Best cabinet design for ten thumbed lowther EX3 owner!? please

[klykx]

I was overtaken by a fit of speaker envy and bought a pair of EX3s on ebay for about half retail price....

I now need to do them justice by putting them in a suitable cabinet. I am also terrible at woodwork and blew all my money on the drivers (I know that was not too smart) so I will not have the funds to get somebody else to make the cabinets.

Therefore, I throw myself on the mercy of diyaudio gurus and humbly ask for suggestions for the oxymoronic easy horn design for EX3s.


sincerely

Peter

 

[one1speed]

Check these out. Should be pretty simple to build, supposed to sound very good.

http://www.geocities.com/rbrines1/Pages/LT-2000/Main.html

 

[klykx]

Thanks for the link. I came across Mr Brines outstanding work when I was looking for my first project, fe207e MLTLs (MJK's project 5) which are currently producing good sound but (with my lousy woodworking skills) look pretty awful.

With these EX3's I'd really like to find a BLH design that is easy to build but, to date, everything looks REALLY difficult.

I should also mention that I live in a small apartment with NO outside space so any building I do will occupy the living space I have until it is finished....


cheers


Peter

 

[Scottmoose]

Probably a pair of Fostex horns like the FE208ESigma or the FE206ES-R designs would do the trick. Although they look complex, they're simple enough to build as it's all right angle construction. That's about it for high quality, simple-to-build cabinets at the moment though. A BIB might be possible, but it would depend on if you a) have corners to load them properly, and b) don't mind a pair of 80in tall cabinets in your room.

 

[Bob Brines]

EX3's are not well suited for resonant cabinets such as mine or BIB's. The extra basket of the back prevents them from loading the cabinet well. To make them work in resonant cabinets, you must remove the basket and convert them to DX3's -- simple mod, but it does void your warranty. If you can accept the somewhat reduced dynamics of a MLTL over a backhorn, you will find the clarity and detail of the DX3 simply awesome.

Bob

 

[one1speed]

Good catch Bob. I saw EX3 but was thinkng DX3 for some reason. My bad.

 

[Scottmoose]

You and me both. Thanks Bob.

Good job I mentioned the Fostex horns before the BIB (OK, I didn't get away with it! I hold my hands up on that one! )

 

[KeithC]

I initially built a pair of Voigt pipes for my EX2's, then ran them open baffle with a subwoofer.

Upgraded to EX3's, bought a pair of Icon Audio rear horn cabinets, and have now upgraded again to EX4's.

You can't get any simpler than open baffle, and the Lowthers sound superb, but lack bottom end. However a subwoofer at relatively low level (say 45db to the Lowthers at 80db) with the sub rolled of as steeply as possible from around 100Hz fills in the bottom end nicely. Only problem is that I have yet to hear a sub that integrates well with the Lowthers.

 

[Bob Brines]

A problem with adding a sub to the bottom of an OB: Your OB, Lowther or anything else, is rolling off at 6 dB/octave, and with EX4's, that roll off starts pretty high. You need to roll your sub off at a LOW rate to match the OB roll off. Better, you really need to high-pass the OB. A second problem is that the driver is going to be exceeding the 1mm Xmax long before the sub rolls in.

I've had good luck, at least with BR's and MLTL's using the receiver DSP to do the cross-over. I presume that using a digital cross-over would work equally well. I doubt that you will get it to work very well with a passive XO.

Bob

 

[Scottmoose]

For reference, James D runs AER MK1 drivers, with Supravox bass units in his Quasar panels (with extended side-pieces), drivers wired in series, with a series XO, the bass unit low down to the floor. That works. Oh boy, does it work. I heard them last Saturday, along with a couple of budget versions using Fostex drivers, Nick's 167 with Eminence Beta 15, and Paul's 108ESigma with a spectacularly cheap 12in wide-range units who's name has temporarily escaped me, and was left stunned. Not entirely to my taste, as TLs and horns remain my great loves in speaker terms, but this method is staggeringly effective.

I wouldn't want to try it with a dipole Lowther and a normal monopole sub though.

 

[KeithC]

A problem with adding a sub to the bottom of an OB: Your OB, Lowther or anything else, is rolling off at 6 dB/octave, and with EX4's, that roll off starts pretty high. You need to roll your sub off at a LOW rate to match the OB roll off. Better, you really need to high-pass the OB. A second problem is that the driver is going to be exceeding the 1mm Xmax long before the sub rolls in.

I've had good luck, at least with BR's and MLTL's using the receiver DSP to do the cross-over. I presume that using a digital cross-over would work equally well. I doubt that you will get it to work very well with a passive XO.

Bob

Each to his own - I really don't like too much bass, really only used a sub to add bottom end texture.

Trying to match a sub to Lowthers is a nightmare, I have a dual voice coil Volt unit with relatively low XMAX that might be worth a go though.

Supposedly, QMAX of the Lowthers is way too low for them to make good OB units, but I found they gave a wonderfully open soundstage. I suspect that the EX accoustic chambers actually help here.

Havn't tried OB with EX3 or EX4 - EX4's have better bottom end extension than the others though, they are really the first unit I have tried that I'd truly call 'full range'.

I never use XOs if I can possibly avoid it - I have collected passive, analogue active and digital active units trying to find one that I could live with.

I recently blew a voice coil & had to use the wife's Quad C22s until replacement units arrived - a horrible experience, like listening through a heap of blankets.

I deliberately bought Lowther drivers 4 years ago as a route to diy/modification rather than replacement, and I guess I got what I was after

 

[klykx]

Gents,

Thankyou for all the inputs. There is much food for thought in what you are saying.

I really don't think I'll get away with OBs (looked MJKs project) in my little flat (At least not without an expensive divorce!). I really don't feel comfortable voiding the warranty on the most expensive things I've bought this year so resonant cabinets are out for the moment.

Looks to me like the horns are going to be the way to go. The 206-esr cabinet certainly looks pretty but the 208-sigma looks easier to build. No Idea which one I should go for.

I looked at other threads and articles about horn expansion...neither of these seem to fit any of the conical, tractrix, exponential forms.

There must be something fundamental about these cabinets that I don't understand. Is ther any way of giving me an idea of how an EX3 would perform in them?

thanks again gents for all your help.


Peter

 

[charly chile]

Hello,

I wanted to revive this thread.

Any new thoughts/experience about best enclosures for Lowther EX3 drivers for low power SET amplifiers?

I have been researching and according to comments, best seems to be using an Aluminum coil, and the Teresound enclosure (which doesn't seem to be available as public info).

Best!

 

[Bare]

Personal opinion/experiences??
Lowthers (from wasted years trying) are THE worst most overpriced Speakers available.
More Hype than reality perf wise. Worst part is they suck you into trying several complex difficult to build well 'enclosures in the vain attempt to get them to work 'satisfyingly' Never happens until you sell the contraptions on..
Harsh? You Bet! it was meant to be.. these things are Dangerous junk IMO. Avoid.

 

[BenZene]

Best Cabinet Design ...

Hi Charly,
I'm using a Big Fun Horn designed by Ketil Parow of Norway for my ex3's. These horns are quite huge for my 12' x 20' x 9' listening space. They sound awesome for me. I listen to different kinds of music from classics, jazz, rock etc. Per Ketil's specs, these horns go down to the low 30's. And I believe him! I got the design from the internet. You can also email Ketil for some advice if you want to build one or have one built for you. Me, I had someone build it for me!
These are my second lowthers. The first, dx3's i'll most likely upgrade to the ex4's once I have saved enough money.
Hope this helps.
BenZene