Actually it's not. The room is twice bigger than you can see ( divided by 8ft wall in center where TV is ) so it's open each sides where front speakers are. So i have very wide image but lack of bass warmth... Fixed using the sub's !
Thing is i want low 20-40hz bass but don't want to hear where it come from nor hearing the wind noise from the port, so i decided to use those boxes that are *very* efficient without lot of power.
Result is 0% vent noise at confortable listening level. Omnidirectional bass that seems to come from the front speakers and smooth cut off @ 40hz with 12db/octave to mix nicely the Klipsch 10's tight punchy bass.
it is difficult to know how to improve my kit because i don't have the chance to hear many high-end system. I might change for Line-Array speakers but i'm very sceptical about these...since i listened a pair recently.
My first try.
While not entirely DIY I did build and finish the enclosures and assemble the x-overs. They are sounding better with each passing hour.
Fun and enjoyable project and best of all my wife approves! She has despised every speaker I have ever brought home with the exception of a (cough) bose system we had many years ago.
While not entirely DIY I did build and finish the enclosures and assemble the x-overs. They are sounding better with each passing hour.
Fun and enjoyable project and best of all my wife approves! She has despised every speaker I have ever brought home with the exception of a (cough) bose system we had many years ago.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Dave, they look great, nice job on the grills.
I have a friend who wanted to make his AR's into towers and he will be thrilled to see that someone else has done this.
I take it there is a shelf to keep the internal volume the same? If so did you inclose the bottom half so you can fill it with sand or something else to give it some weight or just leave the back open?
Cheers
Jye
I have a friend who wanted to make his AR's into towers and he will be thrilled to see that someone else has done this.
I take it there is a shelf to keep the internal volume the same? If so did you inclose the bottom half so you can fill it with sand or something else to give it some weight or just leave the back open?
Cheers
Jye
Hello Jye / Taco,
Thanks both for your kind feedback.
I did partition the cabinet so the top half had 10.8 Litres (as per the recommended design). I've got construction photos and am going to put a web site together with them, steps, tips (learnings which will be most of the site content ) etc...
The bottom half is sealed and has 2 braces side to side and a diagonal one down the back. The terminal cup is actually installed near floor level (I didn't want cables runnig up the back their weight pulling on the cabinet - more chance of people tripping on them etc....). The baffle is actually double thickness (1.5" - I believe in overengineering and I scalloped the inner baffle to ensure the woofer could breathe freely.
I put about 2-3 inches of dacron on the back wall and around the rear facing port. About the only change I made was increasing the tuning frequency of the box - by shortening the port by about 2 cm. I don't think this affects the bass much and may even allow more midrange leakage (so in hindsight - I should have just kept to the original specs!!!). I did this as the tuning frequency to me seemed way to low (in the 40's whereas I believe the design called for about a 54Hz tuning frequency).
I also found the drivers weren't well matched - so encourage people to request better matched drivers from their provider (or allow an easier exchange). Mine came from the US. (To their defence they offered to swap but I thought not the hassle and didn't use exactly scientific methods of driver comparison )
I found the grilles the easiest part of the hole project! Having decent grille cloth helps. I used the stuff from Jaycar - and whilst I don't know its acoustical properties compared to other cloths (after all I remove them for serious listening), it went on well. I just used spray on contact glue and stretched by hand!
Now I'm looking at another project after I get used to these.... maybe a Seas or a ribbon tweeter / vifa combo (the selah.com 2 way seems to get very good reviews....)
Then again - a better amp and source would probably do the AR.com DIYs better justice!
Oh the choices and lack of money.....
Cheers,
David.
Thanks both for your kind feedback.
I did partition the cabinet so the top half had 10.8 Litres (as per the recommended design). I've got construction photos and am going to put a web site together with them, steps, tips (learnings which will be most of the site content
) etc...The bottom half is sealed and has 2 braces side to side and a diagonal one down the back. The terminal cup is actually installed near floor level (I didn't want cables runnig up the back their weight pulling on the cabinet - more chance of people tripping on them etc....). The baffle is actually double thickness (1.5" - I believe in overengineering
and I scalloped the inner baffle to ensure the woofer could breathe freely.I put about 2-3 inches of dacron on the back wall and around the rear facing port. About the only change I made was increasing the tuning frequency of the box - by shortening the port by about 2 cm. I don't think this affects the bass much and may even allow more midrange leakage (so in hindsight - I should have just kept to the original specs!!!). I did this as the tuning frequency to me seemed way to low (in the 40's whereas I believe the design called for about a 54Hz tuning frequency).
I also found the drivers weren't well matched - so encourage people to request better matched drivers from their provider (or allow an easier exchange). Mine came from the US. (To their defence they offered to swap but I thought not the hassle and didn't use exactly scientific methods of driver comparison
)I found the grilles the easiest part of the hole project! Having decent grille cloth helps. I used the stuff from Jaycar - and whilst I don't know its acoustical properties compared to other cloths (after all I remove them for serious listening), it went on well. I just used spray on contact glue and stretched by hand!
Now I'm looking at another project after I get used to these.... maybe a Seas or a ribbon tweeter / vifa combo (the selah.com 2 way seems to get very good reviews....)
Then again - a better amp and source would probably do the AR.com DIYs better justice!
Oh the choices and lack of money.....
Cheers,
David.
My new line arrays
Just thought I'd post the info on my line array project since it would not have been possible (or, the results would not have been as good) without all the great help from Diy Audio people.
I've posted a pic here for the casual observer, but on the website I've got Measurements, Reasoning behind all the choices, reference links from key resources, results of listenng tests, and lots more pics. I'll post this in loudspeakers too because so many people there were helpful.
Documentation Here
Just thought I'd post the info on my line array project since it would not have been possible (or, the results would not have been as good) without all the great help from Diy Audio people.
I've posted a pic here for the casual observer, but on the website I've got Measurements, Reasoning behind all the choices, reference links from key resources, results of listenng tests, and lots more pics. I'll post this in loudspeakers too because so many people there were helpful.
Documentation Here
Attachments
I was able to borrow a decent camera so here's a shot of one of my latest speakers. they use a Focal 6W4252 and T120DX5 in a .9 cubic foot sealed box with a fourth order LR active crossover at 2400 Hz.
The crossover has a notch filter on the woofer to tame the 7 db breakup mode peak centered around 4500 Hz. and 6 dB of baffle step compensation. I have been playing around with varying amounts of phase compensation, but it seems to my ears that the angled baffle takes care of it best without any additional help.
I plan to upgrade the op amps from the current 5532s eventually. Other projects are my focus for now, though.
I love the way these speakers sound. Detail and imaging are outstanding. (both are better with my Leach amps than my LM4780 based amps) They need a sub, but I expected that. The resolution is amazing. I find myself just sitting back enjoying the music more than I did before. Isn't that what it is all about?
The crossover has a notch filter on the woofer to tame the 7 db breakup mode peak centered around 4500 Hz. and 6 dB of baffle step compensation. I have been playing around with varying amounts of phase compensation, but it seems to my ears that the angled baffle takes care of it best without any additional help.
I plan to upgrade the op amps from the current 5532s eventually. Other projects are my focus for now, though.
I love the way these speakers sound. Detail and imaging are outstanding. (both are better with my Leach amps than my LM4780 based amps) They need a sub, but I expected that. The resolution is amazing. I find myself just sitting back enjoying the music more than I did before. Isn't that what it is all about?
