[mresseguie]

After years of knowing about these kit speakers and years of negatively judging them solely on the <to me> unattractive 4" midwoofers, I finally ordered a pair. I was partly inspired to tackle this kit project by Tyson's post about his gift to a friend, and partly because I've been curious about the Overnight Sensations' sound.

I plan to finish this pair before the end of summer vacation in order to give them to the son of a family friend who will be entering his second year at university. His first year was in a dorm, so I waited till now to try this. He'll be in an apartment with a high school buddy this year.

For $149 with flat pack included, how can I go wrong?

Michael

Anyone out there have a pair? What did you like or dislike about them?

[Tyson]

I thought about making a pair for my dad, but ultimately just ended up giving him my Klipsch Heresies for his HT. 

The C-Notes are supposedly better (and cheaper), but I've not heard either one so I can't comment directly:

https://www.parts-express.com/c-note-mt-bookshelf-speaker-kit-pair-with-knock-down-cabinets--300-7140

[wushuliu]

IIRC they have low sensitivity so they will need some power to drive unless they are used as nearfield/desktop.

[Tyson]

IIRC they have low sensitivity so they will need some power to drive unless they are used as nearfield/desktop.

Overnight sensations are 83db and the C Notes are 85.  So 30 watts at least. 

[mresseguie]

This pair of speakers will be near-field or paired to a subwoofer.

Tyson,

Imagine my posting in your recent thread that there were a cheaper and more efficient pair of speakers to give to your friend...and that my speakers were more efficient than your gift speakers. Imagine how you might feel.

I stated that I had already ordered a pair of Overnight Sensations in my first post. Should I demand a refund and jump on the PE deal? 

Think a bit.

[Tyson]

This pair of speakers will be near-field or paired to a subwoofer.

Tyson,

Imagine my posting in your recent thread that there were a cheaper and more efficient pair of speakers to give to your friend...and that my speakers were more efficient than your gift speakers. Imagine how you might feel.

I stated that I had already ordered a pair of Overnight Sensations in my first post. Should I demand a refund and jump on the PE deal? 

Think a bit.

You're right, it was definitely thoughtless on my part - sorry about that!

And by all rights, the Overnight Sensations are supposed to be very good, period.  It's an excellent choice.  And maybe even better than the C Notes if being used nearfield as a 4 inch woofer and 1 inch tweeter are easier to integrate at close range than the 5 inch woofer and 1 inch tweeter on the C Notes. 

Post pics of the build, we want to see

[JohnR]

For $149 with flat pack included, how can I go wrong?

You can't really. Baltic birch is easy to finish with Tung oil and the like too, no paint or veneer needed 

https://www.parts-express.com/overnight-sensations-mt-speaker-kit-pair--300-706

(The other ones mentioned are MDF.)

[mresseguie]

Thanks for suggesting Tung oil, JohnR. I think I have some.

I read through the assembly instructions on the PE website, and did not see any mention of using polyfil inside the cabinet. I had planned to use GR Research NoRez - is this a bad idea for the OS speakers?

Michael

[barryso]

A friend who has heard both prefers the c-notes.  I've never heard the c-notes but got to hear a pair of the overnight sensations at The Lone Star Audio Fest several years ago and thought they sounded great. Good enough to be memorable, especially for what they cost.

[wushuliu]

Thanks for suggesting Tung oil, JohnR. I think I have some.

I read through the assembly instructions on the PE website, and did not see any mention of using polyfil inside the cabinet. I had planned to use GR Research NoRez - is this a bad idea for the OS speakers?

Michael

If you have No Rez laying around give it a go but if not that may be overkill in this application. Personally I prefer using cotton or wool over poly-fill. Raw cotton is far more effective than polyfill and affordable for smaller projects. This test was done a few years ago:

Compared:
Empty box
Dime store poly fill (the slick stuff)
Recycled cotton batting
Long hair wool
Maidsound special poly Acoustastuff that was on sale. (denser)

Empty box:F3 @ 85 Hz, about 1 dB more output from 50 to 200
Polyfill: F3 @ 80 Hz, less smooth below F3.
Cotton: F3 @ 75 Hz, much smoother clear across the spectrum
Wool: F3 @ 75, maybe a tad smoother
Acoustastuff: F3 @ 75 and just about an overlay of the wool.

Conclusion:
10 Hz for a little box is a big deal. 12% 'taint nutun to sneeze at!
Poly is better than nothing, but best left for stuffing craft pillows

You can get raw cotton and wool on amazon.

[JohnR]

But this is ported. I read somewhere once there's value in building a design stock first, otherwise you don't know what effect your changes had. Plus, if you're giving it away, you can start again and/or do something more ambitious. Assuming you got the bug, that is

[wushuliu]

But this is ported. I read somewhere once there's value in building a design stock first, otherwise you don't know what effect your changes had. Plus, if you're giving it away, you can start again and/or do something more ambitious. Assuming you got the bug, that is

I agree that it should be listened to stock first. I still recommend wool batting for ported. You're going to want absorb/diffuse some of that backwave from behind the woofer(or even put some in the port). Cotton and raw wool are only ~$10-15.

[Tyson]

Agreed, wool or cotton is great in a speaker.  I tend to use NoRez but that's expensive and also a bit tricky to work with inside a small box. 

[gab]

This old thread from Bob Brines might be useful to you

https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/266074-lining-stuffing.html

gab

[mresseguie]

Great info!

Thank you, all!

Wushuliu,

I do have 2 sheets of Norez in the garage, but I'll try the cotton batting first.

Michael

[uncola]

These look so easy to build I was tempted to build some to play with them gift away too.  I'm sure it will be a piece of cake with your Adelphos speaker building experience   Rear port already made so no worries making it too big or small

[maty]

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/jebs-overnight-sensation-build-impressions-measurements-thread.3839/

DAMPING:

These definitely need stuffing and I think it’s worth playing with the quantity a little bit. I can’t really improve on Paul Carmody’s advice which is to keep adding stuffing until the bass sounds “huge”. You’ll know it when you hear it. Without the stuffing there is a boxiness which diminishes the scale of the speaker and makes them sound a bit weedy & echoey.

I started with too much, which made them better fleshed out but also kind of slow. I eventually halved the total amount and teased it out more. I weighed the final amount on some rudimentary kitchen scales and guesstimate it to be not more than around 10g per speaker...

In room listening position in my test set-up (2m from speakers)

[BIG Img] http://i.imgur.com/uuP2Jnv.png

[jeffwhetstone]

A while back I designed a pair of OS into a bluetooth boombox and I'm thrilled with their sound.    I drive them with Dayton's KAB-250 amplifier and a handful of lithium batteries.









And yes, the 'bronze/aluminum' cones on the HiVi drivers clash horribly with the absurd red metal flake finish I put on them.       

As Tyson pointed out, the low sensitivity makes them sub-optimal for portable applications, but I can still run it for an hour or two at offensive volume, or all day at more normal levels.      Everyone who has heard it is amazed at the sound quality, I guess expecting more typical portable speaker performance.

I also built a pair of Paul's MTM version as a gift for my in-laws.   They sound very similar to me, but with the two mids it takes a bit less power to get some ruckus out of them.






mresseguie, I think they'd make an awesome gift for your friend's son.           

Jeff

[SET Man]

You can't really. Baltic birch is easy to finish with Tung oil and the like too, no paint or veneer needed 

https://www.parts-express.com/overnight-sensations-mt-speaker-kit-pair--300-706

(The other ones mentioned are MDF.)

Hey!

    For cabinets I'll take Baltic birch plywood over MDF any days, not just for it's easy to finish but also for sound wise.

Buddy

[mresseguie]

A while back I designed a pair of OS into a bluetooth boombox and I'm thrilled with their sound.    I drive them with Dayton's KAB-250 amplifier and a handful of lithium batteries.









And yes, the 'bronze/aluminum' cones on the HiVi drivers clash horribly with the absurd red metal flake finish I put on them.       

As Tyson pointed out, the low sensitivity makes them sub-optimal for portable applications, but I can still run it for an hour or two at offensive volume, or all day at more normal levels.      Everyone who has heard it is amazed at the sound quality, I guess expecting more typical portable speaker performance.

I also built a pair of Paul's MTM version as a gift for my in-laws.   They sound very similar to me, but with the two mids it takes a bit less power to get some ruckus out of them.






mresseguie, I think they'd make an awesome gift for your friend's son.           

Jeff

Jeff,

That's a sweet looking boombox!

I briefly considered buying the MTM kit, but decided our friend's son (his name just happens to be Jeffrey) would most likely use these as desktop speakers.

My wife thought (thinks!) I'm a little nutty for doing this.

Michael