[wgraft5]

Hi Everyone,

I sold my NX Studios a few months ago and started a new build.

The main goal was to build a high end OB speaker system that has very good mid bass kick.
I did a lot of searching and came across youtuber ABX Audiohpile and he lead me to LA Dolce Auido.
I received my LDA 15.1 coaxial 15" drivers, the 18" woofers, and the modifide Eminence ASD1001 Compression Tweeters with spacer back in October. I have been running them since then.
 
The tweeters have been modifide by cutting the back cover off making them open back. A 2" spacer is installed between tweeter and woofer for "time alignment".   
The crossover is very simple. 3.3 cap for tweeter (Sonicap with Miflex by pass) and a 1.5 mH inductor (Mundorf copper foil) for the woofer. The 18" woofer gets a 10mH inductor(iron core will be replaced with a toroidal when back in stock)
One thing about the crossover, the tweeter is a little hot and needs to be brought down with a resistor or two. Needs to come down about 2-3 db. The original crossover used a L-Pad to attenuate the tweeter. I am not using the L-Pad in my crossover. I will need help on this. I will call GRR Danny and see what he thinks. Trying to avoid shipping one to him because of cost. But I will send one to him if thats what he wants.

I have been doing a lot of testing on the baffles. The starting point 24" by 48" or  21" by 34". I have decided I like the 21" width by 40" tall.
In the middle of all this LDA has a true horn available now so I am getting that too. The horn has 1" throat and is 6" by 17". I have been playing around with placement. I dont have the horns yet so I made a paper template to use for mockup.
Next I bought the plywood and built the first prototype. 21" by 34" baffle with 18" by 14" wings and 14" by 21" bottom plate. This was too short, I want the tweeters about ear hight when in the pilot seat. But I like the 21" width.
So 21" by 40" became the new baffel size.
And yes they rock, I am hearing things in songs I never heard before. Talk about mid bass kick, yes! finally. The mid range and tweeter are resolving without being harsh. This is the sound I have been searching for, yes. And all with with a lower volume setting on the volume knob.

Back to the baffles. I forgot to say that the woffers are slot loaded. I am going to make the baffles 21" by 40" with 14" wings for the 18" woofer.
The 15" gets a 9" circle with 45* angle routed in. The 18" gets a more advanced slot. Its a 2" wide circle with the top and bottom closed. so it looks like a "C" and a backward "C". The first prototype has the 6" by 14" slot.

Now came the big problem, my plywood for the next version got all warped, its bad. I did a search on how to de-warp plywood. Basicly one side of the wood is dryer than the other. The remidy is to wet the dry side then clamp it down let it dry.
That worked somewhat well, its still warped but very minor. I have decided to laminate two pieces of plywood to get them flat. A front and back. This works out well because the front and back get different cuts. Plus I think I like the look of the thicker baffle.

I have also been testing finish. Stain with a poly finish. Black and Oak
That brings us up to date. I have to cut the holes in the baffles and cut the sides and bottoms. Then stain and assemble.
I have get the horns, the compression disk (for the 18", goes inside the C's on the back side), toroidal inductor and mounting screws next week.

The best part is it uses a lot less wood, paint, and no norez or insulation. So the total cost to build comes in around $1400 to $1500.

A bunch of pic's. I dont need the sub for music now so I turned it off. I only use the sub for movies now.







I like this last pic with the horn mounted into the baffle.
Thanks for looking and I would like your feedback.
Thats about it for now.

https://www.ladolceaudio.com/
https://abxaudiophiles.org/

Wayne in Oregon

[Tyson]

Nice build!   They probably already sound pretty darn good, using those quality drivers. 

Since one of your goals is to get really good midbass, I'd recommend against slot loading.  Put the woofers on the baffle, facing toward you.  In an OB setup that will get you the most bass slam.

[wgraft5]

Thanks Tyson,
 
EDIT: I forgot to say that the drivers were designed to be slot loaded.

I have also been thinking about that, drivers mounted on the outside of the baffle. I will test that too at some point.

A shot of the back of the tweeter.

[Early B.]

I will call GRR Danny and see what he thinks. Trying to avoid shipping one to him because of cost. But I will send one to him if that's what he wants.

I'd highly recommend shipping one of your final prototypes to Danny to "fix" the crossover. Yeah, it ain't cheap and it delays your progress, but if your goal is to create a world-class speaker, then it will be worth the time and trouble. 

I applaud your efforts to DIY a pair of speakers. I built speakers last year with the same goal you have -- more mid-bass kick -- although I took a different approach. I put a 12" mid-bass woofer in a sealed cabinet to mate with a horn-loaded compression driver and GR Research OB subs. Danny designed the crossover.   

[wgraft5]

I'd highly recommend shipping one of your final prototypes to Danny to "fix" the crossover. Yeah, it ain't cheap and it delays your progress, but if your goal is to create a world-class speaker, then it will be worth the time and trouble. 

I applaud your efforts to DIY a pair of speakers. I built speakers last year with the same goal you have -- more mid-bass kick -- although I took a different approach. I put a 12" mid-bass woofer in a sealed cabinet to mate with a horn-loaded compression driver and GR Research OB subs. Danny designed the crossover.   

It will be in the spring next year. I might rent a van and take them to Danny to fix. Renting a van and sleeping in it, gas and food, and it still may be cheaper than shipping.

thanks
Wayne in Oregon

[wgraft5]

 UPDATE: Parts came in.
 The black things are compression disk's. They are for the 18".  The slot is a like a "C" and a backwards "C" and the disk goes in the middle on the back. It reduces distortion and increases bass output. This will be installed on the final rebuild.


Installing horns.

Upgraded wiring installed.

Shot of the back with the new configuration.

And the final configuration


This is the end result. Added feet and the baffle extension.
 
I have been listening to them this way for couple of weeks. Everything is broken in. The sound of this setup glorisous. This is truly highend and the most natural speakers I have ever listened to. I wanted bass with inpactful mid bass and I have that in spades .
The mids, male and female are spot on. The tweeter seemed hot so I did some research and found out all I needed was a 8ohm resistor before the caps to tame it down, open and detailed I can listen all day without my ears getting tired. The crossover is of the first order type. I played the woofers without any thing, just strait from the amps. The drivers sounded very good, no ringing. The inductors made it sound better. So crossover sorted.

The next thing is to rebuild the baffles with a better grade of plywood. Then paint. I am going to go with black and tan stains.
Wayne in Oregon

[rtate]

Any updates on your project ?   

[wgraft5]

Hi rtate, Thanks for the post. I do have an update.

One of my 18" woofers had to be sent back for repair or replacement. The voice coil has something in the gap that randomly jams up the voice coil.



Rebuilt the crossover boards to be longer and wider.



The massive 10Mh inductors finally came in. I am burning in both coils on the one good woofer. Yes it changes the crossover point but it is just untill I get the woofer back.



An overall pic.



More area in the room now. I moved the entire setup closer to the wall. I got two amp stands that are lower in height.



It looks good and the sound is bettor now too.

I may go the 24" x 48" x 1.5" butcher block for the main baffles.

Thats about it for now. I wanted to say I am really liking the Mogami speaker cable. It sounds as good as my WyWires and is only about $5 a foot.

Thanks again,
Wayne in Oregon

[rtate]

great job !
have you tried the tweeter in the co-ax position and tried without the wings ?
Are those resistors I see in the small bag ?

[wgraft5]

great job !
have you tried the tweeter in the co-ax position and tried without the wings ?
Are those resistors I see in the small bag ?

Thank you.
Yes, originally the design was in the co-ax position. it was good, but I like and I am used to the non co-ax sound. It just sounds bettor to me. I wish I would have not cut those two panles too short.



I did not try without the wings. Thats may be the only thing I did not try.

I did get a pair of 12.5ohm resistors to try out. Maybe knock down the tweeter some more.
So the crossover is still in development but almost there. I really need to brake down and get a mic and cable and set up REW.
Unfortunately I wont be sending one to danny, the shipping is just too much, no matter how I ship it. They sound really good now and I will keep updating as I go.

Thanks Again,

Wayne in Oregon

[Early B.]

I sold my NX Studios a few months ago and started a new build.
The main goal was to build a high end OB speaker system that has very good mid bass kick.

Did the NX Studio not provide suficient midbass kick?

[wgraft5]

Did the NX Studio not provide suficient midbass kick?

I had the Studios 6 feet into the room for best soundstage and image. But then I had no mid bass kick. I had to move them to 6" from the wall to get any kick at all. That didnt work for me.  That was my main issue. Also I was ready to build something els.



In the end I have way bettor sound now for less money spent. I wish you could hear them in person;)

Wayne in Oregon

[Early B.]

I had the Studios 6 feet into the room for best soundstage and image. But then I had no mid bass kick. I had to move them to 6" from the wall to get any kick at all. That didnt work for me.  That was my main issue.

I hear ya. At one point, I had OB monitors with an 8" woofer and encountered the same issue. OB midbass sounds like an English aristocrat, i.e., "polite." It's not a criticism, just a preference thing.

I can't say this out loud, so keep this between us -- but I think 90% of the benefit of OB designs is in the bass region. OB bass done right is the most realistic bass on the planet. The midrange... we already discussed that. The spaciousness of OB highs can be achieved in many other ways such as horns, super tweeters, rear-firing tweeters, etc.

Having said that, I would choose a full-range OB speaker over a box speaker any day of the week. I can't say the same thing about monitors. 

Glad to see you building your own. You'll learn a lot.       

[rtate]

 about the resistors...
Why not try the L-pad as discussed in the discord ?
Just curious   

[wgraft5]

about the resistors...
Why not try the L-pad as discussed in the discord ?
Just curious   

When I checked the L-Pads with the magnet it stuck to it. The wire connection pins seemed non-magnetic so I couldnt tell if it was just the shell or not. Then I could not figure out what pin was #1. So I hooked it up several ways and couldnt get any sound out of it no matter where the dial was set. So I gave up because I got frustated with the whole thing. I know the middle pin goes to the tweeter plus.


It looks like pin#1 is to the left, pin#3 on the right, when looking at the dial shaft side.

When looking at the schematic, it looks like the negative input goes to the 15" woofer only, how can that work?

When I get the 18" woofer back I want to try hooking up the L-Pad again. Maybe I hooked it up wrong.

Wayne in Oregon

[rtate]

The negative connects to all 3 at the "cross"
otherwise there is a little loop over the other wire like to the right of the cross

[wgraft5]

The negative connects to all 3 at the "cross"
otherwise there is a little loop over the other wire like to the right of the cross

Sometimes you need a second set of eye's. Thats the mistake I made! Thank You

I talked to Terry of LDA and my replacement 18" will shipped very soon. He was out of stock and the woofers are on back order, so he said he would send me one of his personal woofers so I dont have to wait. I am OK with that.

Thanks again rtate,

Wayne in Oregon

[wgraft5]

The replacement woofer is on the way 

Should be here monday or tuesday. Then I can build up the new crossover boards.

UPDATE: The woofer came in today (friday). I installed it and it sounds right, very good.

Wayne in Oregon

[jk@home]

Hey Wayne, where did you source the horn for that Eminence tweeter (and info on it for alternative sources)?

[wgraft5]

Hey Wayne, where did you source the horn for that Eminence tweeter (and info on it for alternative sources)?

I got mine from LDA. They were expensive. 6" x 16", 1" throat made of plastic. After I received the horns I found them all over google for much cheaper. I just did a google search and found none and LDA has none on his site. Dont know what is going on, the plastic horn shortage of 2024!?

Wayne in Oregon.