Zilch's AK Design Collaborative - Econowave Speaker
- Thread starter Zilch
- Start date
Russellc
Addicted Member
Yeah why not, it's not like I've got about 20 sets of speakers to refoam, a dozen TTs to rehab, or a couple of tube amps to rebuild or anything like that.
Plus those damn Explorer brakes are still hanging over my head.
I just can't figure out why I can't get excited about cleaning the garage so I can pull in a snow covered truck and roll about underneath it trying to replace rusted brake lines???
Oh, brakes are only brakes....these are speaker boxes we're talking about here!
Russellc
Bauhausler
Rational Subjectivist
Yeah why not, it's not like I've got about 20 sets of speakers to refoam, a dozen TTs to rehab, or a couple of tube amps to rebuild or anything like that.
Plus those damn Explorer brakes are still hanging over my head.
I just can't figure out why I can't get excited about cleaning the garage so I can pull in a snow covered truck and roll about underneath it trying to replace rusted brake lines???
Cool! Then we know what you'll be doing in your spare time now.
von.ah
Schultze!
So, dc270... Did you finish the KLH 23 e'wave project, or was that a no-go?
Vicariously,
von.ah
As soon as I can access my L55s here, which have LE14H-3 in them, I'll illustrate your design. The integrated "tower" version of it would indeed be patterned after S4600, which uses LE14H-4 to provide bass more in line with Asian listening preferences. It is not available to the U.S. market. More on that below.
Here are the cabs I used to build my "2.5" towers using LE14H-1 pairs and E'Wave; a couple pair of the empty cabs were available in the JBL Pro Tent Sale, and I snatched them up:
http://www.jblproservice.com/pdf/Array Series/4894A-90.pdf
With that as background, here's the skinny on the drivers, as best I know it:
1) LE14H-1 and LE14H-3 are sonically interchangeable, H-3 being the more recent design. Greg Timbers suggests they are a drop-in replacement for H-1 in L250Ti; good enough for me, since he's the designer.
2) LE14H-4 has less Aquaplas on the cone, and thus, does not generate the extended bass of the "standard" LE14s, suggesting also that it also has more articulate midrange, and might appropriately be designed into a 2.5 alignment.
3) I have H-1s in my 2.5 towers because the two chambers are small and the tuning is 10 Hz too high; that's how I get extended bass out of them. Converted to a single volume, they're up somewhere between 2.4 and 2.8 cuft., and a single LE14A/-1/3 will do the job tuned to 30 Hz. Done.
4) I'd put LE14H-4 pairs in them but: a) the volume may still be a bit too small, b) that's a substaintial investment in new woofers for an "experimental" design, and 3) they are virtually unobtainable; it's tough enough sourcing JBL high-end drivers used in products actually sold in the U.S.
5) While LE14As do not have the improved capabilities of these more modern variants, they are plentiful and relatively inexpensive, and thus an appropriate driver for E'Wave builders. As you observe, they'll work nicely in modest-sized cabinets, and make delicious extended bass.
Footnote: JBL and others also made/make subs using LE14H-1 and H-3. LE14A will work for that, too, with somewhat higher distortion and lower power handling, less of an issue with multiples. See Citation 7.4.... :yes:
Edit: Here 'tis:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2339479&posted=1#post2339479
Bauhausler
Rational Subjectivist
Speaking of speaker cabinets.
I was on the phone this morning with George F. who is known to local AK/SMAC members. George does awesome woodwork but no longer has access to a shop. The big obstacle is getting space, setting up the equipment and cleaning up. My step father has a permanent dedicated wood shop set up attached to his garage with reasonable hobbyist grade equipment for handling furniture sized build projects. We decided that if any serious cabinetry needed to be done we should drive out there, about 70 miles away, borrow his pickup to get the lumber and do all of the cutting, drilling, planing, panel sanding, etc. there and then haul the pieces back here for assembly.
I have a small table saw, a band saw, router, drill press and various tools but no real space to do large scale cutting. It's actually worth driving somewhere else to do the work with fewer compromises on space and equipment.
I was on the phone this morning with George F. who is known to local AK/SMAC members. George does awesome woodwork but no longer has access to a shop. The big obstacle is getting space, setting up the equipment and cleaning up. My step father has a permanent dedicated wood shop set up attached to his garage with reasonable hobbyist grade equipment for handling furniture sized build projects. We decided that if any serious cabinetry needed to be done we should drive out there, about 70 miles away, borrow his pickup to get the lumber and do all of the cutting, drilling, planing, panel sanding, etc. there and then haul the pieces back here for assembly.
I have a small table saw, a band saw, router, drill press and various tools but no real space to do large scale cutting. It's actually worth driving somewhere else to do the work with fewer compromises on space and equipment.
Agreed!
I have a nice 10" Delta table saw, but in feed and out feed issues (plus dust) usually find me wheeling it out to the driveway to cut.
What does make it somewhat easier is to have the guys at HD rough cut (say 1/4" over) your pieces from the 4'x8' sheet so all you have to do is cut to spec at home. Plus it's a lot easier to get home too as it fits in the truck better and is a LOT lighter.
I have a nice 10" Delta table saw, but in feed and out feed issues (plus dust) usually find me wheeling it out to the driveway to cut.
What does make it somewhat easier is to have the guys at HD rough cut (say 1/4" over) your pieces from the 4'x8' sheet so all you have to do is cut to spec at home. Plus it's a lot easier to get home too as it fits in the truck better and is a LOT lighter.
Bauhausler
Rational Subjectivist
Home Depot has saved me much hassle with large pieces of stock. They're forbidden to do 'precision' cuts and are supposed to charge per cut after the first free one but I've found that they're very cooperative if:
1) you go in when they're not busy.
2) know what you're doing
3) mark the cut marks on your stock
4) do the lifting yourself
5) don't rush them
Having it pre-cut sure beats trying to wrangle 32 sq ft of plywood into an SUV in a cross wind.
Perfectly lousy weather for spending the day with a soldering iron and getting E-waved!! Got the first crossover soldered and strapped to a JBL 4530 with a 2205 and a 20 watt pa amp. When I get other one done I'll hook it up to an Onkyo P-308 pre and an SAE 3100 power amp and see what the rta has to say! Sure wish I could figure how to get the dam pics up
Bauhausler
Rational Subjectivist
Perfectly lousy weather for spending the day with a soldering iron and getting E-waved!! Got the first crossover soldered and strapped to a JBL 4530 with a 2205 and a 20 watt pa amp. When I get other one done I'll hook it up to an Onkyo P-308 pre and an SAE 3100 power amp and see what the rta has to say! Sure wish I could figure how to get the dam pics up
Lousy weather? My thermometer says 1.4 degrees above zero and the wind is 18 - 25 mph. Indoors the furnace is running a 35% duty cycle to keep the temp above 60.
I've got the upload thing down but my pix always post as clickable thumbnails. Anybody want to explain how to get the pix up as full sized images in the post? Is there some kind of HTML Ninja-craft involved there?
Duffinator
Spin The Black Circle
No ports?
Single 3" port is on the rear.
Coulda done it in one of those holes, instead, very likely.... :yes: