly recommend is angling forward of the top between 10 - 15dg. I’ve also played with converting port to slot vent, both front and side exit.
As for amp recommendations, if you’re rebuilding your system from scratch there are at least two additional questions to the normal short list regarding room size/ listening levels / type of music, etc that should be considered as part of the decision tree, including:
- how many / type of program sources;
- maximum number of separate components you’d have budget/space to accommodate.
A pair of A7.3 per side in parallel should be considered as a moderately low impedance load (below 3 ohm at minimus), series connection would likely make things easier. My own listening habits have evolved over the past 40yrs in terms of volume levels, as has the “need” for multiple sources and system complexity - at least as far as music only playback is concerned - home theatre is another story, but of course YMMV
. My current upstairs system is a fairly user friendly network receiver with single CD tray, streaming/AirPlay, 4 configurable channels of digital power (can be bridged for 60 wpc in stereo, or separated for passive bi-amping / zones), as well as pre-amp and sub-woofer outputs. A lot of convenience and functionality in one cute little box (black in my case).
Of course, that’s been ensconced now for well over a year, and 2ft-itis is a temptation far harder to resist than we want to admit.
As Dave mentioned, I’ve built several pairs of “Castle” micro-towers - i.e. with one driver mounted on top ( loved end of line), but not specifically with the A7.3. I’m pretty sure he’s drawn plans for them. What I’d highly recommend is angling forward of the top between 10 - 15dg. I’ve also played with converting port to slot vent, both front and side exit.
As for amp recommendations, if you’re rebuilding your system from scratch there are at least two additional questions to the normal short list regarding room size/ listening levels / type of music, etc that should be considered as part of the decision tree, including:
- how many / type of program sources;
- maximum number of separate components you’d have budget/space to accommodate.
A pair of A7.3 per side in parallel should be considered as a moderately low impedance load (below 3 ohm at minimus), series connection would likely make things easier. My own listening habits have evolved over the past 40yrs in terms of volume levels, as has the “need” for multiple sources and system complexity - at least as far as music only playback is concerned - home theatre is another story, but of course YMMV
. My current upstairs system is a fairly user friendly network receiver with single CD tray, streaming/AirPlay, 4 configurable channels of digital power (can be bridged for 60 wpc in stereo, or separated for passive bi-amping / zones), as well as pre-amp and sub-woofer outputs. A lot of convenience and functionality in one cute little box (black in my case).Of course, that’s been ensconced now for well over a year, and 2ft-itis is a temptation far harder to resist than we want to admit.
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Note that that is the DCR not the impedance. Because a speaker is reactive its impedance is always higher than the DCR.
Parallel or Series will depend on the amp you get.
Ampwize, living with its limitations, the Nelson Pass ACA from the diyAudio store is a killer good sounding amp. And some of the newest Class D amps have decent performance (usually happy into 4Ω or even less) for really, really cheap.
Speaker wire. After a collective 60+ years of playing with speaker cables Chris & i both use single strands of 24g solid pulled out of a CAT5/6 cable.
dave
Fair enough, but out of curiosity, has anyone taken or published actual measurements of a pair of these drivers connected in to the two configurations? I’d still be concerned about parallel connections - as you say, “depends on the amp you get” - not all current candidates would be comfortable at the well under 4ohm load I think that would be seen.
yup, the ACA is a great sounding piece, certainly not without its own seductive sonic amp signature. I’ve owned at least half a dozen class D/T basic/integrated types, and am still running a Topping TP30 in a computer desktop system driving a pair of FF85WK, and Hypex UCD180 driving subs in 7.1 system.
I may be going out on a limb here, but it’s been my experience that even within any given class of amp topology - and for numerous reasons - not all amps “sound” the same, and those differences may be more noticeable in some systems than others. Furthermore, I’d say that weighting of simple of dollar per watt, total system functionality, complexity and convenience in final choice is entirely subjective.
I’m currently running separate systems for 2channel music only and a small 7.1 rig for movies/TV. Should one be inclined, it’d not be too difficult to simplify a music only system to a single integrated amp/receiver and how ever many source components your existing media libraries - i.e. vinyl/tape/CD, etc require. In my case, the Rega turntable hasn’t been played in over 5 yrs, other than to assess the phono stages of a couple of pieces of gear - the Rotel RC1570 pre-amp now installed in Dave’s system, and the Onkyo HT receiver downstairs. The Rotel was quite good, the Onkyo surprisingly OK as well. However, 95% of the music upstairs is either streaming from iTunes library served up from headless MacMini and controlled by simple IOS app, or CDs spun on the Marantz CR611.
The HT rig has a few more sources - cable box, Netflix via Smart TV, BD player, AppleTV box, and another MacMini- altogether I count 5 remote controls and the wireless keyboard/mouse for the Mini.
In recommending “an amp” for Prolle - or anyone rebuilding a system from scratch, my first questions would be:
- how elaborate;
- what are space/budgetary constraints - there are rarely none of either of those
For internal wiring on full range drivers, yes - but from amp to speakers, I use cheap harware zip-cord from #18 to as thick as #14 for the 40+ft runs to HT rear surrounds, as well as subs.
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