FredT
07-19-2009, 02:34 PM
This a follow up to a thread that was posted a few months ago. The original thread can be found here: http://techtalk.parts-express.com/showthread.php?t=209376
I had long since sold the last pair of Art Arrays when Howard, the owner of the prototype pair, posted this message, and Pete Schumacher graciously offered a revised and improved crossover design that was intended to attenuate some response anomalies and also to reduce the tweeter's distortion. I had no plans to build another pair, but my sons gave me a large PE gift certificate for Father's day, and I ordered the parts to build another pair with both the old first order and Pete's revised 2nd order woofer / 3rd order tweeter crossovers.
If I may digress a moment, I'm a hard core line array fan. My main speakers are Selah Audio XT-8 arrays, and almost everybody who has heard a good pair of line arrays such as the XT-8's or Danny Ritchie's latest LS-9 design would agree they are impressive. On the other side of the spectrum, many diy'ers have built budget line arrays using buyout drivers, and these are inexpensive to build and fun to listen to. When designing the Art Arrays I was looking for something in between, costing far less than the Selah or GR Research arrays but offering better quality drivers than the buyout arrays, and especially drivers that would continue to be available in the future.
The Art Arrays are described in the above referenced thread so I won't repeat all that. The important characteristic of these speakers is that they offer a good taste of line array sound for under $500. Instead I'll summarize the difference between the original crossover and the one that Pete designed.
First, the difference isn't as great as I would have expected. My first reaction was that there seemed to be no difference. Then, upon listening carefully to some jazz tracks with brushes sliding across cymbals I noticed the sound was more like "sssssssssss" with Pete's crossover versus "SHSHSHSH" with the first order. I also noticed on the Dorian recording of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition performed on a large pipe organ, there was more treble distortion when played loud, especially with a Krell solid state amp driving the speakers. Finally, after listening to Pete's crossover for a couple of days I switched back to the original design and perceived a slightly "shouty" sound with the originals, much like the experience of switching from a high end two way speaker to the typical Fostex-based single driver speaker.
I disassembled the speakers last week to finish the enclosures, and I reassembled them using 12 ga Belden 5000 series cable versus the 16ga Wal Mart auto dept zip cord I had used originally, and the treble resolution increased significantly along with a corresponding reduction in the speakers' fatigue factor. With the Belden cable the differences between the PS crossover and the original are more pronounced. This is true regardless of whether the speakers are driven by a high power solid state amp or by my 3.5 watt Bottlehead Paramour SET tube amps.
Here's the link to a picture of the latest Art Arrays: http://fredt300b.smugmug.com/gallery/2046580_z6mom#595445502_AA4oG
Thanks, Pete, for offering this crossover design.
I had long since sold the last pair of Art Arrays when Howard, the owner of the prototype pair, posted this message, and Pete Schumacher graciously offered a revised and improved crossover design that was intended to attenuate some response anomalies and also to reduce the tweeter's distortion. I had no plans to build another pair, but my sons gave me a large PE gift certificate for Father's day, and I ordered the parts to build another pair with both the old first order and Pete's revised 2nd order woofer / 3rd order tweeter crossovers.
If I may digress a moment, I'm a hard core line array fan. My main speakers are Selah Audio XT-8 arrays, and almost everybody who has heard a good pair of line arrays such as the XT-8's or Danny Ritchie's latest LS-9 design would agree they are impressive. On the other side of the spectrum, many diy'ers have built budget line arrays using buyout drivers, and these are inexpensive to build and fun to listen to. When designing the Art Arrays I was looking for something in between, costing far less than the Selah or GR Research arrays but offering better quality drivers than the buyout arrays, and especially drivers that would continue to be available in the future.
The Art Arrays are described in the above referenced thread so I won't repeat all that. The important characteristic of these speakers is that they offer a good taste of line array sound for under $500. Instead I'll summarize the difference between the original crossover and the one that Pete designed.
First, the difference isn't as great as I would have expected. My first reaction was that there seemed to be no difference. Then, upon listening carefully to some jazz tracks with brushes sliding across cymbals I noticed the sound was more like "sssssssssss" with Pete's crossover versus "SHSHSHSH" with the first order. I also noticed on the Dorian recording of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition performed on a large pipe organ, there was more treble distortion when played loud, especially with a Krell solid state amp driving the speakers. Finally, after listening to Pete's crossover for a couple of days I switched back to the original design and perceived a slightly "shouty" sound with the originals, much like the experience of switching from a high end two way speaker to the typical Fostex-based single driver speaker.
I disassembled the speakers last week to finish the enclosures, and I reassembled them using 12 ga Belden 5000 series cable versus the 16ga Wal Mart auto dept zip cord I had used originally, and the treble resolution increased significantly along with a corresponding reduction in the speakers' fatigue factor. With the Belden cable the differences between the PS crossover and the original are more pronounced. This is true regardless of whether the speakers are driven by a high power solid state amp or by my 3.5 watt Bottlehead Paramour SET tube amps.
Here's the link to a picture of the latest Art Arrays: http://fredt300b.smugmug.com/gallery/2046580_z6mom#595445502_AA4oG
Thanks, Pete, for offering this crossover design.