X-onken Xpress - 8
In this concluding part my intention is to share the experiences of some of the early builders and experimenters and also give out some tips for those who are still on the DIY road. I am sure many have "tasted the pudding" and found it to their liking. But then who doesn't want to throw in some of his own garnishes?! That surely is what makes a good dish great!
To Supra Baffle, or Not
Many builders have tried out a variety of drivers, some of them being small 3.5 inch full range units (much coveted as mid drivers in rather expensive three-way speakers). One or two have gone in the other direction, squeezing in 5 inch FR drivers onto the miniscule baffle. All had reported that with the X-onken enclosure it was easy to spot the good and not-so-good characteristics of the drivers, while at the same time getting more than good bass --from even small 3.5 inch drivers. Good news to spur on the experimenters!
By the way, I had warned that the multi-wood boards were not "screw friendly" and so had suggested a few workarounds. But broadly I had felt that trying out a few drivers, exchanging them back and forth etc, required a lot of patience and care. I had been thinking about a simple solution, and the result is the sub-baffle, or more correctly, a supra-baffle.
How far back was it that we embarked on this hands-on DIY exercise? Hmmm... how time flies, but aren't we glad we have come to the audition stage!
In this concluding part my intention is to share the experiences of some of the early builders and experimenters and also give out some tips for those who are still on the DIY road. I am sure many have "tasted the pudding" and found it to their liking. But then who doesn't want to throw in some of his own garnishes?! That surely is what makes a good dish great!
To Supra Baffle, or Not
Many builders have tried out a variety of drivers, some of them being small 3.5 inch full range units (much coveted as mid drivers in rather expensive three-way speakers). One or two have gone in the other direction, squeezing in 5 inch FR drivers onto the miniscule baffle. All had reported that with the X-onken enclosure it was easy to spot the good and not-so-good characteristics of the drivers, while at the same time getting more than good bass --from even small 3.5 inch drivers. Good news to spur on the experimenters!
By the way, I had warned that the multi-wood boards were not "screw friendly" and so had suggested a few workarounds. But broadly I had felt that trying out a few drivers, exchanging them back and forth etc, required a lot of patience and care. I had been thinking about a simple solution, and the result is the sub-baffle, or more correctly, a supra-baffle.
Deciding on using a small supra-baffle that blends onto the front panel would give you a couple of advantages, not to speak of the resulting "nouveau look" of the little X-onken. Of course, the first advantage is the ease of trying out a few drivers, some of them of different sizes also. Mount each driver onto a separate supra-baffle -- this takes care of driver size variations and cutouts. Use clawed Tee-nuts or nuts and washers to mount the supra-baffle onto the front panel, and the whole exercise becomes rather painless.
Another obvious advantage is that of further reducing diffraction effects, which are likely to affect the stability or clarity of the stereo image. Check out the drawings -- the stepped pattern of the supra-baffle is what would reduce the diffraction artifacts, and also blend the supra-baffle onto the front panel sort of seamlessly.
Another obvious advantage is that of further reducing diffraction effects, which are likely to affect the stability or clarity of the stereo image. Check out the drawings -- the stepped pattern of the supra-baffle is what would reduce the diffraction artifacts, and also blend the supra-baffle onto the front panel sort of seamlessly.
And the third plus point, dummy, is the fancy looks, that would set the X-onken apart from other run-of-the-mill plain boxes. Once the testing and selection process is over, you may think of mounting the driver onto the supra-baffle with Tee-nuts and then glue the supra-baffle permanently to the front panel. This would reduce the number of unsightly screws on the front and also improve the finish while painting.
Damping SNAFUs
Damping and absorption of the back waves is an important part of any speaker design. But unfortunately there is a conviction among the builders that filling a cabinet chock full of stuffing is what converts a mediocre speaker into one that sounds sweet. And the most popular stuffing that comes to hand is poly-fill, recron-fill etc. You could get them fairly cheaply from upholstery shops, or (God forbid!) by cannibalizing an old pillow or two! They are great as pillow stuffers, agreed; but believe me, they are below par as sound absorbents. They do pretty little to fully absorb the various frequencies. Jute felt, cotton felt or wool felt is far better in this regard; do get what is avaialable within budget.
The X-onken inner walls have to be lined with good absorbent material, and I have found jute felt to do the job satisfactorily. You may use either half inch or 3/4 inch thick material. In case the stuff is not available by some freak of Fate, do not despair. We have a "poor man's padding" standing by -- and that too, a totally DIY solution!
Take a quarter or half inch thick foam piece (ask at your corner upholstery shop for offcuts) and a thick Turkish towel. (Turkish towel material is avaiable at every good textile shop, or better go around some discount sale shops and buy a few thick bath towels -- colour is strictly your preference -- I have measured no variation in the absorbency coefficient from colour to colour!!) Use contact adhesive (Fevibond etc) to stick Turkish cloth pieces to both sides of the foam sheet, and you have a wonderfully efficient absorbing panel. Use it to line the X-onken insides, thus advancing the art of "total DIY" further.
The Allure of Audition
In audio, measurements and specs form the basis of many a selection. But they are not the final word, especially in the case of real-world speakers trying to work their magic in real rooms. Prolonged, or shall I say, a protracted period of careful audition perhaps is the only way a hobbyist could hope to "fine tune" his speaker to his taste and the sort of music s/he enjoys.
Damping SNAFUs
Damping and absorption of the back waves is an important part of any speaker design. But unfortunately there is a conviction among the builders that filling a cabinet chock full of stuffing is what converts a mediocre speaker into one that sounds sweet. And the most popular stuffing that comes to hand is poly-fill, recron-fill etc. You could get them fairly cheaply from upholstery shops, or (God forbid!) by cannibalizing an old pillow or two! They are great as pillow stuffers, agreed; but believe me, they are below par as sound absorbents. They do pretty little to fully absorb the various frequencies. Jute felt, cotton felt or wool felt is far better in this regard; do get what is avaialable within budget.
The X-onken inner walls have to be lined with good absorbent material, and I have found jute felt to do the job satisfactorily. You may use either half inch or 3/4 inch thick material. In case the stuff is not available by some freak of Fate, do not despair. We have a "poor man's padding" standing by -- and that too, a totally DIY solution!
Take a quarter or half inch thick foam piece (ask at your corner upholstery shop for offcuts) and a thick Turkish towel. (Turkish towel material is avaiable at every good textile shop, or better go around some discount sale shops and buy a few thick bath towels -- colour is strictly your preference -- I have measured no variation in the absorbency coefficient from colour to colour!!) Use contact adhesive (Fevibond etc) to stick Turkish cloth pieces to both sides of the foam sheet, and you have a wonderfully efficient absorbing panel. Use it to line the X-onken insides, thus advancing the art of "total DIY" further.
The Allure of Audition
In audio, measurements and specs form the basis of many a selection. But they are not the final word, especially in the case of real-world speakers trying to work their magic in real rooms. Prolonged, or shall I say, a protracted period of careful audition perhaps is the only way a hobbyist could hope to "fine tune" his speaker to his taste and the sort of music s/he enjoys.
I have a reticence to side with either the "measurement brigade", or with the "hearing is everything" subjective gang. My take is more of a middle path. But I would want to stress an important point here. Comparative audition for making preferred selections is the way to go forward, as the auditory memory of the brain is very short. And, again, speaking of comparisons, the touchstone for comparisons shall always be "natural sounds" of unplugged instruments and voices. Only with an ample storehouse of such auditory experiences will one be able to take "sound judgements". (Pun intended!) And such an exercise over a few weeks, or even months is likely to take your 'fi' to really 'hi' planes.
Perfection, we should not forget, is at best a mirage that captivates us endlessly. But without that perfection tantalizing us, how could we think of going ever forward in our quest for fidelity? All I wish to say at this point is that I shall be more than happy if you find that the little X-onken has been enjoyable company in your journey on the road to fidelity.
To make an end is to make a beginning, as Eliot reminds us. Surely, though our first project has come to a happy conclusion, it does not mean we have ended our quest or parked our DIY tools. Let us hope to meet again soon with an interesting and easy, Xpress project that just might give us a bit more than we usually expect!
Happy builds, and happier auditions!!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Perfection, we should not forget, is at best a mirage that captivates us endlessly. But without that perfection tantalizing us, how could we think of going ever forward in our quest for fidelity? All I wish to say at this point is that I shall be more than happy if you find that the little X-onken has been enjoyable company in your journey on the road to fidelity.
To make an end is to make a beginning, as Eliot reminds us. Surely, though our first project has come to a happy conclusion, it does not mean we have ended our quest or parked our DIY tools. Let us hope to meet again soon with an interesting and easy, Xpress project that just might give us a bit more than we usually expect!
Happy builds, and happier auditions!!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
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