# just sharing my latest project...



## hearingspecialist (Mar 15, 2010)

Main towers: 1.948 internal cu ft. 3/4" MDF all around with a TWW setup with truncated soft domes and dual 8" drivers tuned to 32hz. Each enclosure has over 50lbs of non-drying clay to dampen with very little acousti stuff/polyfill.

Modifications: I added an additional 3/4" baffle to both the front and rear (1.5" total now), added a bigger 3/4"x12"x12" base with 5 spikes each (one in center of base, I do believe the center spike made a difference just by itself which I did listen before doing all this other). What I also did was create internal "channels" or baffles not just for support but kind of a transmission line with measured 1/4" ceiling tile pieces placed methodically to help control the impedance and clear any midrange discolloration. I spent 2 days on the math side of this in calculating the correct place for aperiodic type material and tile thickness. I removed all polyfill stuffing and with the increased baffle size and upgraded crossovers these sound controlled, dynamic, and extended naturally before receiver calibrations. All clay is still in place internally. I'm trying to do as much physically before my receiver does it digitally which obviously makes everything now more dynamic and the boundaries have been extended even further.

I cannot stress the importance and enhancement of increased baffle size as well as an awesome set of crossovers. Love them crossovers!!!!:nerd:

Forgot to mention...these things weigh over 115lbs each and more than my 17 year old daughter. I couldn't get one on the scale correctly to weigh and I tweaked my back trying to amuse myself with the weight of them while weighing them.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Pics? Please.:bigsmile:


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## hearingspecialist (Mar 15, 2010)

10-4, will do when I get home and hopefully easy to upload on here. I do have to say that the trim and finish came out well. I layered the baffles and base with 10 coats of Plasti-Dip. I dig the rubber finish but hard to clean. I found that a "sham-wow" was the best wet to use if touched. I really enjoyed this in making my foundation solid and better, now I can experiment with different drivers and placement of the tiles internally. I even re-did the port with a flared tip from PE on each. 

Man, super thick baffles and a great crossover, heaven...


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## Jstslamd (Nov 30, 2010)

Very interested to see these. Post pics asap!!


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## brandon75173 (Dec 13, 2009)

Sounds very nice. Have you ever used plasti-dip before? I coated several of my expensive klein crescent wrenches a few months ago. Didnt even last one the ones rarely handled. Of course, that is a tool and not a cab. in the living room.


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## hearingspecialist (Mar 15, 2010)

I have used the Plasti-Dip on my mesh grills in the bottom of my Audi bumper and the grill too with success. I really looked into the properties and it was perfect for what I wanted it to do. I wanted to narrow the front baffle as you will see in the pics as much as possible while keeping the strength super high so I wanted a material that could also change/or affect the sound...al la Plasti-Dip. I had to really take my time and you have to be really careful in the handeling department when installing and securing. I like it and looks just like the finish on my Dayton sub enclosures, just not rubber feeling.


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## brandon75173 (Dec 13, 2009)

For sure. I used acetone and wiped everything down before they were sprayed on a hanger. Glad it works for you though. For that look I went to the aerosol bedliner.


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## hearingspecialist (Mar 15, 2010)

Waiting for the wifey to find battery charger for our Canon camera, will hopefully post pics tonight.


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## FlashJim (May 6, 2006)

antici .................... pation!


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## hearingspecialist (Mar 15, 2010)

I know!!! I was bummed last night in searching for one of the many camera's that my daughter has and my wife. Of course the one I did find was dead, no smoke, nada, zip, zilch! Dang wifey doesn't know where she put the plug-in charger.

My back is still pretty sore, fwiw from moving these beasts. My dad is coming up from SoCal on Saturday and he's excited to see my handiwork. My dad is an Architect and has mad skill and attention to detail so hopefully I will make him proud with the finish and trim work.

I'm trying to source a new notebook so I can provide some measurements as well and will wait to modify internal baffles and tiles until I can measure some pink, white, and broadband noise with their current state. I was suppose to have received a new laptop back in December, "brother in law" thing (he's an engineer with the state of Cali) with upgraded processors and such.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

I know the feeling, my wife never knows where the charger is for the camera or Ipod and she just used them, i don't understand that.:rolleyesno:


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## hearingspecialist (Mar 15, 2010)

I hope these turn out decent, I just couldn't wait for day light to take and post.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Thats what i'm talking about, those things are nice, great job on the whole getup and let the wife know we said thanks for finding the charging cord for the camera.:sn:


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## hearingspecialist (Mar 15, 2010)

Not too happy with the flash though, here's straight on (R) side. I seem to not be picking up the details at night time even with this crazy camera thats suppose to be automatic in performance. I'll take more in the morning for more clarity and better resolution.

For sizing: Mains are 60" apart and 12.5ft to ear canals and 42" TV. The one over-all pic was me sitting at reference listening position. 

I hit THX reference listening levels at 75% signal for mains and about 60% signal levels to the subs, this was designed to be efficient. My YPAO sets the main levels when calibrating at "Flat" to 35% and sub levels to 5% so these sing and sing well.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Do you have the tweeter recessed in the baffle on the towers? If so how did you do such a fine job of cutting them out?


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## hearingspecialist (Mar 15, 2010)

Nope not flushed with any drivers. The soft domes are about a 1/16" so they aren't too bad. With a total baffle thickness of 1.5" I think I was just lucky everything went smoothly. I don't have the tools to flush mount. I really like the Paradigm Reference stuff and their drivers are pretty and not flush mounted. I do also like the aggressive THX look but with the detailed refinements of say a Canton enclosure.

The flush look may be the 10 coats of Plasti-Dip...jk


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## Jstslamd (Nov 30, 2010)

Great job!! They look fantastic. What subs are those ? And are they 10's or 12's. In how big of a listening area ?


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## hearingspecialist (Mar 15, 2010)

The subs are Dayton 10" DVC's and those enclosures also have about 40lbs of clay inside of them each. They are almost a 11" in size which I thought was cool. Very efficient drivers. 

The room opens up to the right side into the small dinning room and then to the kitchen. Our total SQ is only 1200 something.

My YPAO senses 12.5 ft for the mains, 14ft for the subs, and my side rears 5ft. All right on the money.

I love the silver allen head screws and the base, all adjustable spikes with the allen head screws as well. I used 1 5/8" screws when mounting the drivers, I would love for my wife to say..."those things look like something out of your Stereophile magazine"...


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## hearingspecialist (Mar 15, 2010)

I want to thank you fine gentlemen for the positive comments. It's nice to have others understand why you did something and built it this way or that way. Here are some others:


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## Jstslamd (Nov 30, 2010)

I'm a bit new to the different ways o internal dampening. What exactly does the non drying clay do ?


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## hearingspecialist (Mar 15, 2010)

I like using it to completely remove the chance of inner wall vibration. It's a huge amount of work to hand lay and press it but for me it just makes the sound that much better, imo. I even have 1lb clay bars surrounding the inner side walls where the drivers are mounted. The knuckle test is a home run!

One may argue that this can be done with thicker mdf. I tried to source 1" mdf from home depot and they would have to order it. So, 2 3/4" baffles sandwiched is what I did. Some may say its overkill for the clay but if high end designs are crazy exotic in reducung vibration then this for me is simple and does the job.


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## Jstslamd (Nov 30, 2010)

Why not use something like acustafoam to line the walls with Aka eggcrates


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Again i've got to say what an amazing job you did.:T


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## steve1616 (Apr 6, 2009)

Wow, you did an awesome job. I hope my first build will turn out close to how nice yours look.


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## hearingspecialist (Mar 15, 2010)

Thanks guys!!!


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## Theresa (Aug 23, 2010)

The carpenter who built my larger sub used 1" mdf by mistake (how wonderful, eh?) and I lined it with some trilayer dampening material from PE and its very dead to the knuckle test. Wasn't sure that the dampener would do anything but it did.


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## hearingspecialist (Mar 15, 2010)

I would have loved to use 1" and I wasn't going to wait for them to source it. I like that HD has smaller pre-cut pieces in various sizes already available. I used 2 sheets of their pre-sized pieces and it sure made it easier to transport and cut.

I will also add an additional 3/4" baffle to the sub enclosures and trim them to resemble the towers. The only thing is that the pictures don't represent them as well as I expected. The details aren't really exposed, oh well you all get the idea. The subs are my least concern because I would love to have a set of the Rythmic servo driven setups. I really dig their products!!!:clap:

I also thought about using long rods to run the entire depth and coming out the backside when mounting the drivers connecting them to both baffles. I saw a high end design that did that and thought the science of it was spot on. I just wish I could remember the maker of those:dontknow:


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## adio (May 27, 2009)

how do the highs and mids sound coming out of them at low and high voulmes??


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## hearingspecialist (Mar 15, 2010)

Heh, thanks for checkin out my thread!!! I created a system that can provide audiophile grade 2.0 sound but also with THX level capabilities. You can have high resolution HT! I invite anyone with their favorite cd, sacd, or blue ray to come take a listen and hear my sound. 

My sound is crystal clear, high resolution, and linearity is fantastic but have to give credit to my Yamaha receiver and its damping factor for the crazy linearity and dynamic range. I use absolutely no volume enhancers within my receiver and I'm really proud of the linear response relative to the volume range and setting. I have re-calibrated a handful of times since posting this and my levels for my mains (to show how sensitive they are and efficient) when YPAO does its magic is then set to 40% signal sent to each tower and 5% to my subs. That just goes to show how efficient a setup can be when components are matched and used within their acoustic boundaries. awesome!!!

To reach THX levels I then adjust my tower level signals within the receiver to 70% and subs to 65%. At -15db volume level on the receiver is reference level (my home can't handle this level very long nor can the neighbors or the wifey). +16db is max volume setting, so you can see that highly efficient drivers equates to more flexibility which I really dig. I love having options and tweakability!

I expect a realistic representation with a wide deep soundstage with clarity that doesn't change with volume. If its there in the music or movie, its presented in my sound. Big thick baffles and precise/matched crossovers do wonders!!!:nerd:


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