Thoughts on this combo - BZ Tweeter and Dayton Epique

[jml]

Good evening!

I'm kicking around my next project. I'm looking to build a relatively narrow 7-9" wide 3-way floorstander. I have a pair of the BZ CQ66s and was thinking of pairing them with the Epique 5-1/4' mid-woofer and perhaps 4 of the Epique 5" subwoofers Maybe in a MTWWWW configuration to keep the tweeter height appropriate, or perhaps dual mids and doing a WWMTMWW.

What do you guys think of this combination?

Cheers!

Joe

[Wolf]

I like the MTWWWW premise, and think it would work as you can take the CQ low enough to get around the midbass' peaks.

Wolf

[Wolf]

Name?

Bozampique sounds homogenous enough a combination.
Wolf

[jml]

Like the name, Wolf! With the MTWWWW, I was thinking of maybe doing open baffle or partially open on the mid. Maybe that’s too crazy.

[Wolf]

I don't know that you'd benefit going open-back on the midrange. If it were me and you wanted to try something different, I would go with an aperiodically damped cavity, or a tapered TL of sorts with a damped exit. Some of the best mids I've had were from a dual-chamber aperiodic enclosure. This will also attenuate and damp the Fs very well to where it will not interfere in the xover. IME, stuff the front chamber loosely, and line the rear chamber. Anywhere from 50/50 ratio to 66/33 front to rear can work well, and 1" thick open-cell foam is your best friend.

Wolf

[scottq]

Hey man, can you expand more on the aperiodic damping on (some of) the best midrange you've ever heard?
Can you expand on how was it done? Was that the reference/link you made to the 1" open cell foam - compressing (or loosely attach?) it between some sort of screen/frame in a hole/opening between the chambers? Any "published" designs/details you can share to get a better idea?

[Wolf]

You might even entertain the opposed woofer method with 2/side 4/cab and cancel out cabinet vibration.

Later,
Wolf

[jml]

Ok, this project is officially moving forward! Just placed the order for drivers.

Cheers!

Joe

[jml]

The Epiques arrived today! I am very impressed by the build and finish quality of these drivers, and I’m really looking forward to hearing them. Hopefully I’ll have some time this weekend to put pen to paper on cabinet design.

cheers!

Joe

[Scarface1]

This is absolute speaker p*rn !!

[Jim Holtz]

Good evening!

I'm kicking around my next project. I'm looking to build a relatively narrow 7-9" wide 3-way floorstander. I have a pair of the BZ CQ66s and was thinking of pairing them with the Epique 5-1/4' mid-woofer and perhaps 4 of the Epique 5" subwoofers Maybe in a MTWWWW configuration to keep the tweeter height appropriate, or perhaps dual mids and doing a WWMTMWW.

What do you guys think of this combination?

Cheers!

Joe

Is there a US reseller for the BZ ribbons since Rick Craig passed away?

Jim

[jml]

I’m not sure. I bought this pair from Rick a year or two ago, and they’ve just been sitting in the box since.

Rivk’s passing was a big loss for the DIY community.

Joe

[Jim Holtz]

I’m not sure. I bought this pair from Rick a year or two ago, and they’ve just been sitting in the box since.

Rivk’s passing was a big loss for the DIY community.

Joe

Thanks, Joe! I appreciate your feedback. Rick was a good guy and a loss to the DIY community.

Jim

[Ugg10]

I emailed them a couple of weeks ago for a price list and it came back within a day or so, they are actually pretty reasonable, looks like you can order direct if you need to, they need details of the order (what drivers and delivery location) to work out final price and also I guess you will need to take care of any import duties and agent fees.

[Jim Holtz]

Thanks for the follow-up on the BZ ribbons. Curt did a design some time ago for Leon in Canada that utilized the CQ76 ribbon that he showed at one or more DIY events. I was impressed with the sound quality, and it's ability to cross very low for a ribbon. It was competitive with domes for crossover points. If there was a reliable US supplier and the cost was somewhat affordable, I would be very interested in using them. So far no one has picked them up except Rick and his focus was for use in his speaker business.

Jim

[jml]

Good evening! I made a bit of progress on this project today. Not too exciting to look at yet, but I’m planning curly maple veneered sides, hardwood baffles, and aluminum top/bottom. Much more to come in the next few weeks!

cheers!

Joe

[jml]

Well, this project fell way behind schedule over the past 9 months, as projects in our new home took priority. One of those projects was building an audio cabinet and some floating shelves for records, so at least it was peripherally related.

I was getting ready to jump back into this project, and start breaking down these curly maple boards for the front and rear baffles, when I noticed a bit of warp in the MDF cabinets. Upon throwing a straight edge on it, it turned out to be a major warp in one of the cabs - almost 3/4” over a 46” run. Needless to say, I’ll be starting the cabinets over with some flatter stock.

Hopefully it won’t be another 9 months before another progress update.

Cheers!

Joe

[jml]

Happy Friday!

I spent a good part of the day working on preparing the baffles for this project. A few hours of that was installing a shelix cutter head in my planer, as I was a bit worried about tear out occurring in the curly maple baffles. Once that was done, I planed one side flat on a VERY questionably constructed planer sled (note the duct tape). It worked ok, but a jointer would have been a lot better option. Then I split them down on the bandsaw. The Laguna Resaw King blade leaves an amazingly smooth finish if you can move the piece steadily through the saw. This was tough with one person and some heavy pieces, but it turned out ok. Then I sent them all back through the planer.

Unfortunately, one of the pieces of stock was thinner than the other, so The front and rear baffles will be slightly different thicknesses (thicker in the front). It won’t really have a structural impact, as the maple will be mated to an interior MDF baffle, so total baffles thickness will be >1” on the front and back. I could have planned them all down to the same thickness, but I think the thicker front baffle will show off the figure of the wood better with a large round over.

the last picture is the “book matched” front baffles.

Cheers!

Joe