AK Design Collaborative - Insignia-Class Economy Speakers (a.k.a Indignia)

Yea, ecclectic group that signed on for this project. I have had to newly purchase all the tools to put these little guys together. The usual, needle nose, tiny side nippers, shiney stripper, Hakko 936 sushi, pound of Kester and a DMM from Harbor Freight. Stole a glue gun and a neat pair of scisors from the wife.

Last time I touched a soldering iron was 1964.

I do have a question. How is everybody attaching the iron core inductors to the PCBs, strapping them with cable ties or small screws?
 
All,
Hey, just wondering, has anyone received the backordered part yet? I know I know, patience... but I thought I'd check in to see if they're being shipped out yet.

thanks, can't wait. My dad arrived yesterday and he, myself and my son will work on this as far as we can while he's visiting so that we can all put our hands on the cabinets. Good times.
take care
peter
 
Cabinet design query

Somewhere back in this thread I seem to recall that we were recessing the drivers flush to the baffle to eliminate some sort of reflections/refractions or something that wasn't good for the sound. Whatever it was, does this also require that the baffle be mounted flush with the edges of the cabinet sides, or can it be recessed, say 1/2" to 3/4", ala vintage 1960-70 speakers?:scratch2:

I ask this because I'm contemplating using the side panels from some EV FourA speaker cabinets that I found as stock for the Indignias. My intention is to retain the original veneered front edge, and inset the baffle, then set the grill inside the extended sides. Setting it flush would be no big change, but it would change my grill plans.
 
It's diffraction, Jimbo. It's a re-radiation of energy travelling along the face of the baffle. Recessing the baffle will almost certainly seal your doom and you will die friendless, in the rain.

Ok, so that's a little exagerated. Recessing the baffle will cause more diffraction and it will muddy up the sound to some degree. It will most likely mess with the imaging and will smear the treble. With the 70's stuff it wasn't such a big deal because they were using a lot of cone tweeters that were already beaming at frequencies where the diffraction would have been a big issue so they, effectively, used the directivity of the tweeter to bypass the baffle edges.

Ray
 
Recessing the baffle will almost certainly seal your doom and you will die friendless, in the rain.

Well, I'm already resigned to that fate, regardless of what I do to these speakers.:tears:

Setting the baffle flush with the edges is no problem. But how do I deal with the grill, or actually the grill framework, affecting the sound? Or is that not a concern?

WAF precludes naked drivers, and, personally, I'd rather not stare at them, knowing they came from China.:thumbsdn:
 
Uh-oh! I jumped ahead with the crossovers before I saw these instructions. I'm not using the PCBs, just a piece of 1/8" masonite to mount the parts. I also didn't figure on mounting the binding posts on the board, just thought I'd mount the board separately to the inside of the cab, then use wire to connect to the posts mounted on the back of the speaker. Do I need to start over?
 
Setting the baffle flush with the edges is no problem. But how do I deal with the grill, or actually the grill framework, affecting the sound? Or is that not a concern?
It is a concern. PE uses a very shallow grille frame, and there are still measurable differences with the grill in place vs. without it. Whether those differences are audible, and how substantivelly so, is for the listener to determine in their own setting.

If you use edgeless cabinets, deep grille frames effectively defeat the purpose, but there are workarounds such as wireform frames and reticulated foam grilles.

Uh-oh! I jumped ahead with the crossovers before I saw these instructions. I'm not using the PCBs, just a piece of 1/8" masonite to mount the parts. I also didn't figure on mounting the binding posts on the board, just thought I'd mount the board separately to the inside of the cab, then use wire to connect to the posts mounted on the back of the speaker. Do I need to start over?
That's fine. Integral binding posts are merely a "feature" I try to build into my layouts, is all; I'll be illustrating over in the E'Wave thread. In Indignia's case, I put them on the centerline so the board mounts directly on the narrow rear panel of the PE curved cabs. Some builders prefer your method, actually.... :thmbsp:
 
Whew! :banana:

What about grills mounted on standoffs that sort of "float" 1/2"-3/4" above the baffle... like on my JBL L80t's?
 
What about grills mounted on standoffs that sort of "float" 1/2"-3/4" above the baffle... like on my JBL L80t's?
They still diffract, but the further away the edges are, the less it matters.

Interestingly, when AR published measurements on the AR3a, they were done with both the grille and grille molding removed, claiming it didn't matter. The actual data was published by Allison & Berkovitz in 1970:

http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/...nal_ar_documents/the_sound_field_in_home_lis/

[We kinda know better, now.... ;) ]
 
Setting the baffle flush with the edges is no problem. But how do I deal with the grill, or actually the grill framework, affecting the sound? Or is that not a concern?

WAF precludes naked drivers, and, personally, I'd rather not stare at them, knowing they came from China.:thumbsdn:

I'd do whatever you want, visually, with the grills and remove them for "serious" listening. If you just have music on because you like having music on, then chances are the grills won't make an audible difference. If you really want the full performance, pull the grills, turn down the lights, and get lost in the music.

Uh-oh! I jumped ahead with the crossovers before I saw these instructions. I'm not using the PCBs, just a piece of 1/8" masonite to mount the parts.

That's how I do it. I usually hit Walmart and get a $.97 clipboard. It's good for 4 crossovers (unless you have something huge). I run wires from there to the terminals and keep everything modular. It makes things easier if something goes wrong, which is a concern if I'm the guy building it. :stupid:

Ray
 
That's how I do it. I usually hit Walmart and get a $.97 clipboard. It's good for 4 crossovers (unless you have something huge).

There's a Walmart clipboard in there?

indignia.jpg
 
Nice looking setup, special. I'll bet it sounds even better. What ya got driving them?
 
Nice looking setup, special. I'll bet it sounds even better. What ya got driving them?

The preamp is a Transcendent Sound Grounded Grid, just to the left with the stylized G on the front, and that's my Pilot amp above and to the left of the Indignia.

I feed it with either a turntable, a Sony HD tuner, or 120gb+ of tunes from my Mac.
 
Am I correct in assuming that the idea is to keep the plane of the baffle free of any obstructions? I'm thinking now of using a 'floating' grill on standoffs. :scratch2:

Attached is a photo of my completed crossovers. Speaker wires with female spade terminals to attach to the drivers will be soldered on to the marked pins.
 

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