Tweaker's Asylum

• Have you ever finished your previous projects ? TT 06:41:53 01/11/01 (1)
  In Reply to: Utopia Clones posted by SpeakerNut on January 09, 2001 at 23:06:27:

  Am I missing something from your web information? It seems that you have never finished anything in your previous project. How does your finished products sound like, looks like ...etc ? What experience you have gained from them. I am interested to know!!! It would be interesting to see people starting such a big project, but from the web it doesn't seem you have got the necessary tools, skills ...etc

  Tell us more !!! I don't want to jump to conclusion yet.
  
  

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  • Re: Have you ever finished your previous projects ? SpeakerNut 09:16:12 01/11/01 (0)
    In Reply to: Have you ever finished your previous projects ? posted by TT on January 11, 2001 at 06:41:53:

    
    100% true, none of the speaker projects are finished yet. If you read the last comments (or headings) in the DIY speaker pages, I'm sure you'll find that I said they are not finished and will be updated once they are! In addition, my buddy and I are taking our sweet 'ol time to make them visually appealing since the box itself is done quite well except for the outside! Also, adding the paint, varnish, or whatever we plan to use will also dampen the box(es) some more.

    If you noticed, my 300B amp did not look good at all until Chapter 3 or better still, you can see the final image right in home page.

    James

    www3.sympatico.ca/j_yeung.ia

    
    
    

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• Re: Utopia Clones Ajay 12:34:40 01/10/01 (0)
  In Reply to: Utopia Clones posted by SpeakerNut on January 09, 2001 at 23:06:27:

  Hey SpeakerNut,

  Here's a Stereophile magazine article on the Utopia, it does mention a few of the construction details. The other link is an interview with the father of JM Labs and in there are some other details about the general construction of the speakers.
  http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?273

  http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?274

  But, the midrange enclosures are sealed. Also, there is a seperate enclosure for each piece in the group, each mid, the tweeter and the woofer are all in it's own cabinet, that is then held together by the side panels. I believe the x-over is held in the little box that has the tweeter, and although this is a total hunch I think they may be making use of a series x-over, as I believe the Mezzo, Mini/Micro, and Utopia don't have a bi-wire setup on the back of them, this would lead me to believe that it's series...but I could be wrong as I've never opened one up to look at it.

  As for the port tuning of the setup, why don't you build a quick and dirty test box, tune it till you like it, then apply that tuning to a permanent slot loaded box? Also the issue of lead, they don't do any kind of sandwich with it, they apply lead strips to the insides of the boxes in appropriate spots. They only weigh in at 275lbs each so I would tend to belive the 1"MDF with the 1.25" Angire. Also I think some of the angles on the front are a little to extreme, but I couldn't say for sure as it's been a few months since I've seen/heard a pair of these. Just going to see one of these in person would be a great help to you for sure.

  BTW, what do you think of the sound of the TN51 Focal tweeter?

  Andrew
  
  
  

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• just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... Mikenificent1 04:33:58 01/10/01 (11)
  In Reply to: Utopia Clones posted by SpeakerNut on January 09, 2001 at 23:06:27:

  mean they are "clones". Firts of all the Utopia drivers cannot be bought, and second you didn't even use the identical drivers in your so called "watt clones" (not even close)which are available to the DIYer. Paaalease. Wannabe is more like it, not "clones".
  
  

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  • Re: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... Ajay 12:40:49 01/10/01 (0)
    In Reply to: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... posted by mikenificent1 on January 10, 2001 at 04:33:58:

    Actually the WATT clones would be called "wannabe's" according to your terms as they use a custom version of the Focal tweeter which is not available to the DIY, the closest being the Focal TN51, TLR, TC120tdx/2...but none of those are what Wilson uses. Same with the Scanspeak 8545, which is supposedly customized for Wilson's use, the old Seas driver is no longer available, but I bet it was also somehow customized for Wilson use. Although those WATT's look like they are using a Focal 6w driver.

    Just food for thought.
    Andrew
    
    

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  • Re: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... ccd 07:34:10 01/10/01 (5)
    In Reply to: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... posted by mikenificent1 on January 10, 2001 at 04:33:58:

    Actually, the Utopia drivers or something very close to them IS available. Go to e-speakers.com and look at the Focal drivers with the W technology. However, these drivers are VERY expensive.
    
    

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    • Re: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... Mikenificent1 08:32:19 01/10/01 (4)
      In Reply to: Re: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... posted by ccd on January 10, 2001 at 07:34:10:

      Do you know if any of the woofers can be used in a sealed enclosure? I'm probably going to build my DIY Jordan linear array soon and would like bass woofers that move a little more air yet are light and stiff like the aluminum Jordan's, the Focal's would be great but their "best" is usually designed for ported enclosures.
      
      
      

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      • Re: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... ccd 09:56:30 01/10/01 (3)
        In Reply to: Re: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... posted by mikenificent1 on January 10, 2001 at 08:32:19:

        You're right, the Focal woofers are best used in ported designs. What size woofer are you looking for and how much internal volume do you have to play around with?
        
        

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        • Re: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... Mikenificent1 04:43:43 01/11/01 (2)
          In Reply to: Re: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... posted by ccd on January 10, 2001 at 09:56:30:

          somewhere around an 8-10" and the cabinet will probably be around 2' high ~15" wide and 2-3' deep. Internal volume will be drastically reduced though due to the cabinet design I will be using for maixum stifness and reduction of the back wave.

          Of course the drivers also have to be flat to about 3200Hz for maximu integration. I will probably use the Jordan's first for this reason (they are reasonably flat to 10Khz, and for a woofer!!) and hear how it is suppose to sound and then if not ultimately satisfied experiment with other drivers.
          
          

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          • Re: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... ccd 09:11:23 01/11/01 (1)
            In Reply to: Re: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... posted by mikenificent1 on January 11, 2001 at 04:43:43:

            Two words: Lambda Acoustics with the aluminum billet phase plug. Their 10" will do this, you might be able to fit two 10" woofer in that cabinet. See www.lambdacoustics.com
            
            

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            • The site doesn't have any specs. (nt) Mikenificent1 10:13:24 01/13/01 (0)
              In Reply to: Re: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... posted by ccd on January 11, 2001 at 09:11:23:

              nt
              
              

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  • Re: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... SpeakerNut 05:28:26 01/10/01 (1)
    In Reply to: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... posted by mikenificent1 on January 10, 2001 at 04:33:58:

    
    Thanks for you kind thoughts.

    Sure, you can call them 'wannabe' if you'd like. As far as I know, Wilson modifies a focal tweeter they use and the woofer for the Watt is scanspeak. However, wouldn't mind knowing where the identical drivers can be found.

    I know! REAL Utopia drivers cannot be bought. But what Focal offers are pretty darn close to the real thing!

    
    
    

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    • Re: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... Mikenificent1 07:22:41 01/10/01 (0)
      In Reply to: Re: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... posted by SpeakerNut on January 10, 2001 at 05:28:26:

      > Thanks for you kind thoughts. <
      Sorry, but I must admit I would like to see your end result when it is completed.

      Oh, and to answer you original question, the mid and tweeter cabinets of the utopia are sealed not ported.
      
      

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  • negitivity will get you nowhere in this world dude! mark 05:07:49 01/10/01 (1)
    In Reply to: just because the speaker cabinets have a similar shape does not... posted by mikenificent1 on January 10, 2001 at 04:33:58:

    While the drivers used in the Utopias might not be avaliable to the DIY/raw driver market, similar drivers are. Speakernut will actually learn somehting from doing his utopia clones. He might then go on to become another david wilson.

    Without experience, one knows NOTHING!

    
    Mark

    p.s focal has apparently done a backflip and are not going to stop selling raw drivers.
    
    

    • focal on the rumors

    
    

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    • Re: negitivity will get you nowhere in this world dude! SpeakerNut 05:30:03 01/10/01 (0)
      In Reply to: negitivity will get you nowhere in this world dude! posted by mark on January 10, 2001 at 05:07:49:

      
      Me and you both, dude! I agree.

      Thanks

      
      
      

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