Open Baffle Epiphany!

Hang on to your $$$ and go to the hardware store and buy some lamp cord for the speaker wire until you get that wiring figured out. I would stick with what you have for woofers. If your crafty you can always cut the hole bigger. One more thing to think about. It may be a good idea to make your first baffles out of less expensive wood or for that matter card board if you can find some stiff enough.
 
grafxdesin said:
So I will be rebuilding my open baffle speaker wooden fronts because it's time to use some beautiful local wood I recently saw at my mill. I will start this by saying that I a very happy with the sound I am getting with my current set-up, but as always I am looking for improvements and love to tinker. The wooden fronts I am rebuilding are 15" x 38" and will be made of local cherry and black walnut. For my full range I am using Wild Burro Betsy's and each side has 2 x 10" Goldwood GW-410D for woofers and are powered by a Yung SD200 200W. I will be installing Eminence APT-80 tweeters pointed at the ceiling. My questions are, could/would I benefit from replacing one of the 10" with 12"? Also what about the width of the wooden fronts? Would these benefit from maybe making them 16" or 17" wide? Wider?
Last question, my power amp is the Audiosource AMP 102 and has an A & B speaker option and both can be used at the same time. I plan on using Blue Jean Cables Canare 4S11 Star Quad Cable and using two conductors for the Betsy's and 2 for the Eminence, one from A and one from B. Is this the correct configuration for this set-up?
Thanks for your help!
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I found this picture of my Betsy/Alpha 15A OB's in the background. I think their baffle width is around 18 inches probably dictated by the wood I had on hand. I tried using a super tweeter with the Betsy's but there wasn't much to gain as they play pretty high on their own. Eight inch drivers are a popular choice because they usually don't require a tweeter.

You won't need to use B speaker option on your amp 102 or the quad cables as it will be powering just the Betsy's while the Yung plate amp drives the woofers. To get the signal to both of these amps you'll need a preamp with two pair of outputs or you can use Y cables to split the signal from the source ( CDP, DAC etc. ).

PC170007.JPG
 
I really like those Tang Band w8 1808 drivers but $200 each, damn. That better be a big difference from my Betsy's.
 
grafxdesin said:
I really like those Tang Band w8 1808 drivers but $200 each, damn. That better be a big difference from my Betsy's.
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I've had both. If you like refined and a more laid back sound the TB's excel in those areas. The Betsy's OTOH are less refined with more raunch. The TB's have a peak that needs correction while the Betsy's don't require a corrective circuit. Both are 93 dbs and I think I would prefer the more efficient TB W8-1772 vs the 1808.

If you can find a pair of vintage Zenith 49CZ802 drivers they will out perform either.
 
grafxdesin said:
Great info and thank you for sharing! The Zenith's are 12" full range, is that correct?
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Correct. They are 12"ers. They pop up on eBay and reports say that the numbers 49cz852, 802, 703 all seem to be virtually the same thing. They pop up on the auction site sporadically, and the price is steadily rising. No doubt thanks to all the great feedback they receive on here and elsewhere!
 
I am in the process of going through this whole thread but it may take a little while. Any other suggestions for 8" full range drivers that would be an upgrade from my Betsy's? Maybe in the $200-300 total price range?
 
Some years ago I tried the Tang Band W8-1808 in these folding wing OB's. They had nice highs and mids but struggled in bass production. The Betsy's in the same baffles had better bass which would be considered adequate by some but lacking by others. Any FR single driver in OB's can go to another level with the addition of helper woofers.

P2270031.JPG
 
Once I added H-frame woofers to the Tang Band 1808's bass was no longer an issue. A high Qts full range driver is not required if the bass is augmented. Since I know I'll only be using bass augmentation the woofer's high Qts is what's important to me.

P9160015.JPG
 
Poultrygeist said:
Once I added H-frame woofers to the Tang Band 1808's bass was no longer an issue. A high Qts full range driver is not required if the bass is augmented. Since I know I'll only be using bass augmentation the woofer's high Qts is what's important to me.

View attachment 1018597
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I have sold some gear that I was not using to get some $$$ to finish my OB speakers off. I just thought I would check once again before I order, so that I may profit from the experiences of you all. I have the Eminence Beta 12 LTA's already and have been playing with them in a temporary OB. I plan to order a pair of the Eminence 15 Alphas and build an H-Frame for them. I also plan to order the Eminence ASD 1001 super tweeter and try it in series with various caps (.47, 1, 1.33 & 1.5uF). I am leaning towards a 100W Yung plate amp to power the Alphas connected in parallel to the Yung. I will probably get the basic plate amp, but the 6dB boost is not much more $$$. Also, getting a Yung with more Watts is not a lot more $$$. My room is not very large (14 x 16 x 8ft.). Any suggestions? I could also not get the Yung amp for now, and instead get the $80 Berhinger active crossover and use it with a Cary Audio Rocket 88 tube amp that has been sitting on a shelf. Anyone guess whether the Yung plate amp or the cheap Berhinger/tube amp would work out best for the bass, or otherwise? I have been playing with a vintage Realistic equalizer (trying to adjust it by ear). Don't know if I would like using a cheap Berhinger more or not. I have never used an active crossover before.

Another thing that has caught my attention lately, is minidsp. Anyone here have experience not using it in an OB and then adding it? Before I sell more stuff or spend hours and hours figuring it out, I have two thoughts. 1) The idea of being able to measure what my system/room are doing and to make corrections seems like a dream come true! 2) The idea of taking an analogue signal, converting it to digital and then back to analogue seems horrible! The price is not too bad! I use several sources (CD, Turntable, and Reel to Reel tape. So, I would want to connect it to my output of my Bottlehead Pre-amp. Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

Benjamin
 
Benjamin,

The Yung SD100 has a lot more power than you really need to drive a pair of Alphas. Anything with more power and the volume control will be almost too sensitive to regulate.
 
Poultrygeist said:
Benjamin,

The Yung SD100 has a lot more power than you really need to drive a pair of Alphas. Anything with more power and the volume control will be almost too sensitive to regulate.
Click to expand...
Thank you Poultrygeist. If I go for a Yung, I won't go for anything bigger than the SD100 then.
 
Greetings to all, ordered the alphas and Dayton’s and have started cutting the speaker frames. I am trying the H-Frame with the full range. I will use an SET amp direct to the FR. I would like you guy’s opinion in how to power the H-Frames. Thanks
 
Samokan said:
Greetings to all, ordered the alphas and Dayton’s and have started cutting the speaker frames. I am trying the H-Frame with the full range. I will use an SET amp direct to the FR. I would like you guy’s opinion in how to power the H-Frames. Thanks
Click to expand...
I use SET amp on my Alphas. Down the road I'll try something with a bit more but for now all is well. In other words use what you have.
 
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