Sex speaker build

[HF9]

Hi Jamie,

Check these out: http://www.electracable.com/tubeconnector.htm . They're a super easy install and very low mass.

My personal favorite if you want both banana and spade capability is the Cardas CCBP. Made of straight billet copper and solid as a tank.

Regarding internal wire, I like 12 gauge silver plated copper in Teflon from Apex Jr., or if I want to splurge I get the Cardas 11.5g. Just be wary, Cardas wire that thick requires a solder pot. Another good option is the Neotech UP-OCC in Teflon.

 

[JamieMcC]

Hi Jamie,

Check these out: http://www.electracable.com/tubeconnector.htm . They're a super easy install and very low mass.

My personal favorite if you want both banana and spade capability is the Cardas CCBP. Made of straight billet copper and solid as a tank.

Regarding internal wire, I like 12 gauge silver plated copper in Teflon from Apex Jr., or if I want to splurge I get the Cardas 11.5g. Just be wary, Cardas wire that thick requires a solder pot. Another good option is the Neotech UP-OCC in Teflon.

Hi thanks for the links I will take a look

A few pics of progress which is a little further on than these pics suggest with the centre baffle also cut and fitted but I ran out of battery juice on the camera that day.

 

[HF9]

Looking good! Is that Great Stuff oozing out from the seams?

 

[JamieMcC]

The stuff oozing out is Gorilla glue it foams up a little as it cures. As the plywood had some marks and dents in it before starting it was always going to be covered (paint, vinyl, veneer still undecided on the finish)  so I haven't bothered to be to neat and tidy or mask up.  All the excess that has squeezed out will quickly disappear with a quick sand over with the DA.

Up to date shot.

 

[JamieMcC]

The speakers in their unfinished state are home for some testing before sealing up and starting on finishing them.
They are lot more sensitive to placement than my old bookshelfs but once in the sweet spot they float a nice detailed image. Something which I thought my old speakers did but after now hearing the Fostex its obviously they didn't.

The eagle eyed will notice the surround of the speaker are not silver their previous owner painted the surrounds black and one of the reasons I picked them up for a good price, The good news is the other speaker surround not pictured is now back to the origional silver metal finish the paint easily came off with a thumb nail I was worried the surface had been abraded to take the black paint but luckily it wasn't and the underneath is just like new.

I was excited to get them home and hooked up and forgot to take a side by side pic.

 

[wullymc]

Very nice Jamie!

You did a great job.  I have been thinking after I am done the beepre and eros I might revisit diy speakers and making a Fonken.  Lookin' good!

Take care.  Looking forward to hearing more....Dave

 

[Strikkflypilot]

Impressive work! Cheers!

 

[Clark B.]

Why on earth would they have painted the gorgeous machined aluminum frame of the FX120 black!?!

Let us know what you think of the sound...  Same driver as our Mako Stand Mounts and Floorstanders.  Have been building and shipping several pairs of these lately.

 

[JamieMcC]

Hi Clark, the speakers have been playing most of the day and they sound quiet appealing to me. But I have nothing to really suitable to reference them against.

For the type of music I generally listen to they work well I like the vocal presentation and wasn't expecting as much bass as they are delivering this has exceeded my expectations and is sufficient for my listening needs.

I'm planning to do some experimenting with dampening/stuffing material over the next few weeks. I don't have a clue what results this will achieve but at least it will give me some reference and a better idea of the changes differing material makes. I am quiet fortunate as next door to my workshop is a small upholster who I get on well with, he always has lots of different felts, foams and suitable stuffing looking material offcuts in his wheelie bin skip and is happy for me to help myself to anything that looks suitable.

 

[Clark B.]

Jamie, without being familiar with your specific cabinets I couldn't make any concrete recommendations on how much or with what to stuff them, but it sounds like you've got the time and resources to experiment so I am sure you'll find a happy medium in due time.  Enjoy them... looks like you had fun!

 

[Deluk]

That looks very nice. It will be interesting to see what you choose for the final finish. I'm wondering if the magnet is tight against the divider? If done carefully and the attachment fasteners are used with captive nuts on the rear of the baffle, only the cone can move.

 

[JamieMcC]

A quick update I have reached a point after some experimentation with different kinds of damping materials where I am happy to call it a day and finally seal up the speaker enclosures.

It has been a surprise the difference in the stuffing medium and the density of the stuffing can make to the sound signature, after tying some felts and foams (there is a upholster and canvas maker next door to my works with a big bin off offcuts that I could rummage through.

In the end and which came as a bit of a surprise I have settled on a thin, stretchable, high fill non-woven cloth made of polyester which I know as bleed cloth and use regularly for vacuum forming composites to soak up surplus resin as its squished out under vacuum. Its also inexpensive and have rolls of the stuff to hand. Loosely packed inside it resulted in the most pleasing results to my ear. Compared to no stuffing being used the difference was easily noticeable with better bass and a clearer fuller tonally softer midrange. I have not a clue how it works but the trial and error approach has been worth it and I am over the moon with the end results.

In preparation to seal up the cases  I settled on some  solid copper, silver plated binding posts from Vintage audio ak Valab they arrived yesterday and have really impressed me with their quality the pics on the site really don't do them any justice but when held in the hand and seen up close in the flesh are very nice. So I will shortly snip off my speaker leads which at the moment have been soldered to the speaker cables and replace with these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CMC-858-LU-AG-Silver-Plated-Long-Arm-Speaker-Binding-Pots-2-pairs-/281627884325?

So its start to think a bit more on how to finish the outsides of the enclosures and its not going to be veneering or anything fancy I just don't want them to be out of commission for more than a day or two as am enjoying them so much.

 

[JamieMcC]

Finally after nearly three years of dithering and looking at bare ply cabinets they have been finished off.

I think the FX120 in the dFonken enclosure has been a great success and its really nice to have them back in rotation while I do a bit of work on my open baffle speaker project as having two large slabs of mdf sat either side of the tv has seen waf levels at historic lows  but holy smoke are they sounding good.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

I'm expecting to see you post one of these days about making your own carbon fiber recone for an existing driver.

 

[JamieMcC]

Lol I think making carbon cones is a bit above my pay grade

 

[Quattrofish]

I have a pair of Fostex F120as in a sealed box and love them.  They are augmented by subs so don't really need any more bass reinforcement, but I've been thinking about trying a fOnken enclosure just to see what the difference is.  I am eyeing the Fonken-steens from Planet10.  Is that what these are?

EDIT: I took a closer look at your first post (reading is fundamental) and answered my own question.  The Fonken-steen is twice the size.

One thing I noticed is that the mids and treble really cleaned up when I added a capacitor to roll them off at around 300hz, especially at higher volume.  Obviously not an option if you aren't running subs, but I figured I'd mention it in case you are.

Also: can you tell me more about your OB project?  I have a pair of 12" Zeniths that are destined for the same treatment if I can find the time.

 

[JamieMcC]

Hi the enclosure is one of these http://p10hifi.net/FAL/downloads/dFonkenFX-0v8-map-020709.pdf

The bass with the Fonken enclosure still surprises me at times ok its not anything like having a dedicated sub or some 15" bass drivers tucked away my subs are run off of a different amp and more than a few times running the FX120 of the Sex amp the bass produced has surprised me enough to make me get up out of the chair and check if the bass amp was on or not.

I have updated my OB post.
https://bottlehead.com/smf/index.php?topic=9690.0