My take on a high efficiency speaker build.

240sx4u

Technically It's LexusGuy
In a prior discussion someone had expressed interest in hearing about my DIY speaker build. I built these years ago and never posted online about them. You might see an occasional photo but for the most part I never openly discussed these. I took my inspiration from a friend (Dnewma04 @ AK) and piggybacked on a build done by Bill Waslo on the DIY sound group forum. Drivers are AE speakers TD15M's, SEOS-15 fiberglass waveguides (plastic weren't available at that time) and B&C DE250 compression drivers. The reason for choosing these drivers is they spec out well and I am walking a path already forged by others.

I will start with a brief background and why I went "all in" on this project without ever hearing a set. I have had many different pairs of speakers over the years ranging from Martin Logan, Quad, Mordaunt-Short, AR, Infinity etc... My good friend had a pair of JBL pro audio speakers and told me they were surprisingly good sounding at his house. He brought them over just for fun and I was horrified to find that they damn near hit the nail on the head as to what I wanted to hear. I shoved my Quads in a closet immediately and lived with the JBL's for a few weeks. I then decided this large format horn based system was what I wanted but the JBL's weren't quite perfect. After looking around to see what was available commercially and realizing that I couldn't afford most/any of it I decided I was up for another build challenge. Dave Newman turned me onto the Bill Waslo project and I started buying components.

My initial build was an active design which was perfect for a guy who had no idea how to make a passive crossover work well. The issues that really cropped up were noise. My DSP was noisy and hissed. I could live with it but my wife couldn't (in our new house where they reside in the living room) so I built passives for them without any noticeable loss in SQ. It was nice to simplify the system a bit too, as I am on the tail end of this hobby and willing to give some things up for convenience.

Honestly I am not sure what to tell you beyond what I said above. These have a very flat response and really need to be ported as I'm losing a ton of bottom end. Imaging is stellar, dynamics are absolutely fantastic. Efficiency of this setup should be in the 96-97db range.

This project absolutely pushed my woodworking skills to the limit. They're built from Baltic Birch and the sides are epoxy laminated hardboard. Sides and back were done by using ratchet straps to pull the hardboard around the form. I bent a pair of 1000lb sawhorses doing this project. The last photo is more current and you can see they're turning red over time.

Questions? Bueller? 20150129_212521_zpsp918prdc.jpg125430175_134160964848424_3139037413691973536_n.gif20151220_121731_zpssep8a4l5.jpg20151228_191003_zpsrhy6mvyi.jpg20160120_193734.jpg20160124_205600.jpg20160124_205619.jpg20160124_205642.jpg20160120_193734.jpg20160124_205600.jpg20160124_205619.jpg20160124_205642.jpg



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Art that plays music. Are there a pair of subs ?
Thank you,

Yes, You can see the JBL sub in the one corner and the other side has a 6 cu/ft box with a pair of AE speaker subwoofers in it. The AE woofer arrangement got disassembled when we moved as it was far too big for my living room. These photos were taken in my dedicated audio room of my old house.
 
Wonderful build, thanks for sharing!
Thanks, I've had my eye on a Leben integrated since I heard @JohnVF s. Maybe someday.
Is the passive crossover you are using similar to an econowave ?
I'm not sure. I attached the schematic if you'd like to see it. This crossover results in a slight dip at Xover point in my system. I will be working on correcting that this winter.
 

Attachments

  • TD15+SEOS15 design.pdf
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Those are beautiful. I have always wanted to play with AE drivers after all the rave reviews I've heard over the years.
 
Thanks, I've had my eye on a Leben integrated since I heard @JohnVF s. Maybe someday.
I actually chose my Leben username before I even knew of Leben integrateds. (I’d love to own one someday) I use Leben as a German verb which means “to live“ !

Ich will leben, bevor ich sterbe - I want to live, before I die. It is my daily reminder to live my best life.

Back to your build. It seems we (and many others here) value the same qualities in speakers. I too, have tried several types of speakers and have ended up preferring large format horn based speakers. I’m envious of your woodworking ability. Oh the speakers I would build, if I had your skills! Great job!
 
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@Prime Minister you're too kind. lol.

@marantzfan I can't claim to really have much basis of comparison but they sure measure out nicely and sound good.

@Leben Interestingly I built a different pair of speakers (once again following in someones footsteps) around a set of parts express cabinets. While everyone liked the speakers I got tired of the question "did you build these cabinets" which kind of pushed me to make these.
 
As much as we’ve talked about your speakers how did I not know what they looked like? I think the last photo I saw of them was in progress. They’re incredible looking!
And I bet a Leben would drive them.
 
Let me know when you have them perfected, I'll pick them up. ;)
Dennis can come with me and help me unload them when I get home.

Nice speakers E.
Thanks buddy, it's been a long time! Dennis has actually heard these when they were active.
As much as we’ve talked about your speakers how did I not know what they looked like? I think the last photo I saw of them was in progress. They’re incredible looking!
And I bet a Leben would drive them.
Yeah that's very possible, I usually show a few spotty pics during any build then nobody ever sees the completed project. Thanks, and yes an honest 15wpc would be plenty. Unfortunately selling all my gear wouldn't net me enough to pay for it. lol
 
Nicely done!
How thick is the curved wall material?
Thanks, If I remember right I stopped at 3 layers of 1/8" hardboard. I had enough material to do another layer but I was running low on epoxy and it got rigid fast. The sides are fairly thin, but extremely stiff due to the curve. I laminated it with West Systems epoxy. The rear radius was as tight as I could go without breaking the hardboard.
 
Impressive build, and it seems to fulfill your goals.
Thanks for sharing.
 
As a horn guy and someone who built 6 different versions of the eWaves and someone who uses the same woofers I really like your speakers!!! I bet they sound great. And, the craftsmanship is outstanding.
 
Impressive build, and it seems to fulfill your goals.
Thanks for sharing.
Indeed they do! Thank you.


As a horn guy and someone who built 6 different versions of the eWaves and someone who uses the same woofers I really like your speakers!!! I bet they sound great. And, the craftsmanship is outstanding.

Thanks, I definitely don't have any regrets. I'd have maybe made them a bit shorter etc.. but that's just nitpicking.
 
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