Pictures of my Thor project

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jump to Latest
#62
First speaker: (for those having browser problems with the gallery software)

--
Brian
 

Attachments

  • act.sized.jpg
    act.sized.jpg
    77.2 KB · Views: 838
#65
Regarding finishing speakers

When I first began in hi-fi, a “few” years ago I was infatuated with the idea of bass, the more the better. However once I began to delve further into things, really listen to the music, and compare with what I heard from live musicians I realised that what I was hearing was really nothing like the natural acoustic versions at all. What I was listening to was instead a poor “plastic” imitation. This is fine if you listen to “artificial” music, but I feel tends to lead to disappointment if quality is sacrificed for quantity in more natural pieces.

Likewise when I first started working with wood I would finish my pieces with a thick layer of polyurethane, and stand back and admire the gloss. Once again it was only after some experience that I realised that I’d used wood to produce a piece of (attractive) plastic. Nowadays I’ve begun to appreciate wood for what it is, a tactile natural material, and try to keep that in mind when finishing a piece. Personally I rarely use poly these days, instead preferring an oil based finish, in particular Danish oil. It leaves the tactile grain of the wood clearly visible, but still protects the surface. As a bonus it’s easy to apply with a rag, and is virtually “idiot proof”.

If, on the other hand, you want to achieve a mirror surface, I suggest sealing the surface with a shellac based sealer. There is little point in providing brand names on an international board, but you will recognise the sealer by the fact that it is diluted and cleaned up with alcohol. After applying the sealer the grain will be raised slightly and quite brittle, so knock it down with fine abrasive paper. The beauty of a shellac based sealer is that it is compatible with most other finishes.

The Thors shown look great, but thought other readers may like to consider an alternative when finishing.

Cheers,

Pete
 
#66
Pete,

Thanks for the advice. I am beyond the excessive bass phase, and like natural bass. I was just noting that the Thor TL speakers are a little lean on bass before you break them in. Once they are broken in, there is no excessive bass, but it is almost a perfectly flat response. The bass sounds like it was intended to sound. I built a subwoofer also, which I will use for movies, which is the only place that I like excessive bass.

Regarding the finishing, I had a hard time deciding what kind of finish for the wood, but I had two friends build a pair before I did and I like the glossy finish they used, so I followed.

--
Brian
 
#67
Oh don't get me wrong Brian, I was just using the Bass analogy to illustrate how my own tastes and expectations in musical reproduction had changed. I wasn’t actually referring to your own comments about the Thor.

Further up this thread comments were made about how to finish these, and other speakers in general. Unfortunately I was away during that period so my post above is a delayed response to that topic.

Wood is a wonderful material, I really like working with it. For those not so familiar with it, I hope my comments may inspire alternative finishing techniques. In addition to the Danish oil, I finish my projects with a coat of wax, the brand of which gives the piece a lovely smell (well I guess if you like that sort of thing). There is certainly something to be said for a piece of furniture that looks good, smells good, makes you want to run your hands over it, and in the case of the Thors, sounds good. Stimulating 4 out of the 5 senses isn’t a bad effort after all.

Cheers,

Pete
 
#71
MJK said:
Were your speakers the ones int he DIY Atlanta eveny? If so, what was your impressions after listening to your Thors and Bob Brines' Peerless TLs.
Click to expand...

Yes, those were my speakers. I had finished them 5am the morning of the event, so they were only played a few hours before I brought them to the DIY2002 event.

Here is what was said: "They really sounded sweet,
but the consensus seems to be that the bass sounds a little thin. Maybe the drivers just need breaking in, or maybe that's the way it's supposed to be. I guess keep using them and see if the bass changes."

The bass has since changed considerably.

Bob Brines' Peerless TLs were quite nice, but the quality of the drivers is much less then the Seas Excel woofers and the Milennium tweeters. (he used morel tweeters). I found the highs a little bit harsh. The bass was at the right level, but not as tight as the Thor TL speakers. But, I was really impressed with performance for the lower cost of the Peerless and

My Thor TL speakers are starting to get broken in and the bass is coming out. My friend who I built mine with and he finished about a month ago, his speakers sound perfect. The bass is not thin at all. I think that I just need to let mine play, and they will sound right. They are getting better everyday. I leave them playing all day and when I get home, compare the sound with a known cd track.

Robert Cheng (the guy in charge of organizing the DIY2002 Atlanta event) is considering getting another gathering together in a couple of months, and I can bring the Thor TL speakers again so that people can hear the sound of them when broken in.

I will measure my speakers again in a couple of weeks in Dr. Leach's audiolab and see how they measure up when broken in.

Martin, I like your webpage and intend to mess around with the mathcad worksheets in the future. Thanks for posting them.

--
Brian
 
#72
Brian,

I forgot to mention before that the speakers look great. Much better then anything I have ever built, or probably will ever build. Time to start looking for a cabinet maker.

If you do measure the speakers again in a couple of weeks I would be interested in seeing the newer and original plots. My experiences with driver break-in are mixed, sometimes things change and sometimes they do not change. It might also be interesting to get a near field measurement for each mid-bass driver and for the terminus to see if any insight can be gained about the standing waves in the enclosure and if they inpact each driver differently.

Thanks for the positive feedback on the website, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions please do not hesitate to send them directly to me.

Good luck with the Thor's, TL's are interesting creatures.

Martin
www.quarter-wave.com
 
#73
MJK said:
I forgot to mention before that the speakers look great. Much better then anything I have ever built, or probably will ever build. Time to start looking for a cabinet maker.

If you do measure the speakers again in a couple of weeks I would be interested in seeing the newer and original plots.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the complements. This was my first speaker project, and my first woodworking project ever. After I take them in and get them measured again, I will post the new results.

There are more pictures on my website at:
http://brian.darg.net

Thanks again for your website, I will let you know if I have any questions when I start to consider my next speaker design. I like the way that the Thor TLs came out, but now I need to do my own design, instead of using a kit.

Any suggestions on a driver to go with the SS 9500 tweeter? I really like this tweeter, of all the tweeters that I have listened to, besides the Seas Millenium tweeter, which is twice the cost. I want to work on a design similar to Bob's peerless TLs.

--
Brian
 
#75
Brian:

Any suggestions on a driver to go with the SS 9500 tweeter?
Click to expand...

Do you like that better than the tweeter in your Thors?

I'm starting a Thor as well (just got the MDF), but I haven't gotten the drivers yet; I'm tempted to go with a Raven instead of the Seas tweeter. Zalytron offers this as a kit for the Odin, and said they can offer it with their package for the Thor.
 
#76
I like the seas millenium tweeter better then the ss 9500, but it is twice the cost and I want to go for a cheaper project for my next one.

As for the Seas Thor TL kit, the Odin MK3 uses the exact same crossover and drivers. Make sure that it is the MK3 kit, as the first odin kit had smaller woofers and a different tweeter (not as good)

Thor and Odin MK3 components
2 x T25CF002
4 x W18E001
same crossover

Odin components
2 x T25CF001
4 x W17E002
different crossover

Madisound has a good deal of information on all 3 kits at:
http://www.madisound.com/kits.html

As for Thor, I am very content with the design and sound. I definately would not swap out the Millenium tweeter for the Raven, as the crossover is great, and I would not want to lose the flat response that Thor has. I am not saying the the Raven is not great, but I would not mess with the balance of Thor.

--
Brian
 
#77
One more thing, I am quite satisified with the Madisound kit. It included the drivers, assembled crossovers, nordost 2flat cable, speaker terminals, foam sealant, pre-weighed stuffing in 4 bags (9 oz back, 15oz front) and detailed instructions. I would recommend getting the kit (without cabinet) from them if you are building the Thor TLs.

--
Brian
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom