Zilch's AK Design Collaborative - Econowave Speaker

Your speakers look fantastic, just don't show them to any Altec fans.

From what I researched, there are two versions of the Val's, one with a sealed cab, and another with 1 or 2" ports on each side of the horns, in the shape of rectangles.
The woofer dictates the cabinet design not the other way around. Are your dad's Kenwood speakers ported?
 
Your speakers look fantastic, just don't show them to any Altec fans.

The woofer dictates the cabinet design not the other way around. Are your dad's Kenwood speakers ported?

Lol, thanks man. I can't take the credit, David, the AK'r I bought them from restored them. All I did was put a fresh coat of oil and make some flat black adapter boards for the horns.

Yep, indeed his are. If I decide to keep these woofers, I will put some ports in them.
 
Wanted to thank David for the beautifully restored cabs. James for picking his brain, and Zilch for the awesome setup, and putting up with all my "rookie" PM's. They sound really good. Not sure the best way to describe them, the highs are very detailed but not harsh.

After some listening I do know I can benefit from some better woofers, but they still sound damn good.

My setup:

-Altec Valencia Cabinents
-Kenwood Trio 777 Woofers
-Selenium Drivers w/Pyle Horns

Next is to make some grills for them.

Some pics..

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Nice job, those older altec and JBL cabs sure do make nice E'waves!:yes:

Russellc
 
Damn!.. those came out REALLY NICE TODD.. Can't wait to hear them next weekend.. .

One question though.. is that woofer meant to be in a sealed cab, or do you have the ports in the back? Do you know what the cab is tuned to? That could be some of the issue of the mids you were telling me about...

Wondering the same thing here....

russellc
 
In really simple terms, to make the sweet spot as big as possible :music:

It is an art and a science...or is the art of science?

And to get it in the correct position in doing so. I think my setup has some of these problems, my center to center is almost 12 inches with the 4507 cab, and it seem in listening, that the best sound comes with the ear at the same height as the waveguide, standing seems to take a little of the fullness away....Maybe closer together would raise this "Full zone" a little? Better get measurements down first.

I'm only speculating here as the measurement system is not complete yet. I have the mic, software and some cabling, I need to break down and complete it by getting that M-audio mobile pre and get going. Easy said, While trying to finish a DIY Pass F-5. Now, "Insubnia" will soon need built!:sigh: Oh well, at least I got the MC225 fixed after 2+ years!:banana:

Russellc
 
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Wanted to thank David for the beautifully restored cabs. James for picking his brain, and Zilch for the awesome setup, and putting up with all my "rookie" PM's. They sound really good. Not sure the best way to describe them, the highs are very detailed but not harsh.

After some listening I do know I can benefit from some better woofers, but they still sound damn good.

My setup:

-Altec Valencia Cabinents
-Kenwood Trio 777 Woofers
-Selenium Drivers w/Pyle Horns

Next is to make some grills for them.

Very nice Rygen, and a great reuse of some "mid Century Modern" Altec cabs...which apparently are underappreciated by some dismantlers in comparison to the Altec drivers....:beatnik:

Don't give up on those kenwood 777 drivers until you tune the enclosure to their t/s parameters. At approx 97dB with the alnico magnet it should be a great choice for a high eff ewave...and a superb partner with something like Russellc's DIY F5 amp. The F5 is also a item with a performance to price ratio that is amazing....:thmbsp:

Do a search for Valencia grills here as there was someone talking about doing some repro's. There are also some very close metal patterns if you wanted to keep that original flavor.... :scratch2:
 
Yep, saw that thread and replied for the grills. I'm going to keep at it with the kenwood drivers, I already found the site that lets you plug in the area of the cab to spit out the size of the ports. I'm also going to make new backs for the vals. I'll take a look at the F5 amp.
 
Yep, saw that thread and replied for the grills. I'm going to keep at it with the kenwood drivers, I already found the site that lets you plug in the area of the cab to spit out the size of the ports. I'm also going to make new backs for the vals. I'll take a look at the F5 amp.

Nice car as well....:yes:

russellc
 
EWave Boston A100 Woofer Replacement

G'morning all. One of the woofers in my Boston Acoustic A100 EWaves is starting to develop some voice coil rub. :tears: Can anyone recommend a good replacement pair of 10" woofers. The cabinet volume is just shy of 1.6 ft3.

I don't think I want to try to source another Boston woofer seeing how there are probably much better drivers out there. Of course price counts, does Parts Express offer anything?

Thanks,
Bugs
 
Econowave Polk model 7

Thought I'd try the econowave with the Polk model 7 I had lying around my shop. Someone put Non OEM dome tweeters in it and it sounded like :thumbsdn:.

I built the crossover using the diagram of the Large Advent Econowave. Unfortunately I don't have measuring equipment to test them but they sound pretty good (not as good as my Large Advents but not too bad)!

Thanks Guys for the Addiction:thmbsp:
 

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G'morning all. One of the woofers in my Boston Acoustic A100 EWaves is starting to develop some voice coil rub. :tears: Can anyone recommend a good replacement pair of 10" woofers. The cabinet volume is just shy of 1.6 ft3.

I don't think I want to try to source another Boston woofer seeing how there are probably much better drivers out there. Of course price counts, does Parts Express offer anything?

Thanks,
Bugs

Take a look at the Dayton Classic woofer DC250-8

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=295-315

Several Ewavers have used it with very good results.
 
You rock, that is exactly what I was looking for.:thmbsp: I'd add some No-Rez and maybe some dowel braces to stiffen up the cabinet as well. I'll order the parts Friday and keep you updated.

Quoting myself here but I forgot to ask, could I get away with placing the ports in the front of the cabinet? Is there any bends in the ports as I see they are 9" long and the cabinet itself is 9.5" D?
 
G'morning all. One of the woofers in my Boston Acoustic A100 EWaves is starting to develop some voice coil rub. :tears: Can anyone recommend a good replacement pair of 10" woofers. The cabinet volume is just shy of 1.6 ft3.

I don't think I want to try to source another Boston woofer seeing how there are probably much better drivers out there. Of course price counts, does Parts Express offer anything?
We just refoamed a pair here, so I'll try to get you some T/S parameters on them.

Thought I'd try the econowave with the Polk model 7 I had lying around my shop. Someone put Non OEM dome tweeters in it and it sounded like :thumbsdn:.
:tongue:

At 5.75" high, the small 18-Sound elliptical might have been a better fit; I've used them in AR4x successfully.

There just aren't a lot of options when the vertical space is limited. Jack showed us how to reconfigure baffles by filling in the existing cutouts earlier in this thread, and that's always an option, as well.... :yes:

Take a look at the Dayton Classic woofer DC250-8.
I may try that, as well, since the cabs are sitting here with no woofers in them.

Quoting myself here but I forgot to ask, could I get away with placing the ports in the front of the cabinet? Is there any bends in the ports as I see they are 9" long and the cabinet itself is 9.5" D?
Yes, in the corners below the woofer. It's a tight fit with the baffle mounting cleats right behind there, so measure carefully. I was going to do that, but wanted to be able to rear-mount oversize woofers like HPM-100 for testing, and there just wasn't room.

Yes, I used elbows.... :thmbsp:
 
Test Rack Updated.

I have loved my mobile test rack since putting it together a few months ago, but always was dissatisfied with the CD player having only three choices, and being so sensitive to vibrations. The rack was just updated by replacing the CD player with a computer, which at present holds 208 LP's in WAV form. All the LP's were stored and declicked from my collection.

And the woofer tester (WT2) that was purchased long ago has been incorporated in the computer, as well as a couple future programs which will be added as recommended by the Zilchster. Sounds like another learning experience coming up.
 

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I have loved my mobile test rack since putting it together a few months ago, but always was dissatisfied with the CD player having only three choices, and being so sensitive to vibrations. The rack was just updated by replacing the CD player with a computer, which at present holds 208 LP's in WAV form. All the LP's were stored and declicked from my collection.

And the woofer tester (WT2) that was purchased long ago has been incorporated in the computer, as well as a couple future programs which will be added as recommended by the Zilchster. Sounds like another learning experience coming up.

Showin off yer rack are ya!!:thmbsp:
 
Jack is "organized," a concept foreign to the Zichster, who thrives on never knowing which wires are going where, so he can figure it out every time. :tongue:

Looks like quite a nice selection of woofers hanging on the wall behind there, too...! :thmbsp:
 
Jack is "organized," a concept foreign to the Zichster, who thrives on never knowing which wires are going where, so he can figure it out every time. :tongue:

Looks like quite a nice selection of woofers hanging on the wall behind there, too...! :thmbsp:

Oooorrrrganized? Hummmm What is that? Isat one of dose thigs in church? :D

Figure it out every time? Heck if I turn my head I hafta check it again.:yes:
 
Okay I give up - I have been working on my ewave for a couple of weeks now and have come to the beliefe the woofers I have just won't fly for me. They are an old set of CTS 15" with 6" square magnets. They do really well, but just don't go quite low enough.

I am looking at the Goldwood 15" gw-1558 pro audio speaekrs as a substitute.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=290-384

I played with it on winsd and thought the graph looked pretty decent. It is going into a 4 cubic foot box. ANyone here try this woofer? How does it do? Will it sound like the graph says?

ANyfeedback on this woofer would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Mark
 
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