Got most of the materials from SoundImports and Audiophonics. In the US you might want to use parts-express. I probably forgot a few things, but these should be the most important: - HiVi RT1.3WE Isodynamic Planar Tweeter - Neutrik NL8MDXX-V-BAG speakON 8p - Neutrik NL8FC - MOGAMI W2919 Speaker cable OFC Copper - PINTA AMORTSONBi10A PHD Self-adhesive bitumen backing - PINTA RESOBSON FU1220 Self-Adhesive Fabric Felt Damping - SMPS300RS Switching Power Supply Module 300W / 36V - WONDOM AA-JA11117 Functional Cable Package for JAB3+ / JAB4 / JAB5 Boards - WONDOM ICP5 Programmer - WONDOM JAB5 AA-JA33286 Amplifier Module - Shrinkwrap - Wire for connecting to the power grid Hope that helps!

Glad you liked the video!

Agreed!

Haha, I'm definitely not on the level of a pro audio engineer, but thanks for the nice comment! I appreciate that!

Thank you! Your service was great!

Interesting, I'll have a look at your video!

Aahh, since you mentioned Bose, around 2001 I bought Bose 100, a plastic box with single driver. 2019 I put the driver into a new mdf box, with around 6.5l volume, yes the sound was way beyond what I thought

Dynomat can indeed be an alternative for the bitumen. And yes, room treatment is very important. I put up a bunch of panels now for testing, but I still need to do it properly for this room. There might be a video on that later.

Thanks James!

Thank you!

Thanks @Lamietn!

Thanks for the nice comment Mario! I was quite surprised to be hearing that much detail, to be honest.

That being said you can also get that situation from having a big old peak in the frequency response that highlights that specific problem :)

Thanks!

Thank you!

I love the vintage look combined with the modern technology and sound quality.

Perhaps some day. I'm really lacking the proper woodworking tools/space to do that right now.

Thanks for watching and subscribing!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for the nice comment!

That seems like quite an impressive build!

Thank you!

Thanks! Thank you for watching!

Thank you!

Thanks mate! We'll have to arrange that!

You should make a short video, referencing this full in depth video!

Thanks!

Thanks for the nice comment!

Thanks for the nice comment!

Thanks!

Thank you!

Thank you Benj!

Thanks! Glad you liked it!

Thanks, I probably will!

Good luck!

Thank you!

Thank you Dave!

Thanks for the nice comment!

Nice mods!

Interesting! I'll certainly try messing around with it!

Amazing project, I really love the look of those JBL's! The felt I used is PINTA RESOBSON FU1220, and the Bitumen sheets are PINTA AMORTSONBi10A PHD. I suppose similar materials from other brands might work good as well, if this is hard to get in your area. Hope this helps to further improve your speakers!

It's quite a bit of work and you'll find yourself doing a lot of research, but it can be very rewarding. Good luck!

I might first experiment a bit to see if I can improve the response of the current driver. If that doesn't give the results I'm after, that will definitely be a video.

Awesome! Pretty nice specs on that ribbon as well. Do you have pictures?

Thanks!

Thanks!

A cheap windows computer (and an ICP5 programmer board in my case) should do the trick! If you want to do measurements as well you will indeed also need a measurement microphone and an audio interface. Quite the investment indeed. I was lucky to have most of this stuff lying around already. That being said, I find passive crossovers quite daunting, so I'm always impressed with people building those.

@@SirFreak Yeah, I guess everyone has their strengths in some way or another. I find passive crossover design to be fun and (relatively) easy and simple because you're dealing with hard physical components that always do a very specific certain thing that you can count on. Of course it's somewhat variable, depending on interaction with other components in the circuit, but the basic function of each component in a passive crossover is always gonna be pretty much the same everytime, as in what it does to the signal... Whereas with computers and anything related to them, literally every single button, including every single virtual button or tab or thing that you can click on on the screen does MANY multiple different things based on what you're looking at, what "screen" you're on, or what program is running, etc. Computers are SO "versatile", as in they can do SO MANY different things, that just that one specific fact is exactly WHY I have an extremely difficult time understanding exactly HOW to make them do any one specific thing that I want them to at any given moment... I NEVER know what button (or rather what extensive exact button SEQUENCE) to push OR what to click on on the screen in order to get what I want out of it, because everything is constantly changing on the screen AND what each key or key combination or sequence does in each and every instance. Unfortunately with me, computers in general are just WAY too complicated for me to grasp what they're doing in any given instance, and because I started (trying to) "learn about them" way back in the "Basic" programming code days, I've never been able to comprehend all of their many intricacies of operation... Way back then I was always thinking that "If computers are gonna be THIS ridiculously difficult and complicated to use, then I cannot see how they could ever even be of any REAL benefit to you!"... Rather just an overly complicated time wasting device... And even though nowadays, in the modern computer era, I actually CAN see how useful they are or can be, (at least as long as and IF you know exactly HOW to use them to get what you want out of them by knowing the exact keystrokes and mouse clicks needed, AND in what exact order is needed for whatever function or result to happen), but unfortunately for me, I just cannot ever grasp even the basic understanding of how to get them to do ANYTHING truly useful for ME! I always have to have someone else show me how to make it do something, whatever that may be, but the sequence of button pushes is SO complex AND is ever changing depending on what exactly you're trying to do on it, that even immediately after someone "shows me how to do something" on a computer, I can't ever remember the keystrokes needed to do the exact same thing myself, so as (potentially) "useful" as a computer could be, (for someone who knows computers anyway), I don't think that I will ever be able to comprehend them enough to do anything on them myself, because even after literal decades of TRYING to understand how to make them work for me, I still can't even do the most basic things on them. My brain gets totally fried and frustrated every time I try to, lol! The most complicated piece of modern equipment that I can (sort of) operate, (at least SOME features), is my cellphone that I'm writing this reply out on. It is the closest thing I have to a "computer", AND it's my ONLY access to the Internet, (I don't have internet at my house in a "hard" or "physical" form such as a cable modem or whatever, because I don't own a computer because of above reasons, so why pay for internet (at home) that I'd never use), but all I can do with my cellphone is watch KZfaq videos, make phone calls, texting with close friends and family, and checking my email, not really much else. Anyway, as cool as this program or whatever you have there for the speaker's crossover is, if I was to get any of that stuff myself I wouldn't be able to use it anyway, I would have to always have someone else who knew how to use it, (someone like you for example), actually make it do what I was describing and knew in my head what I wanted, but just didn't know how to make it actually work that way, lol! You're very lucky to have this equipment to do this sort of thing with your computer! AND to have the knowledge of computers in general in order to make it all work to a truly useful degree, because I could see how having and knowing how to use something like this setup would make speaker designing and building SO much faster and (potentially, IF you knew how to use it all), probably even relatively easier too! I actually kind of envy people like you, because I just wish I could comprehend this sort of setup too! (AND of course have the money to buy it all too, which unfortunately I don't either.) Oh well, I can still build passive crossovers the old fashioned way, even though they oftentimes take MANY days, weeks, sometimes even months to perfect, by "trial and error", whereas with software based digital crossovers, they can be designed to work well within just a few minutes or hours because the "computer" does most of the calculations automatically. Wow!)

Thanks!

Thanks for the advice!

Glad you like it!

It definitely feels like I've got a speaker that's worth way more than what I paid for in components right now. It of course took time and effort too, but I learned a lot and it was really worth it for me in the end. I'll be experimenting more with getting the most out of the bass driver before I decide to buy another driver. I'll probably be able to still improve some things in the DSP. I hope I can tell more about that in a next video.

You could adjust the tuning frequency by extending the port to some degree. Doesn't have to be a massive change, just enough to get more output towards 30 Hz or so, which I know those old Pioneer speakers can reach. I have an old pair of CS-656 speakers, and they do reach down to around 30 Hz. Also 10" drivers, but they are significantly cheaper made. Speaking of Pioneer speakers. I have a set of DIY speakers with Pioneer car audio components as well, which I made in a hybrid transmission line design (T-line + pressure chamber). These play low bass frequencies down to 27 Hz, from a 6.5" driver. Now, I do need to rebuild them at some point, as the cabinets are made from scrap material from other builds, which resonates really bad in the midrange and high-bass frequencies. Now, the cutoff for the crossover is a little high (4.5 kHz). I would like it more if the cutoff were at 3 kHz instead, as the tweeters are more than capable to handle those frequencies (as the high-midrange is a little lacking). But overall, the speakers sound nice and crisp, and they play smooth bass tones.

@@Skarfar90 Thanks for the advice! Good luck with the rebuild!

While I love nice looking speakers, the main goal here was sound quality. Thanks for your nice comment!

Really lovely that these boards exist. They're far from perfect, but do the trick

Welcome!

Could be a nice project, good luck!

Those should be from the same period as this CS-515 speaker. One of the brochures that I found (which is shown in the video as well) mentions them both. I'm not sure if they are from the same series, I suppose not, but they definitely have a similar looking finish. I think adding an actual crossover in these would definitely increase the clarity, since the basswoofer won't be trying to replicate high frequency content anymore. Good luck with them!

@@SirFreak I've tried looking for info on them over the years and have found info for the later year versions. But I can't find what year date mine are. The factory plug-in's look to be of an early configuration. They still retain the same 1/4" SRT plug and screw terminals for spade connectors like the later models. But they are both separated on the rear baffle. On the later revised models both connector types are integrated into one terminal cup. Most likely for cost savings. I'll most likely switch them over to a more modern plug type when I get around to making them better in the future. We will have to see. :)

@@Slane583 Good luck with that modification!

@@SirFreak Thank you! It'll be worth it when I get around to it. :)

Thanks Pepijn!

Gracias!

I definitely plan to make a follow-up video. The sound test video is a good idea as well, but I'll probably need to use a better pair of mics for that.

Hey there! Correct! What I did was definitely not cheap, and it was a lot of work as well. I also agree that there have been a lot of improvements in speaker-building in the last decades. I also do not have the required knowledge to design a custom waveguide, nor will I acquire that knowledge in the near future. As far as I know, waveguides are very easy to get wrong, and this could cause more issues than advantages. And I'm also still a complete newbie when it comes to this stuff, so I try to stick to the basics. That being said, and with all due respect, I'd gladly put these speakers next to those cheap JBL's and I'm pretty sure the JBLs will sound like cheap junk next to what I made here. Are my speakers perfect right now? Definitely not. But I'd much rather mix on them than on any budget studio monitor. Thanks for watching!

Thanks! Crazy to hear that. Although I've heard some "pro" monitors that were unbearable to listen to, so I can't be too surprised, I guess?

Perhaps, if I can find some. But I'll first look what's possible with the current driver.

I guess there will be reasons like "you don't need a power source where your speaker is", and "because it has always been like this" will also be one of them. This hybrid approach of an external amp that is still tri-amped is the most optimal in my opinion though (although the cost of the cables is a bit high).

I had to make a lot of small cutouts in the bitumen sheets, and that took ages. There are probably better ways to cut it than how I did it, that would take less time. But even taking this long, the end result was worth it. I could indeed have braced more, but I was afraid to alter the internal volume too much. There might be better bracing techniques as well, but I'm quite new to this, so if you have some tips on that, or material I could read, that would be very welcome! Thanks for your extensive comment!

My lack of a lumber mill is indeed why I tried this 😅

Downside is that many older speakers use that border where grills are meant to fit, which isn't the best acoustics wise

@@RennieAsh True, that's where the problems with the edge diffraction come from. I might experiment with some felt around the tweeter to see if that improves the frequency response (instead of compensating for it in the dsp).

@@SirFreak could also do it for the midrange, or just surround the border. Might not look as good unless you can cut neatly and maybe colour/dye the felt black

Glad to hear that, good luck! Grtz from the parking lot! :D

@@SirFreak Hahaha! Danzij BDW is het hier ook niet simpel meer om te parkeren. :-)

Great idea! The tweeter amp is 100w, but the tweeter has a nominal power handling of 10w, so I still have some headroom that I can lose. Right now I'm turning the gain of the tweeters down quite a lot. I'll definitely try adding resistors, perhaps even a little L-pad to the midrange as wel (since that is turned down as well). I'm not quite sure what type of resistors would be best for high quality audio? Do you have any advice on that?

@@SirFreak Nah you dont need to go fancy resistors. Just make sure they can handle a bit of power.

Thanks for the feedback! I had also thought about experimenting with some felt around the tweeter, but perhaps I'll try to find some black felt, so it doesn't stand out too much. Definitely things I should try.

Somewhat, yes. The vertical directivity was the worst (it was quite audible when moving my head up and down just a bit), and that is why I lowered the crossovers, which seemed to help quite a bit. As for the horizontal directivity, the tweeters do lose some air when moving too far away from the listening position, but for a studio monitor I do not really mind that. The sweet spot is large enough. Since these are studio monitors, and I'm tuning them specifically to the room, what's heard on axis, at the listening position, is the most important for me.

Offsetting the tweeter would be quite a drastic modification, so I'm not sure I'll go for that. But I might definitely try to use some felt around the tweeter. Just not sure what felt to use yet. I hope I can find some black/gray felt, so it does not stand out too much. Interesting. What's the reason that three surfaces will result in a deeper bass cut-off point? Thanks for the tips!

Hi SirFreak, This may seem counter-intuitive, an internal standing wave needs two opposing surfaces to set itself up. If we have one bare surface opposed by another bare surface, there will be interference, and standing waves. If we glue absorbent material to one opposing side, it absorbs some energy, delays it, converts some into heat. The longer waveform released by the treated wall, interferes less, or not at all with the untreated one. Asymmetry in speaker design is your friend. The enclosure volume was designed to work with the port as a system. As we stuff, or over-stuff the box, an ideal amount may improve bass quality, but then adding more (too much) can reverse this, and produce less bass. The cabinet and port system may develop a mid-bass peak that wasn't there before. The quality of bass will be affected by how we stuff the box, and how this changes virtual box volume and actual box volume. Adding absorbent material tends to make the virtual box size "larger" however there will be the point of diminishing returns,, that more stuffing reduces actual box volume, and reduced bass output and quality.

@@TheFRiNgEguitars Interesting, thanks for the extensive explanation!

I still have some research to do :)

The A77H are also very nice monitors :)

Parts-express used to sell Dynaudio drivers & diy plans for complete speakers. Madisound is also a good source for drivers and cross-over parts. My system is PrimaLuna vacuum tube based. Speakers are now JBL 4425 studio monitors. I also have 2) Crowns XLS & XLi 1500 series. XLS is class D & XLi is class AB.

Hmmm. Haven't noticed that, no. As far as I could see they were sealed, and I suppose the bitumen sheets over them will also add an extra seal. I did apply glue around the new connectors though, as I wanted to make sure they were (and stay) sealed, so they don't leak air over there. I'll do some extra checks on the existing connectors to make sure there's no leakage over there, and if needed I might apply some silicon as well. I could be wrong, but I don't think there will be any issues there. But it never hurts to check, right? Thanks for making me aware of this!

The appearance can definitely still use some improvements here and there :')

Audiophonics, a french website

@@SirFreak parfait merci! (J'avais pas réalisé que t'avais dit que t'était belge dans la vidéo 🤣)

Quite impressive amps for the price indeed. The only downside on these was that little bit of hiss.

Yeah, the difference is remarkable! Not to mention the weight difference :')

Bedankt!

You might also want to look up "driver refoaming". Worth a try and will be a lot cheaper and easier than finding a new replacement driver.

I got most of the materials from SoundImports and Audiophonics. In the US you might want to use parts-express. I probably forgot a few things, but these should be the most important: - HiVi RT1.3WE Isodynamic Planar Tweeter - Neutrik NL8MDXX-V-BAG speakON 8p - Neutrik NL8FC - MOGAMI W2919 Speaker cable OFC Copper - PINTA AMORTSONBi10A PHD Self-adhesive bitumen backing - PINTA RESOBSON FU1220 Self-Adhesive Fabric Felt Damping - SMPS300RS Switching Power Supply Module 300W / 36V - WONDOM AA-JA11117 Functional Cable Package for JAB3+ / JAB4 / JAB5 Boards - WONDOM ICP5 Programmer - WONDOM JAB5 AA-JA33286 Amplifier Module - Shrinkwrap - Wire for connecting to the power grid Hope that helps!

Is the input signal loud enough? That might be a reason you're not getting the full power out of your amp. Depending on the sensitivity of the driver, 120w might also be a little low for a bass driver?

Leuk project, veel succes ermee! En ja, had ik ook niet verwacht. Van de tweeter wel, omdat die nog redelijk laag kon gaan, maar ik had niet verwacht dat de midrange zo laag zou kunnen gaan.

The size is 345 x 585 x 303mm. The stands I'm using support monitors up to 50kg, but that being said, I also sometimes have doubts about leaving them on the stands. For monitors the size you are talking about, it might be best to just raise them using concrete blocks. Cheap but effective. There are also some heavy duty stands for such monitors, but those cost an arm and a leg. Perhaps putting subs under your monitors is also an option.

Thank you!

Thank you!

Yes, but of course building a cabinet from scratch is better, as you can build it specifically for the drivers you are using. Here I'm just trying to "fix" the issues with the cabinets, which would not exist if the cabinet was built correctly in the first place.

As mentioned in the video, my knowledge of electronics is too limited to create a passive crossover network that would get the same quality result as what I managed to get out of these speakers now. I love A/B amps, but I would then have needed 3 separate amps and a DSP board with A/D-D/A conversion. This woud probably have resulted in quite a lot more costs. Might be an upgrade path for the future, but for now I'll stick to these boards.

Got most of the materials from SoundImports and Audiophonics. In the US you might want to use parts-express. I probably forgot a few things, but these should be the most important: - HiVi RT1.3WE Isodynamic Planar Tweeter - Neutrik NL8MDXX-V-BAG speakON 8p - Neutrik NL8FC - MOGAMI W2919 Speaker cable OFC Copper - PINTA AMORTSONBi10A PHD Self-adhesive bitumen backing - PINTA RESOBSON FU1220 Self-Adhesive Fabric Felt Damping - SMPS300RS Switching Power Supply Module 300W / 36V - WONDOM AA-JA11117 Functional Cable Package for JAB3+ / JAB4 / JAB5 Boards - WONDOM ICP5 Programmer - WONDOM JAB5 AA-JA33286 Amplifier Module - Shrinkwrap - Wire for connecting to the power grid As for reading materials, I just searched around a lot on the internet as a progressed through this project. One book you might want to check out, recommended by a lot of people, is "Loudspeaker Design Cookbook", by Vance Dickason. It's quite an expensive book, and I have not read it yet, though. But heard that it's a real bible for speaker design. Hope that helps!

Haha that turned a smile on my face. Thanks for the kind words!

Hmm not sure, could be the power supply, but I'm not sure.

Those are some insane mods O.o I definitely won't be cutting my drivers anytime soon. But if it works for you, all the power to you!

A rackmount case would be nice indeed! I've also been thinking about adding subs underneath them, or maybe even building subs. Perhaps a little project for once this is finished?

@@SirFreak it would be rude not to, given that there are so many "pro-sumer" home theatre even passive hi fi, add another class d amp and (literally) boom! job done, no?

Interesting, good luck!

Thanks!

Awesome!

Hmm I could be wrong, but it sounds like they might need new capacitors?

It's a good idea to get modern bass drivers - In a subwoofer! The orignal drivers will give great midbass, because they are light and large and are correctly tuned for the cabinet.

I've been contemplating getting the Dayton Audio Reference RSS265HO-44, but I still need to research and doublecheck a couple of things before I decide to order them.

@@seraphin_creates Adding subs to these might indeed also give nice results. Not quite sure what I'll do yet.

My initial thoughts were that a heavy modern driver will have a different sound character to that delicate midrange. It could also create objectionable box resonance. Original maybe 40-50g moving mass vs 160g for the Dayton. But these are just guesses according to my "vintage goood" bias. For your studio a modern woofer might give you what you need. @impuls60 might know more about this stuff than me actually, I realised after checking out the channel. Also I didn't mean any disrespect with the cheeky wording 😇

@@seraphin_creates Interesting take, didn't realize that there would be that much difference in the moving mass, that might indeed have some concequences.. thanks!

I guess someone has been watching PDP as well? :')

@@SirFreak yes I came across their video a while ago but they were only picking drivers at that stage . But recognised the speaker

Interesting, definitely stuff I will experiment with!

​@@SirFreak Experienced speaker builder's example here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/edGfasiHytqddZc.html

Awesome. I'm wondering how the original tweeters sound!

It looks like a mess :')

I'm still contemplating wether I'd want to add a pair of subs or not. Perhaps building subs myself might also be an idea. We'll see. More videos on these speakers will definitely come.