Another 2 way with the RS180-8 and Seas 29taf/w

[tyroneshoes]

Hello. This is my first post on this forum. Figured I'd share a design that Ive been enjoying for about 2 years. It uses the Seas 29TAF/w and the old discontinued shielded rs180s. Idont know if the new rs180s are drop in replacements so if someone knows, please let me know. I painted the phase plugs carefully for cosmetic reasons.

The design is built for the PE .5 enclosures or a baffle from 8.5" to 9.5". They are paired with a dayton ref 10 HF tuned to 24 hz. If you want to play these full range, they play down to 40hz well in .75 cuft vented but these are highpassed at 70 hz for me as I went with sealed so the enclosure wasnt too large.

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/1882/dscn1443qq.jpg

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/9458/dscn1441o.jpg

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/248/dscn1442l.jpg


http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/1499/dscn1447j.jpg

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8753/dscn1448a.jpg

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9249/rs18029taf2way.jpg


Fantastic speaker and the PE enclosures are excellent and getting a piano gloss finish is such a pain, its worth the extra money and were so nice to work with.

I also have a 2.5way MTM center channel using rs125s and the same seas tweeter if anyone is interested in trying these.

Problem is I need another Rs180 as one of mine is going and I dont think the new ones are a drop in replacement. Does anyone have a rs180 (shielded) in good condition they would like to sell? If so please respond to this thread or email me at tyroneshoes@comcast.net.

I highly recommend this setup for a 2 way speaker.

Any questions, or requests for the 2.5 mtm let me know.

[Steve Henry]

Very nice:cool:

[daveh]

Nice looking build. I like the painted phase plugs and really like the looks of that Seas tweeter.

DaveH

[tyroneshoes]

Thanks for the compliments.

The Seas 29taf/w is a very overlooked tweeter. Aside from its nice cosmetics and excellent response that is common with many seas metal domes, you can purchase replacement diaphragms for it which saves money if you dent the dome or damage it. No need to buy a complete new tweeter. I had to do this twice due to children and a moving error and saved me $80.

Also noticed that the FR chart and crossover is too small to read easily. Here's a larger picture. (edited for bad link)

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/9249/rs18029taf2way.jpg

[Paul Carmody]

Nice work. Yeah, now you'll have everyone wanting to paint the phase plugs of their RS drivers! :)

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

that larger link took me to a virus. use caution.

[tyroneshoes]

that larger link took me to a virus. use caution.



I edited the post, bypassed the link and just hosted a larger picture of the schematic directly. Sorry about that, imageshack is popup happy.

[ahegyes]

Nice work tyroneshoes. Do you have any pictures form de building proces???

[tyroneshoes]

Nice work tyroneshoes. Do you have any pictures form de building proces???

Not much considering I just did the crossovers and used a jasper jig to countersink and cut.

Just covered the baffle with tape to avoid scratches and painted the countersink flat black so you dont see specks of mdf color popping through.

I had to trim some of the bracing to make the crossover fit but it was as simple as design, solder, router, little paint, knock in terminals, foam and some polyfill then mount.

I finished these speakers in a few hours due to the ease of working with the PE enclosures.

All thats to be seen of the work is here.

http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/782/0131111752.jpg

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

nice build. how are you using them? how do they sound?

[tyroneshoes]

nice build. how are you using them? how do they sound?

They sound great. I have them in a 5.1 setup usually with a Denon 1909

In the entertainment bench, I have a 2.5way center design that uses two rs125s and the seas 29taf/w. Its hidden behind the mesh.

Surrounds are roman's microbes (rs125) with the seas metal tweeter.

Subwoofer is a dayton HF 10 with a PE240 watt amp.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b7ce06b3127ccec2227067c19500000010O08QcMmTRq4aA9 vPgA/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

I built like 5 sets of speakers using various different drivers but these are my favorite. Not too mellow, not too fatiguing, excellent for music and home theater. People are amazed by the sound and even "audiophiles" complimented on them. I tend to be a fan of metal cone/dome at home and paper/poly cone and silk domes in the car. I liked the dayton better than the seas l18 as it had better midrange and less harsh. So I decided to do my version of zaph's all metal design. I like mine more obviously. For music, I listen to these in a 2.1 setup.

Ive messed around with numerous versions of Roman's Microbes as well and these are my fav with the vifa xt tweeter.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b7d637b3127ccec1b58452b78100000010O08QcMmTRq4aA9 vPgA/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

These are my bedroom speakers. Id gladly share the plans but the rs125s are dc'd.

[tyroneshoes]

PE informed me that the current rs180-8s are drop in replacements for this design for those considering.

I can also share the 2.5 mtm if interest is there.

[danielhaden]

OH, highly interested!!!

I was just thinking of a crossover for RS180-4 using inductors about half the value shown on your RS180-8. I love that you didn't kill the pretty baritone harmonics with a zobel. Ah, well it is possible to trim a bit with a very weak values zobel and only hit that 5k resonant peak, just by using zobel values suited to a midrange driver.

For use without a subwoofer, hyperactive cone can be settled with 440nF (0.44uF) Parts Express Tracon little green polyester cap Added directly onto the woofer's terminals. This stabilizes the voice band just a little bit. Its also got a little bitty price too. :) For RS180-8 its probably just one 220nF (0.22uF) polyester cap, for a few cents and it makes a tiny benefit.

My portable has the light weight RS180-4 in light weight 0.65 cubic foot pine box with a stuffed port. Actually it was ported, but I stuffed it to improve bass. I don't know about music lower than 45hz because most recorded music today has nothing that low. The portable does seem to be down by 3 or a bit more at its lowest notes.

In practice, if you were to play it in the middle of Best Buy's speaker demo area, you'd hear the RS180-4 portable going solo on the extra low bass notes, or more like simply overcoming the retail stuff.

I like your post because it shows RS180 working well in smaller boxes and your crossover doesn't waste RS180's pretty baritone harmonics. Its the first time I've seen RS180 fully employed for its clarity. In this case, while a sine wave tone may show the RS180 doesn't get much bass in smaller boxes, the news changes for a crisp piano bass note, because although the fundamental does what the frequency response shows, we'll still perceive the low note as very loud, albeit slightly colder tone, because its harmonics are all present. So, kudos!!

With your crossover design, I'm willing to bet that you can hear super clear audio in More than one room in your house. Thanks for the inspiration!

[fastbike1]

Count me in. I'd like to see the XOs for both the 2 way and 2.5 way.

[tyroneshoes]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes they are incredibly clear and my favorite 2 way to date. Since this build, I ported them and lightly stuffed the enclosure which really filled out the sound.

I used this port with the enclosure seen above

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=260-476

Here is the 2.5 mtm to match

http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/5035/mtmseas29tafxoverrespon.jpg

18" wide (if horizontal) baffle is 6.5" high and 10" deep. 2" port cut to 5"

As for the surrounds, I use Roman's Microbe with the metal seas tweets with these speakers.



Now, onto the rs125/vifa xt. These are excellent for a smaller room and I also have a matching 2.5 mtm if there is demand.

Another picture of a finished version of these

http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/8900/microbesxt.jpg

And the crossover

http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/1292/microbext25neo.jpg

Nice and simple. These sound much "bigger" than you think.

11" high
Baffle 6.5" wide
8.5" deep

port
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=260-388

I found 4.5" worked best. The enclosure is the same size as roman's microbes

You can find more detailed diagrams on his site if you plan to build these

[robertclark]

How did you import & resize your images in your post if you don't mind my asking?



QUOTE=tyroneshoes;1710688]Hello. This is my first post on this forum. Figured I'd share a design that Ive been enjoying for about 2 years. It uses the Seas 29TAF/w and the old discontinued shielded rs180s. Idont know if the new rs180s are drop in replacements so if someone knows, please let me know. I painted the phase plugs carefully for cosmetic reasons.

The design is built for the PE .5 enclosures or a baffle from 8.5" to 9.5". They are paired with a dayton ref 10 HF tuned to 24 hz. If you want to play these full range, they play down to 40hz well in .75 cuft vented but these are highpassed at 70 hz for me as I went with sealed so the enclosure wasnt too large.

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/1882/dscn1443qq.jpg

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/9458/dscn1441o.jpg

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/248/dscn1442l.jpg


http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/1499/dscn1447j.jpg

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8753/dscn1448a.jpg

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9249/rs18029taf2way.jpg


Fantastic speaker and the PE enclosures are excellent and getting a piano gloss finish is such a pain, its worth the extra money and were so nice to work with.

I also have a 2.5way MTM center channel using rs125s and the same seas tweeter if anyone is interested in trying these.

Problem is I need another Rs180 as one of mine is going and I dont think the new ones are a drop in replacement. Does anyone have a rs180 (shielded) in good condition they would like to sell? If so please respond to this thread or email me at tyroneshoes@comcast.net.

I highly recommend this setup for a 2 way speaker.

Any questions, or requests for the 2.5 mtm let me know.[/QUOTE]

[tyroneshoes]

How did you import & resize your images in your post if you don't mind my asking?


imageshack.us

[danielhaden]

The new drivers are just 1db louder. They have almost identical frequency response chart during crossover. They like smaller boxes. They feature a sturdy cast frame. Its significantly close to plug and play.

So, the bad news is that if you have one old speaker driver that needs replacement, you'll need to replace the speaker drivers from both speaker boxes for symmetrical stereo imaging.

And, the good news is that you don't have to develop an entirely new crossover.

[tyroneshoes]

The new drivers are just 1db louder. They have almost identical frequency response chart during crossover. They like smaller boxes. They feature a sturdy cast frame. Its significantly close to plug and play.

So, the bad news is that if you have one old speaker driver that needs replacement, you'll need to replace the speaker drivers from both speaker boxes for symmetrical stereo imaging.

And, the good news is that you don't have to develop an entirely new crossover.

Thats great to hear just in case.

I did find a replacement shielded version (from a member here) so I am ok.

[danielhaden]

I'm currently trying to figure out the new version of RS180-4, the 4 ohm edition. Back when the RS180-8's weren't very sensitive and wanted big boxes, the 4 ohm alternative was the hot ticket. That's no longer accurate. But, 4th order and a sealed box (for power handling) is still worth a try. :)

The other charm of the 4 ohm edition is using a paralleled (2 chips per channel) LM1875 amplifier, which is known as the "quick trip to hi-fi" without really much expense at all. Although only 27 watts solo to an 8 ohm speaker, if paralleled with another (its another $2.65, plus a pair of $0.35 resistors) then it delivers 50+ watts to a 4 ohm speaker, with considerable (enough) enthusiasm (current). yay! :)

Anyway, thanks for the great examples!

[JimHRB]

FWIW the RS180S-8 is listed for sale on the PE site. Must have a few left.

[fastbike1]

They brought the driver back due to demand/popularity.