Stovebolt6

After living with them a while, I am starting to think about adding a tweeter. I have a pair of EV T-35s I may play with. The new ones sound a little softer up top than the Heresy does. Brushes on cymbals are still there but not as pronounced as with the Heresies. I was also thinking about another bi-radial horn or mabey a JBL slot tweeter. 14,000 cu. in. converts to about 8 cu. ft. They only stand 40in high. Making them fit into the corner really helps them fit the room physically. The room is probably a little small for them, acoustically. Clipped, Ready for a silly question? Have you given your speakers a name yet? Just wondering. When people say Heresy, Cornwall, LaScala, Belle, Khorn, Forte etc you know what they are talking about. I don't know what to call mine. I have been calling them the new ones but I have to come up with something better than that. Dan

Shawn, Are you using the TrueRTA shareware package to do your testing? What other equipment do you need to create plots like the one above, just a calibrated mic? Dan

Shawn, Does your driver have the loading caps? Dan

Shawn, It is an assumption I made based on the Altec cutsheets for the 909A which has the the loading cap and a cutsheet I saw for the 902A which does not. I do not have the RTA so my measurements are done with a SPL meter. My 909s are flat to 500hz using test tones and the SPL meter. I never measured them before doing the mod so I don't know if they rolled off at 1000hz like the spec sheet said they would. You could be right, that could be a bad assumption on my part. Dan

---------------- How did you remove the loading caps and do you think it made any improvement? ---------------- The loading caps are little plastic or bakelite domes that reduce the size of the chamber behind the diaphram. Thier purpose is to control the excursion of the diaphram by reducing the volume in the back chamber. Controlling the excursion does a few things, some of which are an advantage in a pro application, but not desireable in the home. By reducing the volume of air and controlling the excursion the loading cap increases the amount of power the driver can handle. It also raises the roll-off point to about 1000hz. By removing the loading caps the diapham has more freedom to move, this improves the transient response of the driver. It also makes the driver sound smoother and more refined. If you like Metallica at 110db leave them in, if you like more accuracy at sane listening levels take them out. The felt inside the rear cap absorbs the rear wave and further improves the silky smooth response by eliminating any cancelation. The process for removal is easy. Three screws on the rear cap. Work it loose from the rubber seal. Once inside there are three screws that hold the cap and diaphram to the driver. You will need screws that are shorter by the width of the loading cap. Be carefull once the diaphram is exposed, they are delicate and the drivers magnet will pull screws, screwdrivers and any number of other things you don't want touching your diaphram right to them. Dan

C&S, I used WinISD, BoxPlot. Played with the volume of the cabinet and vent size and length until the program showed a decent compromise between low Bass and a flat response. I have since read that WinISD is not reliable, however, my measured results are better than the computer predicted. I have nodes in the room that are much worse than the speaker would perform in a properly treated room. The volume turned out to be aprox 14,000 cu in. 229.5 litres. Dan

Thanks to all who knowingly or unwittingly helped me with this project. It is by far the largest undertaking in my system so far and the results we nothing short of amazing. http://www.wadsnet.com/~danbarbato/Audio/Audio.htm I was going for a corner "Decorator Cornwall" look. The cabinet is a bass reflex design tuned to 40hz. they are 3dB down at 38hz. The oak verneer cabinets tuck nicely in the corner to help the WAF. I have glass cut for the tops to protect from the potted plants (An agreement required before starting). The crossovers are a second order Butterworth at 600hz. they have Solen fastcaps and perfect lay inductors. High Frequency attenuation is accomplished with an autoformer alla ALK. HF driver is a Altec 909-16a with the loading caps removed and 3/8' felt installed. The horn is an Altec 511b damped with dynamat. The LF driver is an Altec 515e. I know that these aren't klipsch but they are horns and I couldn't have accomplished this without the help of all the folks on this board. The project took 11months from conception to completion. After I live with them for a while, and if anyone expresses an intrest, I will post some impressions. Thanks to all! Dan

Thanks guys

This is hysterical!!!

How do you insert a link in a post? thx, dB

Jim, Could you post a picture? Dan

My Birthday is next week. I will leave it up you if you would like to wish me happy birthday or not. Dan By the way, post number 63

Tom, I'm surprised that you are downsizing. You are one of the reasons that I started building these things! It has taken a year to aquire the parts and I am getting close. You can see the build up here if you are interested. http://www.wadsnet.com/~danbarbato/Audio/Audio.htm Dan

Kurt, The corner is actually part of the bass horn. With out the corner placement you will have extreamly poor bass response. The trick is called a "False Corner". Do a search on this BB for false corner and you will get some interesting threads on the topic. I think there is a link in one of the threads to a copy of an issue of the "Dope From Hope" covering the construction of false corners. PWK himself used them in his home. Dan

Area codes are (847)North (815)North and West (414)just over the boarder in Wisconsin. It has been a while since I lived in that area, but I remember a Rotel Dealer in Lake in the Hills called Sound Forum. I don't know what they will do on price, but they were nice guys. Not to fond of horns as I recall but still nice people. www.soundforum.net Good luck Dan

Thanks guys! I will post pics when they are done in the ODDs and MODs Forum Dan

Any words of wisdom before I get started?

Can Boiled Linseed oil be applied over stain like Minwax Wood Finish? I have unfinished speakers that I want to stain really dark, however I still want the look of the oiled finish. Dan

Now that is some good constructive criticism. I did not realize that those speakers have rear ports. A much better response than "Why?" I too have spent may hours trying to find the perfect placement for the speakers in my room to achieve accuracy. However, with the space constraints in the picture, the two sets of mains would be side by side. It looks like with the allthread in the ceiling attaching to the joists that it would take alot of work to undo what Scott has done. The point I'm getting at is not that Scott's system couldn't be better than it is, because everyone's system could be better. It is simply that friendly constructive crtiticizm is less likely to drive people away than short arrogant responses like "Why?"

I'm well aware of the fact that floor standers don't image well on thier sides. I would guess from the title of the post and the fact that Scott has 4 mains in a room that small, that he is interested in maximum SPL and not what part of the stage Miles Davis was standing on when he emptied his spit valve. It looks to me like putting those speaks up there was a creative use of wasted space, and proably a lot of hard work. I am also pretty sure that when a guy posts a picture of his rig after putting that much work into it, he is looking to show off and not expecting a heaping helping of audiophile grade negativity. Once again, nice work Scott and welcome to the forum. I'm off, Lee Morgan is playing LIVE in my living room and I'm missing it!! Dan

Scott, Just point 'em down at the listening position a little. One of the good things about horns is thier directivity. They are less influenced by the things around them than direct radiating speakers are. Marksdad, I'm pretty sure that your speakers are crammed in the corner too. If they are not they should be. Hope you wake up in a better mood tomorrow! Scott, Welcome to the forum and enjoy your Klipsch!! Dan

Does using a solid state pre-amp eliminate the advantages of a tube amplifier? I am considering bi-amping, tubes for HF and SS for LF. What I am wondering is will it be worth while with all that solid state gear in the signal path? (SS preamp, electronic cross, and SS amp for LF)

I'm thinking about upgrading my HT reciever. It is a Sony STR-895. I'm wondering if a previously owned Denon AVR 5700 is worth looking into. I don't think I will be going to a 7.1 anytime soon my room is not deep enough for it anyway. Will the 5700 decode DTS and DD5.1? Are there other reasons why this may be a poor choice as an upgrade? Thanks, Dan

Shawn, Nice work! I used spade lugs on the transformer taps. This allows changing tap settings in a snap. May help you aviod the 5 pole barrier connector. Are you doing a 5.1 set up? Dan

This is what the cabinet will look like. A corner fit bass reflex design tuned to 40hz. From straight on it looks kind of like a wierd decorator cornwall. Oddly enough my wife likes them!