I've found they tend to do well with colors that match copper and cream. My wife did a pour painting on the baffles with gold, a metallic pink-ish color and emerald that really complements the drivers.
If you plan to keep the wood on the front I'd go with something complementary but across the color wheel, similar to the emerald I used but maybe a bit more blue. Try the Canva Color Wheel.
Attachments
The wood on the front is angelstep walnut, definitely keeping that. The purple heart wood is, well, purple, but will slowly age to a reddish brown. However a friend will let me use his CNC router to cut out some rings, but I need to draw up a design and I'm really struggling with inspiration on what kind of design to put there.
The line work of the tweeter grilles is actually quite nice. Maybe replicate that? Looking forward to seeing what you do.
Finally finished
I decided to take your advice and took some of the elements from the tweeter grill and replicated them inside the rings. The woofer ring has the outer ring of the tweeter grill and the port ring has the design from the inner ring of the tweeter grille. It's not perfect because I'm much further from the center of the driver and there are way more elements on them, but I think it turned out pretty decent. I used a twisted rope pattern to hide the edges. Of the people I've shown this to so far, they usually either love it, or hate it.
The rings are CNC routed out of purple heart and finished with spar urethane to slow down the UV turning it back to brown. The boxes are 3/4" MDF with a double front and then laminated on every surface with angelstep walnut. Coated with 100% tung oil and then shellac. Not everything went flawlessly on the finish and there are many things I would do differently if I were to make another set of these, but I'm pretty happy with them overall. The bottom has some pointy feet to poke holes in my countertop and I used the through type binding posts on the back. I felt like the plastic terminal cup I originally bought was flimsy so I changed to these posts, but it also makes it hard to lay the cabinet down on the back side so I'll probably use a flush system next time.
Some of the images are coming out distorted and others are fine. No idea why.
So now the $64,000 question, how do they sound?
TLDR: Put on some Miles Davis and sip your favorite whisky.
The bass is pretty good. That's one nice thing about using the 8" version instead of the 6" version. They reach all the way down into the bottom piano keys and bass guitar notes so no complaints there. The transition through the bass is smooth and highly musical. If you like lots of bass you may want a sub. Bass is nimble and articulate which is great on those deep strings.
Mids are warm and smooth almost like tube amp smooth. Vocals are forward and clear but never harsh, and male vocals sound about the same level as female vocals which is great as I find a lot of speakers are weak on male vocals and then get overwhelmed by female vocals. Horns are buttery smooth, especially trombone and saxophone. Strings are like wrapping yourself in a blanket of love. The amount of stuffing you put in the box has a big impact on the vocal range. Without stuffing I found the mids were harsh in some areas so I just added a handfull of poly fill at a time until I liked the sound. I'd say it's a sold 50% loose fill.
The highs are delicate and crisp. They aren't bright but I don't feel like I'm missing anything and I usually prefer a bright speaker. Spanish guitar music really sings on these tweeters. It's not that you hear the notes, its that you hear the pick sliding off the string and the musicians fingers gripping the fretboard. *Drooool.*
I used TangBand's suggested crossover because it only took a short conversation to accept they were a heck of a lot smarter than I was when it came to getting the most of their products. You get a 2nd order on the tweeter but the woofer only gets a filter. The impedance of the woofer climbs so fast in the crossover region that I think a traditional 2nd order crossover would be pretty difficult to get right.
Enclosure was 0.88 cubic feet (after removing driver and port volume) tuned to 47hz with a 3" precision port with the flares on both ends.
I found that they are pretty directional and needed to toe them in a bit, even at my listening position which is 18 feet away from them. To be honest they don't sound their best up close within 8 feet. I think they do really well in the 12-30 foot range. Another thing is they need to be turned up a bit before they come to life. I'd say 70dB to 90dB is a good listening volume.
What sounds great:
Natural instruments like piano, strings, and horns
Vocals
Details
Jazz
Spanish guitar
Electric guitar gods like Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson
What doesn't sound great:
EDM music with tons of bass
80's heavy metal.
Home theater
No really, these are for music. You aren't going to like them in home theater.
I decided to take your advice and took some of the elements from the tweeter grill and replicated them inside the rings. The woofer ring has the outer ring of the tweeter grill and the port ring has the design from the inner ring of the tweeter grille. It's not perfect because I'm much further from the center of the driver and there are way more elements on them, but I think it turned out pretty decent. I used a twisted rope pattern to hide the edges. Of the people I've shown this to so far, they usually either love it, or hate it.
The rings are CNC routed out of purple heart and finished with spar urethane to slow down the UV turning it back to brown. The boxes are 3/4" MDF with a double front and then laminated on every surface with angelstep walnut. Coated with 100% tung oil and then shellac. Not everything went flawlessly on the finish and there are many things I would do differently if I were to make another set of these, but I'm pretty happy with them overall. The bottom has some pointy feet to poke holes in my countertop and I used the through type binding posts on the back. I felt like the plastic terminal cup I originally bought was flimsy so I changed to these posts, but it also makes it hard to lay the cabinet down on the back side so I'll probably use a flush system next time.
Some of the images are coming out distorted and others are fine. No idea why.
So now the $64,000 question, how do they sound?
TLDR: Put on some Miles Davis and sip your favorite whisky.
The bass is pretty good. That's one nice thing about using the 8" version instead of the 6" version. They reach all the way down into the bottom piano keys and bass guitar notes so no complaints there. The transition through the bass is smooth and highly musical. If you like lots of bass you may want a sub. Bass is nimble and articulate which is great on those deep strings.
Mids are warm and smooth almost like tube amp smooth. Vocals are forward and clear but never harsh, and male vocals sound about the same level as female vocals which is great as I find a lot of speakers are weak on male vocals and then get overwhelmed by female vocals. Horns are buttery smooth, especially trombone and saxophone. Strings are like wrapping yourself in a blanket of love. The amount of stuffing you put in the box has a big impact on the vocal range. Without stuffing I found the mids were harsh in some areas so I just added a handfull of poly fill at a time until I liked the sound. I'd say it's a sold 50% loose fill.
The highs are delicate and crisp. They aren't bright but I don't feel like I'm missing anything and I usually prefer a bright speaker. Spanish guitar music really sings on these tweeters. It's not that you hear the notes, its that you hear the pick sliding off the string and the musicians fingers gripping the fretboard. *Drooool.*
I used TangBand's suggested crossover because it only took a short conversation to accept they were a heck of a lot smarter than I was when it came to getting the most of their products. You get a 2nd order on the tweeter but the woofer only gets a filter. The impedance of the woofer climbs so fast in the crossover region that I think a traditional 2nd order crossover would be pretty difficult to get right.
Enclosure was 0.88 cubic feet (after removing driver and port volume) tuned to 47hz with a 3" precision port with the flares on both ends.
I found that they are pretty directional and needed to toe them in a bit, even at my listening position which is 18 feet away from them. To be honest they don't sound their best up close within 8 feet. I think they do really well in the 12-30 foot range. Another thing is they need to be turned up a bit before they come to life. I'd say 70dB to 90dB is a good listening volume.
What sounds great:
Natural instruments like piano, strings, and horns
Vocals
Details
Jazz
Spanish guitar
Electric guitar gods like Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson
What doesn't sound great:
EDM music with tons of bass
80's heavy metal.
Home theater
No really, these are for music. You aren't going to like them in home theater.
Dude, *epic*. I did not expect that design at all.
Glad to hear they’ve worked out well. I’ve had my eye on the 8” drivers too even though they’re hard to find. I did pick up a second pair of the 6.5” coax’s when they were on sale at PE.
I’m working these into a 3-way design with Hypex amps next. Will post them once they’re done. Thanks for the pics!
Thanks! Man those rings were a big pain in the rear. I saw that sale and encouraged a friend to buy them, but she missed the deadline for them. I think the 6.5" with a big dedicated woofer below, oh say 80-100hzish, would be a seriously winning combination.
I have a basic measurement microphone but I don't really have any environment to properly measure within.
I do have a dats V3 impedance analyzer though
The crossover from tang band is slightly different for the 8-inch version than it is for the 6-in version but it works in more or less the same way.
Just had a look at the W8 XO... that's quite a wild impedance ride!
Actually, for coming up with a custom XO, I measure in the room the speakers will be placed in. That way, it is more suited to the actual listening environment, than an utopian room that no one will ever have!
Thanks for sharing!
Actually, for coming up with a custom XO, I measure in the room the speakers will be placed in. That way, it is more suited to the actual listening environment, than an utopian room that no one will ever have!
Thanks for sharing!
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I briefly considered making my own until I saw that impedance curve on the woofer and then I said "nope nope nope". I was lucky enough to get in contact with the folks at TangBand and ask them questions figuring they knew better than I did. They also suggested having a 3" port on the front instead of the 2" port on the rear I was planning.
I can set up and measure in the room this weekend. There's a fair amount of room gain on the bass (which actually works out well for these guys to the point where I don't feel like I need a subwoofer)
One other area I noticed was concerning box stuffing. My box sounded pretty echo-y and boomy so I added stuffing a handfull at a time (thanks to the 3" port!) until I liked it. There's a fine line between taming the reflections and being overdamped on the midrange. This speaker really is well suited for people who like to tweak.
I can set up and measure in the room this weekend. There's a fair amount of room gain on the bass (which actually works out well for these guys to the point where I don't feel like I need a subwoofer)
One other area I noticed was concerning box stuffing. My box sounded pretty echo-y and boomy so I added stuffing a handfull at a time (thanks to the 3" port!) until I liked it. There's a fine line between taming the reflections and being overdamped on the midrange. This speaker really is well suited for people who like to tweak.
Nice work @Bobby Kinstle!
I just finished a set using the 6.5" and a sub, to match my TV room, and I must say I love them!
Tang Band SUG2-25 17l boxes were slightly big, as I intended to make them wall hung above the TV. So using WinISD, I squeezed them down to just over 9l, and did a folded, square port in the top/back, hoping the wall would give a slight bass boost, making up for the smaller cabinet. As I habe the Sub, this might not be needed, but I imagine I get decent bass feom such a small speaker.
Had a lot of fun making a jig, to cut the baffle... my first project in more than 10 years, so I needed to show off a little... hehe.
Then clad the box with faux leather.
Must say that I'm happy with the result... and they sound pretty good to!
Same exerience as Bobbie with Heavy (which "unfortunately is "my" music ;o) however the vocal qualities, and the level of details, makes them (in my opinion) excellent for music and general TV listening (but lack a bit "punch" for movies/special effects).
I just finished a set using the 6.5" and a sub, to match my TV room, and I must say I love them!
Tang Band SUG2-25 17l boxes were slightly big, as I intended to make them wall hung above the TV. So using WinISD, I squeezed them down to just over 9l, and did a folded, square port in the top/back, hoping the wall would give a slight bass boost, making up for the smaller cabinet. As I habe the Sub, this might not be needed, but I imagine I get decent bass feom such a small speaker.
Had a lot of fun making a jig, to cut the baffle... my first project in more than 10 years, so I needed to show off a little... hehe.
Then clad the box with faux leather.
Must say that I'm happy with the result... and they sound pretty good to!
Same exerience as Bobbie with Heavy (which "unfortunately is "my" music ;o) however the vocal qualities, and the level of details, makes them (in my opinion) excellent for music and general TV listening (but lack a bit "punch" for movies/special effects).
I love looking at what other folks do. Cutting that slot to tuck the leather in was a great idea. Nice table saw jig too.
I've found that I need to sit at least 10 feet away to get the most of out mine. They aren't great in the nearfield. But they have no trouble filling my 26'x18' (8mx5.5m) living room with sound so that's OK.
I haven't been brave enough to try a transmission line yet. I think I need to read more about how those work. I recently got away with a good passive radiator design so my confidence is climbing.
What are you guys using to host images for this forum?
@Bobby.
Agree on the nearfield, my sofa/listening position is nearly 4m away, and is working great. Rising the speakers, tilting them down, also helps for general listening when moving about.
I was aiming for a nice looking allround speaker, with brought vocal to attention (as much of TV is about that ;o), and I think mission is close to completed...
Next project might be a floorstanding 2.5 way stereo set, that in a second phase will be combined with a center speaker and 2-4 hidden surround speakers for my basement music and movie cave...
Open for ideas here...
My aim is that the front speakers shall be music friendly, and the others "conceiled" in the interior...
Probably try using full range speakers for everything but the floor standers, to avoid making 7 crossovers.
Agree on the nearfield, my sofa/listening position is nearly 4m away, and is working great. Rising the speakers, tilting them down, also helps for general listening when moving about.
I was aiming for a nice looking allround speaker, with brought vocal to attention (as much of TV is about that ;o), and I think mission is close to completed...
Next project might be a floorstanding 2.5 way stereo set, that in a second phase will be combined with a center speaker and 2-4 hidden surround speakers for my basement music and movie cave...
Open for ideas here...
My aim is that the front speakers shall be music friendly, and the others "conceiled" in the interior...
Probably try using full range speakers for everything but the floor standers, to avoid making 7 crossovers.
I was not happy with the TB suggested xover, so I decided to try my own.
I made 8 of these for 4 surrounds and 4 heights for a HT system I'm building for a client.
I like the sound a lot better now: there was a harshness around 5khz that took me a while to get rid of: luckily the bamboo cone performs quite well at higher frequencies: drivers are cut at 3.5Khz.
I decided early on that I would 3d print the baffles with PETG: I wish I knew better... The quite expensive Snapmaker cannot print such a large model with PETG. However the Snapmaker can also do CNC, which was my contingency plan, and the baffles came out great that way. I may paint them today.
The last pic is a CG render illustrating what we are aiming for: the side surrounds will "swivel" down from the ceiling to meet demanding WAF.
PG
I made 8 of these for 4 surrounds and 4 heights for a HT system I'm building for a client.
I like the sound a lot better now: there was a harshness around 5khz that took me a while to get rid of: luckily the bamboo cone performs quite well at higher frequencies: drivers are cut at 3.5Khz.
I decided early on that I would 3d print the baffles with PETG: I wish I knew better... The quite expensive Snapmaker cannot print such a large model with PETG. However the Snapmaker can also do CNC, which was my contingency plan, and the baffles came out great that way. I may paint them today.
The last pic is a CG render illustrating what we are aiming for: the side surrounds will "swivel" down from the ceiling to meet demanding WAF.
PG
Attachments
Just had a look at the W8 XO... that's quite a wild impedance ride!
Actually, for coming up with a custom XO, I measure in the room the speakers will be placed in. That way, it is more suited to the actual listening environment, than an utopian room that no one will ever have!
Thanks for sharing!
Here is 1m away, one speaker, in room. I need a longer cable before I can measure from my listening position. It's probably about 1W but I don't have the ability to control or measure that. 1/12 smoothing applied.
