dthompson Posted July 19, 2014 Posted July 19, 2014 Hi Henry: I reckon the Alpair 10p would be an excellent choice. The 12's have really opened up. I have since moved the Alpair's to my place and wow...!!! Do not hesitate...they are a great driver. Rgds: Dave T
dthompson Posted July 19, 2014 Posted July 19, 2014 Yes...yes...the coffee has warn off! I'm back to my composed self!!!??? Rgds: Dave
dthompson Posted July 19, 2014 Posted July 19, 2014 Hi Buzz....a burning amp festival would be sensational! Mmmmmmm....I have a great candidate ...."Blackie" the valve amp sets fire to itself regularly! Rgds: Dave t P.S. ...my quote button isn't working....again!
dthompson Posted July 19, 2014 Posted July 19, 2014 Hey Henry.... P.S. ....BiB' are great for the Alpair....but try a double mouthed manifold horn........on Woden design. Designs have moved (improved) a long way in the past few years. Keith and I moved the Alpair's to my front room. This room has killed many good projects off! GAT, Yamaha man and Buzz will attest to that! The Alapirs that we played in Keith's front room last week...sounded pretty good. However, they sound even better in my "audio killer" room! This is a complete surprise to me. Rgds: dave t
caddisgeek Posted July 19, 2014 Posted July 19, 2014 Dave, do you have the big horns set up at home and if you do, how are they sounding?
dthompson Posted July 19, 2014 Posted July 19, 2014 Howdy Steve! Keith and I moved the Big horns into my front lounge room this morning. I set them up and initially wasn't too impressed. I moved them further apart by 50mm each....basically sort of pushing them at the back with my foot.....! I could hear the improvement in sound immediately! I have been listening for a few hours and then Keith came around....we are both scratching our respective heads! They sound a lot cleaner than how they sounded in Keith's front room. Great bass....and this is saying something for my room which tends to 'kill' bass response. My room is also....cold and harsh and sound can be too bright and a bit brittle sounding! .....Not any more! I'll have to hold another GTG......!!!!??? Oh no! Lord help us all! All the best Steve. Rgds: dave t
evil c Posted July 19, 2014 Posted July 19, 2014 The exuberance of youth playing with a new toy - Love it!!! Great to hear you've managed to improve the sound with slight adjustments, I can identify with the effectiveness of that opening everything up as I have had the "Hallejuh" moment making almost ridiculously small toeing in or moving out and bang, speakers disappear and everything clicks into place! Make sure you mark the spot with plenty of tape though, don't want to lose your sweet spot!
dthompson Posted July 20, 2014 Posted July 20, 2014 Hey Evil A.....it is bizarre......I moved them 50 mm each!!!??? They haven't quite disappeared, as they stand well and truly over the top...but there is now a sound stage whereas prior, there wasn't! ........I am kinda more relieved than excited as they were a fair bit of work to get done and I have contemplated listening- room- mods using a bulldozer! I'll mark the spot using my angle grinder! Tape can lift up! Rgds E.A.: Dave T
cheekyboy Posted August 16, 2014 Posted August 16, 2014 (edited) Hi folks, Just thought I'd add a couple of pics of the new Fostex 108 enclosures finished this week. These are not the prototypes we all listened to at the GTG, but all new enclosures and drivers and sounding very sweet indeed from the get go, but I'm sure they'll settle in even better with 20 - 30 hours on them. Anyhow, here they are. I'm sure Dave will be keen to let everyone know how the single driver project is going. Cheers, Keith Below shows the grill mesh cover over the horn outlet on the rear of the enclosure. Many thanks to Mr Happy Duds [Graham] for helping out with designing and making these initial pieces for us..........A1 job, mate. Edited August 16, 2014 by cheekyboy 2
buzz lightyear Posted August 16, 2014 Posted August 16, 2014 Nice work gents well done, I think it's time for another GTG
Guest yamaha_man Posted August 16, 2014 Posted August 16, 2014 Certainly look and sound $1,000,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Dr Evil style)
djb Posted August 17, 2014 Posted August 17, 2014 No wonder keith has a bad back ! I'd been inclined to blame Dale's over exuberance But now realize its you making him move these things around
Sierra Posted August 17, 2014 Posted August 17, 2014 Nice one Keith & Dave ... the finished speaker looks great. What type of veneer have you used?
cheekyboy Posted August 17, 2014 Posted August 17, 2014 Nice one Keith & Dave ... the finished speaker looks great. What type of veneer have you used? Hi, Alan, the veneer is Jarrah. Cheers, Keith
dthompson Posted August 26, 2014 Posted August 26, 2014 (edited) Hi everyone: Well, if you check the picture....cheekyboy and I moved the Alpairs to my place. I set them up...and have been enjoying them since. We knew following this GTG that at some levels, they were a bit 'boomy'....and seemed not to deliver a well balanced sound. Well, I fiddled around with them and removed my good quality SS amps.......(yes, but moving right along!) .....and plugged in a simple and very basic EL34 PP valve amp. I also added some packing in the four back channels.....the exponential horn tubes just before the exit. The sound improvement was incredible! I am hoping that at some point a witness will chip-in. (Buzz........?). I am dumfounded. Again. Or is that, still!! ? Anyway, and I want to say this clearly to you all......the next result was not what I expected at all. I recently purchased some Slee speaker cables and have been too busy to use them. I was not expecting any changes as I use a high quality speaker cable. I was wrong. The change in cable to Slee has brought home an incredible lift in sound clarity....particularly in the high frequency. This is where previously (and you guys who attended the GTG at Keith's would remember) the big Alpairs were lacking! The highs are better cleaner, clearer...and more precise. There is actually more defined detail in the mids......??? I cannot believe it. I know....Keith and I built the speakers....and Keith deals with Slee and so few of you will believe me. But, in all honesty...I am stumped at the improvement! I haven't even phoned Keith! So therefore I recommend to you....Slee speaker cables. RGds: Dave T Edited August 26, 2014 by dthompson
Recommended Posts