Building more Quarks-- can I substitute other woofers/tweeters?

[mlau]

My friend is going through some major crap--his dad is having amnesia and alcoholism, his mom has depression, his sister died of cancer, he's been away from his kid 4 years, and he has to sell the family restaurant. He listened to my Quarks (powered by an SMSL SA50) and was entranced...and forgot about his stress fora bit.

I'm thinking of building him a pair of Quarks, and maybe another pair for myself as well.
These sound really amazing for space challenged areas.


Anyways, I was wondering if there were substitutes for the FE83?
I understand the FE85 was proposed by Jeff.
Do you think the FE87 would work? While I know it's sorta silly to try to cut $7 off the speaker cost, I figure that I might as well try?
Is there a better sounding full range speaker that could use the same crossover?
Also, I really like the tweeter (not that I have much experience), but is there a better one?

Ironically, I don't have a router table.
I was going to make the cabinets out of 5/8" Russian Birch plywood with fully mitered joints (not super strong, but will look nice), and some tentalones (support blocks).
I'll probably just use a hole saw for the woofer/tweeters/ports.

-Matt

[kenrhodes]

I have a set of quarks and I like them alot. Without the original woofer there are some other builds I would consider. Currently listening to Wolf's Dragon Foals and I am impressed (Thanks Ben). Many of the RS100 2 way designs are very nice as well, I've heard 3 sets with that woofer and all sounded very nice.
Sometimes I think we forget that we build speakers to help us connect with the music better. Enjoying music should always be the goal...sometimes the process of building adds to that.

[mlau]

Are they really itty bitty?

My friend specifically cares about size--he doesn't have much space.
The quarks are tiny enough to match his tastes.

[Wolf]

Thanks, Ken! I'm glad you like them! They will always hold a special place for me.

Yes- they are itty-bitty:

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/blogs/wolf/1193971-dragon-foals-writeup

Let me know if you need any answers to questions,
Wolf

[bullittstang]

I have a pair (or two) of those FE-83 woofers if you are interested in taking them off my hands? Otherwise, Wolf's design is a very nice subsititute. PM me if you're interested with your ZIP and I'll see what i can do on price.

[kevintomb]

This reminds me of the Minimus 7 speaker, but only if they used good drivers, a good crossover, and a nice cablinet.....uh...wait...lol

[zomby woof]

Currently listening to Wolf's Dragon Foals and I am impressed (Thanks Ben).
.

The Dragon Foals have made me a FR convert. I love that build!

[mlau]

I've actually been wanting to build a Wolf Design for a while.
There's something nice about his brevity, insight into things, and clarity--plus Wolf is a badass moniker.

Hey Wolf-- can you post pictures again? All the photobucket stuff is down.
Alternatively, I'd really appreciate if you emailed/PM me some of the images of the Cabinet design, crossovers, final speakers.
I'm really bad at reading circuit diagrams, since I only started with the Quarks!

-Matt

[mlau]

Btw, I'll run the idea past my friend...ultimately the speakers will be for him and his wife.
I'll probably let him know that it's a slightly bigger, but much better (subjectively speaking) sound than my quarks.

And there will be more space for him to draw (shudder) anime characters on the speaker box.

[tom_s]

I've actually been wanting to build a Wolf Design for a while. There's something nice about his brevity, insight into things, and clarity--plus Wolf is a badass moniker. Hey Wolf-- can you post pictures again? All the photobucket stuff is down. Alternatively, I'd really appreciate if you emailed/PM me some of the images of the Cabinet design, crossovers, final speakers. I'm really bad at reading circuit diagrams, since I only started with the Quarks! -Matt

I just went his photo bucket site this morning. I was surprised it actually was working. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Wolf]

The link to the album is still in the DF writeup page at the bottom. You can still view it on THEIR page, because I am not paying $400/year for 3rd party hosting. I don't think I have any info of the build on this computer.

The xover is super easy on the DF. Lay the 6 components out in a line with the 2 bundles of 3 parts all in parallel. If you keep the coils furthest from each other, that is best. One end of each bundle is tied together, and then leads on the other ends are the positive in to xover and out to driver positive. Direction really doesn't matter. There is no negative connection except the driver itself.

kevintomb - the Synchaetas are the Minimus7 revamp... and are smaller than the DF at about 2 ltrs. That is another valid option.

Later,
Wolf

[kenrhodes]

Synchaetas are an amazing design. I first heard them at Meniscus and was FLOORED at the quality of sound. In my notes on that speaker I have it written as having a wonderful "paper sound". I found it to be reminiscent of a old school high end paper two way. Only it took 1/10th the space.
Ben feel free to correct me if any of this is inaccurate.

[mlau]

I'm googling the Synchaetas-- I thought it just uses an old minimus 7 cabinet?
Those cabinets don't look super huge-- according to some other guy: 7 1/16 inch x 4 7/16 inch x 4 5/16 inch

[kenrhodes]

5.5 wide4.75 deep8.5 tall These are measurements from my Optimus pro-x55av I think these are a twin to the minimus 7.

[mlau]

I stand corrected.
I got the numbers from some other forum.

Currently listening to Pandora via the quarks in my bedroom--and they put a silly grin on my face--especially when I hear the dumb bose ads!