high sensitivity speaker that moves air....

[Martin213]

At least we are (hopefully ) moving in the right direction.
The simple answer is,Uncle Peter,if no suitable 'ultimate' mid-driver exists,make one!!!

[Andrew]

I'd be quite happy with something like Mr Olsen's Ariels. I heard Pauls B's version a couple of times now and I agree with him they are very neutral and you can get a nice volume level out of them with something like a 300B or a PX25 et al.

Something along those lines would be ideal. Domestic friendly, good sound and reasonable senstivity. Just my two penny's worth...

-- Andrew

[johnlncstr]

Originally Posted by Dave Senior

Hi Guys

The speaker kit looks very interesting. I too have looked at the AN-E, but its a bit big for my room and is designed for corner placing, so I would have to move all my furniture around, which no doubt, would displease she who must be obeyed!! So the kit looks a good size and I already have stands.

I built a pair of Fostex FE167's into a bass reflex enclosure during the summer. In many ways they are very good, but I've gone back to my Ruark floorstanders which are more balanced.

I did not get on very well with the woodwork side of things. The trouble is you get the wood cut accurately, but when it comes to sticking all the pieces together it goes slightky out of square so you end up having to do loads of sanding to get the thing half decent. Perhaps a flat pack kit would address this issue, or someone could suggest the secret of sticking it all together.

Regards

Dave

Hi Dave
Ref holding speaker panels square during bonding. Assuming you have a shed or workshop with a bench, buy a sheet of of 1 in mdf cut 12in oversize to your finished speaker size/, make sure it has been stored flat so it has not taken a set and is flat,use this as your base datum. obtain from your local sheet metal shop some aluminimum 16 swg 90 deg extrusions 1 1/8 in leg length (offcuts from the scrap bin) overall length sufficient to encompass the finished speaker.drill a series of holes in one leg lay your panel on the 1 in mdf place the extrusions around it and screw down all round. you now have a crude jig but sufficient to your needs . When ready to bond assemble your speaker do a dimension check and dry run making sure all is square. The top sections can be held in place with string wound all the way round and then wound up tight (as picture framers do). But to be really sure I would make a mirror image of the base board and place this on the top and put some weights on it equally placed. This way you can hold all the the speaker panels at one go and bond all together or not as the job dictates,but fitting all the panels together even if you do not glue them all, makes sure everthing is as you want it and allows the glue to act as a void filler if you have any minor discrepancies. Using this method you should be able to work to minus nil plus 10 thou.I always leave a slot in the middle of the extrusion to allow room for a sguare to be employed to check on all faces. The beauty of this method is although its a bit of a pain the first time you can keep the bits and use them again and again for future projects. Hope This helps.

Regards
John Lancaster
PS to stop any squeezed out glue bonding your job into the jig put a layer cling film in the jig first or paint the relevant sections with a multipurpose grease and clean off afterwards.

[Max N]

I would be interested in something like a Hammer dynamics or James' Quasar in kit form.
It would open up the possibility of playing with low powered SET.
I will never, ever get approval from SWMBO for horns....

[dave dove]

maxxx

that's exactly where i'm headed
james' quasars are fantastic
but the price of AER drivers
and the 12" he uses - forgot -
is too rich for me...

of course there is a kit
but it is a different layout
http://www.bd-design.nl/index.html?l...arget=d84.html
hope nobody minds my posting that
and bass is active
unlike james' take on them

the hammer dynamics look interesting
and are based on the exceptionally cheap
eminence beta 12 LT @ 35 squid apiece
most users are ditching the tweeters
for fostex ft17 @ 30 squid apiece

i may just throw some of these together
if i can get the panels cut......

dave dove

[petercom]

The reason the bass is active is because this Quasar kit is a dipole so the bass drops off below the baffle half wavelength frequency and needs 'restoring' by amplifier EQ. Similar to Hi-Fi World's dipolar subwoofer that Noel cooked up many moons ago for the Celestion SL600(?) or Quad ELS. Fantastically clean bass but needs loads of amplifier power increasing right down to cut-off.

Anyone want to add a Quasar type speaker to a wish list poll?

You can't cheat physics in loudspeakers!

[smithie]

yes please ptercom....
love the sound of open baffle speakers to,so anything along those lines would be of great intrest!
all the best
smithie

[Black Stuart]

Hi Peter,
a lot of b/boarders have come out and said quite clearly what a need there is for having the woodwork taken care of professionally - not everyone can be good at this and it is good to see that you have recogonised this need.

Heybrook Sextets, I believe you left before these came out? A great speaker very attractive - high WAF.There are AFAIK 3 b/boarders who have these and one who regrets having sold his.

Ribbon tweeters - once you've heard, very difficult to accept dome tweeters ever again. Having been in touch with Heybrooks a few years ago now, I was told that if the Tonigen had not been withdrawn they would have used it (Tonigen) to build a speaker using larger woofers etc.

You have stated clearly the problem of using large woofers for speakers - firstly the WAF and secondly most people live in houses with midget sized lounges - no good producing a product that very few can accomodate for one or both reasons stated above - this is called reality.

I have bought from another b/boarder a pair of ESS Heil AMTs. My problem is not WAF or space but the availability of finding 4 Ohm woofers 12"/15" to use with them. I am trying to acheive a sensitivity of the Heils 96/7dB. Beyma make some wonderful woofers that go really low but they are 8 Ohm and not sensitive enough to match with the Heils. Speaker designing is not easy as you well know.

I must admit that I think 89dB (Heybrook Sextets) is not enough and I think that floorstanders have a higher WAF and that maybe a dipole design might well be worth thinking about.

Black Stuart

[petercom]

Originally Posted by Black Stuart

Hi Peter,

Heybrook Sextets, I believe you left before these came out? A great speaker very attractive - high WAF.There are AFAIK 3 b/boarders who have these and one who regrets having sold his.

Ribbon tweeters - once you've heard, very difficult to accept dome tweeters ever again. Having been in touch with Heybrooks a few years ago now, I was told that if the Tonigen had not been withdrawn they would have used it (Tonigen) to build a speaker using larger woofers etc.

I have bought from another b/boarder a pair of ESS Heil AMTs. My problem is not WAF or space but the availability of finding 4 Ohm woofers 12"/15" to use with them. I am trying to acheive a sensitivity of the Heils 96/7dB. Beyma make some wonderful woofers that go really low but they are 8 Ohm and not sensitive enough to match with the Heils. Speaker designing is not easy as you well know.

Black Stuart

The Sextets were designed by me well before I left.

Good ribbons are few and far between and always have the difficulty of dispersion. You might not think this is a problem but it has a marked effect on the overall sound of a speaker in a room. The Heils don't suffer in that way but aren't, exactly, ribbons.

IMO to achieve 96dB with good bass extension you need a very large speaker with multiple bass units, or you have to go active.

[Rob042]

How about a electrostatic hybrid. This would give us the mid and top we are after.The electrostatic panel could be on the lines of the Shackman. Then mate it to say an 8" paper bass driver - ie much like the cadance (? Indian company) speakers.

I heard/saw these at a show being driven by a pair of 10 watt valve monos and they sounded fantastic, with a room filling sound.

Rob