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At InDIYana 2019, I was tremendously impressed with Duane Brown's entry the "Dayton 4", not just because of the phenomoninal bass it had for such a small speaker but due to its overall performance. When I got home, with the help of a forum resident I was able to find Duane's published project details here:https://duanebrowndesigns.blogspot.c...akers.html?m=1 I built a pair for myself and was able to listen to them with a wide variety of music. I was even more impressed than at INDY where they were played briefly in a pretty large room. Long story short, I felt they were a truly exceptional design, not just for their size and price, but for their overall sound quality.
I commented on this to Craig K in a phone conversation and he said he felt the same way and suggested that the design seemed good enough to him to justify building a stouter, slightly deeper cabinet with higher grade crossover components. Well I did and I was literally surprised at the results. I thought I was going to have to listen to a variety of music carefully to discern some subtle differences (if any). But no, from the very first song the differences were obvious, more detail, even better soundstaging, deeper tighter bass and richer harmonics. I have thought that changes of the type I made would be swamped by the overall character of the drivers and crossover, but in this case the difference was immediately clear. I think Duane underestimated the fundamental excellence of his design. I can not recommend too highly building either his original or the slightly bigger, heavier and more expensive "deluxe" version.
I know that, " without pictures it didn't happen" so I have included some. The basic changes that were made were to: 1. Change the cabinet material to 3/4" baltic birch. 2. Change the cabinet outside dimensions to 8.5 tall X 6.5 wide X 10.5 deep. 3. Line back panel of cabinet with 1.5" sonic barrier and the side walls with .5 sonic barrier. 4. Replace all caps with good quality polypropolene versions. 5. Change 1.25 diameter port length to 5.5 inches for slightly tighter bass. Please see the link to Duane's design for crossover diagram.
That is it. In my version the tweeter is centered 43mm down from the top and the woofer129 mm down. (for sensitive measurements I like to use mm s) Tip. The ND 16 fits best if you drill it's hole with a 32mm Forstner bit.
I don't know how to intersperse text with pictures so be aware that those attached are simply to show some of the details of the components and cabinets, as well as comparison shots of Duane's original design and the bigger version.
Best regards,
Jay
I commented on this to Craig K in a phone conversation and he said he felt the same way and suggested that the design seemed good enough to him to justify building a stouter, slightly deeper cabinet with higher grade crossover components. Well I did and I was literally surprised at the results. I thought I was going to have to listen to a variety of music carefully to discern some subtle differences (if any). But no, from the very first song the differences were obvious, more detail, even better soundstaging, deeper tighter bass and richer harmonics. I have thought that changes of the type I made would be swamped by the overall character of the drivers and crossover, but in this case the difference was immediately clear. I think Duane underestimated the fundamental excellence of his design. I can not recommend too highly building either his original or the slightly bigger, heavier and more expensive "deluxe" version.
I know that, " without pictures it didn't happen" so I have included some. The basic changes that were made were to: 1. Change the cabinet material to 3/4" baltic birch. 2. Change the cabinet outside dimensions to 8.5 tall X 6.5 wide X 10.5 deep. 3. Line back panel of cabinet with 1.5" sonic barrier and the side walls with .5 sonic barrier. 4. Replace all caps with good quality polypropolene versions. 5. Change 1.25 diameter port length to 5.5 inches for slightly tighter bass. Please see the link to Duane's design for crossover diagram.
That is it. In my version the tweeter is centered 43mm down from the top and the woofer129 mm down. (for sensitive measurements I like to use mm s) Tip. The ND 16 fits best if you drill it's hole with a 32mm Forstner bit.
I don't know how to intersperse text with pictures so be aware that those attached are simply to show some of the details of the components and cabinets, as well as comparison shots of Duane's original design and the bigger version.
Best regards,
Jay
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