Troels is not trying to make The Best Speaker. He is playing around exploring interesting designs of all time.
Cheers!
Cheers!
Indeed but as a subjectivist rather than someone technically inclined his way of going about building speakers differs somewhat from what an engineer would do. Examples would be sticking fluff on walls, placing high value in expensive boutique passive crossover components, giving limited attention to directivity, and no doubt one or two other things people here could bring up. His designs are by no means poor but neither are they high value for money, well optimised designs that inexperienced and nontechnical DIYers can sometimes assume given his long and well established web presence. Again, to repeat, his designs are not poor and following one of his designs (that don't use ridiculously expensive components) is a good place to start for a first project.
The though the sound had been sucked in or gone, was my initial thoughts but listening all this evening, via the TV, I've noticed a new composure to the sound and with music everything is there, if anything it's now more detailed as its easier to listen to.
For the bass cabinet, I plan to expirement tomorrow. The three sheets of acoustilux I'll shove in the void behind the midrange enclosure. I have some Hessian sheet and acoustic fabric, and some rockwool RWA45 from making some DIY acoustic panels, I plan to wrap the insulation up first before placing it behind the woofer.
Hopefully it wont suck out the bass. If it does, I'll buy some wool stuffing and try that as an alternative to the acoustilux.
The speakers are sounding better than they ever have. Thank you everyone for helping me out.
The bass cab needs attention. I would check the port output, since that port is positioned in the worst place thinkable. It probably leaks quite some internal resonances. To counter that, you'd have to stuff the whole bass section (fill, not compress) and Acoustilux might be the right choice for that.
I'm not sure how I would check the port output, but other than having it on the wrong side on one the speakers..I just followed troels design.
After reading a lot of comments last night, it seems like Rockwool performs well but people don't like the ideas if fibers going air born, which i can understand. So I've made these rockwool pillows from some leftover hessian. I've placed them in the main compartment, with the acousticlux now behind the midrange compartment and the acousticlux over the bass crossover untouched.
First impression is the upper base might have softened a bit, but guitar rifts are more defined / easier to follow. I don't think the ultimate extension has been adversly effected. I'll live with it a while and decide then.
After reading a lot of comments last night, it seems like Rockwool performs well but people don't like the ideas if fibers going air born, which i can understand. So I've made these rockwool pillows from some leftover hessian. I've placed them in the main compartment, with the acousticlux now behind the midrange compartment and the acousticlux over the bass crossover untouched.
First impression is the upper base might have softened a bit, but guitar rifts are more defined / easier to follow. I don't think the ultimate extension has been adversly effected. I'll live with it a while and decide then.
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That is essentially what I meant. His designs aren’t flawless, at least to my opinion. And that while working with AT units. You‘re on the right track I think. For measuring port output you need the gear like I wrote about and some time to get acquainted with it. It would help you, I’m pretty sure (it helped me big time) but I cannot decide if it’s worth your trouble.
I'm going to live with the speakers as they are for a few weeks to see what I think of the bass with the rock wool filling up the cabinet, but as far as any more tweaks I'm going to call it quits (for now!).
I'll take all these as lessons with me for any future build. The first being, coming on here and asking for advice / tips before I even start!
I'll take all these as lessons with me for any future build. The first being, coming on here and asking for advice / tips before I even start!
Well, I've spend some time listening to music with the rockwool in the bass cabinet and the bass has definitely softened in terms of punch. The speaker sounding more relaxed, with texture more defined and easier to listen to. It's a nice quality, but I might try buying some sheep's wool instead on the basis its less dense and perhaps it would allow air flow more freely helping the ultimate extension but at the same absorbing any undesirable frequencies.
Sometimes in that situation is time to look at what's happening outside the box. Sometimes it's the response that makes it sound that way and not the damping material, or at least seeing it that way can be a way forward. Perhaps attend to modes with companion subs and EQ as required.
I've listened to these speakers for a bit now and one thing that really stands out now is how much less shouty the speakers are, as if each note is playing from silence. The most striking and enjoyable thing is how much more detailed the sound is, you can hear the textures so much easier.
I did add an xps to my naim dac just before making the changes, which could be part of it, but definitely not for the change in tonality.
I did add an xps to my naim dac just before making the changes, which could be part of it, but definitely not for the change in tonality.
get yourself some kind, any kind of parametric EQ. It's hard to believe that there are still people around in 2023 that don't use any kind of EQ while it is THE most flexible problem solver you can think of. Well, actually It does not solve everything but it is much more effective than updating power supplies or tweaking with cables to alter the balance of your sound.
Can you recommend something decent? I've searched for graphic equalisers before and they were the pro type, but relatively cheap in hifi terms so I wasn't sure if that would be detrimental to the sound quality.
You can try software dsp EQ in one of the many audio players out there.
Pure equalizers are a rare breed nowadays even in the pro world, they are mostly build in in mixing consoles, DSP units or in a DAC like the famous RME ADI2 for example
Many people over here use something like equalizer APO or some kind of convolver or AU/VST plugins via a AU/VST host. Many options but yes all digital, it is 2023 after all
Pure equalizers are a rare breed nowadays even in the pro world, they are mostly build in in mixing consoles, DSP units or in a DAC like the famous RME ADI2 for example
Many people over here use something like equalizer APO or some kind of convolver or AU/VST plugins via a AU/VST host. Many options but yes all digital, it is 2023 after all
I feel like a dinosaur! Lol
My hifi is pretty much stand alone, I don't want my desktop computer going anywhere near it.
What's wrong with a normal knob or dial?!
If the speakers were using dsp crossovers then it would be a lot simpler (I think)
My hifi is pretty much stand alone, I don't want my desktop computer going anywhere near it.
What's wrong with a normal knob or dial?!
If the speakers were using dsp crossovers then it would be a lot simpler (I think)
You should be able to use DSP for EQ only into a speaker which already has a crossover. (Converting it into an actively crossed system at this stage would not necessarily be making it simpler.)
👍
I think you discovered the importance of paying attention to good internal damping. And why I disputed Gravesens’ guidelines on that.