Open Baffle with Vintage Phillips Driver and RAAL Ribbon Tweeter- 140-15D

[mksharan]

I manged to get some vintage Phillips Drivers (8") and RAAL Ribbon tweeters. I got the RAAL tweeters directly from Aleksander Radisavljevic, from Serbia. It turned out that he had studied Applied Physics at Belgrade University, before he started his speaker business. Seeing a fellow Physicist he readily shipped these drivers directly to me and has been very helpful to me for integrating in the system. The vintage Phillips drivers have an interesting background. Apparently, they were directly imported from the Phillips factory in Belgium, sometime in 80's for a cinema hall project in Delhi. However the project never saw the light of the day and was lying in a godown in Delhi all these years and were noticed sometime back.

My other partners in crime, here in Kolkata are Bhaskar (Bhaskarcan on this forum) and Ashok Mondal. After much discussions and inspired by Bhaskar's system, I decided to start my first prototype using H frame for the woofer and mounting the Phillips Driver and tweeter in a open baffle. The mid and tweeter are crossed at 3500 Hz and driven by tube amplifier while the woofer is being driven by my old Denon 710 AE amplifier. The initial impressions are good. Here is the photo of my first prototype :

 

[captrajesh]

I heard that Raals are really expensive. How much did they cost? BTW, which midrange driver are you using?

 

[mksharan]

I heard that Raals are really expensive. How much did they cost? BTW, which midrange driver are you using?

Yes, the listed price for RAAL is quite high. As I said, he sent it to me directly at fraction of the listed cost.

For the mid, I am using the Philips driver. I am told this kind of drivers used to be hand-crafted in Belgium. I dont put any cut at lower freqencies, and let the tweeter take over after 3500 Hz, all the way upto 20KHz.

So far i am letting the woofer to fill in the lower freqencies upto 400 Hz. Still experimenting with the woofer to mid cross-overs. Incidentally the woofer is 15 inch and is locally made in Kolkata.

Manoj

 

[saheb11123]

Are these Ahuja woofers(the 15"s)?
What is the costing of the ahuja's now?

 

[captrajesh]

All the best to you. Hope you make something for keepers.

 

[saheb11123]

Are these the ahuja's ?
What is the recent pricing on them?

 

[mksharan]

No these are not Ahuja woofers. There is a guy in North Kolkata, who repairs speakers. He made it for us and it is a pleasant surprise, as how good they are.

Are these the ahuja's ?
What is the recent pricing on them?

 

[bhagwan]

I heard that Raals are really expensive. How much did they cost? BTW, which midrange driver are you using?

The Madisound Speaker Store

These are the RAAL Prices;

The one I like is this :-

The Madisound Speaker Store

There are a few speakers I have heard that use this tweeter [ribbon] & I like their sound.
Kaiser Kaweru is the Make & Model;

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Sir,
All the Best with your build & DIY Project;
Do post a few more pics - front & back & also of the measurements & testing in your lab / room etc.
Interesting project; All the Best ! Keep up the good work...

 

[bhagwan]

A Few pics of where is speaker was developed & tested;
The 'short' man is the 'designer / developer' & the 'taller' person is the one that owns the company.
See the room - lovely - one of the best audio rooms I have ever visited.
Same Tweeter is used in this Kaiser Kaweru - RAAL - Amorphous Core i.e.

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Another speaker with the same tweeter is :-

N.N. Acoustics - Model K2

The common factor is the woofer - both use Flex Units from Per Scanning...

 

[captrajesh]

There are a few speakers I have heard that use this tweeter [ribbon] & I like their sound.

Kaiser Kaweru is the Make & Model;

Uh oh those are insane prices!!

I've listened to XTZ speakers recently which use Fountek Tweeters and Seas Midwoofers. Sounded superb to my ears.

 

[bhagwan]

Uh oh those are insane prices!!

I've listened to XTZ speakers recently which use Fountek Tweeters and Seas Midwoofers. Sounded superb to my ears.

I would tend to agree with you; On the price front i.e. 60/-K Euro is retail - I think...
2 pairs are installed in my city & both the owners are audio friends of mine...
The Madisound Speaker Store
Might make an interesting build..

 

[mksharan]

Thanks Captain. I also hope that this turns out to be for keepers. In this never ending quest for upgrades, one tends to forget the primary goal of sitting down and enjoying music.

All the best to you. Hope you make something for keepers.

 

[mksharan]

All the Best with your build & DIY Project;
Do post a few more pics - front & back & also of the measurements & testing in your lab / room etc.
Interesting project; All the Best ! Keep up the good work...

Here is the photograph of the back side of the baffle and my setup. Still playing with the cross-overs. I am using second order cross-over at 3200 Hz currently. Will post some measurements later on.

Manoj

 

[mksharan]

Working on laminating my open baffle.

 

[captrajesh]

Looking forward to reviews from forum senior members.

 

[Sumanta]

Hello mksharan,
Can I listen to your setup?
I am in Kolkata right now on my vacation. I will be here till 1st June.

 

[mksharan]

Finally assembled the system. And thanks to Sumanta played with the positioning of the system. Request him to post his impressions and improvement points.

 

[shafic]

Finally assembled the system. And thanks to Sumanta played with the positioning of the system. Request him to post his impressions and improvement points.

Looking neat. Nice work!!:clapping:

 

[Sumanta]

And thanks to Sumanta played with the positioning of the system. Request him to post his impressions and improvement points.

Well thanks to you as well.
I was always interested to hear record plays through OBs as I hadn't had that experience.
In one word the system is already "Musical".

We played CD and record of Madhushala as it has distinct voice to compare and music arrangement is easy for me to judge. We listened to "Aye dil-e-Nadan" of Lata ji in record and then some fusion and other music.

Bass was natural, non-booming, tight. Bass drivers were aptly obeying the superb amplifier made by Ashok. I wish I can get similar amplifier and those drivers. I need to get a job back in Kolkata.

One point to note for MKSaran is that, listening to my OB back here for the same Madhushala in CD, I felt your H frame and amp combination is more dramatic.
As if, drivers are enjoying playing those basses.

Mid in those 8 inch Philips was simply superb! To my ears (habituated with mid from 12 inch), female voice sounded more mesmerizing than male. Male voice was slightly... well dry, should I say. Actually, that is supposed to be when I am habituated with 12 inch drivers.

Treble was crisp, time perfect, spaced out (individualized), sweet.

Even at the extreme end of the room (some 20 feet away I guess) sound was fulfilling, close to me and accurate.

Being OB fan and habituated in its beauty, I still overwhelmed by this system as how beautifully it rendered transparent music.

 

[rajagopal_j]

MKSharan and Sumanta,

If space is not a premium I would suggest that you try the JE Labs open baffles. Its a design which for what reason works with just about any driver.

JE Labs Arkiv: Open Baffle

Being an open baffle fan this should get you more excited . Please pay attention to the FAQ about the OB Plan Point 4.