Troels Gravesen Illumina 66 Build Log

Discussion in 'Speakers' started by spwath, Jun 3, 2021.

  1. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2015
    Likes Received:
    7,894
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Madison, WI
    Probably some sort of vaneer. I'll look into what's easiest to do in an apartment, as I'll be doing the crossovers and finishing after I move. Vaneer seems to be the easiest best looking option maybe
     
  2. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,683
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NOVA
    Home Page:
    If you want a good cheap "looks good from 10 feet" finish, just sand, seal and paint with a high nap roller-applied milk paint can get you something that hides imperfections and is easily repairable/fixable. And, easy to do indoors with no special equipment. I will say from experience that a good veneer job is only as good as the quality of the substrate and woodworking. Veneer won't hide poor joinery over time unless you're going to bondo/sand the seams.
     
  3. dBel84

    dBel84 Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,229
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Agreed, I veneered my first build (in Hartford CT, high humidity) it lasted almost a year before it started to bubble. I like vinyl wrap but it shows up every imperfection. I woukd suggest that you seal the mdf regardless. You don't want it degassing. Watered down glue is a great option.
     
  4. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2015
    Likes Received:
    7,894
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Madison, WI
    Hmm, yeah I'll look into it more, though Wisconsin should be better with humidity. I'll have to figure out what's best, don't have too much experience
     
  5. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2015
    Likes Received:
    7,894
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Madison, WI
    Damping materials put in
    [​IMG]

    And backs glued on
    [​IMG]
     
  6. philipmorgan

    philipmorgan Member of the month

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,790
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    In the wind, so to speak
    Home Page:
    Just seconding the pro audio amp recommendation. Used QSC, Crown, Crest, etc, rated for 1000 watts should do it (check out Psalm's various recommendations).

    I had a JLH69 running my OSMT's for a minute and didn't realized how the low power held the speakers back until I hooked my Crown X1000 up to it. Having enough power totally opened up the speaker and, surprisingly, widened and deepened the sound stage. Not what I was expecting from a $150 PA amp.
     
  7. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2015
    Likes Received:
    7,894
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Madison, WI
    So right now the crossover parts come out to costing about $800, using the high end Jantzen components as recommended. Any recommendations for ways I can cheap out without doing anything bad? These Jantzen inductors and capacitors seem really expensive.

    Parts list from Janzen
    upload_2021-6-20_12-43-48.png



    Parts from list found at parts express
    upload_2021-6-20_12-41-4.png


    Recommendations on brands that might be cheaper without hurting performance?
     
  8. Marvey

    Marvey Super Friend

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2021
    Likes Received:
    1,712
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Yikes!

    I like the Audyn reds for the caps, but the Jantzens are better - especially those particular ones. Can't do much about the inductors. Personally I'd go Audyns caps and Dayton coils at PartsExpress. You will probably be building many more projects in your lifetime, long past when I am dead. Save the money when you have a plan for your ultimate speaker. For now, go cheap on XO parts.

    P.S. Ensure that you maintain DCR on the coils. Go iron-core on the big coils on the woofers to save money, although Dannie Ritchie will have to do a YT number on you for an upgrade kit.
     
    • Like Like x 4
    • Epic Epic x 1
    • List
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 20, 2021
  9. philipmorgan

    philipmorgan Member of the month

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,790
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    In the wind, so to speak
    Home Page:
    Audyn for the capacitors
     
  10. dBel84

    dBel84 Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,229
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I am with Marv, iron core and dayton resistors too , there are a LOT of cap options that will not break the bank - the Russian options make for good crossovers too.

    if you want to hold off till you hear potential, I have enough gear to loan you for an active system. If you are anything like me, you are chomping at the bit to hear them and $200 worth of parts is going to get you >95% of the way there
     
  11. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,084
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    I'm smelling the start of a Wisconsin meet later in the year...
     
  12. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2015
    Likes Received:
    7,894
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Madison, WI
    Thanks for the offer, ill let you know in a bit what I am going to do.
    Just looking ahead at the crossovers right now.

    What I have to do now: Ive got 6 days until I move, need to finish building these speakers in these 6 days (and pack, and do other stuff to get ready to move). Then ive got to unpack and do all that kinda stuff, head to madisound to exchange my 8 ohm woofers for the 4 ohm, and start my new job, so ill be a bit busy.
     
  13. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    8,200
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northwest France
    Those are the premium components Alumen-Z and Silver-Z. You can also use Superior-Z and Standard-Z which is cheaper.

    B190DD4A-B36C-4711-AAB7-EAB093E6C5C4.jpeg
     
  14. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,276
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Keep in mind that Troels likes to go all out with passive x-overs. On one hand I'd like to urge you to go sensible, but those drivers are too good to cheap out on parts. What you can do is take a look at what other companies are using for filter parts, often times you'll be surprised...

    Here's ATC -

    [​IMG]

    I'd say the biggest room for price optimization are the caps. With inductors you're basically paying for copper spaghetti and raw copper prices night now are extra high. I'd say, leave the fancy caps for the tweeter and see what you can do on the woofer side. Russian film caps can be surprisingly good, but shipping can be a pain in the ass.

    Or, y'know... go active. You haven't heard bass until you've heard bass without an inductor coil.
     
  15. dBel84

    dBel84 Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,229
    Trophy Points:
    113
  16. Aklegal

    Aklegal Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2016
    Likes Received:
    623
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    I like the milk paint idea. You can get lots of interesting colors. I have had great luck with Duratex too. I think you could make them look really nice if you paint the front baffle with Duratex using a high-quality foam roller to get a flatter almost leather-like finish (I have never used that stupid blue paint roller that comes with Duratex). Then paint the rest of the speaker with an interesting milk paint color. That way you won't have to worry about that main front baffle side seam showing through the finish. Kind of like a poor-man's version of those old Acoustic Zen Cresendos speakers without the high gloss.
     
  17. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2015
    Likes Received:
    7,894
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Madison, WI
    Looking like a pair of speakers now
    20210625_121714.jpg
     
  18. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2015
    Likes Received:
    7,894
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Madison, WI
    And that's it for now, basically done with the build, next step is to move to Wisconsin and finish them there. Also just cleaned out parents garage so I didn't leave it a mess full of saw dust
    20210625_150325.jpg
     
    • Like Like x 6
    • Epic Epic x 5
    • List
  19. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2015
    Likes Received:
    7,894
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Madison, WI
    Went to madisound today, exchanged my 8 ohm woofers for 4 ohm.
    Very nice people there, and they knew exactly what I needed from the email I sent 2 weeks ago.
     
  20. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

    Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2015
    Likes Received:
    7,894
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Madison, WI
    Been a bit, been busy with job and getting used to new area. About finished sealing the mdf, almost time for finishing, and I'll order crossover components some time this week. After that, just need amp/source gear and I'll have some speakers! Maybe a carpet for living room too, not ideal with all hard surfaces and windows, carpet would help somewhat
     

Share This Page