Best ever deal for loudspeaker kits.

[keith_correa]

I think 26K for the lot (including wood, I presume) is quite reasonable.

If you're shying away from fibreglass because of the claimed hazards, there's no need to. Encasing the fibreglass bats in nylon cloth (think dupatta's) is easy and should work fine to mitigate the "hazard".

 

[captrajesh]

Captain, cost wise it 26K for 5.1 look okay to higher side - considering all cutting, gluing and polishing. Also I assume it includes all internal linings and driver installation too. Only point is he cares about measurement accuracy and bracing. No "Chalta Hai" attitude! for 2 BS I paid 900 per box for only polish (inclusive material).

Rockwool is also same as glasswool, soundwise no problem.

Thank you Mishraji, how much did the bookshelf speakers cost you in total? I will deduce from your answer like this; considering that I was quoted 12K just for the bookshelves in Chennai and considering that these are being made in Kerala where not only the labour is scarcer and costlier but also, the entire material comes from other states, it should be OK I guess. Yes the bugger would do all the hard work.

A bit of bargaining is necessary.
However for accuracy a CNC cut is must. This is my personal opinion after doing two enclosures.

He has the facilities like work bench and the works in his workshop, power tools like power saw, router etc. Not withstanding the same, I did ask that chap to do at least the baffle on CNC but he assured me that his work would be as good as the CNC job. In any case, I'll be breathing down his neck when he gets the cuts done and when he does the veneering. hyeah:

 

[omishra]

Mine was like this, (I used damping sheet NoRez from Danny, for Sachin used felt+tar) -
Please note all pasting of panels was done by me. Veneer was pasted by carpenter. Polish by specialist.

Description------Rs.Total(2X)----Sachin(Rs)----Om(Rs)
=================================
Ply----------------- 1920--------------960--------960
Veneer-------------1120--------------560--------560
Transport----------80-----------------40---------40
Ply.Cutting--------340----------------170--------170
Holes--------------480----------------240--------240
Fevicol------------140----------------70---------70
Damping----------2600---------------400--------2200
Silicon------------150----------------75---------75
Misc/Auto--------520----------------260--------260
VeneerFinish----1000---------------500--------500
Polish------------3600---------------1800------1800
==============================
Total-------------11950--------------5075------6875 (With Damping)
Total-------------9350---------------4675------4675 (Only finished boxes Without Damping)

 

[GeorgeO]

A carpenter who is experienced with a router is more than adequate. The costs look reasonable to me too. Do you want to consider solid timber pasted onto the front baffle for a good cosmetic look?

 

[captrajesh]

Do you want to consider solid timber pasted onto the front baffle for a good cosmetic look?

I'm going in for real veneer (1mm thick I think) But your suggestion is making me think. Teak veneer and may be Rose wood baffle!

 

[linuxguru]

Mine was like this, (I used damping sheet NoRez from Danny, for Sachin used felt+tar)

Damping----------2600---------------400--------2200

Thanks for the break-up - lots of little things add up. BTW, poly-fill from pillows (e.g. Recron pillows) has been suggested by forum member tnvijay as an inexpensive choice of filler/damper. The mass is probably on the low side. I have used another low-mass alternative, natural silk-cotton from the pods of the silk-cotton tree (found in Karnataka, among other states).

Kapok or Silk-Cotton Tree

It's very time-consuming to separate the black seeds from the cotton fibres in the pod manually - it's probably best to find a vendor who sells the fibre commercially. The fibre is considered inflammable, so maybe it should be sprayed with a flame-retardant or used only in relatively lower power applications like satellites and bookshelf speakers - you probably don't want to use it in a monster ghetto-blasting ricer car-audio subwoofer.

 

[sarith]

Kapok is seen in my town. It has been used in stuffing pillows etc. It's soft. A hint of wind and it spreads all over, creating a mess. I have used glasswool most of the time and found it pretty good.

I wish to kindle my experience of listening to speakers made of jackwood (jackfruit tree) by making a pair sometime in future.

 

[ROBIN LANDANSON]

After fixing my Tannoys, I'm now concentrating my efforts on making my 5.1 kit. I got hold of a carpenter who has quite an experience in making speaker boxes for theatres. I have few questions.

1. I've got a quote of 26K for the 5.1 kit complete with veneer and polishing. My role would be limited to general supervision, to catch mistakes if any, at the insepient stage so that it doesn't get escalated and amalgamated into the final product. Is this a reasonable price?

2. I intend to use rockwool instead of glasswool. I checked their website but unable to figure out which product of theirs should I ask for. I'd be glad if someone could guide me.

3. Moreover, my carpenter is only familiar with glasswool. Where in Trivandrum/Kerala could I source rockwool? Their website has not listed anyone in Kerala. Could someone provide me pointers?

I'd be obliged to have some replies.

Recently I'd purchased' felt' from Subash traders (Thakaraparampu road, Trivandrum) for my diy speaker project. Cost was rs.75 per 1 sqare meter (11 square feet)

 

[captrajesh]

Thank you for the pointer Robin. But is felt a right substitute to glass wool is my query.

 

[ROBIN LANDANSON]

Thank you for the pointer Robin. But is felt a right substitute to glass wool is my query.

I saw lot of isolating items are there. Felt, form, glass wool etc... If didn't get, check chalai bazaar. I think, teddy bear's filling material is glass wool/synthetic cotton. It is sufficient for isolation purpose.

 

[jls001]

Just a keepalive ping: Capt, any further progress with your build?

 

[captrajesh]

All the five boxes and their baffles have been made. The inner box of the subwoofer is also made. Need to cut holes in the baffles and make the outer layer of the subwoofer box, duly sandfilled.

I've taken some work-in-progress pics. Will start a thread once the speakers come to life.

 

[harsh247]

Anybody has their kits left?

 

[jls001]

Raising this dormant thread: recently I got info from fellow forumer keith_correa that bypassing the 9.2 uF tweeter capacitor on the crossover with a 0.022 uF, and the 12.5 uF woofer capacitor with a 0.1 uF capacitor can improve the sound of the X/LS Encore bookshelf speakers.

It was intriguing, to say the least. I love my Encores and a chance to improve it in any way was too good not to try.

So I dug into my parts bin and found exact or near values of cheap polyster film caps. This coincided with my new found zeal for cleaning up all sorts of contacts in the audio chain, and I took this opportunity to open up my speakers - the first time since completing the build of the Encore.

I fitted the bypass caps only on one speaker due to lack of time and started listening to it playing from one speaker, the other side being stock.

There were two very distinct changes -- the upper highs was more prominent as was the upper bass. Music became just more lively. Attacks seemed faster, making it more PRATty. The bass got nicely filled up. Details tumbled out of the "groove".

BUT - and there's always a catch - the mids and highs were rather brittle. The upper highs were spitty and had too much sizzle. Brighter recordings ended up sounding too bright for my taste. Worst of all, the tonality was off. This proof of concept was enough to tell me that there's lot of promise in this. And I knew exactly what was causing all the unpleasantness - the cheap polyster caps were showing their true colours. So I dug even deeper in my parts bin and found polypropylene film caps. With the polypropylenes replacing the polyster caps all the unpleasantness was gone in one fell swoop.

Details come through even at modest volume. This is clichéd but I heard so much new musical cues buried deep in my test track CDs. I sat down and listened to music for two and half hours at a stretch. This doesn't happen often with me. At the most I can sit down and listen to one LP or one CD. So the mods are certainly doing something right.

I'm told that better bypass caps (like Sonicap Platinum) will improve things even more.

For those who built the X/LS Encore during the group buy, I would seriously urge you to try this mod. It feels like I'm having a new, much better speakers.

Once again, my heartfelt thanks, Keith.

 

[prasi]

Hi all,
Does anyone have an unbuilt x-ls encore kit?
Please provide the details.
Regards
Prasi

 

[rikhav]

I happened to visit Joshua today evening. It was sort of an unplanned visit but I was really keen to listen to his setup after the crossover mod

Joshua's speakers already had the upgraded crossovers from GR research but with this crossover mod it truly sounds like a new version from XLS-encore from GR Research

Every few seconds on familiar tracks playing there was a moment where I could hear instruments which felt like they were never present before

The overall sound signature was likeable warm tone but it dug deep into then details and there was no lack of dynamics as well

The instruments and vocals both sounded very very life like .

The best part was the soundstage went deep like it went when there was a tube pre in the setup and the speakers make a absolutely disappearing act

Thanks again to Keith for discovering the mod.

I too strongly recommend all members who at present use the XLS encore speakers should carry out this crossover mod

 

[captrajesh]

Raising this dormant thread:

I thought the thread has past it's utility. But looks like I've mistaken.

Recently I got info from fellow forumer keith_correa that bypassing the 9.2 uF tweeter capacitor on the crossover with a 0.022 uF, and the 12.5 uF woofer capacitor with a 0.1 uF capacitor can improve the sound of the X/LS Encore bookshelf speakers.

For those who built the X/LS Encore during the group buy, I would seriously urge you to try this mod. It feels like I'm having a new, much better speakers.

I happened to visit Joshua today evening. It was sort of an unplanned visit but I was really keen to listen to his setup after the crossover mod.

Sincere thanks to Keith for the discovery, Joshua for sharing the knowledge and his experience and Rikhav for the review that buttresses the claims. I made the X-SLS which is the floorstanding version. I'm not satisfied with the LF response; I may have added too much open cell foam. Need to experiment; I too will make the mods and see.

Hi all,
Does anyone have an unbuilt x-ls encore kit?
Please provide the details.
Regards
Prasi

I have no idea if someone is wanting to sell his kit. Many folks came to me looking for the kit. Your best bet is asking someone coming from US to order and hand carry it.

 

[keith_correa]

Thanks again to Keith for discovering the mod.

Oh, I didn't actually "discover" this at all. A friend of mine told me about it and I told Joshua.
Joshua is my sounding board for stuff like this some of which seem downright silly on the face of it but when implemented, sound terrific. This is one of them! Joshua should be thanked for being game to actually try stuff and for sharing it with all here.

 

[jls001]

In case anyone is going to try this mod, just a small word of warning: if you're using the NoRez foam lining inside the cabinet, the foam has become very soft and falls off in small clumps if not handled with care. Try not to touch the foam.

Also, I learned after making the mods that the existing 0.1 uF bypass cap to the 9.2 uF tweeter cap is no longer required if using 0.022 uF bypass cap. Hence the existing 0.1 uF cap (mine is a Sonicap) can be shifted to bypass the 12.55 uF woofer cap.

Further, the 0.022 uF that I'm using right now is actually two 0.047 uF PETs in series (Wima MKS 4 polyethylene terephthalate) and not polypropylene, though I could confirm that the 0.1 uF cap bypassing the woofer cap is polypropylene. Since I don't have a PP of appropriate value I can't say if it will sound better than PET. Another interesting bypass cap option (besides the exotics) is Russian teflon caps. They're fairly cheap (like <$6 per piece for a 0.1 uF/250V). Whatever you buy, make sure it's rated for at least 200V since the main caps are rated for 200V.

I thought of buying a few different types of caps like polystyrene, polypropylene, teflon, etc, but for now I'm very happy with the improvements in sound I'm already hearing, so I'll wait until the urge passes or wait till the urge overcomes me

Just to add a few lines about the sound: low level detail retrieval has improved tremendously. And I want to emphasize - even at moderate volume. Musical details which were buried too deep in the mix to be discernible, tiny vocal inflections that were glossed over before, etc come out effortlessly. I'm guessing that if the details were even a wee bit more outlined than this it would start sounding etched. I feel I'm literally close to the precipice. Secondly, the bass line is much easier to follow as a separate strand in the music. The bass hasn't gone deeper, it has simply become clearer and better defined as part of the overall improvement in clarity. And thirdly, as Rikhav reported, I've regained the depth of sound stage which I had lost somewhere in the evolution of my audio chain.

This has been the finest mod I've ever undertaken. The input is minimal while the positive effects are far reaching.

@prasi: it does look like everyone who was part of the group buy have actually built their respective kits. I feel it's worth buying the upgraded kit from GR Research even if you have to go it alone. The standard kit is now $249. Upgraded Sonicaps is an additional $94. It was so much cheaper during the group buy

 

[captrajesh]

Keith, the values given are only X-LS crossover. Did they give the values for X-CS crossover?