Planar Symmetrica finally done!

Cacophonix · « **on:** 26 May 2009, 03:19 am »

After a loong time, i finally managed to finish the line arrays that i had ordered from selah audio. This is a slightly lower cost version of the symmetricas. I had to stay under a budget, and so requested Rick to suggest alternative drivers. He suggested that we go with Peerless woofers and BG Neo8 planars. I received the kit sometime last year, and i completed the project last week! Here's the result of my effort. Since my room is so small, i could not take one picture that captures both speakers. So i took multiple pics, and used autostitch program to get a panoramic view of the room.

Closeup of the array. I had to set the exposure to almost 2s just to capture the veneer.

The array is rated to go down till 120Hz, but in my ultra small (11x10) room, i'm quite sure that it goes down further, maybe due to boundary re-enforcement. My room is no where near ideal for a speaker of this size, but even in this small room the speaker sounds incredible.

I'm pairing this speaker with rythmik servo sub, and surprisingly they seem to mate quite well. The arrays image like crazy, and the soundstage is insanely huge

. The planars and the woofers blend seamlessly to create this huge wall of sound that envelopes the listener. In short, i'm extremely pleased with the speakers. Making the cabinets, and wiring the drivers took a very long time, but in the end, it was worth it! Cabinet is veneered in ebony, and the crossover is mounted externally in the base. Total dimension of the speaker is 12"(w)x9"(d)x65"(h), and the base is 14"(w)x14"(d)x4"(d). So though the speakers look imposing, they don't occupy that much floor space.

Kudos to Rick for this wonderful design and if you are looking for a line array, then look no further than the symmetrica! Go with Ribbons, if you can afford it, or else, go with planars like me, and you'll not be disappointed.

klh · « **Reply #1 on:** 26 May 2009, 07:04 am »

Congrats. I love ebony

.

satfrat · « **Reply #2 on:** 26 May 2009, 07:36 am »

I love arrays, especially Ricks. Nice pictures.

PDR · « **Reply #3 on:** 26 May 2009, 11:57 pm »

Welcome to the Symmetrica club...... aa

They really do image dont they, I have yet to hear anything that comes close.
I am very pleased with mine, Rick did an outstanding job!!

Perry

JackD201 · « **Reply #4 on:** 27 May 2009, 12:50 am »

Congratulations! Great work!

Rick Craig · « **Reply #5 on:** 27 May 2009, 02:47 pm »

The kit is $2,150/pr. with shipping to the mainland USA. That includes drivers, assembled crossovers,terminals,screws,connectors,and internal wiring.

skiz6151 · « **Reply #6 on:** 3 Jun 2009, 05:01 pm »

would it be quite difficult for someone to build the cabinet and wire everything together if they have no experience in either wood working or audio assembly before? I can solder just fine and follow instructions, not totally new to electronics but this may be a bit tricky for a first timer. But line arrays just seem impressive

Rick Craig · « **Reply #7 on:** 3 Jun 2009, 05:15 pm »

Quote from: skiz6151 on 3 Jun 2009, 05:01 pm

would it be quite difficult for someone to build the cabinet and wire everything together if they have no experience in either wood working or audio assembly before? I can solder just fine and follow instructions, not totally new to electronics but this may be a bit tricky for a first timer. But line arrays just seem impressive

As long as you have the right tools and some patience your building can be a success. I've had customers do an array for their first project and had good results. The wiring diagrams are easy to follow and our crossovers are pre-assembled. I also offer unlimited support via email or phone.

Cacophonix · « **Reply #8 on:** 3 Jun 2009, 06:29 pm »

Quote from: skiz6151 on 3 Jun 2009, 05:01 pm

would it be quite difficult for someone to build the cabinet and wire everything together if they have no experience in either wood working or audio assembly before? I can solder just fine and follow instructions, not totally new to electronics but this may be a bit tricky for a first timer. But line arrays just seem impressive

The cabinet is not exactly complicated ... All you need is space, tools and lots of patience. The cabinets are tall and you have to make lot of driver cutouts. Wiring is easy but time consuming. Once you are done, within the first few minutes of listening to them, you'll realize that it was all well worth the effort!

tbrooke · « **Reply #9 on:** 3 Jun 2009, 07:05 pm »

What tools do you need?

I would assume that you have to be precise with the cabinet so that it is airtight. That probably means my set up of a skil saw and pair of sawhorses won't work

Tom

Cacophonix · « **Reply #10 on:** 3 Jun 2009, 07:47 pm »

At the very least, you need a router and clamps. You can get MDF cut at HD or lowes... and then can start cutting driver cutouts. After that its woodglue and clamp time!

Reverb · « **Reply #11 on:** 3 Jun 2009, 09:45 pm »

Another option would be to have a shop cut all the pieces for you and you would just assemble and finish the cabinets. DayGlowOrange does custom projects and flat packs of GR Research's designs. I have been considering asking him if he would consider doing a flat pack of the Symmetrica. That is the entire MDF cabinet cutout with his CNC router, all you would need would be glue and clamps. If there was enough interest he might consider doing it. I'm interested in doing a Symmetrica home theater with five Symmetrica's, but not looking forward to cutting and building five cabinets. If I can get someone to cut the cabinets for me for a good price that would be the way I would go.

Cacophonix · « **Reply #12 on:** 3 Jun 2009, 10:42 pm »

Quote from: Reverb on 3 Jun 2009, 09:45 pm

Another option would be to have a shop cut all the pieces for you and you would just assemble and finish the cabinets. DayGlowOrange does custom projects and flat packs of GR Research's designs. I have been considering asking him if he would consider doing a flat pack of the Symmetrica. That is the entire MDF cabinet cutout with his CNC router, all you would need would be glue and clamps. If there was enough interest he might consider doing it. I'm interested in doing a Symmetrica home theater with five Symmetrica's, but not looking forward to cutting and building five cabinets. If I can get someone to cut the cabinets for me for a good price that would be the way I would go.

WOW! 5 symmetricas????? I thought PDR was crazy for having a pair of regular arrays doing surround duty!

But i bet you'll have a kick-ass system!!!!

Rick Craig · « **Reply #13 on:** 3 Jun 2009, 11:09 pm »

Quote from: tbrooke on 3 Jun 2009, 07:05 pm

What tools do you need?

I would assume that you have to be precise with the cabinet so that it is airtight. That probably means my set up of a skil saw and pair of sawhorses won't work

Tom

You can do it with a circular saw and a guide; however, it's difficult to make precise cuts for this type of project. If you don't have a table saw a friend may be able to help or a local cabinet shop.

Rick Craig · « **Reply #14 on:** 4 Jun 2009, 01:14 am »

Quote from: Reverb on 3 Jun 2009, 09:45 pm

Another option would be to have a shop cut all the pieces for you and you would just assemble and finish the cabinets. DayGlowOrange does custom projects and flat packs of GR Research's designs. I have been considering asking him if he would consider doing a flat pack of the Symmetrica. That is the entire MDF cabinet cutout with his CNC router, all you would need would be glue and clamps. If there was enough interest he might consider doing it. I'm interested in doing a Symmetrica home theater with five Symmetrica's, but not looking forward to cutting and building five cabinets. If I can get someone to cut the cabinets for me for a good price that would be the way I would go.

I have access to a shop with a CNC so we can do flat packs as well.

tcsubwoofer · « **Reply #15 on:** 4 Jun 2009, 02:31 am »

Very nice work...looks professional.

Just curious about some constructions details. Did you have to book match the ebony veneer or did it come in wide enough strips to do a single side? Also, how did you do your roundovers on the front faces...they look almost perfectly blended with the side and front...did you wrap? Also curious about the construction of your bases and how you attached them to the speaker. OK, have to ask...how did you finish them?

I've heard the symmetricas before at RMAF and they certainly are detailed and image well. You'd think I'd be more interested in the sound but I'm very interested in your construction technique.

Thanks!

Cacophonix · « **Reply #16 on:** 4 Jun 2009, 03:46 am »

I had some veneer sheets about 24"Wx36"L. Since the planars are in the middle, i could veneer such that the seams met over the tweeter line. This way i didn't have to glue the seams vertically on the sides. There is no roundover behind ... so i could trim the veneer with a flush trim bit. The only problem was the length. Since this is about 72" tall, i had to use join them bang in the middle. You can see the horizontal seam on the sides. It doesn't look all that bad, but still ...
The roundover in the front is 3/4" ... and i wrapped the veneer around it. It wasn't bad at all. I used raw veneer, and it turned out quite okay.

The base is attached to the speaker using tnuts and machine screws. The crossover is attached to the bottom of the base using wood screws. And the bottom is attached to the rest of the base using wood screws again! Its not straight forward, but i had to do it this way so that i could still have access to the crossover, and also remove the bases if i had to. I could not attach the base from the driver cutouts, so the bottom of the base had to be removable.

I followed what christof and others had mentioned regarding finishing. I applied two coats of dewaxed shellac (sealcoat), and then 3-4 coats of waterlox tung oil finish (medium sheen). It turned out to quite nice. Though i now wish that i had a bit more patience and worked on sanding more before applying the finish. Its not as smooth as it can be, but i like to think that it has character

PDR · « **Reply #17 on:** 4 Jun 2009, 05:29 am »

WoW!.....5 Syms....That would be cool

I do have 2 of them pulling L&R front duty on my HT and a set of Ricks 128 arrays for rears.
When I asked Rick about center channel he recommended the Sardonyx....It worked beautifully.

In my opinion there was only one problem with the arrays pulling front and rear duty.....
They were too darn nice to use only for my HT set up!!

I did some moving and changing around and I discovered that the 128 worked really nice for the
front left and right, by late summer thats where they will stay. My Symmetricas will be finding a new home in my dedicated 2ch room.....this is MY room aa away from big screens, big fluffy coaches, kids, etc. They just are too nice for me to listen to only when the HT/familly room is available.

This new room measures 30'x 16' and will be audio only, I plan to give it the whole 9 yrds. Wall treatments, sub-floor, acoustic ceilings, R-30 through out...it is my old attached garage...I can hardly wait.

The Syms were my first build, and I found it easy......although I made it easy, I too have limited woodworking skills...this was my first veneer job so I painted the front baffles black along with the rear panel. By making the front baffle just a bit larger than the sides and top the veneer was easy enough for a beginner like me. I really like the wrap around look but this is beyond my skills. I also opted for a remote box for the crossover so there was probably more wire to handle, but less inside the cabinet. I was also lucky enough to find a key hole saw that was exactly the right size for the 3" drivers, this really made my job easier.

Trust me if I can do this and make a beautiful speaker, you probably can also.

Cacophonix....those really are a gorgeous pair...you should be very proud of those..

Perry

Reverb · « **Reply #18 on:** 4 Jun 2009, 09:17 pm »

If I had the room I would do seven Syms.

or maybe seven Arrays of Desire if I had the money.

I currently have Martin Logan speakers, Ascents up front with a Theater center channel. Video is from a JVC RS10 front projector with a DIY acoustically transparent screen so running a full size center is no problem. Had them about five/six years, love electrostats but lately I have been craving a speaker with a bit more punch. ESL's just can't push much air, line arrays seam like the most logical step.

PDR,

I love the design you did with your Syms. The larger front baffle made the look of your speakers. It makes your syms look much more elegant then just a square box.

Cacophonix,

Your speakers really did come out great. Hope they sound as good as they look.

tcsubwoofer · « **Reply #19 on:** 5 Jun 2009, 02:21 pm »

Quote from: Cacophonix on 4 Jun 2009, 03:46 am

I had some veneer sheets about 24"Wx36"L. Since the planars are in the middle, i could veneer such that the seams met over the tweeter line. This way i didn't have to glue the seams vertically on the sides. There is no roundover behind ... so i could trim the veneer with a flush trim bit. The only problem was the length. Since this is about 72" tall, i had to use join them bang in the middle. You can see the horizontal seam on the sides. It doesn't look all that bad, but still ...
The roundover in the front is 3/4" ... and i wrapped the veneer around it. It wasn't bad at all. I used raw veneer, and it turned out quite okay.

The base is attached to the speaker using tnuts and machine screws. The crossover is attached to the bottom of the base using wood screws. And the bottom is attached to the rest of the base using wood screws again! Its not straight forward, but i had to do it this way so that i could still have access to the crossover, and also remove the bases if i had to. I could not attach the base from the driver cutouts, so the bottom of the base had to be removable.

I followed what christof and others had mentioned regarding finishing. I applied two coats of dewaxed shellac (sealcoat), and then 3-4 coats of waterlox tung oil finish (medium sheen). It turned out to quite nice. Though i now wish that i had a bit more patience and worked on sanding more before applying the finish. Its not as smooth as it can be, but i like to think that it has character

Great, thank you for the info. I like Ebony and was seriously thinking of using that veneer on my recent speaker project and I went with Pau Ferro. Will probably use Ebony down the road. I also used Waterlox (high gloss) on my speakers after much reading on the subject.

How did you apply pressure to the veneer on your roundover?