So this is my second speaker build, the first being some 20 years ago. Got back into the hobby about 2 years ago and spent a lot of time reading FAST/WAW threads and at the same time got interested in horns/waveguides. I spent around 18 months playing with designs and built the following. I apologize for the length of this entry, but this project was a long time in the making, and it has been 20 years....
Drivers:
HiVi M6N: This modeled well in WinIsd for a .75 cu ft cabinet. I figured if I crossed low enough, I could avoid the nasty break up around 3000 Hz.
Tang-Band W3-2141: This seemed like a good match for the HiVi, was well reviewed, and free of bass duties I figured it could perform fairly well. I was somewhat concerned about the hot top end from 10kHz.
Cabinet:
First, I didn’t want to build a simple monkey coffin, my idea was to construct a pyramid shaped cabinet for the woofer with a horn/waveguide mounted on top. Second, not having access to a table saw, well, that complicated things. The framework for the pyramid comes from a fiberglass planter that’s internally lined and braced with 3/4” MDF, resulting in an internal volume of .75 cu ft. Thankfully, at about this stage of things I found a local carpenter to cut pieces for me. There’s 1/2” solid cherry fascia on the front and top of the cabinet. The enclosures walls are approximately 1” thick and survive the rap test. They’re around 55 lbs a piece.
Horn/Waveguide:
I read a lot about tractrix horn design and tried to understand the theory to help me horn load the 3” driver, but honestly, the resulting design was more wing and a prayer than math. The horn is 11” in diameter with a tractrix flare- the rear chamber is heavily damped to absorb the back wave. Credit an old woodturner in Iowa for turning the maple horns to spec for me. The supporting structure for the horn utilizes carbon fiber tubes that also house the wires from the FR to crossover in the cabinet.
Crossover:
I didn’t own any measuring equipment so I had to spl trace frd and zma files from the manufacturer’s graphs. And I decided to go passive. Mind you, at this stage, I didn’t own any stereo equipment whatsoever, and the idea of going mini dsp was beyond me. Many crossover attempts in PCD later, I decided to go
2nd order L/R at 535Hz with a notch filter to smooth out a bump around 2000Hz.
I went with Clarity Cap px and Jantzen coils for the crossover.
While working on the speakers, I was able to source a used CEntrance dacmini px which also has a 25 watt amp. And I diy’d my speaker cables.
The first listening impressions were positive- I was just pleased everything worked right. I was playing mp3 files from laptop to dac to speakers—at least they sounded ok. As things broke in, they sounded better, and around 3 months in, I bought a NuForce STA-200 power amp and a Luminous Audio passive pre amp. Signed up for Tidal to get hi-rez hifi. At this point, the sound was getting very good, with dynamics, 3D soundstage, good separation of instruments, fairly decent bass from the M6N, but at times the treble rising response was an issue.
Fast forward another 6 months and after upgrades to interconnects, I bit the bullet and replaced the Clarity Caps with Mundorf Supremes, and the Jantzen wire coils with alpha core foil. It’s been about 3 months since this upgrade, and the improvement is substantial. I listen to mostly jazz and acoustic and I’m amazed at how these speakers disappear and let the music into the room. The response from 10kHz seems to have smoothed out, and the treble has just the right amount of air for these 60 year old ears.
So it’s been close to 2 years since I started this project and it’s great to be back in this hobby. This forum has been an indispensable resource along the way. If anyone has any recommendations on the crossover design or other aspects of this project, I welcome your feedback.
Drivers:
HiVi M6N: This modeled well in WinIsd for a .75 cu ft cabinet. I figured if I crossed low enough, I could avoid the nasty break up around 3000 Hz.
Tang-Band W3-2141: This seemed like a good match for the HiVi, was well reviewed, and free of bass duties I figured it could perform fairly well. I was somewhat concerned about the hot top end from 10kHz.
Cabinet:
First, I didn’t want to build a simple monkey coffin, my idea was to construct a pyramid shaped cabinet for the woofer with a horn/waveguide mounted on top. Second, not having access to a table saw, well, that complicated things. The framework for the pyramid comes from a fiberglass planter that’s internally lined and braced with 3/4” MDF, resulting in an internal volume of .75 cu ft. Thankfully, at about this stage of things I found a local carpenter to cut pieces for me. There’s 1/2” solid cherry fascia on the front and top of the cabinet. The enclosures walls are approximately 1” thick and survive the rap test. They’re around 55 lbs a piece.
Horn/Waveguide:
I read a lot about tractrix horn design and tried to understand the theory to help me horn load the 3” driver, but honestly, the resulting design was more wing and a prayer than math. The horn is 11” in diameter with a tractrix flare- the rear chamber is heavily damped to absorb the back wave. Credit an old woodturner in Iowa for turning the maple horns to spec for me. The supporting structure for the horn utilizes carbon fiber tubes that also house the wires from the FR to crossover in the cabinet.
Crossover:
I didn’t own any measuring equipment so I had to spl trace frd and zma files from the manufacturer’s graphs. And I decided to go passive. Mind you, at this stage, I didn’t own any stereo equipment whatsoever, and the idea of going mini dsp was beyond me. Many crossover attempts in PCD later, I decided to go
2nd order L/R at 535Hz with a notch filter to smooth out a bump around 2000Hz.
I went with Clarity Cap px and Jantzen coils for the crossover.
While working on the speakers, I was able to source a used CEntrance dacmini px which also has a 25 watt amp. And I diy’d my speaker cables.
The first listening impressions were positive- I was just pleased everything worked right. I was playing mp3 files from laptop to dac to speakers—at least they sounded ok. As things broke in, they sounded better, and around 3 months in, I bought a NuForce STA-200 power amp and a Luminous Audio passive pre amp. Signed up for Tidal to get hi-rez hifi. At this point, the sound was getting very good, with dynamics, 3D soundstage, good separation of instruments, fairly decent bass from the M6N, but at times the treble rising response was an issue.
Fast forward another 6 months and after upgrades to interconnects, I bit the bullet and replaced the Clarity Caps with Mundorf Supremes, and the Jantzen wire coils with alpha core foil. It’s been about 3 months since this upgrade, and the improvement is substantial. I listen to mostly jazz and acoustic and I’m amazed at how these speakers disappear and let the music into the room. The response from 10kHz seems to have smoothed out, and the treble has just the right amount of air for these 60 year old ears.
So it’s been close to 2 years since I started this project and it’s great to be back in this hobby. This forum has been an indispensable resource along the way. If anyone has any recommendations on the crossover design or other aspects of this project, I welcome your feedback.
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This is a GREAT looking speaker. I imagine the sound is great. I'm a fan of the WAW. I have one in a typical monkey coffin with an RS-225 and an FE 83. Are you willing to share your crossover and cabinet dimensions? I would love to try something with a tractrix horn with a 3 inch FR driver, but I can't wrap my head around the math to design one myself.
Thanks,
Mike
Thanks,
Mike
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