The Metronome

The Metronomes we used for the trade-show (to show off our powder-coating on wood) are now in the guest-room, having been retrieved from the office show room. They really sound great. While they are currently powered by a Hitachi Class G Receiver, soon will change over to the Pilot 602 which was reclaimed from the town tip. Guest room serves as the digital darkroom most of the time.
 
Hi Kevin

Those Mets sure have come a long way since my first efforts,
three years ago, down in my dusty old basement.

Good luck with the venture.

Steve

Thanks Steve, Im looking forward to working more with them. Hopefully those who are unable or uninterested in building them themselves will consider giving me a shout.

jackinnj,

I saw the black Met picture somewhere on here not long ago, very nice looking! Did you use a glossy black? Is it pretty durable compared to conventional finishes, and did you use MDF or ply? I like the idea and may give it a try at some point.

Kevin
 
The Metronomes we used for the trade-show (to show off our powder-coating on wood) are now in the guest-room, having been retrieved from the office show room. They really sound great. While they are currently powered by a Hitachi Class G Receiver, soon will change over to the Pilot 602 which was reclaimed from the town tip. Guest room serves as the digital darkroom most of the time.

Jack:
tell me more about the powder coating on wood - would that work on plywood, or does it require a special grade of umduf?


Kevin:

The sub design should be stable enough, but you definitely want to add some mass to the bottom of any enclosure this tall with a high center of mass. With the aesthetics you've shown, there'd be lots of creative options available.
 
Jack:
Kevin:

The sub design should be stable enough, but you definitely want to add some mass to the bottom of any enclosure this tall with a high center of mass. With the aesthetics you've shown, there'd be lots of creative options available.

chrisb,

The "Ava" sub on rhythmicraft.com is a completed sub and it's not nearly as tall as the illustration on the Met page, it's quite stable actually. Im considering making a 10" version that would possibly be taller but I have a 2 and 4 year old running around so stability is always at the top of my list.

I have several ideas for a base system for the Mets but need to build prototypes before making a decision on which direction to go.

Thanks for your input!

Kevin
 
The metronome enclosure design is the root of what I am doing, but for multiple drivers, so I started a thread on the multi drivers forum. I figure though that you metronome enthusiasts are probably surfing the full range pages. If you are so inclined, please have alook at my metronome related thread in the multi way forum: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/mult...multiple-drivers-number-design-questions.html

Thanks
 
Next pair of Metronomes

I love my metronomes!

I'm getting ready to make a second pair, because a friend of mine would like to have some. I was thinking I might make two pair, and one for me, one for him, and either use a higher quality driver or bipole.

Has anyone gone all-out on a pair of metronomes? What driver did you use? What did you think? Has anyone built the bipoles? How did they turn out?

Thanks for your time!

john
 
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John had me push the Bipole EL70 Metronome to the top of my queue. I have just posted the plans which are the most complete i have yet done for a Met.

EL70-bipole-met-3d.png


http://p10hifi.net/tlinespeakers/FH/download/bipole-EL70-Met-0v9-090210.pdf

A mateched quad of EL70eN are winging their way to John as we speak, i for one am VERY eager to hear how they turn out.

dave
 
Jack:
tell me more about the powder coating on wood - would that work on plywood, or does it require a special grade of umduf?

For consistent results, it's best if you control the supply chain -- mdf can vary greatly in its composition. You don't want to invest your working capital in scrap because the resin in one sample differs from the production parts. We work very closely with our vendors.
 
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How do they sound?

Great!

Only 5 hours on the drivers so far, so things will change.

They are built per the plan, but with a dowel behind the driver rather than a curly brace. 3/4" acoustic foam on 2/3 of the back wall, and the top 1/3 stuffed with fiberfill.

Not a huge amount of bass, its more indicated, rather than present. A little crunchy in the upper mid-range, especially piano transients.

They are being run off of a new Topping TP-21 T-amp and the heaphone out from an iPhone. No zobel, or baffle compensation, and no tone controls on the amp (or being used on the iPhone). Just two wires connected to the drivers.

Very clear and mostly balanced. I'm a happy camper!
 
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I'm no audiophile, I still have my college stereo, a set of Dynaco A25's.

But in listening to the Metronomes I am struck by how the different albums are mixed and mastered. Very different! and that is something I had mainly not been aware of before.

Listening to Rostopovich on cello, with piano, Rostopovich is right there beside me, but the piano is 20 feet away, back in the next room. What's up with that?

Many of the modern productions have a very luscious presense, Natalie Marchant, Michael Buble'. But some of the old ones too!

Patsy Cline sounds great! But bad recordings are unlistenable.

Enough for now. I got listening to do.

-Tom-