My carved wood speakers

Hi everyone,I know I have not posted in at least a few years, but thanks to the periodic emails of “broken link’ messages I got, I decided to post the images of the speakers that I put together using real wood.The issues as many of you know with using wood is the resonance and damping problems that it can create. So, for those that just WANT that smooth wood finish, have figured ways of avoiding it (like using materials such as roofing material), and are good with wood-working, they may want to check the images out for ideas.http://www.AjoyPrabhu.com/speakers/The schematic is the latest one that was made with help from Ed Frias and mods made by Danny.

Thanks and sorry to those that requested to see the images recently.

Ajoy

Posting my post on AR for the benefit of those that do not visit the AR site.———Ok. These took a little over 2 months to finish. THANKS A TON to Ed! You are the man! It is so nice to talk to selfless people like you!Cabinets:
I was adamant on a particular look- that of real wood with nice smooth rounded-off corners– impossible with wood veneer! So, the cabinets are made out of Poplar (very soft to work with) with no internal bracing as per Ed’s suggestions. However, I did add numerous layers of damping materials inside since the wood is excessively porous. The holes were counter-sunk and all were layered with silicone to cut out sound leakage. The final finish took 5 coats of polyurethane and has an ok sheen to it, but the final rubbing will be done after a month or so. Check out the pictures here:http://www.ajoyprabhu.com/speakers

Xover:
In my initial test (ex-box) I thought that the speakers were laid back and therefore chose the 0.3ohm resistor at the tweeter end. Later, once assembled, I went back, redid them, and brought the resistance up to 0.5ohm.

System
Since I had tried my hand at bi-wiring the B&W 603s, I could do rapid A/B tests with the same setup. So, the setup consists of
- Sony 200 disk player with optical out
- Pioneer receiver (VSX-811S)
- Hafler DH220 100wpc amp
- B&W 603 (as reference)

The room however, is lightly furnished and acoustically not great with high celings!

Music
For instrumental, I listened to a wide range- Bizet (Carmen), Miles Davis(Kind of Blue- So What), Indian classical (for those that care! Sharma (Music of the Mountains), Chary (Janani), Ali Akbar Khan (Legacy)). For vocals, I chose Diane Schurr (Acapella- Somewhere Over The Rainbow), Diana Krall (Paris- ‘Deed I Do), Indian classical- Dagar Bros. (Maestro’s choice), Pt. Jasraj (Bhihagda) and Pt. Joshi (NiReSa).

My conclusion
I had a hard time telling the speakers apart! The best part, besides the accuracy and details that continued to come out of these, was the sweet spot. With the B&W’s I was so used to sitting in a particular spot. I could not believe that the accuracy continued as much as 2-3 feet around the ‘sweet spot’ before I noticed a difference! The soundstage and imaging were excellent- just as good as the B&Ws. You’ve probably heard this before already, but friends have had a hard time figuring out which ones are playing- unless of course, the music has large drums that go lower than the DIY’s cut off (by design).

The other area I thought was a bit weak was the ‘naturalness’ of the female voice. I am not an audiophile, and therefore do not know what terms you use to describe this, but in blind tests, I could pick out Diane Schurr’s voice coming out of the DIY vs. the B&Ws. Keep in mind, I paid more than 3 times for the B&Ws! Maybe, I need to crank down the tweeter a bit more? Ed?

All in all, the DIY look (better!) and sound just as gorgeous. For now, I intend to fix up a spare Hafler and use these downstairs in my study once I play with the resistors at the tweeter end!

Ajoy

Lionel  

diyAudio Member

They are strongly guarded… Nice job.