Swopes 5.0

[mattp]

Re: Swopes 5.0

You might want to put some 'filler' gasket foam around those screw holes on the baffles. The gasket wont compress enough to cause the woofer frame to have an air tight seal on the cabinet and the gaps in the foam around the mounting holes might cause leaks. Just my $0.02.

Build looks great! Your attention to detail is almost annoying :p

[Gordy]

Re: Swopes 5.0

For sealed speakers like this, I use craft-store Polyfil. The stuff Brian recommended would work the well, too.

So I asked my wife, how much of that stuffed do you have. She said "a trash bag full". Outstanding. So I played around with the TMs and CC this evening and got it down to the what I think is the right amount of fill. The CC no longer slaps you in the face and the TMs smoothed out quite a bit. I will hopefully finish the MTMs tomorrow.

You might want to put some 'filler' gasket foam around those screw holes on the baffles. The gasket wont compress enough to cause the woofer frame to have an air tight seal on the cabinet and the gaps in the foam around the mounting holes might cause leaks. Just my $0.02.

Build looks great! Your attention to detail is almost annoying :p

Agreed. Once I get everything sounding the way it should I will go back and fill those gaps. Leave me an my neurosis alone . My attention to detail allows me an outlet as does building something…anything. It has taken many years for me to realize my 80% is probably most folks 110%. There are 3 sanded edged that bled just a little thought the veneer. I know where they are and it haunts me.

They look awesome!

How do they sound??!!

Thanks!


The other issue I am facing now is the sub. I currently have a Velodyne Impact 10. I have to say I am happy with it, but not in its current form. It is black, has round corners and clearly does not match the walnut veneer or shape of the Swopes. I am thinking about rebuilding the Velodyne sub. I have all of the materials and may consider just rebuilding it.

I took it apart this evening and found out it was so light weight. 1/2 MDF for the enclosure and a 1” baffle. No internal support and a big port. The plate amp is open and not even sealed. Per the internal dimension it sits at .91 cu^3. The sub itself is not attractive by any means so I would need to build a grill possibly or not. Just a idea I bouncing around. Gotta finish the MTMs first.

[Navy Guy]

Re: Swopes 5.0

They look great. Good job on the finish. Your walnut veneer you got looks like it has a lot more character than the veneer I recently picked up. Where did you get yours?

[Gordy]

Re: Swopes 5.0

They look great. Good job on the finish. Your walnut veneer you got looks like it has a lot more character than the veneer I recently picked up. Where did you get yours?

I got the 4 boxes I ordered from PE. I have 1.2 boxes left. I will use the rest of it to rebuild my sub. To add the finish really brings out the character and silica in the wood.

[Gordy]

Re: Swopes 5.0

I was able to get the MTMs done today and everything moved into the room they will reside. Since the kiddo is asleep I really can't do any heavy listening but should be able to in the morning. The MTMs are attached to the stands with (4) 8-32 machine screws. I pretty much had to assemble them on the floor laying down then install the drivers then set them upright. They are very solid and the speaker feet spike go straight to the slab. I hope to post more pics a listening impressions over the next few days.

The one thing I immediately noticed is that they are much brighter and have a lot more clarity at lower volumes in comparison to my previous set up. I also decided to rebuild my Velodyne sub so it will match the rest of the Swopes. I got the enclosure built today and should have it done by the end of the week. The internal dimensions are the same and I will use the same port and amp. Just a cabinet change.

[Gordy]

Re: Swopes 5.0

Got the sub done today. It was a last min idea and I think it turned out really well. I had an opportunity to brace the enclosure and over build it but I figured just adding 3/4" MDF to the original design would be good enough. Plus, I wanted to keep the exact internal dimensions and everything the same on the inside as the original. The only thing I want to change are the rubber feet. I want to use the same speaker feet on the sub that the MTMs have. It will bring the sub up another 1/4" and give the bottom firing port a little more room. The sub really adds the finishing touch I think

I was able to do a little more listening this evening. I think I have something on the right MTM crossover wired wrong. The left MTM sounds full and vibrant. The right is hollow and has really no midrange or midbass. Almost like the mids are is crossed at 2500hz. The tweets sound good and identical to the left. I will take both out tomorrow and compare. I am very glad I made everything serviceable.

[Dewmiester]

Re: Swopes 5.0

This is a nice build.
With the sub I believe you want it off the floor a minimum of the diameter of the port.

[Navy Guy]

Re: Swopes 5.0

Check the polarity on the drivers. It could be as simple as wiring the mid out of phase. And yes, you should probably have a little more room under the sub for the port to breath for optimal operation.

[Wolf]

Re: Swopes 5.0

This is a nice build.
With the sub I believe you want it off the floor a minimum of the diameter of the port.

That's a good ROT, but it's usually closer to half the diameter in practice before issues arise. As long as it breathes well, it's fine.

Gordy- I believe you likely have one midbass out of phase in the channel with the problem. Disconnect it from the amp, hit the input terminals with a AA battery, and watch the cone motion. If they are the same, than this is not the problem.

Later,
Wolf

[Gordy]

Re: Swopes 5.0

That's a good ROT, but it's usually closer to half the diameter in practice before issues arise. As long as it breathes well, it's fine.

Gordy- I believe you likely have one midbass out of phase in the channel with the problem. Disconnect it from the amp, hit the input terminals with a AA battery, and watch the cone motion. If they are the same, than this is not the problem.

Later,
Wolf

After I thought about it last night this was my first conclusion. I remembered it from my 12v car audio days. We used to use the AA battery method all the time to. In fact I used to have a AA battery in my tool box with soldered leads on it just for this purpose. When I get some time this evening I will check it out and see if this is the case. I am just happy that there is no more veneering if finishing to do. Thanks for the reminder about testing phase.

[Gordy]

Re: Swopes 5.0

Disconnect it from the amp, hit the input terminals with a AA battery, and watch the cone motion. If they are the same, than this is not the problem.

And this is what I found after doing the simple phase test. The top 5" mid in the right MTM. Switched the pins and fixed, night and day difference. These things are incredible! I went ahead and checked everything else. everything else was in-phase.

[Mike220]

Re: Swopes 5.0

Sweeeet! Those really came together nicely. Now you can sit back and enjoy!

[Gordy]

Re: Swopes 5.0

Listening to them more this evening, the MTMs and TMs sound spot on. The CC is what I am having a hard time with. It is very echo-like and sounds like it is in a tunnel. I have tried different levels of polyfill and that does make a difference but still echoy. Right now it is fully stuffed and that seemed to clam it down some, but all voices sound like they are in a tunnel.

Thoughts?

[bullittstang]

Re: Swopes 5.0

Listening to them more this evening, the MTMs and TMs sound spot on. The CC is what I am having a hard time with. It is very echo-like and sounds like it is in a tunnel. I have tried different levels of polyfill and that does make a difference but still echoy. Right now it is fully stuffed and that seemed to clam it down some, but all voices sound like they are in a tunnel.

Thoughts?

Sounds like you have one of the driver's out of phase, more than likely the mid. I know you mentioned you checked all the polarity, but just making sure you know that the CC has both the mid and tweeter out of phase to the woofers. Sounds simple, but sometimes the simple answer is the last one we try.
Your build is stunning, great job on the veneer and finishing.

[Gordy]

Re: Swopes 5.0

Sounds like you have one of the driver's out of phase, more than likely the mid. I know you mentioned you checked all the polarity, but just making sure you know that the CC has both the mid and tweeter out of phase to the woofers. Sounds simple, but sometimes the simple answer is the last one we try.
Your build is stunning, great job on the veneer and finishing.

So that could be a possibility. In looking at the diagram it looks like the 5" and tweet should be reverse polarity. Am I seeing or reading it wrong? The polarity symbol of these drivers looks like a (-) but also looks like 2 dashes with the vertical part of the (+) missing.