At last - my WD25TEx up and running. - Page 2 - World-Designs-Forum

hal55 · #11 31st May 2013, 12:28 AM

From recollection Peter described the speaker as accurate to the lowest note of bass guitar. Mine don't sound bass shy so after bedding in you shouldn't find them deficient in this area. Have fun,

Hal55

VantheMan · #12 2nd June 2013, 12:26 PM

Well, I have checked phase, fitted the gooey stuff around the hole that braces the bass driver, checked airtightness, fitted the spikes and so am ready to audition. At present, everything sounds tight but definitely not so weighty sounding as I expected from the size of the driver after my WD20Ts. The 20s definitely sound better balanced in my set-up. Will be back in a week or so.

VantheMan · #13 10th June 2013, 05:56 PM

Now they are firing on all cylinders and sounding as expected. It was a question of Murphy´s Law as per usual and had nothing to do with the speakers themselves..

Greg. · #14 10th June 2013, 11:12 PM

Hmmm, glad you've got a good result but please explain what you mean in your post regarding Murphy's Law etc. What exactly did you do to make them start sounding right?

VantheMan · #15 11th June 2013, 08:28 PM

Hi Greg,
Thanks for the interest in my tale of woe but there is a happy ending.....
It´s a long story but as I said, it had nothing to do with the speakers. They were just the unwitting victims of my ignorance. Suffice to say that when I revamped my Hagerman Piccolo /Puresound P10 phono stages with Salas regulated power supplies and assorted OTT teflon caps and Schinkoh resistors throughout I was lent a Linto to tide me over. As you may know the Linto has two line level outputs and I copied the arrangement on my Puresound thinking to connect one to my Sugden and the other to my Creek can amp thereby removing the need to turn on my Sugden when using my cans. I only got round to using the second output, exactly when I installed the speakers and decided to go the whole hog checking all connections. As before when I had my Creek connected via the Sugden tapeout I persisted in switching on both amps when using the cans. Sound through the cans was great but the speakers just seemed to have no spirit/soul/body/weight or whatever although highs and mids were good. After nearly a month of re-opening the speakers to check polarity on drivers and crossovers, checking everything was airtight etc. etc. I was getting nowhere and severely disappointed. Then last Sunday night after comparing once more the vast superiority of sound through my cans, I gave up and decided to call it a day. God knows why but I switched the Sugden off first and the volume lowered noticeably through the cans but didn´t disappear completely as it should and does when using the tapeout but >I was obviously knackered by then and I thought I must disconnect the cans from the phono and go back to my former arrangement as obviously ther is not enough gain for the output from the phono stage and thought no more of it. It was only the following day on my way to work that the penny dropped - how could switching off the Sugden affect the volume through the cans when the Sugden and the Creek were not connected ? I rushed home, disconnected the can amp and glorious music issued forth from my WD25TExs. Somehow the Creek was hogging the life and soul from the party at the phono stage outputs and turning my Sugden into the runt of the litter. Some sort of loop due to differences in their respective input impedances I suppose but I don´t care - now I know what you have all been going on about. Big drivers rule !
Cheers,
Chris

P.S. This phenomenon occurred when the Creek was turned off. I guess they share the ground even when not powered up.

Greg. · #16 11th June 2013, 08:43 PM

Well done Chris. I'm glad you have a great outcome. Enjoy your 25T's.

hal55 · #17 12th June 2013, 02:29 AM

That was a Murphy's Law and a half!

Glad all is well.

Hal55

VantheMan · #18 12th June 2013, 07:29 PM

Apparently the Puresound has very high output impedance (5K) and needs to see an input impedance of at least 50K at the amp which is OK for my Sugden but not for the Creek.
Whatever. I snipped the cables and condemned one of the phono outputs. End of nightmare.

Edwin · #19 28th July 2013, 05:56 PM

I've been away and have just seen the photo of your speaker; mine look dull by comparison. Having produced something so appealing, you must have been disappointed, but it's good that the problem is resolved.

It's time Murphy stopped going around making laws.

VantheMan · #20 29th July 2013, 07:12 PM

Hi Edwin,

Thanks for the complimentary words about the boxes´looks but had it not been for your kindness in sending me all the spiel many moons ago, I doubt I would have got them finished. I had plenty of time to work out my evil plan to get them past her indoors´ vigilant eyes. I copied the rounded edges from the Sugden LS21 model and my previous Totems and the groove is a blatant crib of one of Troels & Gravesen´s models. What most annoys me is that a local carpenter did these SFX for me in about 2 minutes - a hand router and a pro bench saw - it would have taken me 6 months !

I also suspect I overdid things lining the MDF/chipboard sandwich walls with acoustic felt AND the black goo ( also copied from troels´page ). One day I´ll open them up and take the felt out in the top compartment at least, to see what happens.
All the best,
Chris