Patrick (pfarrell), I checked out your studio site, very nice work there man!
Please keep us updated on where you're sourcing XO parts. For what it's worth, I purchased the Volt mids from Falcon in the UK.
Volt VM752 3” Dome Midrange Driver
Pricing wasn't anything special, but they were very nice to deal with, responding to emails and questions in a timely manner.
gabo
Please keep us updated on where you're sourcing XO parts. For what it's worth, I purchased the Volt mids from Falcon in the UK.
Volt VM752 3” Dome Midrange Driver
Pricing wasn't anything special, but they were very nice to deal with, responding to emails and questions in a timely manner.
gabo
Hey Thanks! ...that site needs an update! We've been too busy...
Volt said to buy from Solen! Closest distributor to USA. If they don't have them, then one could order direct—but there's an 8 week lead time since they would have to be made.
The Estonians continue to impress both with communication and pricing for USA. Under $6 for 2 bass ports—also free shipping via UPS. That's impressive.
Got the Volts via Solen.
Erse for the inductors.
Parts-Connexion for most of the caps and resistors.
Speaker Hardware for the woofers.
SoundImports.nl for the tweeters and the ports.
I am still trying to find the foam without having to buy over $300 worth. Happy to split with folks in the US.
BTW, I ordered some other things (not related to these speakers) from the EU and shipping is a real problem with the virus. Been waiting over 8 weeks and still not here.
Erse for the inductors.
Parts-Connexion for most of the caps and resistors.
Speaker Hardware for the woofers.
SoundImports.nl for the tweeters and the ports.
I am still trying to find the foam without having to buy over $300 worth. Happy to split with folks in the US.
BTW, I ordered some other things (not related to these speakers) from the EU and shipping is a real problem with the virus. Been waiting over 8 weeks and still not here.
Thanks bsk, I'll check out erse, haven't been there yet. Haven't looked at the foam, but I recall somewhere back in the thread about alternatives. $300 is too much for foam.
I just filled out a shipping cart on the estonia site (audiohobby.eu) for the XO's.. $704.22! That's just for the components, no boards/boxes/connectors/wire. But you do get free shipping. I missed whether it comes with a free car
gabo
I just filled out a shipping cart on the estonia site (audiohobby.eu) for the XO's.. $704.22! That's just for the components, no boards/boxes/connectors/wire. But you do get free shipping. I missed whether it comes with a free car
gabo
I didn't know about Erse either.
The Estonian's have the best price I've found on the tweeters too—they will ship UPS, so there's a chance it could get to the US in a reasonable timeframe. Most if not all of the Mundorf MKPs are beyond my willingne$$ at the moment... Audyn or Dayton is way more reasonable—leaves some stuff to play with later! Mundorf electrolytics are cheaper from parts-connexion—slightly.
Could one use film throughout?
We could all split a foam order? Extra cost for re-shipping I suppose... but.... $300 would be 18 24x24" sheets—seems like enough for 3 pairs of boxes? I haven't done the math yet.
(I did look at shipping and if we want to do a 3-way split whomever lives closer to CA should place the order—$84 for shipping plus tax to NY! $60 is the minimum.)
The Estonian's have the best price I've found on the tweeters too—they will ship UPS, so there's a chance it could get to the US in a reasonable timeframe. Most if not all of the Mundorf MKPs are beyond my willingne$$ at the moment... Audyn or Dayton is way more reasonable—leaves some stuff to play with later! Mundorf electrolytics are cheaper from parts-connexion—slightly.
Could one use film throughout?
We could all split a foam order? Extra cost for re-shipping I suppose... but.... $300 would be 18 24x24" sheets—seems like enough for 3 pairs of boxes? I haven't done the math yet.
(I did look at shipping and if we want to do a 3-way split whomever lives closer to CA should place the order—$84 for shipping plus tax to NY! $60 is the minimum.)
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Really? I thought the Mundorf MCAP are quite cost effective.
Sure, nothing wrong with that. Except maybe you're spending a lot of money that you could use more effectively on better parts elsewhere.
Foam: I bought it from ebay ( Pyramidenschaumstoff Basotect 5 cm selbstklebend | eBay ). I don't know if they ship to the US, but I don't see why they wouldn't do that.
@Hicoco: Thanks for the source!
@mbrennwa: It's really the higher values... they are generally twice the cost of Audyn or Dayton—and I have no idea what, if any, audible differences there may be. I guess it's "known" that the more $$ Mundorfs do impart "flavor"—also per your own tests. My question about film throughout was just for my own noob knowledge base—I wasn't sure what the reasons might be for using one over the other—It sounds like cost is the reason?
I'll look into the Ebay source—I think you gave the link in a earlier post too—so thanks again!
@mbrennwa: It's really the higher values... they are generally twice the cost of Audyn or Dayton—and I have no idea what, if any, audible differences there may be. I guess it's "known" that the more $$ Mundorfs do impart "flavor"—also per your own tests. My question about film throughout was just for my own noob knowledge base—I wasn't sure what the reasons might be for using one over the other—It sounds like cost is the reason?
I'll look into the Ebay source—I think you gave the link in a earlier post too—so thanks again!
... Guy who has the melamine foam on Ebay won't ship to US, nor will the Spanish source that was posted.... just reporting...
I am curious about what cable to source for making speakON interconnects (found a 6 conductor "tray" cable 18AWG?). I'm thinking that I will use "regular" bananas between amp and X-over box, then speakON between speaker and X-over.
?
I am curious about what cable to source for making speakON interconnects (found a 6 conductor "tray" cable 18AWG?). I'm thinking that I will use "regular" bananas between amp and X-over box, then speakON between speaker and X-over.
?
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Maybe use acoustic cotton instead of the melamine foam. ~$35
Echo Absorber Acoustic Panel (Natural Blend - 2"x2'x4') - Soundproof Cow
The right kind of fiberglass would also work, but it's a bit messy to deal with.
gabo
Echo Absorber Acoustic Panel (Natural Blend - 2"x2'x4') - Soundproof Cow
The right kind of fiberglass would also work, but it's a bit messy to deal with.
gabo
Nah. If you absolutely can't find melamine foam, use "normal" acoustic foam instead. I worked with this during the prototyping. It works ok, but the melamine works a bit better.
Wool: you'll need a bit wool anyway. Real wool, not synthetic. See OSMC docs.
Edit: I could also wrap the waveguides in my left-over melamine foam when I send them to you.
Yes to anything Matthias!
It seems these guys I found are at least willing to have a conversation about shipping out small quantities. Waiting to hear about cost:
Acoustic Foam Wall Panels | Pyramid Acoustic Foam
Any thoughts about 6(?) conductor speakON cable source...here's what I found:
https://www.showmecables.com/by-category/bulk-wire-cable/tray-cable?num_of_conductors=2882&shielding=324
It seems these guys I found are at least willing to have a conversation about shipping out small quantities. Waiting to hear about cost:
Acoustic Foam Wall Panels | Pyramid Acoustic Foam
Any thoughts about 6(?) conductor speakON cable source...here's what I found:
https://www.showmecables.com/by-category/bulk-wire-cable/tray-cable?num_of_conductors=2882&shielding=324
Update on foam guys I found:
Acoustic Foam Wall Panels | Pyramid Acoustic Foam
They are friendly and appear to be willing to ship whatever small qty of 2x2'x2" @ $7USD/sq ft. From MN USA. What's on their site shows carton$—I reached out via email—and they seem happy to make a smaller sale....
Acoustic Foam Wall Panels | Pyramid Acoustic Foam
They are friendly and appear to be willing to ship whatever small qty of 2x2'x2" @ $7USD/sq ft. From MN USA. What's on their site shows carton$—I reached out via email—and they seem happy to make a smaller sale....
Yea, well you didn't grow up in the SE US. Cotton == Good
Yeah, but we do have our own sheep!
As far as I can tell, there are no 6-pole SpeakOn connectors. Since I was too lazy to fiddle with the wire and the connectors, I simply bought complete speaker cables with 8-pole SpeakOn connectors already fitted from a pro audio shop. They tend to sell rugged no-nonsense stuff. The connection from the xover box to the speaker is then as follows: 2 poles for the tweeter, 2 poles for the mid, and 4 poles for the woofer. The "double poles" of the woofer are connected at the SpeakOn terminals at the xover and in the speaker.
....beginnings....
Wohooo!!! Cool!!! For the front panel routing, I like to wait until I have the drivers at hand. Then I take a piece of scrap wood and adjust my router circle jig until I get a perfect fit for the drivers. Then I use this jig setting for the routing of the front panel.
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Oh yes, No cutting until parts in hand. Already I can see I will be changing the specs a bit to fit the woofers perfectly—yes—circle jig and scrap—and the right rabbet bit—or plunge cut the rabbet w/ a straight bit before cutting the hole—not sure I have a 3/4" rabbet bit. I will make notes on dimension adjustments and am aiming to keep the interior dimensions exact to your drawing and also the center points of the drivers(?). I'm sure I will have questions—like is the back panel sealed? Did you leave it removable? (maybe I missed this in the thread...apologies).
Also—in terms of general construction. perfect perfect 45 degree cabinet joints are A LOT of work. I'll be using dados with 15-ply, or maybe a combo of cabinet grade 15 and 5-ply. I don't have enough 15-ply in the shop (turntable builds!!) at the moment, and I'm not entirely sure what means what in terms of cabinet construction (all this ply is 18mm thick nominally). AND I could always build another set of boxes—so I'm inclined to be a bit rogue—and use what is sitting here. I can get 15-ply locally (cabinet shop—not the dreck they sell at Lowe's in the US), and probably will pick up some sheets...Also have pro woodworker friends who order from the commercial places and I occasionally tack on to their orders.
I'll be veneering the whole shebang with birch in prep for paint—maybe trying to avoid veneering the fronts since the spacing between the woofer and mid is tight—though that's about to get bigger now that I can measure the actual woofer.
Re: SpeakON/
I figured I'd make up my own interconnects at the exact lengths that fit my space—just between X-over and speaker. I recognize that there aren't 6-pole connectors—I figured I'd use 6 of the 8—2 for each driver and aim to keep the cable only what it needs to be—BUT—is there a reason to double up on the bass connects if I can buy a 6 conductor cable? I've never seen a speakON cable with my own eyes—and hadn't even heard of them until this thread! But I have made power cables with 4pin Neutrik XLRs for a phono stage and tonearm cables and on a quick look finding an 8 connector premade speakON wasn't popping right up—lots of options in 2 connector, have yet to find an 8 I can buy online (assumed I'd make my own, so I have't spent a lot of time looking). I HAVE found bulk 12AWG 6 conductor, unshielded—seems that all the bigger cable bundles I'm finding are unshielded—also I haven't seen any premade speakOn cables that list "shielded" as part of their specs—I'm assuming this can matter, but maybe since I can choose where the X-over boxes will live I can keep them away from everything else? Then there's the fact that the place I buy all of my interconnects from clearly states on the speaker cable page that shielding isn't required due to low impedance and high current! Sweet! But—will I be adding resistance right where I shouldn't with a smaller wire like 14, 16, or 18AWG? Should I be using huge wire interconnects inside the cabinets? X-over? The speaker cables I have been using are 12AWG (Blue Jeans Cable).
The 12PR320s have a very slick springloaded connection point by the way—it does not appear tailor made for a 12AWG wire—much smaller.
This project is awesome.
Also—in terms of general construction. perfect perfect 45 degree cabinet joints are A LOT of work. I'll be using dados with 15-ply, or maybe a combo of cabinet grade 15 and 5-ply. I don't have enough 15-ply in the shop (turntable builds!!) at the moment, and I'm not entirely sure what means what in terms of cabinet construction (all this ply is 18mm thick nominally). AND I could always build another set of boxes—so I'm inclined to be a bit rogue—and use what is sitting here. I can get 15-ply locally (cabinet shop—not the dreck they sell at Lowe's in the US), and probably will pick up some sheets...Also have pro woodworker friends who order from the commercial places and I occasionally tack on to their orders.
I'll be veneering the whole shebang with birch in prep for paint—maybe trying to avoid veneering the fronts since the spacing between the woofer and mid is tight—though that's about to get bigger now that I can measure the actual woofer.
Re: SpeakON/
I figured I'd make up my own interconnects at the exact lengths that fit my space—just between X-over and speaker. I recognize that there aren't 6-pole connectors—I figured I'd use 6 of the 8—2 for each driver and aim to keep the cable only what it needs to be—BUT—is there a reason to double up on the bass connects if I can buy a 6 conductor cable? I've never seen a speakON cable with my own eyes—and hadn't even heard of them until this thread! But I have made power cables with 4pin Neutrik XLRs for a phono stage and tonearm cables and on a quick look finding an 8 connector premade speakON wasn't popping right up—lots of options in 2 connector, have yet to find an 8 I can buy online (assumed I'd make my own, so I have't spent a lot of time looking). I HAVE found bulk 12AWG 6 conductor, unshielded—seems that all the bigger cable bundles I'm finding are unshielded—also I haven't seen any premade speakOn cables that list "shielded" as part of their specs—I'm assuming this can matter, but maybe since I can choose where the X-over boxes will live I can keep them away from everything else? Then there's the fact that the place I buy all of my interconnects from clearly states on the speaker cable page that shielding isn't required due to low impedance and high current! Sweet! But—will I be adding resistance right where I shouldn't with a smaller wire like 14, 16, or 18AWG? Should I be using huge wire interconnects inside the cabinets? X-over? The speaker cables I have been using are 12AWG (Blue Jeans Cable).
The 12PR320s have a very slick springloaded connection point by the way—it does not appear tailor made for a 12AWG wire—much smaller.
This project is awesome.
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NICE!
I might note that the foam people will sell in small quantities, but you have to call/email them. Hopefully shipping isn't $illy.
www.usspeaker.com for woofers? US source.
The fine fellows at audiohobby.eu have the Jantzen branded bass port part (Jantzen Port Tube 3-3/4" ID x 5-3/4" L (100/145mm) Flared (HP 900028), 051-0020). And the tweeters (best price for US).
I'm trying to find the filler the speaker stand guys are using... I could use a welding project....
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