Frugel-Horn Mk3 Builds & Build Questions

frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
No one has yet tried it, but the sim Scott postd shows that it should do OK. I only have concerns about the abrupt overload characheristics. Someone will just have to try it. Having a pair of beaters her i guess i should add it to my trials along with FE127

As to the differences, you'll need to troll the forums for people's opinions of the sonic character of each specific driver.

Bass reproduction (the kind of damping regime, and the amount of boundary loading) will tend to track Vas/Q.

dave
 
The B&Q Experience

Hello all,

For those who don't know B&Q is a UK Do It Yourself shed.

I went to our local one with me litle cutting drawing and asked if I could have a word with the person who did the cutting. His name is Shane and he not only assured me that all the cuts would be parallel and square but he would be able to repeat a cut perfectly after moving and resetting the stop. He then cut a 140 strip from an offcut and we checked it, it was fine.

When I got to the checkout there wasn't even a cutting charge! The cost of the 18mm MDF sheet was £16.48.

My thanks to Colin and Dave for 'putting me right' I was going to use 15mm.

Warm wishes - Jim
 
I have just built a Pass F5 which is tremendous. At the moment it is driving a pair of Living Voice Avatars. These speakers have a sensitivity of about 94db/m I think. The whole setup sounds great. However, getting rid of the crossover would be another step in the right direction, which probably means changing speakers - hence I'm considering full range. I guess the only way to know whether the Mk3's will give me what I'm looking for is to build some. Can any of you guys offer any advice?


Colin's Mk3's above look superb and have wet my appetite.
 
chalkandtalk,

Well now my personal favourite are the Frugal Horns with the Mark Audio CHP70 drivers. Jim (Jemraid) also loved this combination when he came over for a listen. Not as efficient as the Fostex FE126En but they sound more natural to me and I don't think you'll have any issues driving the speakers with a Pass F5 amp. I have driven them with a 6EM7 SE integrated valve amp that is only around 1½W though I much prefer them with a pair of 300b Monobloc amps with around 7W on tap.

Sound wise the difference is a trade-off of deeper perceived bass and better dynamics with a more natural overall sound from the MA over a more forward, slightly brighter midrange from the Fostex. Though the Fostex do extract more information at lower listening levels. Basically down to the type of music you generally listen to.

I could be persuaded to part company with my featured Fostex Frugal Horns for a reasonable sum. Would save you the effort of the build and they have high WAF with a modern look in the light veneer they are skinned in. The money from any sale of these speakers will help me fund doing flat-pack kits here in the UK.

And from your Avatar you don't live that far from me. Send me a PM if you're interested.
 
I've nearly finished my pair of FH Mk3. I've had them up and running for only 2 days, but already they sound fantastic to me. Put the Mark Audio Alpair 7 drivers in them. Couldn't be happier :)

Thanks to the guys behind the design of these. All the information on this site (and others) has been invaluable.

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Nice build there paulwd.

If I may make one comment..........may I suggest you rebate the bezel of the alpair7 into the front baffle. This will help greatly with imaging and defraction from the front baffle.

However, if you've only used 15mm for the front baffle you can always glue on a 9mm thick panel to make the overall front baffle 24mm thick and cut a hole in the 9mm to sleeve the driver bezel. This doesn't have to be full height but just be such it forms a featured supera baffle. A kinda design feature, hey ;)
 
Could someone explain what the advantage of putting the resonating part of the pipe behind the driver, instead of underneath it? I know the driver wouldn't fit as it is now, but that is a design choise.
It used to be common in these types of designs to have the closed part on the driver side, under it or covering it.
It seems it would force the sound to interact with the cavity and damp out highs and mids better, with no direct path to the mouth of the horn/resonator.
Does this setup have better efficiency?
 
Could someone explain what the advantage of putting the resonating part of the pipe behind the driver, instead of underneath it? I know the driver wouldn't fit as it is now, but that is a design choice.
It used to be common in these types of designs to have the closed part on the driver side, under it or covering it.
It seems it would force the sound to interact with the cavity and damp out highs and mids better, with no direct path to the mouth of the horn/resonator.
Does this setup have better efficiency?

Yeah I know the whole line is resonating,:clown: let me just be causious and say the pointed, closed end.
 
Hi all,

I am posting this picture to show that having loads of power tools and cutting benches etc is not absolutely necessary. I believe that this Do It Yourself audio pastime should be available to anyone with sufficient interest and that people who are bit nervous about starting a speaker building project should be encouraged to do so. If as a result of this one other person decides to make a pair then I will be very happy

These are the tools I will be using to make my FH3's, my one concession to power is a 30 yr old jigsaw and for this project I have lashed out £2.99 for an angle thingy, the one in the middle with the orange handle.
1z5u7ie.jpg



I am not and never have been a woodworker, I have made a few speakers and can use what I have learned from that to make these. What I have got is time and patience, patience to cut slowly and squarely, to plane the angles with my old Record plane and to practice first.

I have drawn the plan on all four sides, the tools are on one and you can see another resting against the window sill. My next task is to cut the front angles and the curves in the sides.

It's getting very enjoyable :)

Warmest wishes - Jim