DizRotus

Dean- I've got 2 pair of the 8 ohm single drivers. If I hook up 2/channel in parallel, it might sound better. The tendency to sound harsh gets worse at higher volume. Your comment about early clipping seems on point. How do you think it will do with the djk BR modded La Scalas at the high school?

The $20.97 (Amazon) Lepai chip amp plays the new speakers reasonably well. Volume was more than adequate and the sound was worth $20.97. Bass was good, but treble seemed shrill until using the tone controls, which can be defeated. Has anyone else tried this tiny amp?

I got a Logitech Bluetooh adapter from Amazon for $39.97. My son wants to play music from his smart phone into the h/k 430 and Heresy system I put together for him. The Logitech adapter works well. It also works with the Klipsch iGroove. With it's RCA and phone plug outputs it can mate to just about anything. The sound quality was good, unlike the Cool Stream adapter which can get noisy, the Logitech made no noise. Connecting to the iGroove from the back, avoiding the iPod 30 pin connector avoids a weak link. The Logitech is the small black box in the photo in front of the mighty Lepai chip amp.

The $1/watt amp plays a pair of the single driver speakers I just built to a very loud level. The bass is surprisingly good. The treble seemed a bit harsh. Perhaps they'll improve after some time.

Here is the owner's manual. It came inside a cookie. The best part of the amp might be the blue light around the volume knob.

For $20.49 from Amazon I couldn't resist trying this 20 Watt/channel Chinese T-Class chip amp. Lepai claims 20W x 2 RMS, 20Hz - 20KHz, THD less than 0.4%. How does it sound? Worth every penny. I hooked it up to the new single driver speakers and sourced it from a Toshiba DVD/CD player and Pandora via Android phone using Bluetooth and a Logitech Bluetooth adapter. The sound is not bad . . . not great . . . but not bad. The vintage h/k 730 (in need of refurbishing) sounds better. To my ears, the toy amp is bright or shrill. Using the defeatable tone controls helped. With a 12V power supply, it could be powered in a car. With the Logitech adapter and some small speakers it turns any smart phone, iPod, etc. into a stereo. Dorm room stereo? It's hard to fault 20 watts for 20 bucks. I'll be taking it to the high school when I repair the Speakon plug on the school's La Scalas. I 'm curious to see how it sounds through those speakers. EDIT 6/26/13 @ 9:15 EDT Same unit available from Parts Express. Glowing reviews at PE site.

My 23 y.o. son, and his somewhat older mother, preferred the sound of the pair with the egg crate foam panels to the pair with bare mdf inside. I agree. The sound is cleaner and crisper than the non-foam set. The bass is tighter and the highs seem better. Comparing that pair to the rear horn enclosures produced similar results. While the rear horns appear to have slightly more output in the lowest frequencies, the bass is muddy compared to the BR enclosures. mdeneen was right. The BR enclosure is better than the more complex rear horn. I'm not suggesting that these BR enclosures with RS 40-1197 drivers are the equal to mdeneen's Tekton speakers with real Fostex 103 drivers, but I do believe the similarities are greater than the differences. It would be interesting to compare them directly with the Tektons. It would also be interesting to try a Fostex 103 (now discontinued) in the BR and rear horn enclosures. Clearly, the single driver concept is not for everyone or every style of music. That said, the imaging generated from a single driver in a good enclosure is well suited to jazz combos, solo vocalists and the like. Close your eyes and its spooky the way Diana Krall sounds like she's in the room. After eliminating the enclosures with no foam, I placed the speakers with the foam and the older Taiwan drivers on top of the rear horns as shown for the A/B testing. The speaker on the floor is an un-foamed loser (the foam will be installed later), is not connected and was not part of the A/B test with the rear horns. Also in the photo is the box now containing Marvel's foam squares.

Bruce- You win. I know I have your address around here somewhere from when you relieved me of a h/k 430 receiver, but please do me a favor and send me your address by PM or email. EDIT @ 11:20 PM EDT I put the foam in a box. I wasn't sure how to pack a shipment of foam. Should I put some glassware in there too to give the foam something to protect?

Ten full 12 x 12 foam panels and usable partial panels that probably make up 4 - 6 more panels. Free to first forum member to reply by post, PM or email. I'll even pay the postage. I overestimated the amount of foam needed for a small speaker project. If you can use it, it's yours for the asking. EDITT @ 4:00 PM EDT Bruce was the first to reply in the other thread. He gets the foam.

Ten full 12 x 12 foam panels and usable partial panels that probably make up 4 - 6 more panels. Free to first forum member to reply by post, PM or email. I'll even pay the postage.

As you can see, this is a state of the art test project. After a burn-in period and doing some "blind" A-B comparisons using the younger ears of my son and the better hearing of SWMBO, I'll post a video comparing the BR enclosures to the rear horn enclosures. For now, all four BR boxes are playing at once to burn in the drivers, as I listen to the Tigers vs Bosox game. Playing music from all four at once sounds pretty good to me, but I suspect Dr. Who (Mike) would point out problems with comb filtering and other acoustic phenomena that are well beyond me. Any opinions/theories on the pros or cons of the egg crate foam as used in these enclosures are welcomed. Intuitively, it seems as though the foam would help.

The backs are attached by screws into the glue blocks. This allows the machine screws and nuts to be to tightened before the backs are screwed into place. After taking the photo, I decided to invert the terminal cups so that the terminals point down. The most significant difference between the two pairs is the egg crate foam. Less significant differences are: age, country of manufacture and dust caps. I repaired the dented dust caps on the Korean drivers with Bose 901 dust caps from Parts Express. Recognizing the inability to compare apples to apples, as well as the lack of burn-in, the following gross comparisons are made: 1. The two pairs are easily distinguishable by sound; 2. It's too soon to say which is better than the other, but I'm leaning toward the foam/Taiwan pair; and 3. Each pair sounds very good; 4. Each pair is noticeably different from the rear horns; and 5. Irrespective of the final decision regarding the BR boxes vs the rear horns, the BR enclosures make more sense.

The two boxes with the older Taiwan drivers have the foam. For now, the other two boxes have no foam. After listening to both versions, I'll decide whether to use the foam.

The interior part of the port is in place. Another complete port is on end outside the box. According to the instructions and formula that came with the "Precision Port" from Parts Express, The port as configured is 2" in depth with a 2" diameter.

The inside of a box with no egg crate foam and the partial port. By using machine screws and nuts to attach the drivers, ports and terminal cups, I'll be able to remove the components to clean up the exteriors prior to applying a finish.

The boxes for newer Korean drivers.

The boxes for older Taiwan drivers.

A newer driver labeled Korea.

All four drivers were NIB, despite being many years old. The older blue boxes held the drivers labeled Tawian. A closeup of the magnet on a Taiwan driver is attached.

Thanks for the suggestion and link. I downloaded this and it does work. It's more powerful (complicated) than I probably need, but with practice it seems very useful. I still miss the quick and simple right click to resize. EDIT @ 2:36 PM EDT I discovered the control R trick as you were typing. I Like it. Thanks again! A resized photo is attached. For the rest of the story, see the "Single Driver Experiments" thread at http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/56563.aspx.

I should have mentioned Windows 7. Paint works, but not nearly as easily as the "right click" one that got away. I'm hoping Mike can restore whatever he took off.

I have all 4 speakers operating. An update with photos was planned, but I can't easily resize the photos that document the progress. Upon initial comparison with the rear horn enclosures there is a noticeable difference, although it's too early to say better or worse. The larger rear horn enclosures appear to have a more full bodied sound. No matter the final subjective absolute ranking, the smaller enclosures win on the basis of space occupied (WAF), ease of placement and ease of construction. One pair has the "egg crate" foam panels on all inside panels except the motorboards. The other pair has no foam. My initial impression is that the foamless pair sounds brighter than the foamed pair. None of the 4 drivers has any playing time, despite being old (they've languished in their boxes for years). Perhaps comparisons should wait until a burn-in period has elapsed. . Is there a reliable (no spyware, etc.) photo resizing program available for "free" download and compatible with Windows 7? Mike, my computer guru, worked diligently to remove some "double secret" viruses that were slowing my computer while avoiding detection by several anti-virus programs. Unfortunately, he also removed a program that allowed me to right click on a jpg photo and immediately and easily resize it to make email, posting, etc. easy. Apparently. it was part of a Microsoft Powertoys software that had been added (probably by Mike). I absolutely need the ability to resize photos for my business; it also comes in handy when posting photos to this forum. Your enlightened suggestions based upon personal experience are appreciated. EDIT @ 2:39 PM EDT With prompt and beneficial help help from jhoak and Don Richard, the photo resizing issue was solved. A photo of an operationally completed (finish to be done later) speaker is now attached.

Is there a reliable (no spyware, etc.) photo resizing program available for "free" download? Mike, my computer guru, worked diligently to remove some "double secret" viruses that were slowing my computer while avoiding detection by several anti-virus programs. Unfortunately, he also removed a program that allowed me to right click on a jpg photo and immediately and easily resize it to make email, posting, etc. easy. Apparently. ot was part of a Microsoft Powertoys program that had been added (probably by Mike). I absolutely need the ability to resize photos for my business; it also comes in handy when posting photos to this forum. I want to update a thread in Updates and Modifcations regarding my Single Driver Experiments, but can't until I get the photo resizing issue solved. Your enlightened suggestions based upon personal experience are appreciated.

You're most welcome. Now you're required to photograph the the new grilles when done.

[y] Keep the pics and story coming.