Introducing: Echelon

[dlneubec]

Thanks for the measurements Dan. The Neo10 definitley does NOT need a waveguide - how good does that off-axis control look up to 2.5k!

Tweeter measures super fine as well, kudos to waveguide maker; does he sell these commercially?

Edit: Forgot to ask, is the NEO10 controlled off-axis response due to the cardiod design or would it measure similarly in a sealed box?

The Neo10 measurements were done with a relatively short mic distance, about 70cm, iirc, and a gated window of about 5ms or so. I did measure them sealed, but only on axis and the that showed no significant changes. I can't say, from my experience, how much the open back radiation affected my off axis response.

However, if you look at BG's publuished data, they do give horizontal dispersion, monoplole, -6db beamwidth figures. 180º @ 1khz, 120º @ 2khz, 90º @ 4khz, 60º @ 6khz. That suggests that the off axis performance would be similar if sealed.

I don't know what Dave's plans are for his waveguides. Perhaps he will be making them available commercially.

[frangus]

The Neo10 measurements were done with a relatively short mic distance, about 70cm, iirc, and a gated window of about 5ms or so. I did measure them sealed, but only on axis and the that showed no significant changes. I can't say, from my experience, how much the open back radiation affected my off axis response.

However, if you look at BG's publuished data, they do give horizontal dispersion, monoplole, -6db beamwidth figures. 180º @ 1khz, 120º @ 2khz, 90º @ 4khz, 60º @ 6khz. That suggests that the off axis performance would be similar if sealed.

I don't know what Dave's plans are for his waveguides. Perhaps he will be making them available commercially.

Yeah, it seems monopole setup would have a similar response. Its very controlled from 800hz up to the crossover point.

I might look at a similar arrangement, but smaller footprint using an 8" Dayton RSS210HF and an XT25 tweeter in monacor waveguide. Hopefully that should be good for similar crossover point / slopes.

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

Typical Dan Neubecker design; ambitious, well-thought out, executed well, and great looking. Oh, it sounds pretty decent, too.
Paul

ditto. cant wait to hear them in grinnell.
i drive by that 8020 place too. big.

[dlneubec]

Thanks for the supporting comments, everyone. They are certainly much appreciated! I have been asked about how the crossovers are mounted and also for more a closeup of the legs/feet. See below:

[Jeff B.]

Great close-up of the spikes. You can almost see the blood I left behind.

By the way, I love the ant.

[dlneubec]

Yea, those spikes are dangerous!

I thought that photo was pretty funny, because I couldn't see the ant with my eyes, at least without reading glasses, but boy it sure popped out in the photo! I didn't realize I was taking a portrait.

[johnk...]

Hi Dan,

Not much impresses me but those sure do. WOW! Beautiful!

John k...

[Jeff B.]

Hi Dan,

Not much impresses me but those sure do. WOW! Beautiful!

John k...

They sounded just as good too, John. Effortless dynamics and crystal clear. The bass from that TC Sounds driver in a low Q sealed box was just the way I like it - deep, smooth, and natural sounding. I was impressed that Dan was able to mate a high excursion woofer up to a planar midrange, but it worked just fine to my ears.

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

dan i will be useing a very simalar waveguide with the ox20 in a mtm. would you explain the steps you took to mount the wg please?

[dlneubec]

I'll try. I should have taken pictures of the steps on this. First I located the center and drilled a 1/8" hole for the circle jig. Then I offset that hole as required to make the outside of the oval shape, which is roughly 1/4" inside the rectangle. So I had 3 holes to run the circle jig around.

After getting these done, I routed, the outside rectangle, 1/8" deep, using straight edge guides and then chiseled out the corners and routed the flats until they reached the outside of where the circles would be. Then you route each circle as needed to create the oval, using a straight edge guide to trim the flat areas between the circles.

The first oval is about 1/4" deep. Then I stepped in about another 1/4", 1/2" deep to get the inside oval. I leave the middle circle intact at this point, but route out the outside circles completely out, so you have a large flat oval, with a cylinder in the middle that sticks up to the original surface.

Next you route out the center hole from the back side, which removes the center cylinder and hole. I found I had to route a little chamfer on the center hole for the waveguide to miss it.

In my case, I then added a 1/8" back plate of Masonite to match the depth of the waveguide, which was 1-1/2” deep. This piece has a hole just large enough for the waveguide to fit through. The throat/terminus of the waveguide is flush with this piece, in my case. This acted as a spacer for the tweeter. You may not need with the OX20, since it will may mount directly to the waveguide.

[captainobvious99]

WOW. I just wanted to pop in and say congratulations Dan on another fantastic build. This is truly the upper "echelon" of DIY build quality, and absolutely smokes most of the boutique stuff out there. You have quite the gift bud


-Steve

[bbcmp1979]

simply put: W.o.W ... o... W.o.W :-)