Project "Renu"

[johnnyrichards]

I named this project "Renu" because of the REalistic woofers and the NUance tweeters. Also, because it is a RE-purposing of an older MTM cabinets I had. So, most of the construction was already done a year ago, and these are as finished as I am going to make them so here they are so far:

First iteration using the Dayton 3/4" rear mount neo tweeter. Nothing wrong really, just had too much BSC and the intended application never came to fruition. Sold the tweeters and threw the rest in storage.
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/picture.php?albumid=279&pictureid=2378

Here they are with the baffles hacked off using my jig saw, I was awful proud of that bracing when I did these last year :)
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/picture.php?albumid=279&pictureid=2379

Here are the new baffles with the flush mounted drivers:
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/picture.php?albumid=279&pictureid=2380

These are going in my garage and powered by an old Sony 2-channel receiver my neighbor is giving to me.

[johnnyrichards]

Crossover using all spare parts:
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/picture.php?albumid=279&pictureid=2386

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

thats a sturdy baffle.

[johnnyrichards]

thats a sturdy baffle.

Yeah, it turned out that way :) Easier to just glue another 3/4" baffle over the old one than to try and cut the old one compeltely off and start over.

[jerryanderson]

Like the name!!! Nice job on the cabs and are you going to put any kind of finish on them???:)

[johnnyrichards]

Like the name!!! Nice job on the cabs and are you going to put any kind of finish on them???:)

I'm waffling on that part. I think I might square them up and try that vinyl I have and use some rubberized undercoating/paint on the baffle.

[johnnyrichards]

Decided to actually put a finish on them, and build a pedestal for them. Never you mind the irregular opening on the tweeter cutout, I sneezed when I was using my router to try and plunge a circle and it is nothing a little silicone won't cure.

Finish is rubberized undercoating and a coat of primer. I will paint the baffle silver and the pedestal is getting PE silver buyout vinyl and the rest is getting PE birch buyout vinyl.
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/picture.php?albumid=279&pictureid=2393
A couple pics of the pedestals, built entirely from material I found tucked here and there in the garage, scraps and odd sized stuff:

Bottom:
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/picture.php?albumid=279&pictureid=2394
Inside:
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/picture.php?albumid=279&pictureid=2395

This is rapidly evolving into a lot of work for a project that was designed strictly to use up a bunch of old sh!t sitting in my garage.

[johnnyrichards]

My first attempt at peel and stick vinyl:
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/picture.php?albumid=279&pictureid=2396

[johnnyrichards]

So this is pretty much what they are looking like. I need to wrap the other one yet and install drivers and crossovers... The pedestals were my first ever vinyl job, the towers were second. They are not nearly as nice in person as they are camera :)
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/picture.php?albumid=279&pictureid=2400

[jerryanderson]

Looking stud, john:)

[johnnyrichards]

Thank you Jerry :)

[johnnyrichards]

Here they are singing Tracy Chapman's debut album. So far, so so. Not the greatest thing since slided bread, but I'll take on pretty much any $200 commercial speaker out there :)
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/picture.php?albumid=279&pictureid=2401
And the obligatory quasi-dramatic shot:
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/picture.php?albumid=279&pictureid=2402

[jerryanderson]

Hows the bass response? Mid Range OK????? You did a nice job on getting them together:)

[johnnyrichards]

Hows the bass response? Mid Range OK????? You did a nice job on getting them together:)

Bass is a touch on the boomy side - these woofers are a high "Q" design. Extension into the low 60's, but a peak around 100 Hz. Other than the touch of boominess, they have a nice smooth bass response.

Mid-range is just OK, mostly due to the high crossover point I used (3.5 kHz or so). The woofers really shine through to about 2kHz, but due to the mediocre tweeters I chose I had to cross higher than I should have. I don't have distortion measurements for the Radio Shack woofer, but I would almost bet there is something happening there over 2500 Hz.

I dunno, my goal was to reduce the amount of crap sitting on my shelves and I met that goal. These speaks are not the worst thing in the world - they image very good - and sometimes I think that is more important than about any other aspect of a speakers performance. They suck off-axis in all directions, but that is the tradeoff for a MTM design with a too-high crossover point.

Woofers: on the shelf, some of them have been in my possession for fifteen years. This is their last installation.

Tweeters: Bought four of them, two of them were DOA. That is ok I have some tweeters I want to attach to the wave guide anyways. I bought these to get some free shipping, and was happy when Zaph provided measurements.

Crossover: All components in the crossover were cannibalized from other crossovers - namely Infinity Kappa Perfect 6.1 and some Boston Acoustics PC speakers (they actually had a 2-way, five component crossover in them!!!)

Cabinet: Built last year for a different project.

Pedestal: Built from scraps laying beside my shelf.

Baffle finish: Rubberized undercoating (never, ever, ever again), primer and satin black. All were sitting on my shelf

Cabinet finish: Beech buyout vinyl I bought two rolls for the heck of it six months ago.

Pedestal finish: Silver buyout vinyl, bought a roll last year to wrap a small subwoofer in but decided to build a big subwoofer and paint it red instead.

Terminal cups: What speaker builder doesn't have about eight of them sitting around?

Wiring: All internal wiring is 14awg buyout stuff. Absolute junk, I can see how it ended up in the buyout bin lol. A coat hanger is softer and easier to work with. It takes an act of congress to split the zippy stuff, an act of god to strip it and the whole time it just wants to straighten out on you and tip your solder vise over and you burn your fingers while you try to hold the tinned ends to the terminals because the wire just jumps off and sprays solder on your face and then the project magically gets put on hold while a coupld beers get opened.

I did not spend one dime on this project that wasn't already spent sometime between three months ago and fifteen years ago :)

Given all of the above, I am happy with how they sound, they are the second best Realistic 40-1011a based project I have ever done. The best was my first and if they could sit next to each other I am sure Renu would flip that project the bird but hey - fond memories of old projects:)

Now to find them a home.

[Mark65]

Terminal Cups: What Speaker Builder doesn't Have About Eight Of Them Sitting Around?

Wiring: All Internal Wiring Is 14awg Buyout Stuff. Absolute Junk, I Can See How It Ended Up In The Buyout Bin Lol. A Coat Hanger Is Softer And Easier To Work With. It Takes An Act Of Congress To Split The Zippy Stuff, An Act Of God To Strip It And The Whole Time It Just Wants To Straighten Out On You And Tip Your Solder Vise Over And You Burn Your Fingers While You Try To Hold The Tinned Ends To The Terminals Because The Wire Just Jumps Off And Sprays Solder On Your Face And Then The Project Magically Gets Put On Hold While A Coupld Beers Get Opened.





:D:D:D:D


I'm sorry to hear about the injuries, but that description is the funniest thing I've read in a LONG time.

Oh, and I don't have any terminal cups laying around. :(

Oh well.


Mark


That's weird, quoting you capitalized all of the words in your quote. Strange.

[johnnyrichards]

:D:D:D:D


I'm sorry to hear about the injuries, but that description is the funniest thing I've read in a LONG time.

Oh, and I don't have any terminal cups laying around. :(

Oh well.


Mark


That's weird, quoting you capitalized all of the words in your quote. Strange.

(I have noticed that quoting does strange things sometimes)

Yes, it was well worth the agony to see my wife in the living room laughing her tail off as I was cussing that wire.

[johnnyrichards]

I added a Zobel/EQ circuit to the woofers and the tweeters this morning, and now it is full baffle step with a lot flatter FR. Big improvement.

[PassingInterest]

Very nice!
If they sound as good as they look, then you've got yourself a winner.

[johnnyrichards]

They sound just OK. The Realistic woofers I used were a pretty good design twenty years ago, but now they just ain't that great :)