[BRN]

Kevin,

I remember awhile back you had posted that you were thinking about designing a SET friendly speaker. I wanted to know if you are still planning to design one? I know that I for one would be very interested.

Thanks,
Brad

[Kevin Haskins]

Actually its been a dream for awhile.   It will probably stay that way a little longer as I have WAY too many projects on my plate.

I got started, measured a bunch of pro-audio drivers and found a couple that had promise.    It was going to be a three way, with the bottom-end active.    The top would be a compression driver on a horn, midrange a 6-7" high efficiency driver passing over to the bottom-end around 200-500Hz.    Its wasn't a cheap design, maybe $1500-$2000/pr. 

The old HE-10.1 worked pretty good with a 300B and didn't require an active bass unit.     I've thought or resurrecting that design but the cost of the parts has went up significantly, and the market has a perception that it was a cheap solution.   I wouldn't be able to sell it anywhere near the original price.   It was a low margin item to begin with.

What I'd really love to do is a Unity Horn but Tom Danley isn't interested in sharing.     

[miklorsmith]

If you end up doing this (great idea, btw), I recommend making the active element of the bass system bypass-able.  I owned the Zu Definition 1.5s, then Pros - the Pros were by far the higher performance option.  My 2s arrive tomorrow and they have provisions for both paths, which seems like the perfect solution.

[dwk]

What I'd really love to do is a Unity Horn but Tom Danley isn't interested in sharing.     

I suspect Tom is still smarting from the last diy-ish episode.

Someone has posted an Akabak script to diyaudio that models the Unity. Might be worth a look - if you can back into determining the right parameters for the mids, you'd already be ahead of the game. Coming to the table with a design that works might help the discussion surrounding licensing.

Conversely, I still think the idea of a Yorkville U15 massaged for home use would find some takers. I'm using these at home, and find them great. I'm not sure the volume you might be looking at would be enough to support any official partnership, but it may be worth mulling over.

[Matt__P]

speaking of the old HE 10.1's,,,,I have a pair that Ive never used with anything but some old Norh le amps. I only bought cause they were used and cheap (under a $100).
Got an amp recomendation that will make these sing?

[JoshK]

I wish Tom would allow for some DIY friendly version of the Unity.  I would really love to get my hands on one and I don't really feel like buying the Yorkville U15 just to gut it and through 1/2 of it out.

[JoshK]

speaking of the old HE 10.1's,,,,I have a pair that Ive never used with anything but some old Norh le amps. I only bought cause they were used and cheap (under a $100).
Got an amp recomendation that will make these sing?

Those are terrible, terrible speakers.  They will destroy your hearing and the EPA will be after you for killing the hearing of your local birds.   You should send them to me immediately for appropriate disposal. 

[Kevin Haskins]

What I'd really love to do is a Unity Horn but Tom Danley isn't interested in sharing.     

I suspect Tom is still smarting from the last diy-ish episode.

Someone has posted an Akabak script to diyaudio that models the Unity. Might be worth a look - if you can back into determining the right parameters for the mids, you'd already be ahead of the game. Coming to the table with a design that works might help the discussion surrounding licensing.

Conversely, I still think the idea of a Yorkville U15 massaged for home use would find some takers. I'm using these at home, and find them great. I'm not sure the volume you might be looking at would be enough to support any official partnership, but it may be worth mulling over.

I understand his reasons and don't blame him one bit.   The engineering isn't an issue, it just wouldn't be right to use it without his blessing from the start.   

The bottom line is DIY kits are not a financially viable business and there really is no good BUSINESS reason to expend the effort.    That doesn't stop me from wanting to do them though.   

[Kevin Haskins]

speaking of the old HE 10.1's,,,,I have a pair that Ive never used with anything but some old Norh le amps. I only bought cause they were used and cheap (under a $100).
Got an amp recomendation that will make these sing?

They worked really well with my 300Bs but that is on the lower-end of what I'd recommend for power.   I good EL-34 P-P was another good combo.   

[Carl V]

ditto what Kevin stated.  I have a pair of his DIY 10.1 in walnut with the nice XO & Cardas binding posts.
I've driven them with SE-KT88, EL-34 PP & triode, 6550 as well as a pair of paralled 300B.  They do well.

I first heard these speakers at VSAC....liked 'em.  Spare both the speakers & amps of the
grunt work of low Freq.  i.e, subwoofer & they'll do much better(shiva's with Hypex-200).

Kyle of Acoustic Designs had pair and loved 'em.  They really were underappreciated.  And
of course the Audio-Express  review mess-up didn't help out.

For a teacher friend I built Dan Wiggins Malestrom/HE10.1 Stage monitors.  She uses them
for school functions & church functions.  They have done quite well.

There is a European mfg. which uses a variation of these Emmenience drivers....for a pretty penny.

On a realted note Dan Wiggins offered an update to this design....slightly different Tweeter
& of course XO.  Has anyone heard this or know of the differences?

[Matt__P]

thats exactly what I was using them with,,, a hypex 200 with adire sub . Norh Leamps didnt do them justice but they were all I had to run them with. I found my onix xls worked better with the LeAmps.
so now the 10.1's are on a panny xr55 for home theatre until I find a tube amp to try with them.

[Kevin Haskins]

On a realted note Dan Wiggins offered an update to this design....slightly different Tweeter
& of course XO.  Has anyone heard this or know of the differences?

You know I have about 20 of the tweeters but I've never built the latest version.   I'm going to order a pair of Beta-10s one of these days and build a set for myself though.

[Matt__P]

Are you selling any of those tweeters Kevin? I'm assuming their drop in/screw in replacements for the current ones? what crossover changes need to be made?

[Kevin Haskins]

Let me see if I can come up with the latest crossover.    They wouldn't be appropriate unless you make the crossover change.    I'd be happy to sell them though and yes.... they are a screw-in replacement.   

[Matt__P]

thanks Kevin,,,I'd be very interested

[Kevin Haskins]

thanks Kevin,,,I'd be very interested

Drop me an email.... I've got the latest documentation and crossover.   I have some of the values and would need to source a couple.

diycable@olypen.com