Frugel-Horn Mk3 Builds & Build Questions

Founder of XSA-Labs
Joined 2012
Paid Member
Valvesound,
That's great that you tried them with temporary sticky tack. However, I doubt that this makes an airtight seal and a pinhole leak is all it takes to kill the warmth from the deep bass. Reserve your listening judgement until after you properly seal with glue. If you have ever played a woodwind instrument you know how a very small leak in a finger pad prevents the lowest note from being played. The conundrum is how do you adjust the stuffing after buttoning it all up? You can do a lot with curved wire hooks through the driver cutout. Another way is to make the top removable with a rubber gasket. Once you seal it, I am almost certain that the sound will be warmer and better.
 
Hi Dave, I haven't put a second layer of felt behind the driver like you suggested yet, was too eager to get them playing :). I will definitely do it tonight.

Regarding break-in....these drivers had about 50 hours runtime in shoeboxes after I received them from you, so yes they aren't fully run in yet.

I'm using a DIY Nelson Pass F5 amplifier.

What change can I expect to hear if I add the other 20g stuffing under the driver?

I hear what X said but am afraid to go to the completely glued-up state yet..... :eek:
 
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frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
Adding stuffing usually decreases the magnitude of the bass (as well as smoothing the ripple)

50 hrs is still the awkward phase.

A brightness can often be a case of not enuff bass -- i note that you are only trusting that the goey stuff is holding on the sides. With the bass that an FH3 is capable of without screws every 6" or so or lots of clamps, the sides are going to be moving all over the place. It looks like you used some sort of particle board, that won't takemuch in/put action of the screws, i'd glue them up and add more stuffing if needed by pushing it down from the driver hole -- having someone with small hands and skinny arms might be helpful.

We won't worry about the bass, but the combo of (what should be) a great amp and the FH3/EL70eN combo should be showing you something about the quality of recording.

dave
 
Hi Dave, I think you might have hit the nail on the head with the combo revealing a bad recording. The speakers I have used up to now might be more lenient towards bad recordings.

On the run-in of the drivers....initially when I put the drivers in the shoe boxes they sounded like small drivers in shoe boxes. After the 50 hours they opened up and a full sound stage was revealed so I'll put some more hours on them as you suggest.
 
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Hello VS and Hello all,

I ran mine in 24/7 at low volume for two weeks before I tamed the bass a bit with the stuffing. Please don't underestimate the blue tack it's nearly as good as the glue, I jumped on the sides to seal them and then they become quite difficult to get off. It was a month before I glued them up properly, I wanted to be really satisfied that I'd got the sound I wanted.

Cheers - Jim
 
Hello VS and Hello all,

I ran mine in 24/7 at low volume for two weeks before I tamed the bass a bit with the stuffing. Please don't underestimate the blue tack it's nearly as good as the glue, I jumped on the sides to seal them and then they become quite difficult to get off. It was a month before I glued them up properly, I wanted to be really satisfied that I'd got the sound I wanted.

Cheers - Jim
You are right about blue tack, if you need a lot of it they sell it on ebay for waterproofing camper roof hatches. I can't remember what it's called but it comes in a long bead on paper backing, very handy for application.
 
SUCCESS!!!

Guys I am very happy to report that I am a very satisfied and happy customer :D

Last night I added another 20g acousta stuff behind the driver as an attempt to prevent reflections of waves coming back through the cone. I also moved the speaker to the back wall and I was in heaven!

I couldn't believe these speakers could re produce such wonderfully full, warm, clear, amazing, well balanced, enjoyable music.

I just couldn't stop listening. I found myself wanting to hear more and more different genres of music I have in my collection to see If I can fault them but I couldn't. Yes they do acoustic and female voice best in my case but rock and jazz and whatever else I had time for last night was brilliantly presented.

The quality of base these beautiful little things are capable of is just jaw dropping good. No need for a sub.

By 1 'o clock this morning I had to force myself to switch off and go to bed but I did it with a grin on my face.

I want to thank everyone on this forum for their expertise and help and for the masters that put this design together. In particular Dave (Planet10HiFi)

Thank you very much for such a great design and making it available as a DIY project!
 

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Hello, first post and if any of my questions are redundant, misposted ,or based in ignorance I apologize in advance.
I assume corner loading affects only (or primarily) the output of the horn and not the driver, if so what frequencies are affected?
I ask this because I am hoping to maximize the sensitivity up to 500 - 1000hz.
And then again above 8kz or so.

What should I expect if I loaded the front of the driver with a L'Cleach flare?

Lastly, I saw that the Tang Bang bamboo cones W4 1320s worked in a FH Mk3
The W4 1337 have similar specs would these work and give the extra SPL above 8kz that I think I want?

Thanks in advance.
Charles