Zilch's AK Design Collaborative - Econowave Speaker
- Thread starter Zilch
- Start date
Here they are with the grilles attached, and playing with the Nikko NR1219 receiver. My oldest son James will pick this system up next Thursday when he visits for Thanksgiving.
VERY VERY nice work Jack. They look professional and store bought.
DonQuixote99
just give me some truth
Nay, they look too good for any stores i know about....
Hey guys!
I'm pretty new to the forum still but I've been really head over heels for DIY projects. I am planning to build some econowave's as my next project and I already have the boards on order from Chris.
To those who built their first set of speakers without much circuitry knowledge, what did you decide to buy first (drivers? horns? old speakers just for the cabinet?) I'm trying to decide what's the best method, to either build my own cabinets or to acquire some beater speakers and try and figure out what kind of drivers and horns/waveguides will be best suited for the cab?
I was trying to find that instruction guide as featured in the wired video on how to put together the board, but it seems the thread has disappeared. I'm still looking around for it, but I have a good general idea on how to put together everything, it's the rating for each part on the circuit board that throws me off.
A big thank you to all who have contributed so far, I'm so fascinated by all of this!
I'm pretty new to the forum still but I've been really head over heels for DIY projects. I am planning to build some econowave's as my next project and I already have the boards on order from Chris.
To those who built their first set of speakers without much circuitry knowledge, what did you decide to buy first (drivers? horns? old speakers just for the cabinet?) I'm trying to decide what's the best method, to either build my own cabinets or to acquire some beater speakers and try and figure out what kind of drivers and horns/waveguides will be best suited for the cab?
I was trying to find that instruction guide as featured in the wired video on how to put together the board, but it seems the thread has disappeared. I'm still looking around for it, but I have a good general idea on how to put together everything, it's the rating for each part on the circuit board that throws me off.
A big thank you to all who have contributed so far, I'm so fascinated by all of this!
donprice
Wound up workin' at a gas station....
The "best" ewave method depends on what you want. Finding mint condition Large Advents cabs (with original woofers to refoam) is hard to beat.....you only have to be lucky. Start looking for big 2-way speakers and you may get lucky on matching cabs and woofers. That can eliminate lots of work on building and tuning. Find a Toronto area speaker hoarder that needs to free up some cash and space....
Or you can build a cab from scratch and load it with a new woofer.
Good luck!
Or you can build a cab from scratch and load it with a new woofer.
Good luck!
If you are worried about getting in over your head, there are many complete designs accessible from the "summary" links in the first post of the "flex your PCD mettle" thread on techtalk (easy to google). Note that a few of the waveguides are not easy to get, and prices listed will be out of date. Crossovers are not very difficult to build without a circuit board (easier in many ways, actually).
Kneedeepinit
Super Member
Does anyone know of plans for a dedicated cabinet for the ewave?
I have an altec Santana 2 and I plan to ewave it. It seems to me that if I use a dedicated enclosure for the ewave, I would have something very similar to an altec model 19. The woofers are identical and they are both 2 ways. The Santana has a questionable tweeter while the model 19 has a horn
I have an altec Santana 2 and I plan to ewave it. It seems to me that if I use a dedicated enclosure for the ewave, I would have something very similar to an altec model 19. The woofers are identical and they are both 2 ways. The Santana has a questionable tweeter while the model 19 has a horn
So you mean an enclosure for the waveguide? It can be anything you want. The volume makes no difference because nothing happens inside it. Because of the directivity, the baffle doesn't make much difference either, although it's best to have it flush with the front of the speaker, and the waveguide flush in the baffle, with no edges sticking out. If you needed edges for a grill, maybe some space for felt/etc. around those edges would be a good plan.
The problem, though, is the woofer is too low in the Santana. You'd have to re-do the front baffle of the cabinet too, unless it can be flipped upside down.
edit: P.S. That's not the same woofer as the 19.
The problem, though, is the woofer is too low in the Santana. You'd have to re-do the front baffle of the cabinet too, unless it can be flipped upside down.
edit: P.S. That's not the same woofer as the 19.
DonQuixote99
just give me some truth
The cabinet must be sized for the woofer. A generic 'e-wave' cabinet can't exist, as the concept is to add the CD horn to various speakers with various woofers, requiring various cab designs. Your best bet is to keep the Santana cabinets, which after all were designed for those woofers. You can fit the CD horn into the cab as well, or mount it separately, making the original cabinet a bassbox. Both concepts are valid, but the later avoids surgery on the original cabinets, allowing you to easily convert it back to stock configuration in the future if desired. This approach also gives you a pair of CD horn modules that you can employ with various woofer setups from time to time.
Kneedeepinit
Super Member
Was it hard to remove the stock baffle? That is about the only technical challenge
DonQuixote99
just give me some truth
A method I've seen described is to remove what is necessary only of the stock baffle, and add a new one on top of it.
Kneedeepinit
Super Member
That actually might look ok with the Santana 2 cabinet as the sides protrude past the baffle. The cloth front is flush to them.
If I used 1/2" baffle, it would end up flush with the sides and the cover would look like a normal surface mount cover.
This could work out good. The woofer is not a model 19 woofer but it is the model 14 woofer and that is supposed to be a fine speaker. I would be recreating it with a modern horn and crossover
If I used 1/2" baffle, it would end up flush with the sides and the cover would look like a normal surface mount cover.
This could work out good. The woofer is not a model 19 woofer but it is the model 14 woofer and that is supposed to be a fine speaker. I would be recreating it with a modern horn and crossover
DonQuixote99
just give me some truth
Fascinating. I bought a pair of model 14 woofers ages ago, with the idea of basing an ewave design on them. Never have gone ahead with it, but I have the right crossover design I think. Combines a modified Model 14 low end and an ewave high end. It's here: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=4495101&postcount=12872
This was always the stumbling block. Zilch just couldn't beat PE's prices on flat packs. He started talking to Erich over on AVS who volunteered to put together an affordable flat pack in his part of the country which would go up on the website that we were starting up. Sadly, Zilch passed on, and things just got too weird with Erich--someone whom neither Zilch nor I ever met IRL. All of this is moot as I have no extra money to do anything whilst paying for storage of the Zilchlab.
Interestingly, there's a lot of talk about IP in the final pages of that 200 page thread. Do the bulk of AVS guys even realize their project grew out the Zilch's Econowave thread here? Do the AK guys realize that Econowave grew out of Zilch's Quick and Dirty 4430 thread on Lansing Heritage?
I just really miss Zilch.
Hi everyone.
Almost all the stuff i need for the ewave deluxe has arrived waiting on some crossover parts. QSC PL-000446GP B&C DE250-8 1" 3012LF.
I was thinking about start building the enclosures, what i have found is that the box for deluxe was volume 1.65 cu. ft Two 2" ports at ~9.5" tuning to ~30 Hz.
But a 2.8 cu. ft One 4" port ~ 12.20" tuning to 30Hz would work to? A little more spl in the lower, box size ain't a problem.
Was thinking about putting the ports on the side of the box due to the length of the port, problems?
Almost all the stuff i need for the ewave deluxe has arrived waiting on some crossover parts. QSC PL-000446GP B&C DE250-8 1" 3012LF.
I was thinking about start building the enclosures, what i have found is that the box for deluxe was volume 1.65 cu. ft Two 2" ports at ~9.5" tuning to ~30 Hz.
But a 2.8 cu. ft One 4" port ~ 12.20" tuning to 30Hz would work to? A little more spl in the lower, box size ain't a problem.
Was thinking about putting the ports on the side of the box due to the length of the port, problems?
donprice
Wound up workin' at a gas station....
Yes and yes. You can't spend much time clicking links in those topics (or anything related it seems) without finding out where it leads. Don't forget the Flex your PCD Mettle thread on PartsExpress Tech Talk.:thmbsp: