# Office Full range Setup



## sameoldme (Oct 4, 2012)

Hey guys, just wanted to share this project with ya...
OK, since I didn't want to blast the whole building and wanted to keep it simple I opted for a pair of VIFA TC9FD's 3.5" speakers. Don't sound too bad for a pair of small ones, let me know what you think!
Listen with headphones of course 

http://youtu.be/6y8MhRQQZeA


----------



## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

You built those yourself, including the grill? Very impressive. I noticed the slot port on the bottom - is that some type TL setup?


----------



## TagUrToast (Oct 15, 2011)

Nice work man, sounds really really nice for 3.5" speakers


----------



## lanayapiper (Oct 6, 2012)

TagUrToast said:


> Nice work man, sounds really really nice for 3.5" speakers


Yeah! The idea and engineering is great! It's like the concept of X mini speakers.


----------



## sameoldme (Oct 4, 2012)

theJman said:


> You built those yourself, including the grill? Very impressive. I noticed the slot port on the bottom - is that some type TL setup?


You bet, I LOVE to do this stuff!! Here's some pics, they are just plain ported boxes but I spent hours modeling a nice curve (both on impedance and freq.) and it paid off!! Everything is handmade except for the grill guides and the terminal cup :bigsmile: Being full range has advantages, like no crossover, no phasing issues between drivers and mostly if something doesn't sound right is either the box or the speaker, period!! (ok, maybe the speaker box maker too)


----------



## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

sameoldme said:


> Being full range has advantages, like no crossover, no phasing issues between drivers and mostly if something doesn't sound right is either the box or the speaker, period!! (ok, maybe the speaker box maker too)


You're preaching to the choir; I'm a _huge_ proponent of full range speakers. I just haven't found the ultimate one yet, something that plays smooth and clean from 80Hz to 20kHz. These speakers come close. I was integral in the design of the ELA series of subwoofers with the owner of this company, so I'm very familiar with their products, but I'd prefer a little more presence in the midrange then the Cube2 SE delivers . These are really close though.


----------



## sameoldme (Oct 4, 2012)

TagUrToast said:


> Nice work man, sounds really really nice for 3.5" speakers


Thanks Tag!! actually the Video camera add's a little more sizzle in the high-end than what they actually do, they are pretty natural up to 15K! and that's a stretch for the little Vifa's... But the bass is right on, actually it sounds tighter in person! :unbelievable:

I've only had my wife in the office listen to them and even though she's not as crazy for audio as I am, the only comment she made after a 30 second listen was: "Where's the subwoofer box?" that made my day :bigsmile:


----------



## sameoldme (Oct 4, 2012)

theJman said:


> You're preaching to the choir; I'm a _huge_ proponent of full range speakers. I just haven't found the ultimate one yet, something that plays smooth and clean from 80Hz to 20kHz. These speakers come close. I was integral in the design of the ELA series of subwoofers with the owner of this company, so I'm very familiar with their products, but I'd prefer a little more presence in the midrange then the Cube2 SE delivers . These are really close though.


WOW, those look cool!! that speaker looks similar to a Fountek driver I was contemplating for my truck...
By the way I have been looking at the Fostex FE103E driver, I've heard great stories about those and I might try them for my home HT Full range's  Have you had any experience with them?


----------



## sameoldme (Oct 4, 2012)

lanayapiper said:


> Yeah! The idea and engineering is great! It's like the concept of X mini speakers.


Wow those are really small! I'm amazed how speaker technology has evolved over the years :rubeyes:


----------



## fusseli (May 1, 2007)

Incredible cabinet build and finish, nice work!

I am throwing a wrench in the gears though, a fullrange speaker only wouldn't need a "crossover" if it were in-wall or on-wall. Your floor standing cabinets would help reduce the needs for BSC, as does being near the wall, but I think you could find your new speakers even more naturally voiced with a little contouring.

Do you have any stuffing in those cabinets? Since they are so oblong in dimension, I have read that cabinets of that shape will have an internal resonance (similar to a TL) even if you're just using it as an ordinary vented alignment. If you could suspend some fill in the end of the cabinet, opposite end of the port, that could alleviate any possible issue. Fill in that area would also be necessary for dampening the midrange backwave off your driver.


----------



## BD55 (Oct 18, 2011)

Those look really cool, and sound nice! :T 

I'm curious, did you have to route out the backside edge of the baffles around the drivers' openings a bit to allow some additional clearance? After looking at lots of builds I started to notice people doing this because the MDF is pretty thick relative to the depth of the driver and supposedly blocks the sound waves coming from the back of the driver.


----------



## sameoldme (Oct 4, 2012)

fusseli said:


> Incredible cabinet build and finish, nice work!
> 
> I am throwing a wrench in the gears though, a fullrange speaker only wouldn't need a "crossover" if it were in-wall or on-wall. Your floor standing cabinets would help reduce the needs for BSC, as does being near the wall, but I think you could find your new speakers even more naturally voiced with a little contouring.
> 
> Do you have any stuffing in those cabinets? Since they are so oblong in dimension, I have read that cabinets of that shape will have an internal resonance (similar to a TL) even if you're just using it as an ordinary vented alignment. If you could suspend some fill in the end of the cabinet, opposite end of the port, that could alleviate any possible issue. Fill in that area would also be necessary for dampening the midrange backwave off your driver.


 How did you know that?  YES, actually when I first listened I didn't listen in the office but could hear a mild midrange humming, I played it by ear and just press-fitted a 4x10x1" piece of acoustic foam behind the driver. Exactly like you said, not only cured the "humming" but I could perceive a little more bass in the 40's than before, I pink noised them in the office and the curve says they could sound better, however, the Lepai amp has bass and treble knobs and that seems to help in some songs, on other I just defeat those controls (with a bypass switch) and they're good to go... :T


----------



## sameoldme (Oct 4, 2012)

BD55 said:


> Those look really cool, and sound nice! :T
> 
> I'm curious, did you have to route out the backside edge of the baffles around the drivers' openings a bit to allow some additional clearance? After looking at lots of builds I started to notice people doing this because the MDF is pretty thick relative to the depth of the driver and supposedly blocks the sound waves coming from the back of the driver.


THANKS!! :T

Actually no, but wouldn't be surprised it could help, maybe an A to B comparison would be cool to see with RTA on hand onder:


----------



## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

sameoldme said:


> WOW, those look cool!! that speaker looks similar to a Fountek driver I was contemplating for my truck...


And with good reason; those are indeed Fountek drivers. On the MiniCube 2 that second driver is actually a passive radiator. I was intrigued by the prospect of something that small with a PR, and as it turned out that design ended up sounding better then if two active drivers were used. Go figure... :dontknow:




sameoldme said:


> By the way I have been looking at the Fostex FE103E driver, I've heard great stories about those and I might try them for my home HT Full range's  Have you had any experience with them?


I have not, but from what I gather the Fostex drivers are very solid and well liked. Another one that has always captivated me is the Jordan JX 92. Pricey, but supposedly an astounding full range driver.


----------



## sameoldme (Oct 4, 2012)

theJman said:


> ...And with good reason; those are indeed Fountek drivers. On the MiniCube 2 that second driver is actually a passive radiator...


That's nice for a FR driver! I'd suppose that being a Full range the lacking would be mostly in the very low and the very high end of the spectrum, having a port or a passive radiator in that respect is pretty much being the second driver for low's but could be like an "enhanced" port without the mid's and hi's from the second driver.. I wonder if there would be another artifact for the very highs... 

I guess we are somewhat spoiled with high end tweeters and subs and tend to listen to music bass & hi heavy most of the time, that's why in Full ranges you kind of go back to what natural is supposed to be...
Just my 2 cents :dontknow:


----------



## BD55 (Oct 18, 2011)

I just noticed your table saw. Did you build that yourself? Does it just use a circular saw? In any case that's pretty cool :T. The reason I ask is because I don't have a dedicated table saw, but I do have a circular saw.


----------



## sameoldme (Oct 4, 2012)

BD55 said:


> I just noticed your table saw. Did you build that yourself? Does it just use a circular saw? In any case that's pretty cool :T. The reason I ask is because I don't have a dedicated table saw, but I do have a circular saw.


Yessir, you know we mexicans are crafty under minimal resources :heehee:... I had some 3/4" MDF leftover from a car audio project I did + a few 2x4's and that did the trick. I just ziptied the spring action saw cover on the circular saw and inverted it. Bolted it through countersunk holes and there you go.. Manual switch (plugging and unplugging) and being SUPER careful to not get very close to the live saw when running..
Fence is just another very straight piece of lumber covered with leftover laminated flooring (I plan to do the same for the table) and harbor freight clamps.

Eventually I will pony up the 600+ for a porter cable but right now that one will have to do!


----------



## DrDyna (Jul 21, 2011)

sameoldme said:


> Yessir, you know we mexicans are crafty under minimal resources :heehee:...


LOL! Us Canadians too, my table saw is very much the same as yours, only difference is I used an old desk as a table that I got from a school auction and I have a switch connected to a plug so I can turn it off and on.

Oh, another cheap mod for home made table saws that I find very useful is to use a couple of old wooden yard sticks. Route some channels into the table and glue the yardsticks into the channels measured out from the saw blade. (bump the stick up against the blade, glue it down then break off the extra stick) Once they're glued in place and accurate, you've got a great, easy way to set your rip fence.


----------



## sameoldme (Oct 4, 2012)

DrDyna said:


> LOL! Us Canadians too, my table saw is very much the same as yours, only difference is I used an old desk as a table that I got from a school auction and I have a switch connected to a plug so I can turn it off and on.
> 
> Oh, another cheap mod for home made table saws that I find very useful is to use a couple of old wooden yard sticks. Route some channels into the table and glue the yardsticks into the channels measured out from the saw blade. (bump the stick up against the blade, glue it down then break off the extra stick) Once they're glued in place and accurate, you've got a great, easy way to set your rip fence.


Good advice!!! I just made a couple of routed channels along the MDF to eventually clamp the fence there but I soon discovered that most of my cuts go way over the channels, so :coocoo: kind'a didn't work.. But your solution sounds great! do you have a picture you can share??


----------



## DrDyna (Jul 21, 2011)

sameoldme said:


> Good advice!!! I just made a couple of routed channels along the MDF to eventually clamp the fence there but I soon discovered that most of my cuts go way over the channels, so :coocoo: kind'a didn't work.. But your solution sounds great! do you have a picture you can share??



Sure, it's like so:


----------



## sameoldme (Oct 4, 2012)

DrDyna said:


> Sure, it's like so:


Cool!!! sorry to be a pain but how do the channels that you mentioned look for the fence?? :huh:


----------



## DrDyna (Jul 21, 2011)

sameoldme said:


> Cool!!! sorry to be a pain but how do the channels that you mentioned look for the fence?? :huh:


Oh, not a pain at all. I didn't route any for the fence, I just have a piece of luan that's glued to 2 blocks of 2x4.

Might not be a bad idea though.


----------

