re the tape... yeah, I know
When I started getting interested in the "high end" one of the original boutique manufacturers was a guy named Mitch Cotter. His components were housed in nice blue bricks. I thought they looked pretty wonderful.
Your "blue bricks" reminded me of those (and have got me rethinking my current enclosure plans... a bit. [sigh])
When I started getting interested in the "high end" one of the original boutique manufacturers was a guy named Mitch Cotter. His components were housed in nice blue bricks. I thought they looked pretty wonderful.
Your "blue bricks" reminded me of those (and have got me rethinking my current enclosure plans... a bit. [sigh])
Hmm, maybe I should just finish the enclosures by covering them in blue painter's tape 😉 It would certainly save me several painting and sanding steps, LOL!
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BUILD UPDATE:
I have more or less completed the build now. Photos here: Speaker Build Project - Crossover through completion - Album on Imgur
What I learned:
One thing is for sure: The speakers are not forgiving at all. What you put in is what you get out of them. Great recordings sounded truly next level. Through the optical digital source connected to the amp from the ps4 pro, the soundtrack to Elder Scrolls Online had a wide, expansive soundstage, great dynamics & impactful bass. Character speaking voices were crisp and full bodied. Music via Lossless audio files (24bit/96khz) through my plex server through the same optical input sounded clear and balanced. However, the difference between direct and non-direct music sources (direct networked vs bluetooth wireless) really show true colors here. Bluetooth sources (iphone via spotify and amazon music hd) sounded noticeably compressed, with a much more narrow soundstage and lacking some detail. At first it upset me as my partner, who is not nearly as picky as I am, noticed the poor bluetooth audio quality immediately. I initially thought it could be a poor quality bluetooth chip in the amplifier, but upon further listening, it seems the speakers reproduce the music with such detail as to expose shortcomings in bluetooth compression codecs.
Overall, i'm very impressed. This kit's drivers were very well matched. The tweaks I made to the crossover result in a very smooth, flat frequency response. The low bass frequencies that these smaller speakers produce far outweigh their size.
If I had an ideal working environment, I could have finished them to a much higher standard. However, i'm pretty satisfied with the results so far...
I have more or less completed the build now. Photos here: Speaker Build Project - Crossover through completion - Album on Imgur
- The crossovers were assembled, soldered and installed
- The dampening material was installed and fixed in place with flexible glue.
- The rear panels were then glued in place (24h to set)
- The enclosures were sanded with 120 grit sandpaper and then 2 coats of sealant. (24h to set)
- The enclosures were then fine sanded with 400 grit sandpaper
- Sprayed with Rustoleum 2x primer/paint combo 3 coats (24h to fully dry)
- Drivers, ports, terminals & trim installed.
- grills assembled
- Speaker cables built.
What I learned:
- I am NOT setup properly for painting. The environment is poor. I had to use a small area outside in full sun exposure in 85℉ and dusty conditions. The paint job, while good considering the conditions, still fell short of my expectations. I could sand the cabinets again and have them sprayed professionally, but I don't really feel it's necessary to spend that much extra on it. I decided to vinyl wrap the enclosure top and sides with a gloss white to match the tv stand and coffee table. I figure if vinyl wrap looks great on some cars, It should solve the issue nicely in this case.
- Don't test the speakers while sitting a foot away from them! At first I tested them with a repeating frequency sweep (20 - 20k) to make sure all drivers were performing in their respective ranges. I went into a minor panic after I started playing music and the low bass sounded kinda subdued. At first I thought I had wired the drivers out of phase! Reversing the connection to one of the speakers confirmed that I had them correctly in phase to begin with. Backing away to the listening position put my mind at ease when the bass returned...
One thing is for sure: The speakers are not forgiving at all. What you put in is what you get out of them. Great recordings sounded truly next level. Through the optical digital source connected to the amp from the ps4 pro, the soundtrack to Elder Scrolls Online had a wide, expansive soundstage, great dynamics & impactful bass. Character speaking voices were crisp and full bodied. Music via Lossless audio files (24bit/96khz) through my plex server through the same optical input sounded clear and balanced. However, the difference between direct and non-direct music sources (direct networked vs bluetooth wireless) really show true colors here. Bluetooth sources (iphone via spotify and amazon music hd) sounded noticeably compressed, with a much more narrow soundstage and lacking some detail. At first it upset me as my partner, who is not nearly as picky as I am, noticed the poor bluetooth audio quality immediately. I initially thought it could be a poor quality bluetooth chip in the amplifier, but upon further listening, it seems the speakers reproduce the music with such detail as to expose shortcomings in bluetooth compression codecs.
Overall, i'm very impressed. This kit's drivers were very well matched. The tweaks I made to the crossover result in a very smooth, flat frequency response. The low bass frequencies that these smaller speakers produce far outweigh their size.
If I had an ideal working environment, I could have finished them to a much higher standard. However, i'm pretty satisfied with the results so far...