DIY Summer Project

[dkane360]

The CA18RNX and the 27TDC are both excellent drivers.

Would the CA18 be better than the ER18?

 

[Swerd]

Would the CA18 be better than the ER18?

Its a toss-up. They are very close. There might be a slight edge for the ER18. It has an anti-distortion ring that the CA18 lacks. So the ER18 might have less measurable distortion.

Check your email again, I've heard back from Dennis. He may have a crossover for the ER18 - Fountek ribbon sooner than we think.

 

[TLS Guy]

Its a toss-up. They are very close. There might be a slight edge for the ER18. It has an anti-distortion ring that the CA18 lacks. So the ER18 might have less measurable distortion.

Check your email again, I've heard back from Dennis. He may have a crossover for the ER18 - Fountek ribbon sooner than we think.

The CA 18RX has a much smoother frequency response, and the crossover will be simpler.

 

[dkane360]

Does this look right for the ER18 box? Would it be possible to use a slot instead of a port so I can have it front firing while keeping the height of the speaker down?

 

[Swerd]

Does this look right for the ER18 box? Would it be possible to use a slot instead of a port so I can have it front firing while keeping the height of the speaker down?

I spoke more with Dennis about cabinet size for the ER18. He says the ER18 has essentially the same low end roll off characteristics as the SEAS W18. A 0.5 ft³ cabinet as you suggest will be alright, but a somewhat larger cabinet will get the most bass out of that woofer without harming performance in the midrange.

Dave Ellis, who originally designed and sold the Ellis 1801 speaker, came up with a 0.75 ft³ (21.2 liters) ported cabinet for the W18. That is the same as what Jim Salk now sells for the 1801 or HT1 bookshelf models.

I'll send you a pdf copy of the 1801 cabinet details. It used to be available at Ellis's web page. You should be able to easily adapt that to your speaker.

External dimensions
9" wide
19" tall
14¼" deep

That assumes ¾" thick MDF construction, and two internal braces that run full length and full width.

 

[dkane360]

I'm going to start working on the enclosure soon, but I want to make sure I make it the right size. Madisound's site recommends a vented .5^3 for an F3 of 53Hz, but Swerd roughly calculated a .75^3 at 44Hz. Is that extra size worth it for that little bit of extension? Is there any advantage to keeping the F3 higher?

 

[Swerd]

After delaying work on them most of the summer , here is the first bit of progress on dkane360's bookshelf speaker cabinets. They will have one ER18 woofer and one Fountek ribbon tweet. The ported cabinets will be 9" wide × 10¼" deep × 15 3/8" tall, about 0.5 ft³. I'll post more photos and details as they develop.

 

[Alex2507]

Rich, are you building these for ... Dan ??? I hope I got dKane's name right.

I'm really looking forward to this build in pic's ... especially the crossover.

 

[Swerd]

Rich, are you building these for ... Dan ??? I hope I got dKane's name right.

I'm really looking forward to this build in pic's ... especially the crossover.

Yes, I'm helping out Dan on his first DIY project. I've got the lumber cut and will make the router cutouts to flush mount the drivers. I'll assemble one cabinet, mount the speakers, and hand it over to Dennis Murphy to design the crossover. I've borrowed a woofer and tweeter from Dennis. So, I've only paid for a sheet of MDF so far. I recently learned that Home Depot sells ¾" thick MDF (19 mm) and Lowes sells 18 mm MDF. For the same price, I had to get that extra mm.

Once Dennis works out a crossover design, I'll assemble one, and let Dan do the rest. He is buying all the parts, so I may not get to hear what a pair sound like .

 

[Warpdrv]

Does Dennis just put together xovers for people like that...
What does he charge..?

I'm actually wanting a pair of Salk Soundscape Jr's, but I can't handle a box shaped speaker to replace my Sig S4's, and that Center Channel he has is hideous IMO... No offense, I'm just particular about looks and shapes...

Perhaps I can build the same enclosure with the same dimensions in a curved cabinet for the same drivers and ship them off to Dennis...

Sorry for the off topic....

 

[GranteedEV]

Does Dennis just put together xovers for people like that...
What does he charge..?

I'm actually wanting a pair of Salk Soundscape Jr's, but I can't handle a box shaped speaker to replace my Sig S4's, and that Center Channel he has is hideous IMO... No offense, I'm just particular about looks and shapes...

Perhaps I can build the same enclosure with the same dimensions in a curved cabinet for the same drivers and ship them off to Dennis...

Sorry for the off topic....

Unless you're a real company, you won't be able to source a RAAL 70-20XR tweeter. The closest is a RAAL 70-10D which requires a higher crossover point and possibly slope; possibly losing the flawless "dissapearing act" ability of the soundscapes. That, or a 140-15 tweeter, which may have a narrow vertical sweet spot.

I'm sure Salk will do a custom speaker for you though.

 

[dkane360]

He is buying all the parts, so I may not get to hear what a pair sound like .

If you want to build both speakers so you can listen to them, I'll ship the drivers to you

If not, we'll work something out so you can listen to them. Maybe we can have an audioholic gtg on the east coast!