[doak]

Darrel really makes some nice baffles using many techniques mentioned in the past about the important features for OB.  A lot of these ideas have been used before, but to see it all together in a commercial product is pretty neat.  The baffles aren't just the usual MDF with a pretty veneer and gloss.  All his baffles are wood instead of MDF.  Drivers/baffle connections are damped, or in other cases, magnet mounting is used to minimize vibrations.  Sand filled bases are common now, and he has done sand filled borders for the entire baffle as well.  His wife, Diana, puts a bit of woman's touch to custom design options (WAF anyone?).  Darrel chronicles many of these builds on the forums, and the speaker building forums of the Hawthorne Audio site should be considered a great resource for OB ideas (and not just about Hawthorne products).  One of his current builds is really something to see (http://www.hawthorneaudio.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2399). 

AKfest 2008 threads should give some more public opinions about the Hawthorne Sterling Silver Iris speakers.   I believe it was the only show those speakers have made a public appearance at, and it did receive a lot of praise, along with the equally impressive Eddie Vaughn Carina amp. 

Thanks for posting this and other info on what the Hawthorne speakers are all about Dweekie.  IMO they are a too well kept secret.  Darrel and Diana "do it right" and I'm still having trouble believing how reasonable the cost was  - truly an incredible bargain.  I count my decision to work with them to produce "my dream speaker" to be among the best I've ever made.


Hawthorne Sterling Silver Trios  - Rear View

[Wind Chaser]

Doak,

Is this system powered by bi-amplification?  oops, never mind I can see. 

What are you powering them with and what else do have working upstream?

[doak]

Hi Windchaser,

Detailed info and pics of the rest of my system are on the first page of a thread I started on the Hawthorne Forum to document my experience with the Trios.  Here's a link to it:  http://www.hawthorneaudio.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2393&p=33716#p33716

[JLM]

After a visit to Hurdy Gurdy Dave's last summer (where he has a variety of Hawthorne speakers), I recommend not ignoring the 10 inch Sterling drivers.  A bit more midrange and detail with a noticable but not huge loss of deep bass.  With Augies, these could make for a very nice combination.  The difference between Silver and Sterling drivers is level of detail.  As the review points towards, you should select the ones to match the quality of your recordings and the rest of the system.

BTW I attended the 2008 AKFest and would give the Duets my vote for "Best of Show" speakers, in roughly 12 foot by 16 foot rooms that gave nearly all other speakers capable of full bass fits.  Note that for a good share of Saturday the Augie amps weren't even turned on.  (And Diane's cookies were great too!)   

[ttan98]

Hi Windchaser,

Detailed info and pics of the rest of my system are on the first page of a thread I started on the Hawthorne Forum to document my experience with the Trios.  Here's a link to it:  http://www.hawthorneaudio.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2393&p=33716#p33716

without reading through all the postings at Hawthorn can you quickly summarie how you achieve the x-over between the 15" woofers and the midrange. eg

1. x-over freq.
2. biamping
3. paralleling the woofers
4. Any equalization or delay on woofers and midrange.

Thanks.

[doak]

without reading through all the postings at Hawthorn can you quickly summarie how you achieve the x-over between the 15" woofers and the midrange. eg

1. x-over freq.
2. biamping
3. paralleling the woofers
4. Any equalization or delay on woofers and midrange.

Thanks.

Xover from Sterling SIlver Iris driver to tweeter is via a VERY high quality passive nework that is engineered by Hawthorne and is sold with the SSI driver. It consists of HUGE Mundorff silver-in-oil caps and a big Solen "perfect lay" coil among other things.  So you can readily see (and hear) where the $$ are in this design - just these raw parts easily cost over $300 per crossover.  Add the cost of the proprietary Eminance driver, the Radian CD, the MAC umbilical cable, the Cardas binding posts and you're very near Darrel's price for the SSI driver/xover "unit."  I honestly don't know how he does it.  Surely he's not buying this stuff in "mass quantities" so, that leads to "low profit margin" as the "answer."   

When I was using the Augies (bass drivers) to simply "augment" the SSI running full range I had the low pass set at about 65 Hz.  The DQ-LP1 low pass is (I think) 18dB per octave.  Recently I have been experimenting - with some success - with a 1st order high pass to the SSI driver. I've tried a few different knee frequencies and currently am at about 90-100Hz on the high pass.   The woofers are wired wih parallel runs of speaker cable presenting a nominal 4 ohm load to the Hafler amplifier driving them.  Still exploring settings on the low pass for best integration.  More detailed info on this is in my last two posts on the thread.  The DQ-LP1 has an "equilization" capability for each channel that gives up to 5dB boost @ 20Hz.  I've getting very good output to about 30Hz on the Augies.  Fine for this boy!   

STERLING Silver Iris OB 15" Coaxial Unit: http://hawthorneaudio.com/drivers.htm#SSI

[ttan98]

Doak,

I assume the DQ-LP1  is a commercial analog low pass(also high pass as well) unit? Easily adjustable for for freq and the  slope steepness?

[DanTheMan]

JLM, could you go into more detail about those ten inch sterlings?  Seems to be a hot topic that those in the know don't want to discuss.

Thanks,

Dan

[doak]

Doak,

I assume the DQ-LP1  is a commercial analog low pass(also high pass as well) unit? Easily adjustable for for freq and the  slope steepness?

The Dahlquist DQ-LP1 is a vintage unit and is an active variable low pass/passive high pass crossover.

The 2 subwoofer outputs are variable from 40-400Hz from the front panel.

All controls and switches are accessible from the front panel. There are 2 Filter Bypass switches that bypass all internal circuitry to send the full audio signal to the mains, while still sending the variable low frequency’s to the subwoofers. Also, there are 2 volume level controls for the subwoofers, 2 Equalizer Dials that you can adjust from +0 to +5 db, and 2 Frequency dials to very the subwoofer outputs from 40Hz to 400 Hz.

All rear inputs and outputs are RCA's. There are 2 inputs for the left and right channels. 2 Low outputs to the left and right channel subs. 2 High outputs to the mains. Also there are 2 outputs for Center Channel Lo out.
The low pass filter is 18 db per octave,and the high pass is 6 db implemented by plugging in capacitors/resistors for each channel. It is an "elegant" design and IMO has not been surpassed nor equaled by current offerings.


Pic from a current EBay Auction (not mine!): 

[ttan98]

Doak,

I assume the DQ-LP1  is a commercial analog low pass(also high pass as well) unit? Easily adjustable for for freq and the  slope steepness?

The Dahlquist DQ-LP1 is a vintage unit and is an active variable low pass/passive high pass crossover.

The 2 subwoofer outputs are variable from 40-400Hz from the front panel.

All controls and switches are accessible from the front panel. There are 2 Filter Bypass switches that bypass all internal circuitry to send the full audio signal to the mains, while still sending the variable low frequency’s to the subwoofers. Also, there are 2 volume level controls for the subwoofers, 2 Equalizer Dials that you can adjust from +0 to +5 db, and 2 Frequency dials to very the subwoofer outputs from 40Hz to 400 Hz.

All rear inputs and outputs are RCA's. There are 2 inputs for the left and right channels. 2 Low outputs to the left and right channel subs. 2 High outputs to the mains. Also there are 2 outputs for Center Channel Lo out.
The low pass filter is 18 db per octave,and the high pass is 6 db implemented by plugging in capacitors/resistors for each channel. It is an "elegant" design and IMO has not been surpassed nor equaled by current offerings.


Pic from a current EBay Auction (not mine!): 

Thanks for taking the time to ans my queries, I have an idea similar to yours except in these areas:

1. 2 *12" woofer in parallel from Goldwood(Qts=0.9) in parallel mounted in a H-frame(I don't llike woofer ie >12") similar config as
    Orion.
2. 10" coaxial from P-audio OB at the top.

This combo will suit a smaller room which I have. Also the total price suits me.

Initially using DCX 2496 and if I like the sound transport x-over to analog, but still biamping to achieve the dynamics.

Any comments from anyone welcomed.

[ecir38]

Those are beauties Doak. Look forward to hearing them when you get them dialed in to your liking. Thanks for the updates on your progress.

BR

[doak]

Those are beauties Doak. Look forward to hearing them when you get them dialed in to your liking. Thanks for the updates on your progress.

BR

Thanks Brad.
Making some progress,,, but always new ideas about how to make it "mo betta."   

I hope to settle down some soonish and will put the word out about a "session" over here.

Doak

[jlharden]

>>>>JLM, could you go into more detail about those ten inch sterlings?  Seems to be a hot topic that those in the know don't want to discuss.



Hi Dan,

I'm not JLM, but the SSI10's are built off a Hawthorne speced, Eminence built cast frame 10" driver. A highly accomplished Radian comp driver from its bigger brother, and likely a similarly speced xo optimized for the specific combination. They are performing very well and in a state of xo tuning.......

Jerrod

[opnly bafld]

Thanks for the SSI 10 update JL......H

Lin 

[Telstar]

Very nice speakers!

I wonder if they can be done with a less wide baffle, yours do NOT fit my room.

[doak]

Very nice speakers!

I wonder if they can be done with a less wide baffle, yours do NOT fit my room.

Then a 10 in. driver version may be just your "cup o' tea."   

The 10' Sterling Silver Iris driver/crossover is just becoming available, the 10" Silver Iris and 10" Augie bass drivers have been for sale for some time now:

Hawthorne Audio Driver Page:  http://hawthorneaudio.com/drivers.htm

[Telstar]

Very nice speakers!

I wonder if they can be done with a less wide baffle, yours do NOT fit my room.

Then a 10 in. driver version may be just your "cup o' tea."   

The 10' Sterling Silver Iris driver/crossover is just becoming available, the 10" Silver Iris and 10" Augie bass drivers have been for sale for some time now:

Hawthorne Audio Driver Page:  http://hawthorneaudio.com/drivers.htm

Hi Doak,

I already exchanged a couple of mails with Darrel. My doubts are on how many 10" drivers would be needed to create a similar sound to the Sterling Trio.

Otherwise perhaps just a tighter baffle...

[ttan98]

[/quote]


Hi Doak,

I already exchanged a couple of mails with Darrel. My doubts are on how many 10" drivers would be needed to create a similar sound to the Sterling Trio.

Otherwise perhaps just a tighter baffle...
[/quote]

I am in a same situation as you, I find 15" is too big for me, I can tolerate 12". The low bass extension is only be obtained if the fs is suffciently low enough, normally 10" or 12" woofer has fs not less than 30Hz. The 15" from Hawthorn has fs=27Hz.

If you use 10" woofer you have to live with less bass extension.

[hurdy_gurdyman]

Hi Doak,

I already exchanged a couple of mails with Darrel. My doubts are on how many 10" drivers would be needed to create a similar sound to the Sterling Trio.

Otherwise perhaps just a tighter baffle...
[/quote]

I am in a same situation as you, I find 15" is too big for me, I can tolerate 12". The low bass extension is only be obtained if the fs is suffciently low enough, normally 10" or 12" woofer has fs not less than 30Hz. The 15" from Hawthorn has fs=27Hz.

If you use 10" woofer you have to live with less bass extension.
[/quote]You can keep a narrow baffle and get bass by making the baffle tall enough to put a couple of 10" Augies under the SSI 10 Coaxial. Bass will still be less loud/pounding than using the same amount of 15 inch drivers, but should be enough for all but the hopelessly lunatic-fringe.

Dave aa

[doak]

Hi Doak,

I already exchanged a couple of mails with Darrel. My doubts are on how many 10" drivers would be needed to create a similar sound to the Sterling Trio.

Otherwise perhaps just a tighter baffle...

I am in a same situation as you, I find 15" is too big for me, I can tolerate 12". The low bass extension is only be obtained if the fs is suffciently low enough, normally 10" or 12" woofer has fs not less than 30Hz. The 15" from Hawthorn has fs=27Hz.

If you use 10" woofer you have to live with less bass extension.
[/quote]You can keep a narrow baffle and get bass by making the baffle tall enough to put a couple of 10" Augies under the SSI 10 Coaxial. Bass will still be less loud/pounding than using the same amount of 15 inch drivers, but should be enough for all but the hopelessly lunatic-fringe.

Dave aa
[/quote]

How about 15" Augie woofer(s) with a 10" main driver?  That'll save some height.  My Trios are built with sand filled main baffles, and I expect that the width could be narrowed a bit using more conventional construction.

Doak