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Quick Build - LD25X and NE123W-08
My brother asked me to build him some small speakers to use in his HT system. Eventually I’ll build a few more of these plus some 3-way front channels with the same mid/tweet. The crossover ended up super simple on this one and gives very good vertical off axis below the design axis, which should work well sing he will be mounting the up high on the walls. He asked for them to be low reflective so I went with satin poly. The high gloss makes the wood pop more but this still shows a similar effect to what I got on the standards where some angles really show the grain contrast and others look almost black.
and 5 others.
Comments
Here is the crossover and final response.
Ha Ha on your latex glove. Do you like those vifa 123's ? They look really sharp
Love the driver selection and love how they look. Great job!
Is that just plywood and stain? Kornbread likes.
Beautiful work.
The NE series is all awesome. The midrange on the NE123 is top notch. They can play descent bass in an EBS alignment but I’ve got these in 4 liters.
It tiger stripe maple veneer dyed black.
Sweet! If that's a quick build, I can't imagine what a long, complex build from you would look like!
Very nice compact build. How did you dye the veneer? I ended up cracking the veneer trying to dye.
Wow. First order on the woofer, and 2nd order on the tweeter and beauty to boot! You don't deserve a seat at the DIY table, you deserve your own speaker company.... oh wait.....
It’s TransTint liquid dye diluted in alcohol. The veneer was glued on first then dyed.
Did you listen to this with a sub? If so, any difference in the sound compared to the Juggernaughts?
Nice Looking Speakers. I just measured a NE123W-8 driver on my test panel and I may be able to use these in a future high end 3 way build. I'm in the process of finishing a budget 3 way that uses the TC9 as a midrange and it sounds really good - I have a pair of what I call proof of concept enclosures that I'm listening to them in now. I wish the NE123 had the very smooth frequency response thru the midrange like the TC9. One would think comparing there two drivers would be like apples and oranges but not really. Yes the NE123 has a cast frame, NEO magnet, larger Titanium VC and can play an octave lower with the same level of distortion and lower power compression. This just proves why the TC9 is loved so much - very nice sound for $9.42. The NE123 is more then 6 times the price. I think one could compare the NE123 to the ScanSpeak 12MU/8731T. The Scanspeak has a high tech one piece cone dust cap, underhung VC, foam surround. Looking at Data at HIFI Compass on the 12MU/4731T the Scan has slightly lower distortion then the NE123, Smoother midrange response probably the foam surround helps, Lower Qts, Better CSD due to the advance cone design. The Scanspeak is 4.6 times the price of the NE123. Who would have thought that driver prices were logarithmic like dB.
Nice build Kerry. Are the sides removable or glued on?
I did not try them with a sub but it would likely be a close match with a good sub that is integrated well. The LD25X and Morel Supreme share a lot of similarities in sound. One is just a bit better on some instruments, the other is just a bit better on other instruments. Since I used the Vifa NE series as the mid in my Juggernauts as well the midrange should be similar with the exception of differences in the polar response.
Glued on
It took me a bit of time to ship these out and then there were two delays from UPS so my brother just got these Thursday evening. He called me all excited about them. He usually doesn't get very excited about much but he was super giddy about them and said they look and sound better than he ever expected. He works for Best Buy in their Magnolia Center and said he thought they sound better than anything he sells at there. He was surprised at how full they sounded for how small they are. He told me he thought the finish looks super professional although I would still disagree on that one. There are still flaws in the finish that I didn’t get out. Apparently he is going to take them in to show a guy he works with who might be interested in getting something custom.
Congrats! It sounds like an outstanding success and maybe another joins the fray.
You know I did some research on my genealogy recently. Turns out we are brothers...Sooo...
Is this the beginning of a new sister company to CSS? KKS - Kerry's Kustom Speakers.
It's truly rewarding when someone outside of our hobby feels like your brother does about your creation. Great job Kerry!
Haha, I barely have enough time for the current duties. Definitely not enough to start another company!