[GhettoSQ]

David,

The Seas woofers sound a good deal better after a little break-in time. I think it was actually the rear speakers clipping (or the amp clipping the rear speakers). I will replace eventually but for now they're a good indicator to keep my eq'ing honest. I do like the fill though, they add a lot of depth.

Turns out the CA21RE wants a much bigger enclosure as well as more power -- I'm gonna try polyfill and maybe an AP vent or snake port. I hooked up the amp in "bridge" config but couldn't hear a difference; I'll try again when the stuffing is in. I'm also thinking about a small monoblock and parallel wiring; about 75W per driver should do it.

As for the vifa mids, after break-in the vocals sound very clear and natural, but the drivers are definitely getting killed by low frequencies. Oh well, bass blockers and another $6.00 pair on the way! If only PE had the BB's in stock I wouldn't be in this fix

Nat

 

[87DXHatch]

Re: My initial DIY experience!!!!!

Hey folks...just wanted to chime in instead of starting another "OMG I love my speakers post"...My novice $.02 about my new DIY drivers...

Got my Ca18RNX's and Fountek Neo's based on reading from mostly this site and ECA. Deadened the living heck out of my doors. Pics will follow, (maybe on ECA maybe put up a Sounddomain page...right now no internet at home)..... Running off my 8053 head unit.

Upon initial hookup (haven't set EQ yet), WOW I'm impressed.


Seas x/o at 80 @12-18 db and 1.6khz at 24db and ribbons at 2.0 at 24, though I've been playing around with 2.0 and 2.5 x/0 points. The seas drivers can be crossed over lower (on my HU, that would be 63 hz I think), but when I really crank it, which I will admit I like to do sometimes, I hear either the driver reaching it's limits or something in a door making some sound....crossed over at 80 hz I can really crank it and it's still putting out some serious midbass.....The deep drums in Star War's Imperial March are darn scary

The seas drivers (off an ESX 1752, getting @75-100 watts each at 8 ohms) are powerful, play strong deep midbass nice and clean midrange. Voices sound natural and they image well from the door. The door deadening was pretty darn successful. A few minor peaks to take care of, but this driver seems real easy to work with.

Now the ribbons......oh the ribbons. In kicks, aimed at ear level, both of them aimed generally center-stagish.....I'm glad I resisted the temptation to get more expensive ribbons, as these sound just right to me (off an old 30x 2 Rodek amp). . Very efficient and detailed, non fatiguing...the "high highs" are about as crystal clear and effortless as I think I've heard. I find myself running through my house looking for CD's with nice highs, scanning my computer for MP3 files, just to hear them on the ribbons.

I'm definately in the ribbon boner club for now.....

You have the same set-up as I am probably going to go with. You are running all of your components off an active set-up, right? I'm debating whether to use passive or active... I've got a 4-channel amp I could bridge into both ribbon and mid, 220 X 2 @ 4 ohms, but ribbons are extremely sensitive, right? So I could conceivably get a small 20 x 2 amp to power the ribbons off of and have it work out just fine?

Anyone know the real differences between the Fountek and the LCY ribbons? I know the LCY's have more solid construction, but is it really worth the large difference in price? How would the differences be between small ribbons and the longer ones?

Anyone had experience with the CA18RNX's and the Koda midbasses? Adire's Koda set is the only high-end audio set I've ever heard.

Man... I hate getting excited about this stuff, it seriously keeps me from sleeping some times by just envisioning all the fabrication and fun that is in store.

 

[87DXHatch]

PS: Are these the ribbons you have?

http://www.madisound.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?cart_id=422498.13402&pid=1889

 

[10K2HVN]

Re: My initial DIY experience!!!!!

You have the same set-up as I am probably going to go with. You are running all of your components off an active set-up, right? I'm debating whether to use passive or active... I've got a 4-channel amp I could bridge into both ribbon and mid, 220 X 2 @ 4 ohms, but ribbons are extremely sensitive, right? So I could conceivably get a small 20 x 2 amp to power the ribbons off of and have it work out just fine?

Not sure what you mean here..? You wanna bridge your amp and make a passive xover for the ribbons and tweets..?

I was suggest you bridge that amp for your midbasses, and get a separate amp for ribbons. 50 (or more) x 2 @ 4 ohms will probably be easier to find then a '20 x 2' amp...

Anyone know the real differences between the Fountek and the LCY ribbons? I know the LCY's have more solid construction, but is it really worth the large difference in price? How would the differences be between small ribbons and the longer ones?

"The real differences"??? Theyre two totally different highend speakers! itll take a good ear to tell the difference in tonallity after sensitivity.. thats almost like asking whats the difference between a "JL W7" and "MTX 9500", in caraudio terms....

Read this whole thread:
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3

 

[87DXHatch]

That was the first thread I read here, but it makes more sense now that I've read a bunch of other threads pertaining to the topic as well.

And I don't think the subwoofer references was a good one, considering they will sound very similar given the properly sized enclosures/proper alignments (aka gigantic box for 9500, and small/medium sized box for W7 :-D ).

So the Fountek and Aurum Cantus ribbons are similar, according to the thread, but by what degree are the LCY's better? Can you give me any idea? I'm just debating whether I go into further debt with the LCY's, or be satisfied with the Fountek's.

Sorry about the confusion, I was saying I could either bridge my 4-channel into a passive, into a mid and ribbon, or I could bridge it into my mids, and get a small amp for the ribbons. I just worry about all active set-ups and the possibilities of induced noise and nightmare troubleshooting problems.

 

[xDeLiRiOuSx]

Sorry about the confusion, I was saying I could either bridge my 4-channel into a passive, into a mid and ribbon, or I could bridge it into my mids, and get a small amp for the ribbons. I just worry about all active set-ups and the possibilities of induced noise and nightmare troubleshooting problems.

The definition of an active setup means that each driver has their own AMP channels.

So if you run a 4 channel amp, two channels to your mids and two channels to your ribbons --> that's ACTIVE

If you use your 4 channel amp, brige them to two channels for the mids, then buy a 2 channel amp for your ribbons --> that's ACTIVE as well.

I personally think you should try powering them mids and ribbons on the same amp FIRST. If you feel you need more power, then think about bridging.

I can't help you with the ribbons question, hehe, I don't know anything about ribbons. (except that I WANT a pair now because of all the raving...)



David

 

[xDeLiRiOuSx]

Nat,

I'm glad you like the sound of your drivers. Yeah when they finally break it, it sounds like a whole new driver huh? Yeah, a small momo block would work great for the sub. if your whole system runs on one stock amp, then getting a momo amp may even stop the rear speakers from clipping (just a guess).

ooh, watch out for those lower frequencies.. Definately put those bass blocks before you blow those vifa mids.

Good luck with your setup,

David

 

[87DXHatch]

Sorry about the confusion, I was saying I could either bridge my 4-channel into a passive, into a mid and ribbon, or I could bridge it into my mids, and get a small amp for the ribbons. I just worry about all active set-ups and the possibilities of induced noise and nightmare troubleshooting problems.

The definition of an active setup means that each driver has their own AMP channels.

So if you run a 4 channel amp, two channels to your mids and two channels to your ribbons --> that's ACTIVE

If you use your 4 channel amp, brige them to two channels for the mids, then buy a 2 channel amp for your ribbons --> that's ACTIVE as well.

I personally think you should try powering them mids and ribbons on the same amp FIRST. If you feel you need more power, then think about bridging.

I can't help you with the ribbons question, hehe, I don't know anything about ribbons. (except that I WANT a pair now because of all the raving...)



David

I know what going active is, I'm not a moron. You missed the part in the first set-up where I said I would run the amp into a PASSIVE, as in crossover, and then to the mids and ribbons.

Somehow I don't think 75 watts to the mids and 75 watts to the tweeters will be enough, but it would save me from buying another amp, so I might try it. 220 watts with my Koda set was amazing, and I hesitate to give my new setup less power.

 

[npdang]

75 watts is a LOT of power for a mid+tweet. But, depending on your setup and all it's very hard to predict whether a 75 wpc amp would be enough for you.

I can tell you that when I'm testing speakers in the home though with test tones, I need hearing protection for anything over 2-3 watts with tweeters. It's damn loud!

With a multimeter reading ac voltage in the car, I cap out at about 3Vrms... which is about 1.5 watt on my ribbon tweeters using music and volume all the way maxed out.

 

[87DXHatch]

Then it sounds like putting a possible 75 watts a side to some Fountek ribbons would be way too much for them, even with the gains minimized. Unless I were to attenuate the input voltage even more through the use of some external processing, such as the crossover, if I were to go active.

 

[npdang]

You may need some kind of passive attenuation like an L-pad if you're using a passive. With active I do keep my gains all the way down, and I kill it about -15db on my processor. My ribbons sit at 102dbwm so it's tougher to match to an 88dbwm mid.

 

[xDeLiRiOuSx]

I know what going active is, I'm not a moron. You missed the part in the first set-up where I said I would run the amp into a PASSIVE, as in crossover, and then to the mids and ribbons.

Sorry, my mistake. I did miss the first part. Guess I'm the moron

Peace,
David

 

[GhettoSQ]

Nat,

Yeah, a small momo block would work great for the sub. if your whole system runs on one stock amp, then getting a momo amp may even stop the rear speakers from clipping (just a guess).

David,

there are two factory amps, I had originally thought 1 for the subs and 1 for the rest, but it may be 1 for each side in which case I'd get a 5-channel or 2 4-channels w/ 2 bridgeable channels each. I suppose I can just disconnect 1 wire harness to find out

so, for the two door woofers, I'd use a small monoblock, hopefully with dual outs and high-level ins, or buy a cheap LOC until I can get/make a good one. I'm hoping that running 2 8 ohm drivers in parallel would present a 4 ohm load, with about 150W @ 4 ohms, each driver would get ~75. The max RMS on the Seas is 80W, but the excursion is so short I'd worry about hitting mechanical limits with much more. I like the DEI 250d, although I think the LPF is set at 250hz, and I can't go much below 300Hz on the mids...*sigh*

 

[BBOYSTEVIE]

PS: Are these the ribbons you have?

http://www.madisound.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?cart_id=422498.13402&pid=1889

Yes those are them. Yes a 10 or 20 watt x 2 amp will be fine for them. I'm using my Eclipse HU to cross them over actively. Everyone else already covered everything else. I'd definately go active with this setup. Measuring for and designing the perfect passive for them sounds like a PITA.

 

[87DXHatch]

Hot. Time to start scrounging for cash, or go deeper into debt.