The Travelers - New Year, New Design

[Jim Holtz]

The Travelers

The Travelers, DIY speaker kit was developed as a system that was small enough to be taken on the road if you want to get away for an extended vacation but large enough to be the main system at home without any sacrifice in sound quality. They have the same footprint as the “Finalist” but with a different midrange and tweeter. Since the midrange for the Finalist is no longer available, you could call this a “next-generation” Finalist.

The Drivers.

Based on the great sound of the SB ceramic line, we chose the 5.25″ CAC unit as the midrange. After hearing Craig S’s. Keramisksa a few times we joined the fan club of this new ceramic coated mid-woofer. The trusty RS225 handles the bass. We then looked for suggestions on the tweeter and our friend Dave Ellis recommended the Hiquphon OW2x to round out the system.

The Crossover

Curt did his usual magic and let the drivers choose the crossover point, and they went low, taking advantage of the SB15CAC and OW2x excellent capabilities in that area. This also led to a rather simple crossover topology for a three-way design.

How Do They Sound?

Curt says, “In summary: Voiced very similarly to the Finalists, they will make excellent surround speakers or mains for smaller venues. They play acceptably loud in normal to larger sized rooms. In fact, they were easy for me to forget that I was clinically listening to them, and instead got caught up listening to the music. I suggest that’s what good speakers are supposed to do; get out of the way and let the music define the moment.”

Jim says, “ I am really impressed with this driver combo. The mids are just superb with exceptional detail and clarity while remaining very smooth and natural sounding. I’ve also found the OW-2 to be an excellent companion for the top end. I’ve been listening to the Travelers for the last month or two, switching back and forth with the Bordeaux. Each has their strengths but I think the Travelers might hold a slight edge in the mids. It takes critical listening in a home environment with good front end equipment and stellar recordings to discern quality differences but they are there and the Travelers sound great. Curt really did a great job with the crossover.”

The design is available in kit form. PM me for details

Enjoy the music!

Jim

[stephenmarklay]

This looks like a great, classic looking, speaker. I would love to hear it.

[Chad2]

Those look awesome especially with the white mid-range. Great contrast!

[Jim Holtz]

This looks like a great, classic looking, speaker. I would love to hear it.

If you're within driving distance of central Iowa, you can come listen.

Jim

[stephenmarklay]

If you're within driving distance of central Iowa, you can come listen.

Jim

Thank you so much JIm. Unfortunately, I am pretty distant. I would save money just building them

[Jim Holtz]

Thank you so much JIm. Unfortunately, I am pretty distant. I would save money just building them

If you're interested in them, I demoed them at Grand Rapids DIY and Iowa DIY which many on the forum attended and can give you feedback on sound quality.

HTH

Jim

[stephenmarklay]

If you're interested in them, I demoed them at Grand Rapids DIY and Iowa DIY which many on the forum attended and can give you feedback on sound quality.

HTH

Jim

Thank you Jim. I am certina they sound great. I have wanted to try the Hiquphon OW2 for a long time.

[Drummer]

That's impressive, subjectively, that you give the edge to these, especially considering that the driver cost for the pair isn't far off of just the accuton pair. I would love to hear these, and they should really please a number of people that wanted to build a a pair of Finalists. What spl are these capable of while still remaining smooth and clean? Glenn.

[Jim Holtz]

That's impressive, subjectively, that you give the edge to these, especially considering that the driver cost for the pair isn't far off of just the accuton pair. I would love to hear these, and they should really please a number of people that wanted to build a a pair of Finalists. What spl are these capable of while still remaining smooth and clean? Glenn.

Hi Glenn,

Disclaimer; my comments are subjective and are the differences I hear between the Bordeaux and the Travelers. I need to emphasize that the midrange differences are minor but can be detected with critical listening on stellar recordings with a top notch front end to feed the music to the speakers. Take any of those items out of the chain and you won't hear any differences and this is actually one of the things that really impresses me about the SB15CAC drivers. They're able to compete favorably at $80 each with Accutons that sell for $275 each. It wasn't what Curt and I expected when designing the Travelers. To be sure, the Bordeaux have advantages in dynamics, treble detail and a very slightly different presentation in the mids. It's all in the ear of the listener.

Max SPL is limited by the bass driver(s) in a 3-way so its the RS225's that are the limiting SPL factor. I would recommend a safe maximum of about 106 DB with the Travelers vs 112 db with the Bordeaux. The travelers should be able to handle *normal* music playback very comfortably in normal sized room and sound really good and dynamic. Add techno or organ music into the mix and then you begin to run into the limitations. The SB15CAC won't be the limitation in a 3-way, the bass driver will.

HTH

Jim

[Jim Holtz]

That's impressive, subjectively, that you give the edge to these, especially considering that the driver cost for the pair isn't far off of just the accuton pair. I would love to hear these, and they should really please a number of people that wanted to build a a pair of Finalists. What spl are these capable of while still remaining smooth and clean? Glenn.

If you're in driving distance of central Iowa, we can set up a mutually convenient time to stop by for a listening session. I'm retired so I'm pretty flexible as long as my wife doesn't have me running somewhere.

Jim

[PWR RYD]

I got to sit front row, center seat when these were demo'd in Iowa this fall. This is a great speaker! That SB15CAC is a special driver and Curt nailed the crossover. The imaging, tonal balance, and detail was great. If I didn't design and build my own speakers this design would be first on my list to build. Excellent driver synergy.

[Jim Holtz]

I got to sit front row, center seat when these were demo'd in Iowa this fall. This is a great speaker! That SB15CAC is a special driver and Curt nailed the crossover. The imaging, tonal balance, and detail was great. If I didn't design and build my own speakers this design would be first on my list to build. Excellent driver synergy.

Hi Craig,

Thank you for the excellent feedback! It was the exceptional implementation of the SB15CAC in your Keramiskas design that really got my attention. You also nailed the crossover and created a great sounding speaker. I've yet to hear a bad sounding SB driver, but IMHO, the CAC and Satori lines hit out it of the park.

Thanks again for the kind words my friend!

Jim

[Drummer]

If you're in driving distance of central Iowa, we can set up a mutually convenient time to stop by for a listening session. I'm retired so I'm pretty flexible as long as my wife doesn't have me running somewhere.

Jim

Honey do, honey don't, honey will, honey won't! 🤩
Jim, thank you for the invite. If I could make time when warmer weather rolls around, I may take you up on it. A six hour ride on one of the bikes, with a chance to hear these and the Bordeaux at completion, sounds like a perfect day. Glenn.

[stephenmarklay]

I think some bookshelf with the top half of the Traveler would also be a cool design.

[Jim Holtz]

I think some bookshelf with the top half of the Traveler would also be a cool design.

The crossover wouldn't work in a 2-way but actually, you've described Craigs (PWR RYD), Keramiskas. A kit is available from the same place. They sound really excellent. Craig did a great job on this design! Check them out.

Jim