Paul Carmody's Tarkus

I present you Paul Carmody's Tarkus! with a revision of the original design, but staying accurate to the volume requirements and the driver distances. The TM cab face is slightly different from the original.

When I first turned them on there was no output. Multiple checks and head-scratching did not yield anything. I dreaded removing the drivers or even worse, the crossover from the box to check. But I first checked the binding posts and removed the plate to see if anything had come loose. Everything was intact. I removed the binding posts from the plate and hooked up the wires directly to the crossover, and voila! there was music! I inspected the binding post plate, and then it struck me, it was metal over metal! (see post #55 for the sheer stupidity). Thankfully there were no fireworks at either end. I then sandwiched plastic water tap washers on either end of the binding posts and also wrapped the binding post rod that inserts into the plate with insulation tape. Worked like a charm. Now that everything was fixed, I took my place in the listening seat and pressed play 'Walk This Way' by Aerosmith, and goosebumps! This thing is loud, and images like a bitch Yes! If I could describe them in one word, that would be Authoritative. They sound like HUGE loudspeakers.

Kudos to Paul C for envisioning and putting together a wonderful package at a reasonable cost. This speaker should be at the top of the list for anyone looking for a speaker that rocks hard! Mind you, there's enough finesse to play any kind of genre. To say it in other words, these don't sound like your "typical" HiFi, these put their foot down, stamp their presence and kick you around with a sound that sounds like open-air live sound!

I enjoyed every bit of this journey. I am grateful to everyone who provided suggestions and guidance along the way. One of the FMs kindly pointed out that my soldering needed improvement and shared some valuable tips with me. I'm thankful for this kind of feedback, which helped me elevate my skills. Towards the end, I became more confident and skilled, and I have to give a shoutout to @mbhangui, who is truly a rockstar in this forum. His extensive knowledge and willingness to help others are invaluable.

I'll provide further updates once these have had a proper time to settle in. Enjoy!


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Yes; that's what they claim anyways.
The difference will be in the turbulence or chuffing at the ends. Since you are not using [I'm assuming!] a "Precision Port", I suggest that you do all you can to mitigate chuffing at this stage before you glue the port. For starters, using Paul's 13.5" x 4" port size as a baseline, calculate what the correct length should be for a 3" dia. non "precision port".
Also read this: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SU...avHlbGD2RpKCkjMo3YZTzQv2Pa8qxAzYHle0_BDwhgtGs, and see what you can implement.
Oh Boy! I wish I had done my homework on this. I assumed every flare port is more or less the same. I bought this from Audiocrafts.
Let me read this and see if I have screwed up. The bass is slightly on the louder side as of now. But I can't hear any chuffing. I'll give them some time to settle in before I make adjustments. I was initially thinking of playing around with polyfill, and of course, using it in the box as well to see if that helps.
 
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I present you Paul Carmody's Tarkus! with a revision of the original design, but staying accurate to the volume requirements and the driver distances. The TM cab face is slightly different from the original.

When I first turned them on there was no output. Multiple checks and head-scratching did not yield anything. I dreaded removing the drivers or even worse, the crossover from the box to check. But I first checked the binding posts and removed the plate to see if anything had come loose. Everything was intact. I removed the binding posts from the plate and hooked up the wires directly to the crossover, and voila! there was music! I inspected the binding post plate, and then it struck me, it was metal over metal! (see post #55 for the sheer stupidity). Thankfully there were no fireworks at either end. I then sandwiched plastic water tap washers on either end of the binding posts and also wrapped the binding post rod that inserts into the plate with insulation tape. Worked like a charm. Now that everything was fixed, I took my place in the listening seat and pressed play 'Walk This Way' by Aerosmith, and goosebumps! This thing is loud, and images like a bitch Yes! If I could describe them in one word, that would be Authoritative. They sound like HUGE loudspeakers.

Kudos to Paul C for envisioning and putting together a wonderful package at a reasonable cost. This speaker should be at the top of the list for anyone looking for a speaker that rocks hard! Mind you, there's enough finesse to play any kind of genre. To say it in other words, these don't sound like your "typical" HiFi, these put their foot down, stamp their presence and kick you around with a sound that sounds like open-air live sound!

I enjoyed every bit of this journey. I am grateful to everyone who provided suggestions and guidance along the way. One of the FMs kindly pointed out that my soldering needed improvement and shared some valuable tips with me. I'm thankful for this kind of feedback, which helped me elevate my skills. Towards the end, I became more confident and skilled, and I have to give a shoutout to @mbhangui, who is truly a rockstar in this forum. His extensive knowledge and willingness to help others are invaluable.

I'll provide further updates once these have had a proper time to settle in. Enjoy!


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Wow... They look stonking 😍😍😍. Sexy might be a better word 😜. I like the Gorgeous finish too, fondly hope you wouldn't mind if I copied the paint scheme in the near future. I bet they sound huge with an enormous scale. Better to wait till the drivers loosen up and burn in before any further tweaks.

In case you are considering adding plinths or spikes to the speakers, then both are available on sound foundations. All the best and enjoy the fruits of your labour 😍👍
 
I present you Paul Carmody's Tarkus! with a revision of the original design, but staying accurate to the volume requirements and the driver distances. The TM cab face is slightly different from the original.

When I first turned them on there was no output. Multiple checks and head-scratching did not yield anything. I dreaded removing the drivers or even worse, the crossover from the box to check. But I first checked the binding posts and removed the plate to see if anything had come loose. Everything was intact. I removed the binding posts from the plate and hooked up the wires directly to the crossover, and voila! there was music! I inspected the binding post plate, and then it struck me, it was metal over metal! (see post #55 for the sheer stupidity). Thankfully there were no fireworks at either end. I then sandwiched plastic water tap washers on either end of the binding posts and also wrapped the binding post rod that inserts into the plate with insulation tape. Worked like a charm. Now that everything was fixed, I took my place in the listening seat and pressed play 'Walk This Way' by Aerosmith, and goosebumps! This thing is loud, and images like a bitch Yes! If I could describe them in one word, that would be Authoritative. They sound like HUGE loudspeakers.

Kudos to Paul C for envisioning and putting together a wonderful package at a reasonable cost. This speaker should be at the top of the list for anyone looking for a speaker that rocks hard! Mind you, there's enough finesse to play any kind of genre. To say it in other words, these don't sound like your "typical" HiFi, these put their foot down, stamp their presence and kick you around with a sound that sounds like open-air live sound!

I enjoyed every bit of this journey. I am grateful to everyone who provided suggestions and guidance along the way. One of the FMs kindly pointed out that my soldering needed improvement and shared some valuable tips with me. I'm thankful for this kind of feedback, which helped me elevate my skills. Towards the end, I became more confident and skilled, and I have to give a shoutout to @mbhangui, who is truly a rockstar in this forum. His extensive knowledge and willingness to help others are invaluable.

I'll provide further updates once these have had a proper time to settle in. Enjoy!


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These look fabulous. Lot of hard work. This surely calls for a trip to Mangalore. maybe one day....

How do they sound? What is your first impression?
 
These look fabulous. Lot of hard work. This surely calls for a trip to Mangalore. maybe one day....

How do they sound? What is your first impression?
It’ll be my pleasure to host you.

They sound fabulous, much better than I had anticipated. All I had to go by was Paul’s description of these, and I had a certain sound in mind as I’m familiar with Open back guitar monitors, and they sound raspy, crunchy and open. These do all that with added refinement, and at this point, they could very well be my main speakers! (Until I build Troels TL1, of course 😉)

This isn’t coming from any bias because I built them, but the first time I turned them on I was genuinely taken aback. The first thought was that the costs were only around 35k in parts (I say ‘only’ in comparison with unreasonable costs of today’s “audiophile” gear), and if someone can get a carpenter to build these they can have a superb speaker matching or surpassing speakers that cost many times over. The Tarkus are a bargain!
 
It’ll be my pleasure to host you.

They sound fabulous, much better than I had anticipated. All I had to go by was Paul’s description of these, and I had a certain sound in mind as I’m familiar with Open back guitar monitors, and they sound raspy, crunchy and open. These do all that with added refinement, and at this point, they could very well be my main speakers! (Until I build Troels TL1, of course 😉)

This isn’t coming from any bias because I built them, but the first time I turned them on I was genuinely taken aback. The first thought was that the costs were only around 35k in parts (I say ‘only’ in comparison with unreasonable costs of today’s “audiophile” gear), and if someone can get a carpenter to build these they can have a superb speaker matching or surpassing speakers that cost many times over. The Tarkus are a bargain!
Congrats on your hard work. Looks very nice Aeroash and I am sure they may be sounding great. How do they compare with your Sonus Faber ?
 
It’ll be my pleasure to host you.

They sound fabulous, much better than I had anticipated. All I had to go by was Paul’s description of these, and I had a certain sound in mind as I’m familiar with Open back guitar monitors, and they sound raspy, crunchy and open. These do all that with added refinement, and at this point, they could very well be my main speakers! (Until I build Troels TL1, of course 😉)

This isn’t coming from any bias because I built them, but the first time I turned them on I was genuinely taken aback. The first thought was that the costs were only around 35k in parts (I say ‘only’ in comparison with unreasonable costs of today’s “audiophile” gear), and if someone can get a carpenter to build these they can have a superb speaker matching or surpassing speakers that cost many times over. The Tarkus are a bargain!
General rule of thumb is to multiply your incurred costs of 35k by 4. Sometimes it's even 5 for certain brands. So we are looking at commercial speakers upwards of a minimum of 1.4 L for equivalent performance. But then again, a narrow cabinet with tiny 6 inch drivers can never match the ease, scale and impact of a big cabinet with big drivers.

I had a similar wow moment when I first played my huge DIY speakers. My highly regarded pmc twenty 26 floor standers sounded like bookshelves in comparison. The scale of the sound is just off the charts. And the sound stage is huge with a wall of sound. You've built a gorgeous looking and sounding speaker. Time to enjoy them now 😍👌👌
 
Wow... They look stonking 😍😍😍. Sexy might be a better word 😜. I like the Gorgeous finish too, fondly hope you wouldn't mind if I copied the paint scheme in the near future. I bet they sound huge with an enormous scale. Better to wait till the drivers loosen up and burn in before any further tweaks.

In case you are considering adding plinths or spikes to the speakers, then both are available on sound foundations. All the best and enjoy the fruits of your labour 😍👍
Thanks! The paint scheme is all yours. That's what the Internet is for!

Whatever the spikes claim, I like rubber feet. These do a great job. I also use a felt pad under these to move them around. The felt can be removed once you have your positioning. https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B0BG2HSGHK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
 
I had a similar wow moment when I first played my huge DIY speakers. My highly regarded pmc twenty 26 floor standers sounded like bookshelves in comparison. The scale of the sound is just off the charts. And the sound stage is huge with a wall of sound. You've built a gorgeous looking and sounding speaker. Time to enjoy them now 😍👌👌
I don't find the need for subwoofers with these. Both the Rythmiks have been switched off since. The bass is room filling.
 
For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
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