More Nano Neos - YAY

[bkeane1259]

I haven’t seen too many Nano Neos lately...this is my forth one…just throwing it up here to bump up a great design. Thanks as always, Chris. I knocked these out this week for my friend’s daughters….it will replace yet another crappy plastic pair of PC speakers. The MDF cabinets are from Erich at DIY Sound Group.



I finished this set with Dayton’s Silver Vinyl Laminate that I picked up on clearance a while ago. I don’t think they even sell it anymore. I applied the vinyl laminate on the side panels only and then did a Duratex roll-on finish around the top, back, bottom and front. The color scheme should match my friend’s black PC equipment nicely.



I lined the back interior wall with 1" PE Sonic Barrier and then the tops and sides (above the brace) with UtraTouch denim insulation. I left the bottom sides of the cabinet unlined….just trying a small subjective experiment to see if it really makes a difference. I’ll go ahead and say that I couldn’t detect anything good or bad about the way I lined the box. They sounded fine to me and every bit the same as the others I have built with Chris' 8-element XO.



These are paired up with a Lepai TA2020 of course…. And as always, I swapped the packaged PS in favor of a 12v5a PS. I can usually find these either at Amazon or Fleabay for right around $8 shipped. Make sure you get the one with the 5.5mmx2.5mm plug.

[martyh]

Re: More Nano Neos - YAY

Mighty fine work there Youngster, mighty fine!

[Steve Henry]

Re: More Nano Neos - YAY

Another good build of an exceptional bang for the buck design. I thought they sounded so good, I veneered a pair in Walnut (my avatar).

[bkeane1259]

Re: More Nano Neos - YAY

Well, with this build I am now officially out of ND105-4s...only have the 8-ohmers now....

With the way the prices of the ND105s have zoomed, I doubt I will be buying anymore new. I fully blame Chris Roemer ;)

[hdben]

Re: More Nano Neos - YAY

Do you think these would work in a family room that is 13' x 22' equipped with a sub?

[bkeane1259]

Re: More Nano Neos - YAY

That's a good question for Chris. If it was me, I'd do the NTN instead, for a room of that size. You'd get better sensitivity and more room-filling sound. The Nano Neo and the NTN at one point were probably the best bang-for-the-buck project around here. Unfortunately, the parts have gone up so much, that for the same price you can also look at some good alternatives. I was lucky enough to stock up on the drivers when they were approx $24 per speaker, so $48 for a pair (woofers and tweets).

If the application is low/moderate music and you have some power to drive the Nano Neos, you could get away with a pair + sub. Keep in mind that they are NOT sensitive speakers....I'd put them at about 81~82db. The NTN's would be a more logical choice IMO. Where's Chris?

[hdben]

Re: More Nano Neos - YAY

Application would be mostly music with some use for HT 2.1 (for now). I have a Pioneer HT receiver approx 125w/channel. Just learned the meaning of WAF and it fits here. Looking for compact speakers that can fill a small room.

[bkeane1259]

Re: More Nano Neos - YAY

I'm hoping Chris chimes in at some point with some thoughts on the NNs in a larger room and with some movie source material. To be fair, I have only used them for music and I have mainly listened to them with the Lepai TA2020 which only outputs a very small amount of real power.

I really love the NN in the near field on a desktop, so much so that just about all my builds were gifted as such. I can only speak to its effectiveness in that environment...sorry. I hear ya on the WAF though...LOL!!

[Chris Roemer]

Re: More Nano Neos - YAY

BK - were YOU the one who built a pair for a father-in-law, LAST Holiday Season (I'm talkin', like 375 days ago) - silver looking, in a black "pocket"? Doesn't seem like a year passed, to me.

When I look at those driver prices, it's hard to believe that I built the original pair for $55 in parts, but I remember when that ($21?) tweeter came out at some rediculous price, like $5, THEN jumped up to $8 ! AFAIK, Erich (@DIY) still sells the full kit with some of those drivers priced before the neodymium increase.

I'm using a pair of "ntns" in a smallish LR for music and HT. Slot Ported 10 sub is mostly on for movies, and off for music. These replaced a set of 8" 2-way mains, and are fully up to the task, but can only "power" 30Hz with the sub on. While the ntns CAN take more power than the Nano Neos, there is no gain in sensitivity (two 4Ω drivers in series). Sorry.

[bkeane1259]

Re: More Nano Neos - YAY

Yup...that was me.

I think it was Black Friday 2011 that the ND105s went on special for $12? or was it $10? That's when I grabbed some. Erich was kind enough to sell me some of the tweeters when I purchased several NN flat packs. Alas, they are all gone now.

[bkeane1259]

Re: More Nano Neos - YAY

I'm using a pair of "ntns" in a smallish LR for music and HT. Slot Ported 10 sub is mostly on for movies, and off for music. These replaced a set of 8" 2-way mains, and are fully up to the task, but can only "power" 30Hz with the sub on. While the ntns CAN take more power than the Nano Neos, there is no gain in sensitivity (two 4Ω drivers in series). Sorry.

I don't know why I always assume MTM's have paralleled Ms.....My age is showing now. Time to bust out of this office and head home...It's Miller time!!

BTW - I do have a bunch of ND105-8s now.....hows about a 4-ohm NTN ?? :applause:

[ericJ]

Re: More Nano Neos - YAY

Do you think these would work in a family room that is 13' x 22' equipped with a sub?

hdben, I built these in 2010 and use them as my main speakers in my living room which is about 12' x 25' and they do fine in that space. With HT I set them to small and turn my sub on. With music I set them to large and turn the sub off. Same as Chris said.

[randyohoh]

Re: More Nano Neos - YAY

New to the forum here, great Job !! How can I get the plans for these and the mtm's? The mid-woof looks like an Aura??

[Chris Roemer]

Re: More Nano Neos - YAY

The XO's are on by "blog" here at TT. BTW, anyone notice that Dayton tweeters have dropped - below the new 2013 cat prices?

$15 for an ND20FA-6 ($18 LAST yr. - up to $20 in the 2013 catalog), if only the ND105-4's would go on $ale, in March, maybe?
$14 for ND20FB-4, $9 ND16FA-6, $23 ND28F-6, even the Silky -070 - $23 last yr, $24 in '13 cat, NOW it's $20.

Search for my Nano Neos thread. It's the 2nd longest one here. I think it's titled "On sale $55 a pair" or something like that.

[fixthedoor]

Re: More Nano Neos - YAY

Bryan,

Did you use denim insulation on all your Nano builds? If not, did you notice a difference from one material to the next?

I starting my build today, I can't wait to hear these things.