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In Reply to: RE: Has anyone ever DIY'ed pair of 'ZRT' (ZaphAudio Revelator Tower)?? posted by Feanor on April 27, 2016 at 03:40:58
I recently completed a pair of cabinets for a local client and he's very happy with the sound of the speakers. John Krutke is a talented and well-known designer in the DIY community. You can be confident building any of his designs. Airtime has a pair of his two-way version, the ZR-1 and he raves about them, sometimes to the point of excess! ;-)
There is no beer in food, but there is food in beer.
Follow Ups:
The reason I stopped DIYing is because we now have people like John to do the heavy work. He has designed several VERY high quality speakers system. As already posted DIYing and experimenting a crossover does get VERY expensive. And most times it does not work out like you would whan or expect it too.
The difference between the 2 and 2.5 tower is not that great. A tad more bass. You will still need a sub with both. So if money or space is an issue just go with the two way version. Again there is not that much difference.
I believe there are also ported and closed versions of one of them?
Between the SR-71 and ZRT - WOW they just don't get much better!
I pledge to Mr. Hertz I will not mention my SR-71's for one month. BTW did I mention my SR-71's today ;-)
charles
airtime, because you like the SR71 so much, I also like it a lot without listening to it. I would like to spend 300 plus for the drivers and make my own cabinets. I think I will have a better speaker than Elac B6. I will be auditioning the B6 mid May at a buddy's place. I will compare it with his Monitor Audio BX2.
Regards
Bill
... So I appreciate your comments.I have a room that is only small-medium so the the 2-way might be quite adequate. Zaph says as much in the webpage. I do have and expect to continue to use a subwoofer.
There are sealed and ported versions for both the 2- and 2.5-way versions, and that's another decision I'll need to make.
I love the music of Dmitri Shostakovich ...
Edits: 04/28/16
Nice option. One way to do this would be to split a full-sized cabinet in half lengthwise and diagonally (similar to the Ref3A Veena) for a sloped baffle design, but I'd suggest checking with Zaph beforehand for advice for or against.
Edits: 04/29/16 04/29/16
We should all be as enthusiastic about our equipment as you are!
There is no beer in food, but there is food in beer.
... I would rather use a design by a highly reputed designer like "Zaph" Krutke than something I've cooked up by myself.
For that matter, I'm just finishing a pair of DIYs based on Dayton Audio Reference drivers. Thes I designed using X-Over 3 and Bass Box 6. I hoping for the best but am not expecting miracles
I love the music of Dmitri Shostakovich ...
That's like saying a home based woodworker should only use Pine and Fur because he won't be able to do a finish
It's not the expense that often dictates how easy or suitable a driver is for home builders to create something quite good
Take some of those Dayton metal coned units or some MCM carbon fiber units and they are far harder for many home builders to get right than the paper based Scan speak Revs as example
True that spending the most is far from automatic success
Advice like yours discourages new or potential DIYers from even starting
Of course it isn't easy but working and mastering anything creative is filled with Try Again
Your advice is like telling novice potters or painters "Give up now your just going to waste your supplies cause art is hard"
Well, well. I don't think I was giving any bad advice; in fact I wasn't giving any advice at all except my to state what I was doing personally.
BTW, I have complete one of the pair of Dayton driver-based speakers and have done some basic testing. Turns out it is working very well.
Further the Dayton Reference drivers, it so happens I used the new paper cone version, (see link below). Also, I used the soft dome Reference tweeter. Both were choose to minimized risk of failure including financial, but given my success I am now encourage to try something a bit more ambitious.
I love the music of Dmitri Shostakovich ...
If you are DIYing that's fine. But a number of posters in the past thought they can build their own "reference" system speaker by simply packing in exotic expensive drivers. That ain't happening.
DIYing is still fun and exciting AS A HOBBY! And you can still make a darn fine speaker with fairly inexpensive drivers. If you know what you are doing.
But if you want a really good speaker, then most would recommend that go with a kit that a pro has already spent hundreds of hours tweaking out the problems.
Going on my 49th year of home construction and I can tell you it is far easier to do now than ever
Simply the inexpensive measuring tools , the ease at with you can share info with others and far better experienced hobbyists that didn't exist 15 years ago
The only negative is the diminished offerings in the supply chain (no VIFA dynaudio focal etc)
If the information/tools of now could meet the suppliers of the late 80s early 90s could I see a better time
Every couple of months a post like this comes up that basically removes incentive to anybody who might be the next generations contributor to the DIY world
"Don't even think about it, it's beyond you, it's not worth it"
I just look to inspire folks support the ones who might find enjoyment in the process not just the end result
For those who just want to save money by building a speaker, then yeah kit is only way to go
Too many folks think that time spent is with the box not the contents
"I spent four weeks wet sanding, bought a HVLP compressor/spray gun and two more weeks hand rubbing the finish, but after four hours working on the crossover with textbooks, I give up and not spending any more time or money"
Furniture above function emphasis has clouded what DIY or home construction real goal is
I understand the intent behind the advice offered in this post , but to help continue supporting an influx of new blood into this area of audio, I will still counter the "common wisdom of it's too hard so don't try "
...than the opposite. Like they said about Alabama football coach Bear Bryant: "He can take your'n and beat hiss'n, and he can take hiss'n and beat your'n." Its all about the crossover, baby.
There is no beer in food, but there is food in beer.
n
Crossover design: the bugaboo of all DIY speaker builders. Never could get the hang of it. Plus, I wasn't going to invest in the software and measuring tools to do the job. My hat's off to you for gettin' to it.
For some great freeware, Google Jeff Bagby's speaker design programs. I use the woofer box calculator and find it works really well.
There is no beer in food, but there is food in beer.
I was aware of it and had actually downloaded it. It isn't the most user-friendly tool, though it is pretty powerful and is free. I haven't mastered it (yet).Harris Technology's X-Over 3 Pro is very easy to use, isn't terribly expensive; (see link). It has various limitations, e.g. it doesn't handle any topology or do optimal result seeking, but like I say it's probably adequate for dilettantes under most circumstances.
By the way, I've just done basic testing of the first Dayton-based speaker, as mentioned earlier, and it seems to be working well.
I love the music of Dmitri Shostakovich ...
Edits: 04/27/16
Experimenting with passive crossovers gets very expensive very quickly.
Best thing to do is get a Behringer DCX2496 digital one. you get to change slopes etc at the turn (or press) of a button rather than buying loads of components and endless soldering.
Once you've got the perfect setting you can just copy that using passive components.
why not get the Behringer and multi amp and skip the passive xover. I have a friend who has done this in multiple systems of his own design with inexpensive Crown class D amps and the results are very impressive.
Because it negatively affects the sound. It is great for a prototyping tool though, I used it myself and still have one...just in case I get the itch to design again.
I then went with a really good fixed frequency active (Accuphase F25), which was preferrable to a passive.
Personally I would but there are some who actually like and prefer passives.
There is no way I would ever go back to passive speakers for my main system as they are inferior in every way to the extent that an active with average amps beats an otherwise identical passive with a top notch amplifier.
Good explanation of how to use the woofer box design tool. Other videos are scheduled to follow, including the crossover design program. I'll be looking forward to that one. As an aside, my current main speakers use Audio Technology and Scanspeak drivers. Jeff Bagby was kind enough to design the crossover and I'm very impressed and pleased with the results.
There is no beer in food, but there is food in beer.
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