Sooo been away a while and some stuff has changed....

[Dougie085]

Ok so I sold my speakers I had before and have started on some new ones. I purchased a receiver to use as a Pre/Pro its a Sony STR-DA3300ES. This is a temporary processor until Emotiva releases their new stuff. I also purchased an Emotiva XPA-3 amplifier. Let me tell you guys if your looking for a cheap yet amazing product go with Emotiva this amp is a beast, absolute beast. It weights about 70lbs and is huge and its only a 3 channel. The 5 channel version weights something like 85lbs. Anyways I've also started on new speakers. I'll post a few pictures of the cabinets I have designed with the help of a friend for the mains. The center and surrounds will probably be boring boxes though.






A friend of mine is actually building a kit out of these but he's sharing the info with me. His cabinets are not the same as mine though. Also here is the data for the center channel and surrounds.





There are also going to be 2 15" subs in the works more then likely. So yes a lot has changed Working on redoing my DAC too and eventually going to get a 2 channel or a 5 channel XPA series amp if I do 5 channel then my front 3 speakers will be Bi-Amped.

[stereofool]

Looks like an ambitious project...good luck!

I've been eyeing some of the Emotiva stuff (XPA-5)...how is the sound quality of the XPA-3???

[Dougie085]

WELLL embarrassingly I have not listened to it yet as I am completely speakerless...BUT I have heard nothing but good things about the XPA series and Emotiva in general for that mater. And the way this thing is built I'd be surprised if it sounded bad

As for the speakers the curved cabinets are all being done CNC should be done by the 5th and ready to ship they told me so we'll see. The center and stuff will just remain square cabinets so easy stuff. Oh I'm also about to build a Flexi Rack for all my new stuff as my son can't keep his hands off with it in the TV stand and the new amp won't fit in the TV stand. I also got a new 80gb PS3 got tired of the Blu-Ray on HTPC thing it just wasn't working for me. Actually looks lots better on the PS3.

[Dougie085]

By the way the drivers used in the speakers are the Tangband W4-1337SA mids, Dayton RS180-s Woofers, and Vifa XT25 Double magnet for the tweeters. This is an MTMWWWW configuration even the center is. Should be an amazing design

[_Scotty_]

Dougie085, You might want to take a hard look at the DX25TG05-04. It has the same motor structure as the XT25 with 21% greater dome area and 93.5 db sensitivity rating with the same electrical parameters.
It transitions better into the midrange because it moves more air and has a greater excursion capability than the XT25. Theoretically you should not have to pad down the midranges at all to match up with the tweeter as they would be within a half a db of one another at the crossover. See link http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=264-578.
Have fun with your project.
Scotty



edited for clarity

[richidoo]

Dougie, who does your CNC work?
Your cabinet design looks cool.
Thanks
Rich

[Dougie085]

Well we're not using the DX25 I'm not sure if you read that wrong or what not. My friend ordered one of the new double magnet XT25's and measured it and liked it a lot. On the last set we developed we used the D26NC55 which was ok but the XT25 will be much better.

http://www.madisound.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=8402

Like I said this is all a kit my friend is developing and I'm just helping.

[Dougie085]

As for CNC work I post on a CNC forum from time to time and I just made a request for quote thing there in the appropriate place and got an awesome quote. Was like 196 for both of the cabinets all the parts. They should be done Tuesday I'll have to email them and see as I got the finalized side panels to him a little later but I told him that would happen before so hopefully everything is on time.

[_Scotty_]

Dougie085,Apparently I can't type,the double magnet XT25 does look more desirable than the single magnet version,it is a closer match to the midranges in efficiency and the increased BL might give you a cleaner sound than the single magnet version. What crossover points will you have and what does system F3 look like it will be. Be sure to let us know how the finished speakers sound.
Scotty

[Dougie085]

F3 should be quite low I should have about 75L after bracing and driver displacement with 4 RS180's so I should be at an F3 somewhere in the mid to low 30's I believe. We just switched the drivers we were going to use because we were having a hard time getting a large qty of HiVi D6.8's in a timely manor. So I have yet to model the RS180's. Crossover points I can't remember exactly the tweeter will be something like 1.5-2khz though. We talked about it but I just can't remember now lol. He does all the crossover work as I'm an a novice at best when it comes to crossover design.

[Dougie085]

Also am quite undecided on veneer....unfortunately these mains are so large and I have 5 speakers to cover (including a huge center) so I can't have stuff thats too expensive. Right now the top contenders are Cherry and African Ribboned Mahogany.

Here's a pic of cherry


Mahogany

[_Scotty_]

My speakers are done up in African ribbon mahogany with solid mahogany fronts. 
Mahaogany is one of the least expensive veneers you can use. If I had more money at the time I ordered my speakers I would have had them veneered in waterfall bubinga
Scotty

[Dougie085]

Yeah that stuff is nice. Cherry is actually cheaper the Ribboned Mahogany though. If I had more money to spend it would be Birdseye Maple more then likely. Heck I may wait a while and still do that...but I'd rather veneer them before cutting out driver holes and what not and before I get them all together as its easier and if I put them together it will be a very long time before they come apart again I may do bamboo veneer though. I'd like to stain them with blue or red aniline dye.

[Dougie085]

Well here's my very latest project..literally just finished it for the most part a few minutes ago. I ran out of washers though so the very top panel isn't on yet. Where the PS3 is currently sitting will be a shelf for remotes/ controllers. There is room saved on the bottom for another power amp for my mains and the XPA-3 will get moved to center/surround duty. I bought some stain and will probably stain it although it looks great as is.

[ik632]

Nice looking rack, it reminds me of one that I built not too long ago:
http://www.audionervosa.com/index.php?topic=853.0