Active 3-way DIY Setup.

[highly]

His KEF drivers are a model or two up from mine. The midbass... those are a huge step forward!

Al, every post you make I just want to 'like' if only because of your avatar pic. Just...wow.





wow.

[erinh]

That looks great, Erin. I think Todd's reference system had the same KEF drivers and it sounded awesome. I can't wait to hear it.

Todd actually uses the Q700 which has a different driver in it. The driver I'm using comes from the R500 speakers which I had setup at my GTG for demo. These are intended solely for midrange/tweeter use where the midrange drivers in Todd's Q700 are designed to be more a midwoofer/tweeter. Different designs meant for different goals. For anyone curious about the differences, here's some notes from Kef's design engineer here:

It may be of use to go into a little more depth about our Uni-Q development:

The drivers from the Q series, R series and LS50 all share a common lineage. The Q-series speakers were the first to be developed around 2010 as a concerted effort to get some of the features of the Concept Blade drivers into "affordable" loudspeakers. Over the years following the launch of the current Q range, we have refined and tweaked the drivers, resulting in those used in the R-series and LS50 drivers.

A quick summary: There are 5.25”, 6.5”, and 8” Uni-Q driver arrays in the Q range. The driver in the two-way R100 is based on the Q100 driver, but has a different cone (which you can identify the driver by from the font) and some tweaks to the tweeter and midrange magnet systems to reduce the distortion (addition of shorting rings and a copper cap).

The LS50 driver is a special edition of the R100 driver with a different voice-coil spec (to give a slightly different bass response in the system). The surround is also different and gives a slightly tidier upper mid-frequency response. We slightly adjusted the geometry around the tweeter-magnet outside diameter, also to improve the mid-frequency response.

The R-series Uni-Q as used in R300, R500, R700, and R900 is better than the LS50 one. The tweeter is the same as the LS50 tweeter. The small surround on the R-series mid-frequency driver greatly improves the response of the midrange and also improves the tweeter response as it presents smaller "disturbance" in the waveguide.

As ever with loudspeakers, people have different tastes -- we have come across many who love the LS50 (79Hz, +/-3dB), but require more bass and scale. They often choose the R300 (50Hz, +/-3dB) or R500 (46Hz, +/-3dB). Some others, albeit fewer people, go for combining the LS50 with a subwoofer. But most appreciate the raison d'être of the LS50 as a purist point-source monitor, and, given the right acoustics and positioning and driven by quality electronics, are more than happy with the bass extension.

KEF's fundamental approach is to try to offer differing designs with engineering trickled down as far as possible from the very best, to suit varying tastes, but trying also to maintain a "family sound."

Johan Coorg
KEF

[erinh]

His KEF drivers are a model or two up from mine. The midbass... those are a huge step forward!

dang. caught me while I was typing up my reply. took me FOREVER to find that quote/link. lol


FWIW, I nearly bought the same speakers Todd uses. And based on his feedback, I may have very well been happy with that. But, having already owned the R-series and using them in my car and having the R500 speakers, I knew what they were capable of in the right bandpass. So, I went with those. Plus, it's a bit of an exclusivity factor. With this build I was pretty much swinging for the stars... hoping to get the best drivers I could as my baseline. I looked at a LOT of options but everytime I came right back to the Kef/Scan combo. Instead of wasting another month trying to decide, I just pulled the trigger. Haven't looked back. And so far, I'm glad I did.

[BigAl205]

Al, every post you make I just want to 'like' if only because of your avatar pic. Just...wow.

I photoshopped that pic, her name is Martina Dimitrova.

[erinh]

lugged the pair upstairs and moved the rack in to the room to make wiring it up quicker. I set simple crossovers on it by ear but plan to measure it all once I get some time to. Right now I have the following crossovers:
Scan Midbass - HPF: None. LPF: 480hz, LR4.
Kef Mid - HPF: 480hz, LR4. LPF: 2.8khz, LR4.
Kef Tweeter - HPF: 2.8khz, Bessel 18dB.


This stuff gets STUPID loud and incredibly clean. I hit 106dB full range at about 8 feet listening distance and the speakers didn't even flinch. These are just downright impressive. I'm looking forward to tweaking the crossovers further and dialing it in once I determine the final placement. But for now with the 'out of the box' crossovers, it's just scary good.

That said, I've also considering doing something different due to changing priorities. But, that's still TBD. It just depends on how things work out in the next month.


Here's a few pictures. Keep in mind the subs on the floor are 12 inch JL Audio E112 subs. That gives you an idea of how friggin' large these towers are.
To recap, the tweeters are powered via a Crown XLS1500, mids are powered by a Crown XLS2000 and woofers are powered by a Crown XLS2000. The Rane RPM26Z at the top of the rack area is the DSP and the Oppo at the very top feeds in to the Rane (and another Rane RPM88 at the very bottom, blocked by the sub, which feeds signal to the center, surround, and subs).

[BigAl205]

You didn't even need wire risers

I can't wait to hear it

[highly]

It seems underpowered.

[erinh]

You didn't even need wire risers

LOL. I honestly thought about that last night.

[erinh]

It seems underpowered.

Indeed.

What's crazy is those 3 amps I'm using for the speakers is still only 1/10th the price of some of the power-equivalent of the Mcintosh/Brystons of the world. Heck, nearly twice the power and an additional channel than the $1k Emotiva XPA-5.

[erinh]

Painted! Two coats of satin black. Made shortcuts by not hitting the cabs with a flush trim bit but my attitude is screw it. Cosmetically, they're good enough. They're gonna be in a dark room. The only reason they're being painted is to help them not stand out like a sore thumb.

Anyway... Looks good. Not glossy but not flat.








Now sound wise these are every bit as awesome as I'd hope they'd be. Sure, I'm biased, but I also spent a good 3 months testing and designing before I even cut the first piece of wood for these so it's not like I threw something together and am fooling myself in to thinking it sounds good.

What I've yet to do is REALLY sit down with the system and tweak phase via time alignment between the sub/midbass/midrange. Right now the crossover points are set but could use some improvement and the subs really need to be more integrated and EQ'd. There's a couple hot spots that need EQ below 400hz. Overall, though, it's impressive. And gets stupid loud.

Once I get all that completed I'll post up the measurements. And I AM NOT adding absorption. I threw a couple panels on the wall and it caused the width via ambiance to suffer. Which makes perfect sense. All the more reason why a good set of speakers with attention paid to polar patterns need little DSP and room treatments in a real room.