Oh to hack with it (aka: to h*** with space, I wan'ts me some new speakers!)

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#23
Line arrays

Hello,

I've a Newform 645. I'm using 6 Focal 5" Kevlar
midranges and 2 8" Scanspeak woofers in my line
array. The sound is very good.

I think it could be better. I've heard many tweeters
and in my opinion the New Forms are only surpassed
by the Ravens (Or maybe the Aurum Cantus which
I haven't heard).

I was at a show and was surprised by the bass the little
4.5" Excel woofer could put out. I would therefore
recommend an array of Raven R2 (Or Aurum Cantus G2)
paired with 4.5" Excel drivers. An active cross-over
24 DB/octave at about 2500Hz.
You can get this to play as low
as you want provided you add a little of bass boost.

On the other hand if you want to play it loud cut the
arrays at 60Hz and add a 15 or 18" sub. Or even 2 for
more bass. I think in that case the Adire woofers
come into play. How about a tumult? I think from the
specs the 12" Eminence Lab 12 looks good.

As far as chip amps: They are easy to put together
and can surpass the sound of amps many times
the price. They are not so cheap. If you use good
quality components they will cost probably $250
a piece. Well worth it. I haven't tried active cross
overs but I think with the Excels it probably the
best.

I'm building a set of regulated BPA200s. I've already
spend $1000 in parts and don't have a case yet.
The preliminary tests are extremely good though.


Harry
 
#24
Hi Copper

I tend to agree with Variac on the suggestion of the Linkwitz Orion. If you take option B (cost of @2550) and a wood flat-pack from Wood Artistry (cost babout $750) your speakers should cost you no more than $3500 to build. Add to that 8 Gainclone amps and your total cost for a full-active system should be no more than $4000 - $4500. The main reason I suggest this solution is that all the mats ITO the cross-over etc. has already been done for you- it takes most of the guesswork out of the equation. Add to that the fact that the Orions are very highly rated, and their designer rated even higher, and it's the best solution I can see in your case. I think what you have to do is see if there is anyone close enough to you that owns a pair and is prepared to demo them for you. Then you will know if this is the way to go for you.

Enjoy,
Deon
 
#25
Cost of 2, 4 channel chip amps.

The premium 3875 Chip Amp kit at
http://www.audiosector.com/

is $85 for 2 channels and 2 independent power supplies and fancy resistors, etc.
4* 85= $340
2 transformers *$50 = 100$
2 metal cases $150

Total $590

The 4780 based chip amps are more powerful, so might be a better choice, but are only available in a standard version, but I'll bet Peter at Audiosector could whip you up some premium kits. I'll also bet that the difference between standard and premium is very subtle!
 
#27
Here are my speakers-Designed by Dick Olsher
Mine are the platinum edition -with a ribbon tweeter.
He has a version with Lowther drivers for alot more- but they are also a lot bigger. a bit of searching will turn them up. Maybe you can develop a more appealing look for them
BUT they have open baffle midranges so also require at least 3' from the wall . I have mine on wheels so I can roll them out...

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=446397#post446397

The thread starts here:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=205893#post205893

Here are others efforts at them.
http://www.blackdahlia.com/html/tip_45.html


They were designewd by Dick Olsher, who makes his without worrying too much about appearences- they sound very good though!

http://www.blackdahlia.com/html/tip_43.html

http://www.blackdahlia.com/html/tip_41.html
http://www.blackdahlia.com/html/tip_42.html
 
#30
Meridian 558.2 Multichannel Power Amplifier

Meridian's new 558.2 Multichannel Amplifier is designed in the Meridian tradition of uncompromised music performance.

Modern music and film systems have complex amplification requirements, comprehensively met by the 558.2. Film soundtracks demand speed, power and dynamic range. CD and DVD-Audio music recordings require these attributes as well as the ability to provide low-level detail and convey the space and ambience of the original performance.
Product/558.2 Power












To deliver stable dynamics the 558.2 uses a new design of low-noise twin 1.2kVA toroidal mains transformers and no fewer than 50 pairs of hand-matched output devices. In addition an important new dynamic bias system has been incorporated. Utilising technology designed for the flagship DSP8000 Loudspeaker System, the 558.2 is maintained at optimum operating temperature no matter what source material is being played. This enables low listening levels to be sweeter and richer while still being able to provide extraordinary dynamics when driven hard.

Its switchable, bridged modes make it flexible. The 558.2 can be configured for either five-channel output at 200W per channel into 8 ohms, or for two channels at greater than 500W into 8 ohms plus a single channel at 200W. For seven-channel applications it is possible to run two 558.2 amplifiers with the front three channels bridged.


Low noise, high mass transformer

Auto bias of low listening levels for sweeter sound

Front plate to match 559 amplifier

Five channels at 200W into 8Ù

Switchable balanced and single-ended inputs

Rack mountable for ease of installation

Trigger input AC or DC control

Standby / bias down control using trigger output from the 562V.2, 561 or 861



Technical Specification

Power output: 5 channels at 200W into 8 ohms, or 2 channels at >500W into 8 ohms (bridged) and 1 channel at 200W

Distortion: <0.05% Signal/Noise: –100dB

Inputs: Balanced on XLR and unbalanced on phono

Outputs: Twin outputs for bi-wiring

Construction: 50 pairs of 15amp output devices and 100,000ìf of audiophile-grade smoothing capacitors Ultra low impedance error-corrected output stage DC coupled Soft start and thermal management in main assembly

Controls: Front-panel control for power On/Off Rear-panel controls for balanced or single-ended input, Bridge/ Stereo Mode

Weight: 52kg
 
#31
I'd go the route Variac suggests. Two 2-channel 3875-based amps, and two 2-channel 4780-based amps (for the subs). You can also bridge two 3875 chips (or 4780 chips for that matter) to make a more powerful version, but that is something you'll have to discuss with Peter at Audiosector. There is also more info on that in the Chip Amp forum.

Enjoy,
Deon
 
#33
Hmm, the meridian amps are quite nice indeed - I do think that might have been my route before I gave some serious thinking to all this. I think instead I'm going to kinda rehash what I'm going after.

First, I'm going to learn how to build a simple amp. I think I'll do a simple gainclone or chip amp. The speaker decision is going to take a long time to arrive at, but is less important at this time than getting a new set of amplification - my present amp is /not/ adequate in the least for what I need.

Having decided this, I think I may start simpler for the speakers instead. A pair of two way's will likely be what I decide on, but I have decided to try designing them myself. I'm not going to go whole hog on it - I still have that $ budgeted for some audio fun, I'm just not going to go crazy....yet 😉

However, you have all been a great help to me so far! I truly appreciate all of the input I've received. It's been a good lesson in humility as well as realizing that I've been a bit over-enthusiastic and I need to reevaluate how I'm going to go about this.

For now, I'm going to start poking through the amp section and learn about making some simple ones to start with. Once those are done to my satisfaction, I'll be back here to start working on designing a new pair of two-ways for my first original design.

Once again, many thanks to all of you for your help! You've been great 🙂
 
#35
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Oh to hack with it (aka: to h*** with space, I wan'ts me some new speakers!)

planet10 said:

The problem with 4 mid-woofs is getting a tweeter that goes low enuff... even 2 (ie MTM) puts the XO quite low. The XO point is pretty much determined by how close you can get the centres of the mid-woofers that are furthest apart.
Click to expand...

With an MTM, is it necessary to consider the distance between the mid-woofers at the HF crossover, or just the distance from the mids to the tweeter?

If the mid-woofer to mid-woofer distance is to be considered, then most MTM designs would have a problem (i.e. combing).
 
#36
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Oh to hack with it (aka: to h*** with space, I wan'ts me some new speake

Originally posted by audiobomber
With an MTM, is it necessary to consider the distance between the mid-woofers at the HF crossover, or just the distance from the mids to the tweeter?

If the mid-woofer to mid-woofer distance is to be considered, then most MTM designs would have a problem (i.e. combing).
Click to expand...


midwoofer centre to midwoofer centre...

yes, many MTMs are that way for marketing reasons and break all sorts of guidlines...

dave
 
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