Another crossover to critique!

[djkest]

You could also save about $20 by swapping the 12uF cap for an electrolytic on the woofer
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=027-342
(cap)

and changing the port to this port:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=260-387
(port)

You could swap out the 7.5 uF for a 4.7 and 2.7 uF in parallel, but that would only save about $4.

Great design, only one other design I know of that uses the W5-704D.
http://htguide.com/forum/showpost.ph...1&postcount=44

What was the thought process in using the 18 gauge air-core vs. the 15 gauge p-core on the woofer?

[mikejennens]

Hey Mike, you get these done yet?

Hi Andrei,
They're close to being done. I've had about 4 speaker projects going on at once. I have the boxes built; the baffles cut, drilled, and insets cut; and the crossovers built. I need to do some filling and sanding on one of the edges of the box, due to my short attention span. I hope to have them done this weekend. I got the bug to start building again, so I need to continually find something to work on. The Florians are my "last" project before I start two more I have on the shelf. I've started looking for my next build, and I'm liking the Swope towers by Paul Carmody.
If I can find a case that will fit the Florians, I'll bring them with me to InDIYana. I'm flying, so I'm very limited on what I can bring.
Someone asked how many speakers will be enough. I said, "Just a couple more pairs!"
What a hobby. I love it. And my wife is very good about indulging me .
Later,
Mike

[CUtiger]

FWIW- I actually prefer the looks of the regular pine-ply HD carries over the BB, and it's cheaper too. You can get some very nice grain patterns from it, where BB isn't always so swirly.

I just went through their entire stack of 2'x4' last week to get a nice piece of pine-ply for an upcoming project. I found 2 I liked, and kept only one of about 15 boards.

Later,
Wolf

+1 on the above, unfortunately for me I'm currently doing a translam so the latter looks better in this format. One of the two sheets I bought actually had some crazy birds eye figure in it over about 2 sq ft. Never saw that in birch before and it looked cool, too bad its now sandwiched.

Xtreme that is an awesome build you have going there. Please update when you have some finished shots, those cabs look sweet.

Edit: somehow I lost the last page of the thread and was way back in time, the finish is pretty amazing...

[XtremeRevolution]

You could also save about $20 by swapping the 12uF cap for an electrolytic on the woofer
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=027-342
(cap)

and changing the port to this port:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=260-387
(port)

You could swap out the 7.5 uF for a 4.7 and 2.7 uF in parallel, but that would only save about $4.

Great design, only one other design I know of that uses the W5-704D.
http://htguide.com/forum/showpost.ph...1&postcount=44

What was the thought process in using the 18 gauge air-core vs. the 15 gauge p-core on the woofer?

I used the air core inductor due to cost over a thicker air core inductor. In hindsight, the 15 gauge p-core may have been a better option; I simply hadn't considered it.

I like the double flared port quite a bit, and I've always believed in going a bit overkill on the port, but that one would work quite nicely if you wanted to save some cash.

Hi Andrei,
They're close to being done. I've had about 4 speaker projects going on at once. I have the boxes built; the baffles cut, drilled, and insets cut; and the crossovers built. I need to do some filling and sanding on one of the edges of the box, due to my short attention span. I hope to have them done this weekend. I got the bug to start building again, so I need to continually find something to work on. The Florians are my "last" project before I start two more I have on the shelf. I've started looking for my next build, and I'm liking the Swope towers by Paul Carmody.
If I can find a case that will fit the Florians, I'll bring them with me to InDIYana. I'm flying, so I'm very limited on what I can bring.
Someone asked how many speakers will be enough. I said, "Just a couple more pairs!"
What a hobby. I love it. And my wife is very good about indulging me .
Later,
Mike

Very nice. I hope you do get them done this weekend.

+1 on the above, unfortunately for me I'm currently doing a translam so the latter looks better in this format. One of the two sheets I bought actually had some crazy birds eye figure in it over about 2 sq ft. Never saw that in birch before and it looked cool, too bad its now sandwiched.

Xtreme that is an awesome build you have going there. Please update when you have some finished shots, those cabs look sweet.

Edit: somehow I lost the last page of the thread and was way back in time, the finish is pretty amazing...

Yeah, the finish is quite amazing. I started to discover the effects of wood movement with these speakers first-hand recently. The wood movement is extremely subtle, but its there nonetheless; about half a millimeter. you can see a very small ridge on two of the seams toward the bottom rear of one of the speakers. Its barely noticeable and doesn't make me regret using solid wood. I'd say they held up to the low humidity extreme. I'm curious to see how they'll do in the high humidity extreme this summer.

I work from home one day per week and I listen to these during that entire day near-field about 2-3 feet away. Run off of a modified Lepai amp, they sound amazing. I'm definitely getting quite a lot of use out of these.

I'm not sure if these pictures were posted, but here they are. My wife took these:





Any further builds I do with these will use terminal cups instead of binding posts, and I'll take MUCH greater care to sand these down finely to avoid pigtails I inevitably get with my random orbital sander.

[mikejennens]

Well, I'm listening to the Florians... finally! I haven't finished the boxes yet; I wanted to hear them before I put more time into them... to see if I'd like them enough to finish. The verdict is YES, I will be finishing them! I've been listening for a couple of hours and they really sing. They take a little power to "kick-in" but when they do, they really sound great. I've listened to Dire Straits, Dido, and a guitarist by the name of Johnny A. They all sound good, and as they've been playing, they just keep sounding better. Absolutely no listening fatigue. It's actually noticeably absent, if that's possible.
These are more than I expected. Great job Andrei and others who helped in their design. I'll post some pictures once I get the tweeters recessed and some finish on the boxes.
Mike

[XtremeRevolution]

Well, I'm listening to the Florians... finally! I haven't finished the boxes yet; I wanted to hear them before I put more time into them... to see if I'd like them enough to finish. The verdict is YES, I will be finishing them! I've been listening for a couple of hours and they really sing. They take a little power to "kick-in" but when they do, they really sound great. I've listened to Dire Straits, Dido, and a guitarist by the name of Johnny A. They all sound good, and as they've been playing, they just keep sounding better. Absolutely no listening fatigue. It's actually noticeably absent, if that's possible.
These are more than I expected. Great job Andrei and others who helped in their design. I'll post some pictures once I get the tweeters recessed and some finish on the boxes.
Mike

Awesome! I'm so glad you like them. They sounded great to me as well. Give something that you expect some hard drum beats out of and you'll be in for a surprise.

I think I'll make a writeup for these soon. This is the first speaker I designed on my own from scratch with my own driver choices (granted, with some guidance with the crossover), so I wasn't quite sure how well I did, but from what you're saying, they sound as awesome as I think they do.

[mikejennens]

I finally finished these and they're in the speaker line up for good. I stained and poly'ed them yesterday, so I finished putting them back together today. Now they're in front of me singing. I am very impressed with them. A great cost to SQ ratio. These came in right around $150. I'm still amazed at the sharp, punchy bass.
I started my listening session with Dido, "My Lover's Gone" and "Isobel", which both have some great percussion. These Florians really make that percussion come alive. And I never before noticed how much Dido gasps between lines; these speakers bring out a lot of detail.
I moved on from Dido to "Bohemian Rhapsody." Freddie and the boys seemed to moving around my listening area a bit. Still not fatiguing, and this song has a lot of potential for fatigue.
Randy Travis can sing some Gospel music. The guitar picking sounds very realistic, clear, and accurate. Randy's voice is as rich as ever.
Next was Santana's Supernatural CD; "Put Your Lights On." Carlos's guitar playing was almost three-dimensional. I noticed crickets in this song for the first time. That's pretty cool. The rest of the CD sounds as good as I've heard it. Something uplifting about Latin music.
Yeah, if you can't tell, I'm stoked about these speakers. Words that end in "s" sound clear without being sibilant, something I listen for in all my speakers.
As far as fatiguing, I still don't feel any listening fatigue from them and I've got a few hours in front of them. They're smooth and unobtrusive. They kind of disappear as you listen to them.
I've heard good things about the woofer in this speaker; the Tang Band W5-704D. I'd like to find some more builds with it. I'd call it a high value, low dollar driver.
If you're looking for a build around the $150 price range, give these some thought. So far, I'd call them a great all around speaker. Well worth the cost; a great value and then some. If I can find a case for them, I'll bring them to InDIYana 2012. I'm flying, so bringing speakers isn't as easy as if I was driving.
Mike

[djkest]

Hope you don't mind. For those that are pinching pennies here is a budget BOM. The port is cheaper but should not enable chuffing.

2x Dayton Audio DMPC-4.7 4.7uF 250V Polypropylene Capacitor
Part Number: 027-422
$5.14

2x 12uF 100V Non-Polarized CapacitorPart Number: 027-342
$1.30

2x Dayton Audio DMPC-7.5 7.5uF 250V Polypropylene Capacitor
Part Number: 027-429
$6.38

2x Dayton DNR-3.7 3.7 Ohm 10W Precision Audio Grade Resistor
Part Number: 004-3.7
$2.50

2x Dayton DNR-9.1 9.1 Ohm 10W Precision Audio Grade Resistor
Part Number: 004-9.1
$2.50

2x Jantzen 0.15mH 20 AWG Air Core Inductor
Part Number: 255-022
$6.98

2x Jantzen 1.8mH 15 AWG P-Core InductorPart Number: 255-106
$24.20

2x Port Tube 2" ID AdjustablePart Number: 260-387
$6.36

2x Tang Band W5-704D 5-1/4" Woofer
Part Number: 264-850
$59.60

2x Vifa BC25SG15-04 1" Shielded Dome Tweeter
Part Number: 264-1026
$31.40

Subtotal: $146.36

[mikejennens]

2x Port Tube 1-3/4" ID x 4" L (drop-in, no cutting!)Part Number: PT-304
$3.10

Hi Dan,
I think that port might be too short. I can't view the graphs on my work computer to verify the port length, but I think it needs to be around 7 inches. I used 260-387. It's only 8 cents more than the PT-304.
Mike

[djkest]

Hey, I just looked at the enclosure dimensions and you are right. Sorry! I had an enclosure volume of 14L which was from some previous calculations.

[XtremeRevolution]

I finally finished these and they're in the speaker line up for good. I stained and poly'ed them yesterday, so I finished putting them back together today. Now they're in front of me singing. I am very impressed with them. A great cost to SQ ratio. These came in right around $150. I'm still amazed at the sharp, punchy bass.
I started my listening session with Dido, "My Lover's Gone" and "Isobel", which both have some great percussion. These Florians really make that percussion come alive. And I never before noticed how much Dido gasps between lines; these speakers bring out a lot of detail.
I moved on from Dido to "Bohemian Rhapsody." Freddie and the boys seemed to moving around my listening area a bit. Still not fatiguing, and this song has a lot of potential for fatigue.
Randy Travis can sing some Gospel music. The guitar picking sounds very realistic, clear, and accurate. Randy's voice is as rich as ever.
Next was Santana's Supernatural CD; "Put Your Lights On." Carlos's guitar playing was almost three-dimensional. I noticed crickets in this song for the first time. That's pretty cool. The rest of the CD sounds as good as I've heard it. Something uplifting about Latin music.
Yeah, if you can't tell, I'm stoked about these speakers. Words that end in "s" sound clear without being sibilant, something I listen for in all my speakers.
As far as fatiguing, I still don't feel any listening fatigue from them and I've got a few hours in front of them. They're smooth and unobtrusive. They kind of disappear as you listen to them.
I've heard good things about the woofer in this speaker; the Tang Band W5-704D. I'd like to find some more builds with it. I'd call it a high value, low dollar driver.
If you're looking for a build around the $150 price range, give these some thought. So far, I'd call them a great all around speaker. Well worth the cost; a great value and then some. If I can find a case for them, I'll bring them to InDIYana 2012. I'm flying, so bringing speakers isn't as easy as if I was driving.
Mike

Mike,

Really glad you like them so much. Makes me feel like I'm not the only one who thinks they're great. I'm quite glad to hear that I did a good job with these.

I'll make a writeup for them in the Speaker gallery section so others are more aware of them, since this thread isn't very descriptive of the actual project.

djkest, thanks for that new parts list. I'll include it in my writeup.

[Wolf]

You can link your writeup in THIS forum to a photo in the Gallery forum. The writeups are supposed to be here in TT.

Later,
Wolf

[bkeane1259]

If I can find a case for them, I'll bring them to InDIYana 2012. I'm flying, so bringing speakers isn't as easy as if I was driving.
Mike

Guys....I'm going to InDIYana and I'm about 40 min away from XR. If Andrei agrees, I'd be more than happy to meet up with him somewhere to borrow the Florians and bring his pair to the show and perhaps Mike can show them off since he's familiar with the build.

Let me know.....

[djkest]

djkest, thanks for that new parts list. I'll include it in my writeup.

XR, help yourself to these if you want. If you click the link it will add all the parts to your cart.

Florians Budget Version

Florians Designer Spec

[XtremeRevolution]

Guys....I'm going to InDIYana and I'm about 40 min away from XR. If Andrei agrees, I'd be more than happy to meet up with him somewhere to borrow the Florians and bring his pair to the show and perhaps Mike can show them off since he's familiar with the build.

Let me know.....

Mine need some bracing, but I'd be more than happy to meet up with you and drop them off if you're on the way down there. Just shoot me a PM as the date nears and I'll leave you my cell number.

XR, help yourself to these if you want. If you click the link it will add all the parts to your cart.

Florians Budget Version

Florians Designer Spec

Awesome! Thanks for that. That will help quite a bit.

[bkeane1259]

Just dropped a PM to Mike. Obviously if he can get his pair to the show on his flight, then it will be all good. I will be the "B" plan.

[XtremeRevolution]

I heard these were liked at indiyana. Good to hear.

Hopefully I'll be able to get a full writeup on these soon.