Speakers for Classical music - tubelab SSE; firstwatt F5

[Joca]

Hi,

I'm a noob in this field, but in short words, what i am trying to do, is a speaker for my usual listening music. Classical and rock/pop music. It will be mainly for classical. I am in the process of making the tubelab SSE and the firstwatt F5. They will be the amps for the new speakers. I'm reading a lot in the foruns , but can't decide the way to go. I've read about fullrange speakers, FAST systems, open baffle,and others. So, i'm pretty overwhelmed by the possibilities. i can't spend more than 300€ in speakers for one channel. they need to be high sensitivity speakers, i think. because of the amps i'm building. ~

thank you

 

[sayrum]

Hey
in my experience for complex music like many classical pieces it is always helpful to relieve the fullrange driver of Bass duties -> Fast.

Also the fullrange driver can be smaller resulting in better high frequency dispersion...

Regards

 

[Joca]

I think the FAST option is a good one. But...don't know what to chose in terms of Fullrange drivers and woofers.

 

[Bob Brines]

Here's a different pairing:

Audax HM210C0
Scan-Speak 10F-8424

XO-->300Hz

Bob

 

[xrk971]

Or SS 10F/8424 and RS225-8

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/273524-10f-8424-rs225-8-fast-ref-monitor.html

 

[mikejennens]

Fast, fun, Inexpensive OB project - Page 46 - diyAudio

Mike

 

[Joca]

Thank you to all. Lots of information to process now. More sugestions are welcome. Thank you.

 

[Inductor]

Subscribing the thread.
Nice projects. A sensitive main driver will be important.

 

[Joca]

Subscribing the thread.
Nice projects. A sensitive main driver will be important.

yes, i need a sensitive one. The Tubelab SSE only does 6-7 W. The firstwatt is 25w/channel. In the last case i will probably use a pre-amp with it. In terms of cost, i think i can go further. I was thinking 300€/channel in speakers. Don't know if this will give more choices. Maybe i don't need that much, but i leave that to you. As i said...i'm a newbie 🙂

 

[Godzilla]

You are correct to feel overwhelmed. There are lots of options to look at. Because you plan to use low powered tubes I would recommend looking at speakers with high efficiency. A few drivers to consider would be from Fostex (165, 206 or 207), Tangband (1808), Wild Burro Betsy to name a few. They all sound different but for me, the Betsy worked particularly well with Classical music. Here's a link describing my experience with the Betsy.

https://speakerprojects.wordpress.com/2015/08/22/236/

Additionally, for low powered tubes, I'd recommend considering back horns (such as a BIB) or an open baffle design using a powered woofer of some kind.

There are lots of options and you will get many opinions. There are several ways to get excellent results so soak it all in and enjoy the process.

 

[jimbro]

I don't think a high efficiency driver is needed on the top end of a FAST unless you have a huge room and are listening at concert levels. Most of us like to experiment with different drivers and implementations. If you have the time and inclination consider starting with less expensive drivers and try different designs until you see what direction suits you.

 

[Joca]

My listening room has 4,65meters width * 6,80 meters Length* 2,35 height. A while ago i was convinced that the fullrange fostex 206en with the Vulcan design was the best option. I bought the plans just in case. Howhever, in the meanwhile, i 've read lots of posts saying that this kind of project is not ideal for my music tastes (mostly classical, jazz, rock/pop). So i started to look for alternatives. Then, the FAST system revealed itself and all those kind of enclosures that i really don't understand yet. It looks to me, that beginning with an easy enclosure is ideal. I like the open baffle system but i keep reading that room size is crucial. That's why i give the measurements in the post. If open baffle and FAST is the way, can i use the Fostex 206en? I liked the comments i saw in other posts regarding this speaker in a horn enclosure and maybe in the future i'll build the vulcan. Just for now, the Vulcan is more expensive (birch plywood in portugal is really expensive) and a dificult challenge for a newbbie like me.

Thank you


Thank you for your help

 

[Joca]

Or SS 10F/8424 and RS225-8

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/273524-10f-8424-rs225-8-fast-ref-monitor.html

I read your post and listened to your clips (senheiser headphone). Really nice sound in the middle and high. I liked a lot the bass, but in some ocasions, the double bass felt without punch. Maybe it was a musical interpretation relative effect, but i listened and felt that something was missing.

 

[xrk971]

I admit that the RS225 in a sealed box with Linkwitz transform to achieve deeper bass runs out of steam. It does so by then you get great transients and low group delay. One can make this a dual 8in woofer and that will help a lot with 6dB more sensitivity for same drive voltage. Changing to a dual driver tapered TL alignment will also work well and still achieve pretty low group delay. Here is a speaker I made with only a 5.25in woofer in a tapered TL and it digs deep and double bass sounds great - it's for near field though. So same technique with RS225 can yield substantially deeper more relaxed bass.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/281778-low-cost-pmc-inspired-tl-monitor-dc130a-dc28f.html

Sound clips here:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/mult...ed-tl-monitor-dc130a-dc28f-8.html#post4540130

 

[jimbro]

You can use most any full range driver as the top end of an open baffle fast but the question is not if open baffle fast is the way, but is it the way for you? There's not much middle ground when it comes to these speakers. Some love them and some hate them. What's nice is that it's so easy to try and you can always use the h-frames to support whatever speaker you settle on. Conventional wisdom says your room is a little small but there are those who ignore this advice and are quite happy with the results.

 

[Godzilla]

>>> If open baffle and FAST is the way, can i use the Fostex 206en?

Yes. But it will need a woofer for bass. Beside propping an open baffle on top of an H-frame here's another idea.

 

[Godzilla]

Here's another. I think this one is about as small as you can do for an open baffle with full range sound from treble to bass (aside from slotted designs, but that's another story for another day). Select your main driver (I prefer full range drivers) and add an Eminence Alpha 15 along with a powered subwoofer amp.

 

[pieter t]

Within your budget, and can be driven with an F5, this well worked out design will give you excellent value for money and many happy hours of listening to various genres of music because it is a low coloration wide bandwidth loudspeaker:
SBAcoustics-3WC
Requires some wood working skills but that's the fun of DIY.

 

[xrk971]

There is also a similar speaker by TG that uses SS drivers.

ScanSpeak-3W-Discovery

The 10F midrange is a supberb driver and will make this speaker really shine for smooth mids.

 

[chrisb]

just my personal aesthetic, I guess, but with the time and trouble invested in the frames for these, why not rebate / flush mount the drivers? I'd also have concerns about the combination off very small baffle for the woofer and leaky slot between the two panels