Author Topic: Econowave Speakers  (Read 96295 times)

Offline richidoo

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Re: Econowave Speakers
« Reply #45 on: March 10, 2012, 06:01:32 PM »
Thanks Jianghai! We will get together again soon. I look forward to that!! I think Carl might do his DAC-off before mine. But I can sneak in a preview... ;)

I have one playing now while the other dries. First impressions are that the CD/horn is very clear and low distortion, easy to listen and very dynamic. The bass ports work well, loud and tuneful. Needs speaker positioning to get rid of the lumps.  Midrange is OK so far, I don't really notice anything crazy, except for a "buzzy" presence range 3-4k?

Need lots of break-in, measurement and EQ fixes before any judgement. After 15 minutes it is getting noticeably better already. It always amazes me how much speakers change in the first 20 hours. These woofers are already fully broken in, but the XO, wires and CD are new.

The rheostat L-Pad allows adjusting the volume of the CD in relation to the woofer. It goes all the way down to "off," where it was when I first listened and thought I screwed up the wiring until I remembered to turn up (on) the tweeter.

The buzz seems to be gone now.  :D

Time to go unclamp the other one, see if we can get some stereo action tonight!

Offline hometheaterdoc

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Re: Econowave Speakers
« Reply #46 on: March 10, 2012, 06:11:38 PM »
Woohoo!!  Tunes!!  It lives!!

Can't wait to hear them... I was wondering if it was going to make it this weekend...  I checked in earlier today and hadn't seen anything posted... I figured you were too busy listening :)  turns out you were waiting for glue to dry :)
Shane Sangster
Used to be Night & Day Audio.......

Offline richidoo

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Re: Econowave Speakers
« Reply #47 on: March 10, 2012, 07:39:07 PM »
Finito! at least for now. I still need to finish the wood, and tweak the sound, but they are playing, in stereo, and it very sounds good. A nice improvement, methinks.

Pics:


Caulking the rear of the ports to seal them tight.  Didn't want glue or caulk to show under the edges in front.  The inside diameter of the port and extension pipe are equal.


Monkey ready for liftoff






Gluing on the front baffle




New ride. Smaller and faster.

Thanks to Zilch and Pete Schumaker for this great design. Thanks to Shane for making this project happen months sooner than I intended. Thanks to my wife and kids for helping. And thanks to AN gang for encouragement.
Rich

mgalusha

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Re: Econowave Speakers
« Reply #48 on: March 10, 2012, 07:54:45 PM »
Very nice. The monkey is going for a heck of a ride. :)

Offline hometheaterdoc

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Re: Econowave Speakers
« Reply #49 on: March 10, 2012, 09:08:54 PM »
Awesome, Rich!  They look really great!  It's amazing how much smaller and less dominating they look than your current speakers..... yet they're not exactly small speakers themselves :)  It looks positively spacious in your listening room right now based on the photos :)

It's great that they're giving a positive first impression with no break in.... sounds like they need some tweaking, but you're happy with the initial sound....that bodes well :)  I'm very happy you are enjoying them so far and I'm glad to have been able to help a little bit in getting them this far.... you've done all the hard work.. I just spent a few minutes ordering parts :) hehehe....

can't wait to hear them....
« Last Edit: March 10, 2012, 10:25:23 PM by hometheaterdoc »
Shane Sangster
Used to be Night & Day Audio.......

Offline stereofool

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Re: Econowave Speakers
« Reply #50 on: March 11, 2012, 04:53:01 AM »
Looking VERY good, Rich  :thumb:!

I need some of your project 'finishing' genes  :lol:.
Steve
Have you ever noticed.... Anyone going slower than you is an idiot...and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?

Offline mdconnelly

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Re: Econowave Speakers
« Reply #51 on: March 11, 2012, 05:03:31 AM »
Rich, you are Da MAN!   Can't wait to hear those babies.  What I'd give for your skills, attention to detail, patience and, well, time to tackle such projects!   

Offline TomS

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Re: Econowave Speakers
« Reply #52 on: March 11, 2012, 05:59:19 AM »
Great work Rich, you are a machine of DIY productivity!

So do you have an old speaker graveyard out back somewhere?
PS Audio Directstream DAC, PS Audio BHK Signature Preamp, Nagra Classic Amp, Focal Sopra No 2's, SVS SB16 Ultra

lonewolfny42

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Re: Econowave Speakers
« Reply #53 on: March 11, 2012, 06:15:12 AM »


                   

Offline richidoo

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Re: Econowave Speakers
« Reply #54 on: March 11, 2012, 06:31:44 AM »
Thanks guys!

The old ones get sold if they are any good, or more often go to the dump.

Stayed up too late listening to these last night. Hard to shut them off, that's a good sign. The tweeter level knob on the back allowed me to dial them in pretty close. Once I pick a level I like then I'll replace the dial with fixed resistors.

lonewolfny42

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Re: Econowave Speakers
« Reply #55 on: March 11, 2012, 07:51:48 AM »
Spike those speakers Rich.... :thumb:


Offline BobM

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Re: Econowave Speakers
« Reply #56 on: March 11, 2012, 08:11:37 AM »
I love it when a plan comes together!

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you'll have to blow your nose.

Offline richidoo

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Re: Econowave Speakers
« Reply #57 on: March 11, 2012, 11:38:24 AM »
Spike those speakers Rich.... :thumb:

Will do Chris... thanks.  Bass could be a little tighter. Shane do you have any of those PE spikes left?

All the buzzyness is gone now. There is lots of detail, I'm not used to that. I keep turning down the horn level and it gets better and better. The L-Pad is a great idea. I am already  way less than halfway down, but getting close now.

The horn and woofer are integrating much better now. Beautiful tone, even on classical stuff. Can't believe how low distortion is on the horn. The only thing that still sounds a little off is the reflex bass, probably the port phase. But the box is designed to be perfect for sealed also, which I haven't tried yet.

Imaging is good, there might be more on the table. I need to make them wider and toed in even more. They are crossing about 5 feet in front of me now, with ~55degree listening angle.

Last night I listened to compressed FM radio, then this morning Jeremy Pelt radio on Pandora, it all sounded good, but I was hesitant to throw something really hard at it. I didn't want to hear the warts that mean I need to start looking for something next. I let it blast for a few hours this morning while we were out, then I put on Minnesota/Vanska Beethoven 7th, way up loud. Awesome!  The power and low distortion is definitely there. The horn has no problem at all playing perfect tone at high volume. The woofer keeps up fine in the midrange. The bass is loud enough, but is a bit too poofy and some EQ lumps, but that could be room. The box has some vibration, so I will add some crossbraces.

The limited vertical dispersion of the horn (60 degrees) seems to have helped the "shouting" that I have always had in this room. Flutes and piano don't bite back as much. I think that the SEOS horn has even lower vertical angle of only 45 degrees?

My wife and kids like the sound of it. I told her that this is just an experiment to lead up to a bigger one. She how 'bout an experiment leading up to a smaller one?

jianghai

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Re: Econowave Speakers
« Reply #58 on: March 11, 2012, 11:56:47 AM »
The old ones get sold if they are any good, or more often go to the dump.

Don't dump em! I for one would love to see em go around for people to listent to.

Spike those speakers Rich.... :thumb:

Spiking speakers is a great idea. What I've done is to spike up a pair of marble cutting boards and using foam pads between them and speakers. That way the "spikes" can be swapped between whatever speakers you want.

Offline richidoo

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Re: Econowave Speakers
« Reply #59 on: March 11, 2012, 12:38:28 PM »
I built these with the idea that our locals can take them home to try and see if they like the sound. They are a popular design so they will be easy to sell when I make bigger ones with two (4?) sealed woofers.  :twisted:

My previous speakers are huge and very heavy so I will have to either sell them to a pickup buyer, or the boxes might hit the dump and ship off the electronics to someone on diyaudio. The nice thing about them is the lower resolution makes for very deep immersion in the music. These horns are a bit too much detail for me. I focus on reverb trails and cracked notes, stereo pan instead of the melody. But the detail is great on classical symphonies, quartets and chorals, etc, where the tone is so exquisite. Maybe I'll start listening to less Pandora and more CDs again...

I think I can also add more stuffing to the cabinet to tighten the bass more. That plus spikes and some cross panel bracing will be nice. More break-in and fixed pad will help the highs further too.