Miscellaneous designs - Markaudio, Fostex, TB, Dayton, SEAS etc

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#541
I really like how Makalu sounds.
Thank you Scott it's my favourite design until now..
It doesn't have much bass expansion but better sound shape.Mid and high also good too.The sound doesn't push to front so feeling comfortable.(Sorry for poor English)
My Sonido driver is almost same size so I swapped last night.It also sounding great too
I wonder how flexible this box is.
If I make it swappable baffle for Maop10.2,is it worth or too less volume?
 
#546
hello all,
My MA200 are on the way, the deliveries have started in France.
i will try a box to play them alone i will try waw later if i have the time
i would like to have your impression all and @Scottmoose: in your opinion wich box that the ma200 give their best definition in high and low freq, precision, 3D impression? i'm not looking the lowest reponse i prefer sacrified a little and have a better definition
 
#547
I'm afraid I don't tend to give subjective opinions, since anything I could say would be worthless: what I hear is unlikely to be what anybody else hears with different ears, a different room, system & material, and different interpretations about what 'definition', 'precision', '3d impression' etc. might [or might not 😉 ] mean.

For what it's worth, remember that as far as a bass enclosure goes it's only functional in the LF: above that, realistically speaking, its only role is to provide a solid mounting point for the driver, and its secondary influence in terms of baffle effects decline as frequency rises, so you're left with the direct radiation of the driver, no more. Speaking generally, I'd suggest you aim for an enclosure with a well-designed alignment -avoid peaking or maximally flat types unless the speakers are going to be positioned well away from room boundaries as in practice they're more likely to have an excess of output around Fb and / or a narrower box tuning. An efficient higher gain load that minimises or controls excursion to a greater extent than one that sees the driver working harder or unloading too early is likely to bring some improvements in this regard, since thermal and FM distortion will probably be lower. I'd also avoid designs which, for e.g., have obvious projections in front of the driver [well-designed front-loaded horns aside of course!] as they are likely to cause extra unwanted diffraction effects. Chamfers or roundovers are good to see; with larger wideband drivers like MA200 they're more cosmetic than functional, but assuming the structure isn't compromised, there's no harm in them being there [or you adding them]. Structurally speaking, look for something solid, preferably with a reasonably thick front baffle at the very least to provide a nice solid structure for the driver to flush mount into and ensure a stable platform for the expanding spherical pressure-wave. I suggest you also look for bracing and acoustic damping in the design, as this generally suggests the designers have taken the time to optimise these as far as practical.
 
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#548
Vix said:
I am not Scott, but two MA200 drivers in series would give you 16 ohms. Inductor would become huge (x4) then you will loose a lot of efficiency. So, shortly, no.
Maybe Scott can design something witj four MA200 drivers as bass + one on top ? That way it would become efficient (and a bit more expensive) 8 ohm design 😀
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Comparing apples to apples, with something like a 5mH inductor for 16 ohms, and 1.25mH for 4 ohms, the ratio of driver Re : inductor DCR should also stay the same. Assuming a roughly square-law relationship of inductance value vs distance between the windings, you'll probably end up with 0.5 conductor area and 2 x length of wire, give or take. So the amount of copper should not change that much.

If it has a solid core, the amount of energy stored should not change much either.

Scottmoose said:
I'm afraid I don't tend to give subjective opinions, since anything I could say would be worthless: what I hear is unlikely to be what anybody else hears with different ears
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Still, there's no harm in that kind of engagement, I think. Some people do like to make decisions based on subjective "well, it's his favourite, so I'm picking that one, too" thinking.
 
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#549
you are the only person wich have be lucky to listen the ma 200 in so many different enclosure. if my research is more on a defined, prerscise, beautiful sound stage, 3D. it's difficult to chose when you are a beginner, i hesitate between these design what can you tell me to choose something mervellous for me:
Neptune mk2,
margaret
M DCR standmount
large ducted vent standmount
medium ducted vent standmount
keele ebs
i have not ask if an onken have been studyed for this driver
 
#550
Scottmoose said:
With anything in particular?

I've been going over the different variations, & it reminded me of something I was looking at a few years back. The independent pipes came about because in earlier versions, Lynn was trying to combine two dissimilar length pipes about halfway down the box into a single, and was getting some destructive interference as a result. The independent lines was a solution to that; works fine in itself of course, although no opportunity for offsets etc., but arguably a simpler solution to the issue would have been to remove two internal panels from the existing v3 encosure so the drivers shared a common upper chamber like a Bailey / Radford / Daline & fed a single pipe / line / labyrinth. Problem solved. Still, it ended up as it ended up & it worked decently, so not much point speculating on 'what ifs'. 😉
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Ariels were the first serious loudspeakers I built. Great sound for not much money. Mine eventually evolved into exactly what you said, a Daline type system. Then I used the lower woofer to correct for the step response and crossed over to a different tweeter, messed with stuffing and now they sound great, but they aren't Ariels anymore. Actually, I'm still not happy with the tweeters. Maybe it's time for something new?
 
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#552
Vix said:
I found out why it is always better to buy more expensive speakers:
In the beginning, it hurts, but after a few years you forget how much you paid for them and enjoy the good sound.
On the contrary, you buy cheap drivers, and even after a few years get reminded that you did not pay enough! 🤣
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I'll second this! I just finished a pair of speakers that have the A12PW and A7P. Not super expensive, but not cheap, either,. They sound phenomenal. I'm quite confident they'll be played for years to come.
On the flip side of the same coin, MA drivers are relatively inexpensive when one compares sound quality to price. I've built multiway speakers I love and I've built single driver speakers I love. I keep coming back to the single driver speakers or WAW configurations. I'm not sure why; maybe it's the sound quality despite the simplicity. For whatever reason, they make my audio senses tingle.
 
#556
Yeah, I've had them on the shelf for a while. I don't remember who sold them to me, but I sure do like listening to them.

Now I'm looking for my next build (after I build better looking enclosures for the A12pw/A7p). I've been thinking about the FHXL, so I might be reaching out to you down the road. I like the builds that are different than the typical box build, just for the added challenge. 🙂
 
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#557
Scottmoose said:
Right, since I'm in the mood (aka had enough of job applications for one day), and for the sake of completeness, a DCR version of Sun Bear. In the spirit of symmetry, yes: it's called Moon Bear.
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I’ve had a pair of the TBs that I wanted to use and finally got around to building the Moon Bears for them. I tried with and without a filter, and the filter is a keeper.
Once again, another of Scott’s designs is a winner. These are very easy to listen to and they aren’t huge. Plenty of decent bass and everything else sounds great.
I usually can’t find anyone interested enough in audio to appreciate speakers that sound good. This time, however, my son asked me to make some for him. These fit the bill perfectly. He’ll be running them from a Fosi amp, which I’m using with them as I type this post. I have no doubt he’ll be pleased with them.
Thanks for sharing your expertise, Scott. It keeps me inspired to keep building.
 
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