Horn guy from B'lore

[abav]

nice pic, PRO look...

 

[iaudio]

Beast, Welcome aboard.
I am sure members like Rajeev, Viren Bakshi, Anilva will be able to give you good inputs regarding your query.

 

[kaushik]

i was taking sip by sip of your diy work, as a lazy pal i have not done any work atleast in speakers ..
i have a childish box plan for a set of vifas ..drawings were ready 2 weeks back but still need to go ahead
the line demands a para ..

but ran out of skill after I built the front horns.

we all are waiting for a more detailed thread on the construction process of the beautiful looking horns

 

[Rajiv]

Purely on an experimental basis I started out to build the mighty Lowther Tp1 ISis, but ran out of skill after I built the front horns. I will post that experience separately. The Lowthers are now back in their boxes waiting for another bout of inspiration. I will most likely build the front horns as satellite units and pair them with a pair of Fostex 12" FW305s. may have to attenuate the lowthers by about 3-6 db, but that is not a bad thing if I succeed in bringing the sound into balance.

Hi,

Great to see another horn guy on the forum.

If you would like to pursue the Lowther TP1 build you should contact Anilva on the forum.He has the services of a really good carpenter,who will be able to build your Lowther cabinets.

You might find this link useful,if you decide to go with the Fostex woofers and Lowther combination.

http://audioroundtable.com/forum/pdf.php?th=9326&S=0a4a3bb689a7c0bb0abdff77c460f9be


Regards
Rajiv

 

[GeorgeO]

Anil lives in Bangalore but is out of town until early August, very interesting pewrson to meet up with, esp regarding horns and diy.

 

[Beast_of_burden]

Hi,

Great to see another horn guy on the forum.

If you would like to pursue the Lowther TP1 build you should contact Anilva on the forum.He has the services of a really good carpenter,who will be able to build your Lowther cabinets.

You might find this link useful,if you decide to go with the Fostex woofers and Lowther combination.

http://audioroundtable.com/forum/pdf.php?th=9326&S=0a4a3bb689a7c0bb0abdff77c460f9be


Regards
Rajiv

That is an interesting link. Wayne seems to be happy to share plans for the speakers that he sells, that is amazing! It appears a 2-3 cu.ft vented box would work quite well with the FW305s. I am researching this further, let me see where this leads me.

I could use the services of a carpenter to build the front horns of the TP1 and cabinets for the woofers. I will PM Anil and request contact info of his carpenter.

Anil lives in Bangalore but is out of town until early August, very interesting pewrson to meet up with, esp regarding horns and diy.

I am looking forward to meeting Anil, very impressive projects. Also very curious as to how the BLHs he's built sound vs mine. Sometime it is very difficult to judge a DIY speaker in absolute terms, an added point of reference definitely helps.

 

[quad]

Really good to have another solid DIYer in our midst.
Your speakers look excellent.

Also very curious as to how the BLHs he's built sound vs mine.

It might be interesting if you could compare SoulForged's
FE206 BiBs with your BLH design cabinet.

Before I built the Sachikos, I seriously considered going with the
208 Fostex design as it was highly recommended by ScottMoose
and others.

I understand the FE-207 could use help from a supertweeter, but
perhaps even the FE-206 could benefit from it too.

Sometime it is very difficult to judge a DIY speaker in absolute terms, an added point of
reference definitely helps.

Very true. I felt the same too after building mine.
Personally, I am satisfied with the FE206 in the Sachikos, but
to be fair, my "budget" setup in a bedroom, is not really
acoustically ideal, nor do I have very good ears.

 

[captrajesh]

He has the services of a really good carpenter

Hi Rajiv,

Do you have any here in Chennai? I'm planning bookshelf speaker build with real wood.

Regards


Rajesh

 

[Beast_of_burden]

Really good to have another solid DIYer in our midst.
Your speakers look excellent.



It might be interesting if you could compare SoulForged's
FE206 BiBs with your BLH design cabinet.

Before I built the Sachikos, I seriously considered going with the
208 Fostex design as it was highly recommended by ScottMoose
and others.

I understand the FE-207 could use help from a supertweeter, but
perhaps even the FE-206 could benefit from it too.



Very true. I felt the same too after building mine.
Personally, I am satisfied with the FE206 in the Sachikos, but
to be fair, my "budget" setup in a bedroom, is not really
acoustically ideal, nor do I have very good ears.

The consensus wrt FE208 BLH has turned a full 180 degrees. There was a thread which turned mildly acrimonious after someone built the horn and ripped it apart for a lack of bass response. This person then modified the cabs into the Jericho horn which was reportedly better. Scottmoose was pretty sure about the FE208 design, apparently he no longer is.

FE206 can definitely use a tweeter, they are very weak in the cymbals, completely lack sizzle. Once you add a tweeter you will notice that the sound become airy and the imaging improves a lot.

You built the massive Sachikos, amazing. I would love to hear them. What amplification are you using? My BLH speakers sound pretty good with a T-amp, plenty of authority in the bass with just 3-4 watts. The biggest lesson I've learnt from this project is that BLH designs sound best when played loud and consequently not quite suitable for nearfield listening. The problem isnt with the speaker, it is with the application.

The BiB is an easier build and is probably easier to get right. The BLH design OTOH presents greater challenges in getting it absolutely right. Mistakes in the build can ruin the sound. Now I would love to hear those BiBs, there is a person I know who owns a brand new pair of FE207s and these would be great in that design IIRC.

 

[hifiashok]

Nice thread..... Thanx for sharing, guys (and, bl8d welcome).

 

[quad]

You built the massive Sachikos, amazing. I would love to hear them. What amplification are you using?
My BLH speakers sound pretty good with a T-amp, plenty of authority in the bass with just 3-4 watts. The biggest lesson I've learnt from this project is that BLH designs sound best when played loud and consequently not quite suitable for nearfield listening. The problem isnt with the speaker, it is with the application.

The Sachikos are here -
https://picasaweb.google.com/prasadb/SachikoSingleDriverSpeakers

Other projects, incl my amps are here.
Picasa Web Albums - Prasad

The Sachikos too sound better played loud.
However, even a low powered 6B4G Get*Set*Go SET amp can drive
them to uncomfortably loud levels.
I also have a KT-77 Push-pull amp, but the SET has displaced it
as the primary amp, as I feel it is more balanced, and musical.

 

[Beast_of_burden]

The Sachikos are here -
https://picasaweb.google.com/prasadb/SachikoSingleDriverSpeakers

Other projects, incl my amps are here.
Picasa Web Albums - Prasad

The Sachikos too sound better played loud.
However, even a low powered 6B4G Get*Set*Go SET amp can drive
them to uncomfortably loud levels.
I also have a KT-77 Push-pull amp, but the SET has displaced it
as the primary amp, as I feel it is more balanced, and musical.

That KT-77 amp looks wonderful. I have never really heard an EL34, but I keep hearing that they are the ultimate honey drippers. I will admit that I like the vapor trails, the shimmer and the rich detail. Perfect for nearfield listening. Completely artificial but ear candy nevertheless.

Can you provide more details of the 6B4G, it looks like a largish tube but not quite as big as the 2A3. Are these readily available?

Are you an electrical engineer or something? I would find find a project such as this extremely intimidating, my soldering skills are BS. The most I have ever done is replace the coupling caps in my Almarro A205 which is a single ended pentode. Interestingly enough, my open baffle and TP1 Isis experiments were all done in Hyderabad. The lowthers are still in Hyderbad. Most of the tools and unfinished speaker projects are still lying around there. I visit Hyderabad often enough, we should definitely meet.

 

[quad]

Can you provide more details of the 6B4G, it looks like a largish tube but not quite as big as the 2A3. Are these readily available?

The 6B4G is a directly heated triode, essentially a 2A3 with a
6.3V filament, in an octal base. The Sovtek versions of the tubes
are readily available, and NOS ones are also available with the well known
tube vendors and come up on the 'bay too. The Russian 6S4S/6C4C
is also a close equivalent, and they are great value for money.

Are you an electrical engineer or something?

I am more of the latter, as I have forgotten most of my engineering
stuff !

I would find find a project such as this extremely intimidating, my soldering skills are BS. The most I have ever done is replace the coupling caps in my Almarro A205 which is a single ended pentode. Interestingly enough, my open baffle and TP1 Isis experiments were all done in Hyderabad. The lowthers are still in Hyderbad. Most of the tools and unfinished speaker projects are still lying around there. I visit Hyderabad often enough, we should definitely meet.

Sure, PM me when you are in Hyd.