homemade
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Posts posted by homemade
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I don't understand why you wouldn't want a terrific movie setup with your 4 speakers. It would be an ideal setup. Just add a surround reciever and subwoofer. I'm perfectly happy with my 5 yr old Yamaha bottom of the line surround reciever with a new Panasonic F87 dvd changer with builtin dolby digital decoder. I run the front channels into a newly acquired 15 band eq and back into the Yamaha in the 6 channel mode. I have the subwoofer and center channel turned off in the Panasonic F87 (running homebuilt khorns and small 4.5 inch fullrange rear channels) and usually run the unit in Dolby Prologic II mode. I gotta tell you, I enjoy movies as much as music but usually only collect cd's and not movies. I don't care to watch movies too many times. I go to the library and check out what they have for the most part.
What are you running now for amp, etc. What's wrong with the sound now?
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I've had these speakers for 15 yrs and used to be powered by a 200watt/channel Yamaha power amp but now are powered by a 60watt/channel Yamaha surround reciever and haven't blown anything yet except my EV35 tweeter diagphrams when I was running a high freq. (above 15khz) sine way and couldn't hear them and then I smelled smoke when I turned the volume up. I probably pumped 100watts into them! Too much. Had to solder in new diaghrams. Remember, these woofers (I use Eminence EM5415H18 woofers purchased for $57.95 back in 1989 from McGee Radio out of K.C.) are around 92 db efficient (haven't actually measured them) and a 12db boost is like running them without a horn with only 60 watts now. They are rated at 200watts peak. I probably never run more than 20 watts through them now-maybe 1 watt average. I would also venture that most recordings are rolled off in the low end except for some rap style music which I don't listen too. Best recording for showing off the system is "Chocolate Fudge" by Fresh Aire 1. The floors really vibrate from the synthesizer notes! Recorded in the mid 70's?
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I tried running my homebuilt khorns without and eq for a couple of weeks and had to go back and use a newly bought 15band eq. I just couldn't stand the upper bass response. My speakers appear to have the same response as the factory khorns in that range. I reduced the output in the 125hz range about 4 db and boosted the lower ocataves 12 db (actually 12db in the 25hz range and 6db in the 40 range). They were just too honky sounding especially in my bright room with wood floors, etc. I tried putting fiberglass in the bass chamber but noticed little improvement. These speakers will go low and loud with proper eq. I'm also looking at the La Scalla's response and it appears to me that they would handle eq great with just a little less response in the 40hz range but just the same as the khorn in the lower freqencies. The added noise and clarity of the eq. is way more than justified in the better low end! No comparison.
Now, if you're saying it's my homemade khorns vs factory ones, the response appears to be the same on the Klipsch spec sheet as what I'm measuring. The 125hz-300hz range is at least 6db more than the 60-80hz range.
How many others feel this way? I know that Speakerlab mentioned this same phenomina in their speaker building booklet.
I remember going into the local Klipsch dealer perhaps 15 years ago and listening to some La Scalla's and thought they sounded honky too! Some proper eq. will bring them back in line. The speaker can easily handle this increase in output at the low end. I haven't heard my speaker cone bottoming like my old 12inch subwoofer did! Once I though I heard distortion and it was actually the pictures on the wall vibrating with a low end organ note.
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I'm going to a substate bastketball game this evening in a new gym that has no insulation on the roof and sides. Loudest gym I've been in. I'll take my RS meter with me to measure it. Another local school has an extremely loud pep band. I've never heard such a loud pep band. Too loud for my tastes and I like my music fairly loud with khorn replicas. You have to shout to talk to someone next to you. I much prefer some lows in bass such as a bass guitar to the louder higher notes. My wife thought my khorns were loud! You need a speaker like this to put out the same level of loudness as live!
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I remember seeing the Altec 19 (single speaker) used as the speaker in the K-State Union movie theatre in the early 80's. They wheeled the speaker onto the stage and let the screen down in front of it if I remember correctly. The problem I see is that they are bigger than my homebuilt khorns! My homebuilts have just the bare basics-no big upper horn enclosure and no additions to the sides. I'll post a picture sometime. They were built on Speakerlab plans about 15 yrs ago. I really can't see how they have less bottom end than the khorns. My biggest complaint about my knorns is that the upper bass is way too loud (in the 100-200hz range). I went back and used a 15 band eq to tame that range about 4db and boost the low end by 12db or so. Much better sound. I couldn't stand the non eq.ed response!!! I'll bet your Altecs are much flatter. What are the specs on the Altecs? I remember EV had some simiar speakers and they offered an eq. for flatter response. By lowering the port resonant freq., just a little boost in the bottom octave would lower the range of the speaker another 1/2 octave or so.
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My homemade khorns are very weak in the lower octave bass without some boost of some kind. I was using a Radio Shack 10band eq from about 20 yrs ago and worked great. I boosted the 30hz range 10db and reduced the 125hz range 4 db. Now, I'm running without an eq on everything except cd's and dvd's in which I use a little Radio Shack bass booster. I usually punch in 6db at 40hz. The Radio Shack 10 badn eq is too big and bulky where I moved my equipment. Neither eq has added any noise or noticable distortion. The khorns can definitely benefit from some eq!!!
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Go back to using your 16 ga wire and be done with it! Big wire is just a nuisance like you found out. Impress your friends how good the Heresey's sound with some puny wire.
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Use whatever length is required for a neat installation and save your money for more cd's! Do you actually think that the coils inside your speaker for voice coil and crossover choke has the exact amt. of cable to the foot? There are many many feet of very small cable inside those components. Do you begin to see why speaker cable makes very little difference?
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RG 58 is a 75 ohm antennae cable!
I remember hearing a story from one of the premiere acoustic suspension speakers in the 60's and they were comparing a live drum to the sound from speakers at the same location. People couldn't hear any difference. They didn't want the cables to be a degrading factor so they used some 18gauge zip cable! Works for me. Actually, I use some 16 ga. Radio Shack cable for the fronts and the rear surrounds get some combo of soid and stranded 22 gauge wiring. Running some homebuilt khorns up front, Yamaha reciever (cheapest dolby logic one from 5 yrs ago), new Panasonic F87 DTS dvd changer, radio shack bass booster from 15 yrs ago that has adjustable bass frequency and level to give the khorns a little more lower octave boost.
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I use some homemade horns for the front corners, no center channel, and just some speakerlab 4.5inch midrange (actually fullrange audix speaker) for the back channels. Just setup the mains for big speakers, no center channel,no subwoofer, and rear speakers for small speakers in the menu. Running through a Yamaha reciever using a Panasonic F87 changer that has builtin digital surround and dolby surround modes (dolby surround much better than Yamaha dolby surround). I can't imagine setting the volume so high that the small 4.5 inch speakers can't keep up! With the movies I watch, there isn't too much surround anyway. BTW: Seabisquit sounds scary when you turn the volume up and listen to the horses on the track. I know that my horns have a peak in the sound around the 125hz range and that's where the sound effects are and it's scary! I could use a subwoofer for the ultra lows but with some low bass boost from an eq. it's acceptable.
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I have some speakerlab cabinets and was reading in this forum about having to be sealed to the corner real tight. Well, mine aren't tight at all. If fact, mine are missing the board in back that sits at a 45degree angle to the corner. The top board is not tight in the corner or wall either. Speakerlab says to run them 8inches from the corner. I made a board to fit on top that would seal them to the corner and sides and no noticable change in freq. response was noted with my spl meter. I than played with moving them back and forth from the corner and got the most bass sitting about 2 inches from the corner so the sound had a very narrow channel and top to come out of. My feeling is that sealing the back makes very little difference. You could actually move one speaker away from the corner many feet and still have just as good of bass. Yes, my bass response drops off below 40hz like a bomb but the Klipschorns do too. BTW: I use an Audix 6inch midrange (100db effeciency) and an EV35 tweeter and get great neutral midrange. Don't know how it compares to the midrange horn as I haven't listened to any. Can anybody who claims a sealed back increases bass verify this with some mearsurements? BTW: mine wouldn't have required any chair molding mods to fit
could I make "mini lascalas" using 10" drivers?
in Technical/Restorations
Posted
Let me give you my thoughts. I know the La Scalla looks cool and I would like to build them someday too. In fact, if I hadn't built my khorns years ago I would be running them. Let me tell you what probably is a better way to go. Get a high efficiency 12inch driver that is in the 95-98 db efficient and run it into a ported or sealed enclosure. Mate it to the Audix HM17 99.6db efficient midrange driver (if they're still available) and get a high efficient tweeter to match. You will get a fairly small footprint, easy built, great efficiency, and great sound. You will have to get a subwoofer to reinforce the bottom end though. What I'm suggesting is a Heresey like speaker with subwoofer for bottom end. I would like to know if anyone has listened to the Audix midrange driver I'm talking about. I have one in my khorns and love it although at very high levels it does sound strained but perhaps that's my ears at 120 db! The sound is very neutral (so neutral in fact that the enclose behind it isn't even needed. Proabaly non of the disadvantages of a horn midrange. I haven't personally listened to a horn midrange for exteneded periods to know for sure but I can't imagine anything sounding better. Speakerlab used this speaker in their later khorn replica's in the mid 80's.
I had some homebuilt 4.5 cubic foot speakers built from a 12inch alnico fullrange driver with whizzer cone and a dome Radio Shack tweeter and it sounded wonderful with my 25watt/channel reciever. I could rattle my pant leg 10ft away! I had a guy do the Theile parameters in the early 80's at college and he told me how to build the box. Proabably went down to the low 30'shz range with around 95db efficient. I wish I still had them! 100watt per channel amp would be great with them!