chris haberland

Hey, im glad to see there is some interest in this project.That means some of you are going to take the challenge and build your own.I will try and put together a series of photos together with some explaination on this proccess.The industry i work for is shutting down for three weeks on March 8.The border dispute, log shortage and market conditions has finially taken its toll on us. This puts me on a "call list" for some limited work which means i sit around the phone not knowing from one day to the other whether im going to work or not.I will try to get going on this as soon as i can.Regards Chris.

After building the false corners i notice that the 1" mdf sides vibrate.Am i correct to say that there is base energy lost here?.Do you think adding supports between the sides and the base bin would make a noticable difference.Chris.

Thanks Al i will check it out.Didnt i say Q-man is the only one aloud to look at those schematics,oops, sorry Al.

I have been to the Altec forum.From what i have read Q-man is the guy to ask.I know they will go down to 300hz, some guys have gone down as low as 200hz, but will they preform well at these cutoff points.Altecs spects on the 288's is 500hz conservatively speaking im sure.I agree that the volume levels in home use will be safe and no damage should occurr and the fact that the network im going to use is fairly steep, 18db per octave, but will they perform well is the big question.Chris.

Filter

Ever since i posted my thread on my home built Khorns, your comments on using the 290 vs the 288's has stayed with me, even more so now that the present networks im using do not work well.I have the tweeters disconnected for now as there is smearing and a loss of detail due to the 311's rolling off at about 15000hz,this is totally interfereing with the tweeter.My first costly mistake and im sure there will be more.I read your threads on the Altec forum and see you have spent alot of time and money experimenting to achieve the best sounding Khorn.What i would like to try before going to the expense of buying new drivers is try a modified AKL Type A network.This will be a third order cut off at 300hz,possibly similiar to what you have.The 288's were not designed to go this low but there are people that have gone lower than this with success, at what compromise im not sure, maybe you can answer this for me.I think the diaphrams will hold up because they have gone through a lot more with the present networks being a first order.Thank god for that, they are brand new at a $100.00 a pop.My question really is will there be a large compromise in the sound quality if i connect them to this new network, roll off for example,ect.I know you have experimented alot on this subject, so your responce on this subect will be of great value to me.I posted a picture of the Filter design.Regards Chris.

Pic 2

Pic 1

Well here are the corners done.I just built them today, 1" MDF sides,5/8" top and bottom.They still need some work, but i thought i would give you a peek. I have not had much listening time, but the base is better.I thought there would be a lot more, pant flapper no, but better.They sure are over whelming and im not sure if i like the look, but i think i can live with them.I will post one more set of pictures when i have completed the veneering and paint.Chris.

Isolation on the components.There's something i have experimented with alot over the years.I live in a rental for now that explains the beautiful curtains in the back ground.When i lived in my own house i had a designated Hi-fi room which i spent years giving room treatments.I did finally get it to a point where my B@W CDM7SE's sounded like a million bucks.I also experimented with component isolation and found that the Black Diamond points worked best for the money spent and that is what i have stayed with.The Shelf that i constructed in the picture was a difficult project to get right.Each shelf contains 50lbs of sand and has a very dead sound when tapped on.Weather i have accomplished anything here im not sure?,but the points do work.Placing those points in various areas under the components has different effects.My friends over the years have been very patient with my constant fiddleing but it does pay off and it trains your ear to become a tool.I never mix my Hi-fi with home theater.My old house had a designated home theater.It contained real theater chairs, dropped ceiling, raised floors, curtains, ticket booth, the whole nine yards.Well that was then,back to the Khorns.The place im in now does not have any usable corners ,so my plan is to rap the speakers with there own corners like the TSCM's.These things are going to be huge, i hope im doing the right thing, i will post more pictures when they are complete.By the way i will be purchasing a pair of Altec 291's from the same guy i got the 288's from and will be building a pair of 311-90's out of Maple.I may build a pair of Altec Model 19's for the fronts on the home theater.Skill saw, belt sander and back to my igloo out side.Later guys Chris.

Shawn i built these out side in a carport.The closer you cut to the line the less the Router makes saw dust.

First of all you can not allways locate these near by, it cost me to build these as much as it would to ship one.Second and most important is the pride of getting of your buff and creating.The time it takes to build one is of no importance, everyone has different comittments, so build at your leasure.It took me a week to cut out and frame these babies up.Chris.

Well, thanks for all your positive comments.I did not expect such a big reponse.It has come to my attention through Emails and forum dicussions, that there are several people who have some building skills would like to build their own but feel overwhelmed at this speakers complexities, i will break it down to a much easier method.Dont get me wrong this is not a beginners project. For those of you that would like to build a pair, here are some tips.First of all a table saw is not required.There are many compound angles on these panels, but not if you do it in stages.Dont worry about the angles, lets cut the panels out first, then tackle the angles later.Here go's,(Step 1),draw out one panel on your sheet of plywood.(Step 2)Now with a skill saw cut proud of the lines you just drew, 1/8 to a 1/4 inch.,you should have a roughly cut out panel, that should be easy enough.(Step 3)Take your router, measure the distance from your Formica bit(flush cutter with a bearing on the bottom)to the edge of the Router base.Take that measurment and draw it on the inside of the panel lines you just drew.Clamp a straight edge on that line, you now have a guide for the Router to cut a straight line on one side of your panel.Do this to all four sides.What you have now is a perfect single panel, your half way there!.This panel now becomes a template for the others in that group.Remember two speakers multiple pieces.Go back to (step 1 and 2) and cut as many as you need.Take your template, place it on top of one of the panels you just cut out.You can clamp it onto the other piece or nail it with some small finishing nails, make sure you put a pencil mark where you nailed so you can fill it with epoxy later.Now the easy part,flip the panel over so the rough cut panel is facing up.With your Router zip around the panel letting the bit do the cutting and the bearing on the bit do the guiding and you will end up with a duplicate panel.Easy enough.This method can cut out 99% of the panels on your plans.What you will end up with is a flat pac with straight edge panels.Some of you wood workers out there may think this is a time consuming method and it is, but it is very accurate needing basic power tools.You only have to build one pair for a life time of listening.I will discuss cutting the angles needed on the panels later because i will have to take some pictures to help with this step as it will be to hard to explain.Hope this has been some help.Regards Chris.

By the way that shelf is home made.Each shelf has 50lbs of sand inside the frame work.Zebra wood sides, makes for a very robust stand.

Pic 2