Hello bald, thanks for the comments.
As for you Q about response, looks like Kevin covered you off there - I build these with a tuning of 55Hz, and I can tell you that below that, there is just a hint of sound. I find that there is a slight hump around 90Hz or so, that makes them sound full, but they do lack lower extension - part of the compromise of building anything of course.
If I were building something for HT, and using the WR125, I would go with the one that uses the Usher tweeter, the WR as the mid, and uses that badass Extremis woofer - that should get you down well below 50, and you can tune your subs to come in as you see fit...
As for the Truck Bed Liner, well it can turn out different ways, depending on the prep. When I shot my Teacs, I just sprayed it on, and I would say that on the body of the amp, it feels sandy. On the smooth aluminum face, it has a smooth, slightly textured finish. For the speakers, I sanded with 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, and then used primer/sealer, sanding again lightly with 600 between coats of that, and the paint itself. The faces (where I took most care) are smooth, but the sides are a bit "sandy" to the touch.
The Truck Bed Liner is inherently slightly textured, and does help to cover up some of the "mulligans" along the way!
Here is a shot, during the first coat of paint, in the garage - this is natural light reflecting off the face, plus the flash of the digital camera. In the house, they are pretty much satin in terms of reflecting, which is to say more than matte, but much less than gloss.
Oh, and yes, I have seen the enclosures that Kevin
now sells... but I wanted to build these anyway. For the $$ though, it is probably worth picking them up, unless you want drastically differing dimensions for some reason.
Had a chance to sit down and listen to them last night for a couple of hours, and play around with toe in, etc. I find that they are good little 2 ways. This from a guy who had great 2 ways for 10 years (Totem Rokk). I find that the tweeter brings back the air, and "atmosphere" that was lacking when running the WR125's full range alone in these boxes, but I also find that as a result, they are more directional.
This is normal I figure, since as you go up the frequency range, things get more directional - what I mean is this - when running just the WR's, I could stand WAY off to the side (ie right in front of one of the speakers, back at the listening chair distance) and the sound was still imaging really well in the center of the speakers. Now that I have added the tweeters, these act more like what they are, conventional 2 ways, and as such, they want you to be centered, for the image to remain centered.
I suppose it comes down to this - even though the WR does run full range in this config, by adding the tweeter, this speaker now acts like a conventional 2 way - even though that tweeter is just coming in around 10K, it alters the way that the sound is produced, enough to make these less "magical" for music, for me.
The sound gels more with some extra volume - I found them unbalanced at low volume, but things really come together around 10-11 on my preamp volume setting - could be the 30wpc Bolder Teac, could be the speaker sensitivity - not sure, and unconcerned - I simply twist it up a little more, and it comes together well.
Now, do NOT get me wrong - I am very pleased with these speakers, and they will absolutely do the trick for me, for HT, especially when supported with some subs - I was playing around this AM with my big ported Nakamichi sub, and adding in that 20-50Hz really fleshes out soundtracks perfectly.
As 2 channel speakers, I personally would prefer the WR alone - it does something magical with the mids, and directly driven by the amp - sure, it does not touch either frequency extreme on its' own, but it is so pure and coherent where it plays, that I find it more involving that way.
I recommend biwiring posts, so that you can play with differing configs, for your taste, in your room etc.
Oh, Kevin, the flexy rack (built about 11 years ago now... before I even saw that article, honest!
) uses 2x6 pine laminated together to give me 1.5 thick, 16.5 deep, 24 wide shelves. Stained them a red mahogany to match the Totems I owned all those years, but find that it looks nice even though my speakers are from the Darth Vader school of presentation!
Great value, fun build, rewarding end result.
Thanks again,
