Will be updated to include more info soon. Thanks has to be given out to Louis for lending the woofer to be used in the design process. This is a very nice woofer and has a nice natural rolloff which makes it super easy to work with. It sounds excellent I feel it maybe a tad cleaner in the midrange then the B&C "Sentinel" design but they are unbelievably close. The JBL does have measurably lower distortion and is mainly 2nd order. Bass was good and had nice kick in the 2.5 cuft enclosure; f3 was around 60hz and usable down to about 50hz. You could push that lower with some EQ or by using a larger box as the displacement is there. The SEOS-15 may have been a better match if a perfect directivity profile is to be had as this woofer does narrow at 1k a bit and you will see a dip start to form as you move off axis on the graph. While that showed up on the measurements it is a small dip only about 3dB and I never heard any problems moving off axis. Overall I think this design turned out excellent, exceptionally clear and neutral sound even when cranked past reference. Specs: Frequency response: 50-18,000hz (in a 2.5cuft ported enclosure) Impedance: 8 ohms nominal (6.2 ohms minimum @ 140hz ) SPL: 97dB @ 2.83v/1m Feel free to PM me for the crossover details. Indoor 1m: 0-60 degrees off axis indoor 1m: Distortion from 90dB sweep: Measured impeadance:
Looks great. Can you email the xo details and I'll compare your passive with the active. May be a good idea for me to base the active on it, since I haven't heard it.
I think sensitivity was a hair higher then the B&C which I measured at 96dB, so this one might be closer to 97dB. @ Tux, yep I'll send those over.
Just an FYI, there are active settings available for this as well. I think MTG-90 can provide them. Louisdamani from AVS will be using them soon.
have anyone have the crossover picture? all crossover parts came in last week, i will start building box and crossover next week. I hope.
Any new info to share? Dimensions or a cut list would be helpful, honestly I was hoping to order a flat pack (2 cu. ft. box + 26" baffle) to expedite the process, but building my own is still an option. Also would this speaker mate well with your mtg-06-ows design, since those are sealed and this is ported?
Nothing new from me, I don't have the woofer any more (it was on loan from louisdamani to use for designing/testing a crossover). Don't know if anyone else has built the design and would like to share their thoughts? You could try and ping Erich to see if he could get you the baffle and flatpack box for the sentinel design. This woofer works well in it though the woofer cutout is slightly larger for the B&C so there might be a small gap, about what you see in my picture. Otherwise: Tonal balance should be fine with the MTG-06 though you might want to look into something a little more powerful if you are going to be running these at higher levels as the little Aura NS6 won't be able to keep up SPL wise.
Would you please share the dimensions on the inner baffle cutouts for the JBL 2226? Also do you have a pic of the XO layout, I do better with pictures. Thanks JB
Been looking at the Waveguide speaker Kits for a while now, and have had my eyes set on the "Alpha-Zephyr 12".. Or so I thought. I do have 3 x JBL 2226Hs. I use two of them as "midbasses", but since im looking to upgrade, I might as well get 3 identical speakers up front, to replace my Klipsch RB81 MK2s and RC64 center. This build seems very interesting, since I can still order the kits as I've wanted, the only difference would be that I would get them cheaper since I can use my JBLs. I guess I could mention that I tried making my own waveguides a while back, using the QSC horn with a BMS4550, and a DCX2496 to take care of the XO. I never got it completely "right". I used a Behringer EP2500 on the JBLs, and an Emotiva XPA-3 on the compression drivers. This then leads to a couple of questions I have. I would prefer to have a passive XO, but boosting the midbass would be easier with an active XO like the DCX2496. But will I have the same SQ using an active XO like a passive would yield? How much effect should I feed them? I do have an Emotiva XPA-3 (3x200watt) I could use on each speaker, but I fear this might not be enough to get some good punch out of them? I guess you could say I don't want to lose to much punch compared to how I got it now.. but perhaps im just worrying about it for no reason. After all, SQ should come first, and I can only assume these waveguides will be a HUGE upgrade over my Klipsch speakers.. not to mention, if I decide to use the Emotiva XPA-3 on the frontstage, that means I would have a Behringer EP2500 not being used = I could build 2 sealed subs. Perhaps 2 x Stereointegrity 18"s.
Not exactly sure what you mean. Active should yield better SQ, provided you don't have noisy amps and you can get it setup well. If the 2496 has any "effects" make sure you defeat them. NO EFFECTS. But I'm not sure it does. Been a few years since I used a 2496, and when I did I had a separate effect processor.
I just thought a passiveXO would be better for some reason, don't know if I read it on AVS a while back or what I did.. But you are saying active is better, as long as it has no noise. In order to go active, I guess I have to use two channels on my DCX2496 per speaker ? This also means I need to get another XO - since the DCX2496 only has 6 outputs, and I use two of them for subwoofer duty. And I wouldn't want to set up the DCX2496 myself, I have tried once before, never got it completely right. I would have to copy the exact settings that were used by you. Is there any cheap active XO's I can use for the speakers, other than DCX2496? Edit: When I post, all my exerts disappear and I have to "Edit" them back. Weird.
Ok I'm understanding where you're coming from now. Honestly, both the passive and active will be very similar, so if going passive is easier for you, just do that. If you'd like to go active, there are settings available, so shouldn't be difficult. But if you're already using your 2496 for subs, maybe just go passive. Saves you an active box and a couple amp channels.
Mtg90, You say "The SEOS-15 may have been a better match". Can the SEOS-15 be suplimented in place of the 12 without remodeling the crossover? I can already envision my perfect party speaker being the 15" JBLs with the 15" SEOS waveguide in the 2.5 box at 97dB sensitivity effotlessly shaking my house. Can this be done? BHamm
You could switch them but the result may not be as good as just using the SEOS-12. There is a slight difference in frequency response of the SEOS-15 vs the SEOS-12 and the SEOS-15 is deeper which changes the acoustic offset between the drivers. The crossover should be redesigned for best results.
Can't buy the frontbaffle anymore, since it will be replaced with a cutout for the SEOS 15. So I have to make the front baffle myself, with the correct cutouts. Im wondering if this is "correct" ?: Since it's not the most technical picture I'll try to explain hehe. The front baffle would consist of 2 x MDF plates glued together (Plate 2 = 3/4" MDF, and Plate 1 = 1/2"). Only plate 2 would support the JBL & waveguide, with some screws. But will they have the same time alignment ? Ill try to explain better if it is unclear what im asking... Finally ready to order everything and start building!
It took over a year, but I now have all parts (well, almost) needed to build 3 of these (and also 2 x 18" sealed daytons). What remains are the cabinets. If I were to build them with around 3.0 cuft enclosures instead, I would get a little more "low bass" ? (Maybe down to 40hz?) Im also wondering how big the ports should be in each cabinet? Would 3 x ports with inner diameter of 2 3/4" work ?