Classic Classix II's

[joshshetter]

Measurements at this stage are several orders of magnitude more valuable than subjective opinions on a driver. I'm not really seeing anything I should worry about in the mid range. Flatter response is flatter response, distortion doesn't increase on either driver, impedance is nearly identical, and directivity barely changes. All signs point to a better speaker.

[Geoff Millar]

Putting the measurements aside for a moment - and of course, they're important - the DC160 has its limitations as a driver, which Paul notes in his excellent write up. For example, its mid range isn't up to its smaller brother the DC130, but then its bass goes deeper. So perhaps there's only so much tweaking to be done to the DC160 to try to deal with those limitations?

Geoff

[joshshetter]

I have a few of my own I'm working on, but these are built in box and just some minor tweaks appear to improve the drivers integration so I have no problem spending a small amount on the parts. This is also fun for me so there's that.

[djg]

Maybe it's time to design your own.

[joshshetter]

Been toying with xover modifications for this speaker, to try and fix the overall brightness and lack of mid range. I guess this kinda goes against the speakers design, but I just don't gel with the reduced mid range. I was mostly toying around in vcad with some in room measurements to see if you can even modify the current xover components to get closer to neutrality. This is promising enough to me to want to take them outside to measure for some more accuracy. I think these drivers can be integrated a little differently. The xover point was moved down a bit, I assume the tweeter is fine as the hitmaker has a similar xover point.

I'm debating whether to buy a few components to try my modifications, or just grab a wondom 4 channel dsp amp and just terminate the speakers with NL4 speakon.

[joshshetter]

Did some solo driver measurements and the peak is woofer break up. A steep active filter help knock it down, I'm curious if it can be done passively in a similar fashion to the amiga xover? I might measure the drivers and import in vcad to toy with, if anything for learning purposes.

[joshshetter]

Outdoor measurements, wonder what that peak at 2.5k is from? Should've measured the drivers by themselves. It's in different spots of the woofer so I wonder if my xover parts have some variance. Woofer seems kinda ragged, There's two deep and narrow dips at just above 1k and at 500hz that are smoothed out, port resonance?

[Geoff Millar]

That's interesting; I don't find them at all bright, if anything they're a little laid back compared to our other 'reference' speakers. The room has mostly hard surfaces, too.

Depends on the source material, too of course; ours is mainly 60s-90s jazz, classical and pop/rock.

Geoff

[djg]

You might like these. A bit pricier.

http://zaphaudio.com/SR71.html

[joshshetter]

Ha that would've helped a bit, but I don't think these guys look pretty underneath the gaskets.


I gotta say I don't find these as easy to listen to as I thought they'd be, the mid range dip before the rise back up around ~3-4k with a wide hump that goes on for a bit, I find it makes them kind of bright, EQ'ing that bit down with two filters (6.5khz -3, Q=1, 9khz -1db Q=3 ) makes me very happy. The result being the speaker is pushed more towards neutrality in it's tweeters response, you gain all the usual benefits so give it a shot if that's your thing, the improvement on how they render space is great. I am using them nearfield fwiw, unsure how these filters translate to mid and far.

[Ryan]

I know its too late for this tip, but when I recess a woofer that has the gasket on the front I like to take the top layer off (the smooth black stuff) remove what is underneath down to the basket, then glue the top edge back on. I think it makes front gasket drivers a little more bearable to look at!

[Hoven]

I have a pine chest that was finished with shellac. I think it looks really good. As for the sheen, if you use steel wool as mentioned earlier, it should result in an even, satin sheen.

[joshshetter]

The shellac does look pretty nice but also a pain to apply. Required basically perfect brush technique which I think is kind of unfeasible. It had a very "what you see applied is what the final result will be" aspect to it, really easy to get a mirror in one spot and not so great sheen right next to it, doesn't seem to like touch ups. This could also be more of a problem with the amber rather than clear.

I did the chamfer with a cheap yonico bit, only 1/4" shank 22.5 degree bit I could find, figured it would blow up on me but it did fine on test pieces. I usually assume when you can't find a more reputable maker of the bit you need, it's because it's unsafe, but they make 45 degree bits for 1/4" shank which takes off more at a sharper angle so who knows.

The stands are pretty simple affair, precut circles and pine boards, hopefully they don't warp too much like the classix cabinets but I made them around the same time and they're fine so far, they have screws holding them together at least. If they do I'll just rebuild them nicer, might as well put the panel saw I plan to make to use. Might hit them with shellac too as I feel the poly coat looks pretty flat.

I am glad I rebuilt the speakers, so easy to listen to, though I do add the mid range dip back in with EQ, they sound better that way IMO, usually keep things neutral. Dare I say I prefer the tweeter in the classix over the dx25 in the amiga?

[Hoven]

Looks really good! The shellac finish turned out quite well. I'll have to try shellac at some point.

[Paul Carmody]

I like it! The chamfer is classy.

Shellac is really nice to work with. The amber kind can really help bring out chatoyance. May be worth it to rub out the finish with some steel wool and paste wax.