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*****REVISED 8/28/2015***** After good input from MWAF. I was told they didn't have enough mid-bass and too much bass (muddy). SO I went back to the drawing board and revised the XO focusing on increasing the BSC and trying to get the flattest response while keeping the XO count within reason. I still have a 2nd order on the woofer and 3rd on the tweeter. The result is a much better overall tone and smooth sound and I can listen for hours without any fatigue and another important factor i considered was that they needed to play with most any kind of music, which now they do - MP3, FLAC, Pandora, even youtube sounds good. I have updated the pictures and graphs to the new design and removed the previous version, because I don't think it merits retention.
First off, a big thanks to Todd England (Speekerbldr on Meniscus) he was nice enough to give me a great deal on a pair of SB Acoustic SB15NRX30-8 (coated) mid-woofers and give me a TON of advice and guidance through this whole process. I asked for and received some great input on a good small frame (70-80mm) tweeter to pair with the woofers, so thanks Jeff B., Chris Roemer, Wolf and everyone else. I was contemplating the new CSS LD22(F/C) or the SB26STCN and Jeff Bagby suggested the SB26STCN-4 and how could I not trust Jeff. I then proceeded to ask a lot of XO questions and box alignment questions to try and get started back in September and October. I finally decided on a similar design as Jeff B's Kairos design, in that I chose an alignment that lends itself to either ported, or sealed depending on the users situation and/or preference.
The cabinet ended up 12"(h)x7-1/2"(w)x10-1/2"(d), or about 9L and after taking away for the drivers and a brace I figured I'm close to 8.5L, using 3/4" stock/baffle. I tuned the port with a 1-1/2"x4-1/3" single flared port from PE This gives a port tuning of 52-Hz with a bass-shelf alignment of about 1-2 db in the vented form and a very nice 0.66 Qtc in sealed form. It gives an F3/F6/F10 of 58/51/44 (Hz) in ported form and 75/55/41 (Hz) in sealed form. It also SIM's to provide 102db ported and 100 db sealed with 25 watts of power, both being right at Xmax. I can attest, they are plenty loud in my office (12x16) and my living room (20x24) which is also open to a kitchen/breakfast nook.
Speaker locations - tweeter is 2-1/2" down and 3/4" offset with the woofer down 7-1/4" and centered on the baffle. Port is directly behind tweeter, centered on back panel.
I have had countless amounts of help with this build which has taken me close to 3 months to get completed. Some of that is because I didn't heed some very important advice from the beginning...get a mic and testing software. So after "playing around" for over a month without getting much done, I sprang for OmniMic and then the build really got going and was finished within a couple weeks (not including the finishing).
The finish is Mottled Sapele with 5 coats of Arm-R-Seal (gloss) wiped on and sanded with 220 after the each of the first two coats, then 330 grit for the next 2 coats. The final coat was a light-medium coat that was left as is. I have previously gone back and waxed this type of finish, but it is pretty nice as is. I will give one warning, this veneer was 1/66" thick, raw and quite brittle. If you decide to use it, spring for a paper-backed or thicker version. It will save you a lot of the cracking and splintering I had to work through. But it might be the most gorgeous veneer I have seen, almost a 3-D effect depending on the angle of view.
Without further delay... here's what you really wanted, the PICS!
First off, a big thanks to Todd England (Speekerbldr on Meniscus) he was nice enough to give me a great deal on a pair of SB Acoustic SB15NRX30-8 (coated) mid-woofers and give me a TON of advice and guidance through this whole process. I asked for and received some great input on a good small frame (70-80mm) tweeter to pair with the woofers, so thanks Jeff B., Chris Roemer, Wolf and everyone else. I was contemplating the new CSS LD22(F/C) or the SB26STCN and Jeff Bagby suggested the SB26STCN-4 and how could I not trust Jeff. I then proceeded to ask a lot of XO questions and box alignment questions to try and get started back in September and October. I finally decided on a similar design as Jeff B's Kairos design, in that I chose an alignment that lends itself to either ported, or sealed depending on the users situation and/or preference.
The cabinet ended up 12"(h)x7-1/2"(w)x10-1/2"(d), or about 9L and after taking away for the drivers and a brace I figured I'm close to 8.5L, using 3/4" stock/baffle. I tuned the port with a 1-1/2"x4-1/3" single flared port from PE This gives a port tuning of 52-Hz with a bass-shelf alignment of about 1-2 db in the vented form and a very nice 0.66 Qtc in sealed form. It gives an F3/F6/F10 of 58/51/44 (Hz) in ported form and 75/55/41 (Hz) in sealed form. It also SIM's to provide 102db ported and 100 db sealed with 25 watts of power, both being right at Xmax. I can attest, they are plenty loud in my office (12x16) and my living room (20x24) which is also open to a kitchen/breakfast nook.
Speaker locations - tweeter is 2-1/2" down and 3/4" offset with the woofer down 7-1/4" and centered on the baffle. Port is directly behind tweeter, centered on back panel.
I have had countless amounts of help with this build which has taken me close to 3 months to get completed. Some of that is because I didn't heed some very important advice from the beginning...get a mic and testing software. So after "playing around" for over a month without getting much done, I sprang for OmniMic and then the build really got going and was finished within a couple weeks (not including the finishing).
The finish is Mottled Sapele with 5 coats of Arm-R-Seal (gloss) wiped on and sanded with 220 after the each of the first two coats, then 330 grit for the next 2 coats. The final coat was a light-medium coat that was left as is. I have previously gone back and waxed this type of finish, but it is pretty nice as is. I will give one warning, this veneer was 1/66" thick, raw and quite brittle. If you decide to use it, spring for a paper-backed or thicker version. It will save you a lot of the cracking and splintering I had to work through. But it might be the most gorgeous veneer I have seen, almost a 3-D effect depending on the angle of view.
Without further delay... here's what you really wanted, the PICS!
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