Cain & Cain Abbys ride again

mhardy6647

Sounds to me like somebody needs a SE 2A3 (3.5 watts) or SE 300B (8 watts) amplifier, to me...

;- )

BlueMDPicker

At this point in time, I'd have a "lot of splainin' to do" if another piece of audio gear appears.

But, yes, I'd love to have either (both?)

mhardy6647

Where do you live?
Ever get up to New England/NH?

These could follow you home on a long-term loan -- you can tell anyone who asks "they're not mine; they're just visiting!"

:- )

paramours 112413 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

Bottlehead Paramours -- SE 2A3

BlueMDPicker

Hi Mark,

We're way down yonder in the PawPaw patch (SW Florida) since 2010. I haven't had the pleasure of New England in ages.

I was about to the point of building something more in the Bottlehead line after I built my Seduction phono pre, then got distracted (damn butterflies). I bet they sound glorious. Glad to see someone else just glued the base together and called it good!

-Mike

mhardy6647

I was just trying to minimize the aesthetic damage I did -- which is why "my" speaker creations all feature the popular "Emperor's New Clothes" finish :-p

269-469BR by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

Jim Shearer

BlueMDPicker wrote: »

Very interesting. I'd love to hear them all!

Pardon my ignorance on speaker design, but is there a formula used for the area of the radius of the front, bottom port (I hope I'm correct in assuming that is a port) to tune the LF?

You can calculate closed box & bass reflex alignments for drivers using their Theil/Small parameters. A quick search on the web will turn up some free calc software, but you can also buy books on speaker design which will explain things better.

I use Martin King’s MathCAD worksheets (no longer available) and an old copy of MathCAD Explorer (free/crippled version of MathCAD 8) on an 18 yr old PC to model transmission line, mass loaded transmission line, and open baffle designs. I also have worksheets for horns, but haven’t used them. This is considerably more advanced than simple BR design, and the worksheets can model room effects as well as the cabinet itself.

Martin has some interesting info available on his web site, mentioned previously by mhardy, but here is the link again:
http://www.quarter-wave.com/

Forgot to mention, the F120A Mets are driven by a Dynakitparts ST-35 (w/ fixed bias upgrade) that I built a couple years ago. I think the ST-35 is the sweetest sounding of the Dynaco amps. It didn't get the attention that the ST-70 did, as folks were looking for more power.

BlueMDPicker

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the expanded info. My woodworking days are behind me I fear. I sold almost all the tools I had when we relocated.

I agree on the ST-35. I built one in my early 20's I wish I still had.

One of your other builds on Martin's site looks interesting and is gorgeous to boot. You're very talented!



-Mike

SCompRacer

BlueMDPicker wrote: »

I haven't had the pleasure of New England in ages.

I don't think now is a pleasurable time to go back....

Build an Eros! (Bottlehead).

Nice speakers Mike!

mhardy6647

Fine up here on the tundra -- no snow at all from the storm (down on the "Cape & Islands").

BlueMDPicker

SCompRacer wrote: »

Build an Eros! (Bottlehead).

Nice speakers Mike!

Thanks Rich! I think I'd try something like the Stereomour II should I build anything else.



I still have my Bottlehead Seduction (I guess now called Reduction?) phono pre with the CS4 upgrade and a bazillion tubes to roll through it paired with my Music Hall table.

Jim Shearer

Thanks BlueMDPicker! The super-tweeters on the Pappa's TL that you showed above have now been placed behind the speakers firing upward, rather than sitting on top of the speakers & pointed toward the room corners. The PTLs use Fostex FF225wk drivers which are only good up to about 8 KHz. The Eminence APT-80 horn tweeters are crossed in using just a 1 uf cap. They need to be pointed away from the listener, as the phase relationship between the tweeters and the FF225wk will be, shall we say, untenable. (center to center distance is way more than 1/4 wavelength)

If you want to know more about my various builds, you can find many of them documented on DIYaudio.com in the 'Full Range' section; note that the 'full range' means SINGLE full range driver and does not refer to full frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 KHz. To see the images,you have to sign up-- but it's free, so why not?

cnh

Looks more like a speaker version of China's Stone Forest, Jim? lol

mhardy6647

BlueMDPicker wrote: »

...

I still have my Bottlehead Seduction (I guess now called Reduction?) phono pre with the CS4 upgrade and a bazillion tubes to roll through it paired with my Music Hall table.

heh-heh-heh... I still have "mrbiron's"

:-P

Jim Shearer

Hi cnh,

Well, they are big, but not THAT big!

From my commentary in the build thread on DIYaudio:
This design is intended to fulfill my goals: a larger sonic image on orchestral music than the 4 to 4.5” drivers I have used; able to produce 90 dB SPL peaks on orchestral music without getting congested; able to provide an authoritative presentation in the 60 to 120 Hz octave. So it’s not the last word in bass extension; not going to make your ears bleed, but plenty loud for me-- louder would just hurt my ears.

The transmission alignment requires a fairly large box--about 2 feet deep at the bottom. IIRC, I tuned it to about 44 Hz. In room measured response at the listening position shown below; I think there was a problem w/ either the mic or sound card, as I know the highs extended much more than the graph shows.

BlueMDPicker

Enchanting.

That's the best description of the Abbys. It's hard to NOT sit down and enjoy the music when they're serving it up.