[mlundy57]

Thought not. 

[RUR]

Double the side panels and connect the left and right sides with a brace (I used birch ply) running between them. As good as an H-frame.

A brace located where, exactly, and of what shape?  Getting ready to assemble mine, so if I need to do this, now's the time.

[Captainhemo]

I  haven't built a W frame but  from looking at the plans here I'd say  one behind the  magnet of the lower woofer,  one behind the  magnet of the top woofer ( just make sure  you leave enogh room to slip that lower woofer in).   Doesn't really look like there would be enough room  to put one in front of the top woofer but if there is,   maybe one there too
I think I'd make them out of  3/4"  dowel, maybe even  1" if there is enogh room

-jay

[mlundy57]

It looks to me like where the baffles join in the middle would form the brace on one side which would mean you would only need to add one brace on the open side. Correct?

[Captainhemo]

It looks to me like where the baffles join in the middle would form the brace on one side which would mean you would only need to add one brace on the open side. Correct?

That'd be the 2nd one I mentioned above, which  I too would think would be the most improtant as there is quite a span of unbraced panel there..  Just thought maybe  one could be added  behind that lower woofer  and possibly  one  in front of the top woofer but I don't think  that  one  would let you   get the top driver in.  Like you say Mike,  where the baffle joins forms a brace  anyway so anything  extra on that side probably   isn't necessary.
You'd get more contact using a piece of 3/4" MDF with a  rectangular foot print (say 3/4 x 1.5/2 x 13)  instead of a dowel like I suggested above,  just  thought maybe the dowel would be easier to keep out of the way.   A bit of a tradeoff  I guess

-jay

[bdp24]

Thanks.

PDR's name is Lundy too?

MIke

Oops, sorry Mike and Perry! As for the brace, I cut 3/4" ply in 1-1/2" wide strips and glued two pieces together. The now 1-1/2" by 1-1/2" block was then glued from the inside surface of one side panel to the same on the other, right in the middle of the length of the frame and right at the outside edge of the panels, where it is most needed (the furthest distance from any other supporting part of the frame) and does the most good. That's where Danny put a 3/4" (by what looks like 1-1/2" deep) brace in his Super-V prototype. You can make the brace wider (so that it goes further back into the frame), but keep in mind that you have to be able to get the driver past the brace, and the further back into the open cavity of the "W" the brace is, the closer the brace will be to the baffle you need to get the driver into the through-hole of. As long as the distance from the brace to the baffle is at least slightly greater than the depth of the driver, you'll be okay. Or, you can put in the brace after mounting the driver, securing it with screws only, no glue.

[bsnguy]

Happy New Year Everyone!
 
It’s been about two weeks since I finished my own pair of Wedgies, and I just have to write in to say how thrilled I am with these loudspeakers! I’ve had the chance to hear some of Danny’s designs at RMAF over several years including the big Mockingbird Audio LSX line sources he showed a couple of years ago. I remember sitting in front of those very loudspeakers for maybe an hour going “I can’t believe how incredible this sounds”. When Danny mentioned here in the forum that the Wedgies might be a taste of that, it tripped my switch, and I placed my order. Based on what I’m hearing, these little guys seem to be way more than just a “taste” of what I heard that day at RMAF. Here’s my version in basic black:
 
I currently have them blue-tacked onto the top of a pair of 25” sand-filled stands, and they are about 4 feet out from the front wall. I added another output on my preamp (hot-rodded DCB1) to accommodate the high-pass filter Danny suggests. At the moment though, I’m just feeding them a full range signal from the other output and being amazed at how those little LGKs can dig down into the lower registers.

I’ve never had a pair of open baffle anything, and these are the first loudspeakers I’ve ever built as well. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have stumbled onto this loudspeaker and the fabulous community of individuals who participate in this forum. Thanks to Danny for his incredible design, his patience on the phone and the photos of the crossovers that he posted. Also, special thanks to ebag4 and mlundy57 for all the build photos that helped show me how to clamp things up and how to wire everything together. You all have unknowingly helped to make my first GR build successful. Thank you!
 
I don’t own a subwoofer of any sort, and I’m looking forward to hearing what open baffle bass sounds like in combination with the Wedgies. To that end, I went on ahead and got six of the 8” SW-8-16FR servo woofers, two HX300 amps and a couple of sheets of No Rez in anticipation of Danny’s design for the low end. Hmm… that’ll be my 2nd GR build. I’m thinking 2015 is going to be a great year for music at my house!

[Captainhemo]

Great post bdp24  and congrats on your first  build 
You are going to be in for  another  thrill when  you get those subs done .   
Hoping to get tohear  one of the   Wedgie designs soon myself 


-jay

[Folsom]

How do they sound? They look real nice.

[gregfisk]

Those look really nice, good job!

Yes, how do you think they sound?

[mlundy57]

+1  Good job. And you're welcome. It's only fair.  I read through a number of build threads before I built my first speakers. If it hadn't been for those threads I never would have attempted my first build.

Mike

[ebag4]

Great looking build bsnguy!

Congratulations on your first build and your choice, the Wedgie is a special speaker.  Nice move going with the servo subs, you are going to love the result.  I haven't heard the 8"s, but the 12's are outstanding, I am sure 3 8"s per side will be as well.

You're welcome. Be sure to post pics of your bass project.

Best,
Ed

[bsnguy]

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement gentlemen. As you all might imagine, being able to get all those beautifully machined parts from Ben makes it a lot easier for the novice! I remember seeing the pictures that he posted in this thread of the big CNC machine and all the Wedgie parts laying around and thinking, “Wow, these guys are serious!” Gluing together something like this is one thing, finishing it is, well, something that I now more fully appreciate as an artistic skill that takes lots of time and diligent practice.

I only have “half” of what I would consider a full Wedgie system sitting in my living room at the moment. I’m hesitant to describe the “sound” of these loudspeakers because I don’t have a subwoofer of any sort and I’ve only got about 50 or 60 hours of playing time on the drivers, the Sonicaps and their bypasses in the crossovers as well as the capacitors in the high-pass filter in the my preamp. Without the bottom octaves being accounted for, and the break-in of the capacitors still to be completed, I know I only have a part of the picture when it comes to what is really possible with this system.

That being said, I can say that, with the Wedgies, I finally have a clear sense of what “transparent” really means in terms of audio reproduction. Honestly, makes me feel like I’ve been listening through some sort of foggy haze for the last 15 years… Is that what a planar tweeter in a “wave guide” does for you?! I was listening today, and the attack and decay of a suspended cymbal just amazed me because it sounded so real. Depth of the soundstage is a huge upgrade for me but, most significantly, the totally unambiguous sense of a voice or an instrument being right “there” in front of me is what is keeping my jaw on the floor. Pretty amazing.

So, eventually, Danny will reveal to us a design that will fill in the lower octaves and keep up with the speed of the Wedgies. You can bet I’ll be all over that when it comes out! In the meantime, I have a question about how three woofers for each side might be wired to their respective plate amps. I’m guessing that the three woofers per side would be wired in parallel. If so, would the servo connections from the amp to those woofers also get wired in parallel or in some other configuration? Just curious.

Regards,
Chuck

[Keithh]

Totally agree! And I have what I thought were pretty good speakers, X-statics, North Creek Rhythms, Lynn Olson Ariels, Decware HDT.
The Wedge is in a completely different league!

[Danny Richie]

So, eventually, Danny will reveal to us a design that will fill in the lower octaves and keep up with the speed of the Wedgies. You can bet I’ll be all over that when it comes out! In the meantime, I have a question about how three woofers for each side might be wired to their respective plate amps. I’m guessing that the three woofers per side would be wired in parallel. If so, would the servo connections from the amp to those woofers also get wired in parallel or in some other configuration? Just curious.

I'm working on it.

And the drive coils will all be wired in parallel while the sensing coils are wired in series.

[Captainhemo]

And the drive coils will all be wired in parallel while the sensing coils are wired in series.

Will throw this in too,   the  center , or rearward facing  driver has both the  driver and  servo coil   wired out of phase

-jay

[Danny Richie]

Will throw this in too,   the  center , or rearward facing  driver has both the  driver and  servo coil   wired out of phase

-jay

Yes, if they are on a H frame with one driver facing the other direction.

[bsnguy]

Thanks Danny and Jay. Got it!

Chuck

[bdp24]

Welcome to the wonderful world of open-baffle speakers Chuck! A completely different sound than that produced by box speakers, isn't it? After hearing my first pair in 1972 there was no going back---I was spoiled. Even big, expensive box speakers sound like the music is being sprayed out of the enclosures, rather than the musical instruments just hanging there in space as they do with Open Baffle/Planar/etc. speakers. The only penalty is they absolutely require space between them and the wall behind them---the more the better.

[Ultralight]

The only dipoles I've heard are the Martin Logans.  Love them, can't afford the $10K pair that I really liked....

Anyways, seriously considering OB cone based speakers and GR is high on my list.

Hope it is OK to post a newbie query.

Is see two types of drivers on OB.

One is like these with multiple smaller drivers, sometimes in MTM format.  Or others like the Linkwitz LXMini.

Another is with larger woofers such as Hawthorne (among many others) that goes 12" or 15" in driver size, some with coincident tweeters.

What are the pros and cons of each? With the smaller drivers, would this GR design give a better imaging depth, precision and possibly width?  What does it give up to the larger drivers - slam perhaps?   What about scale.

Hope it is OK to ask here.  The cost of the speaker in this thread is definitely more economical than many of the other commercially finished OBs.

Thanks!
UL