Ultimate DIY - soundsgreat!

[soundsgreat]

Hi,

Thanks again to all for showing your interest and support !

Congrats Sreekanth!! I would like to audition your DIY speakers too. Please invite me for a one to two hour(s) listen

Santosh you are more then welcome to drop in anytime ! don't forget to bring in your fav CD's !

Don't worry bout the time,you can spend as much as time you want,I don't have any probs with that !

I guess you would've joined along with Suri had you not had the viral thing that day !! Anyways let me know when you want to come !

Regards.

 

[suri]

Hi Suri
did you also listen the MTM speakers he had? I have been asking Soundsgreat to post the internal construction photos...

cheers

hi odyssey,

i did not listen to MTM speakers -

but, i think i heard soundsgreat say that- of all the speakers he has designed and made - the ones that i heard = he thought were the best.

congratulations on the re-opening of your showroom!

regds

 

[murali_n]

Hai Srikant,

Congrats, hope you will post pics . Will meet you when I touch Banglore.

N.Murali

 

[soundsgreat]

Hi,

Hai Srikant,

Congrats, hope you will post pics . Will meet you when I touch Banglore.

N.Murali

Hmmm Now that Am famous and my DIY has been the talk of the town (the entire country rather ) all thanks to Suri !

I shall charge a huge fee for demoing my stuff :lol::lol: ( Suri you shall get a small cut for your..........) !!!

Jokes apart please feel free to drop in !

Again Will say,I have no issues in anyone visiting (infact I'd love to get as much varied feedback's as possible) but the only thing is what I've posted earlier !

Regards.

 

[soundsgreat]

Hi,

I unfortunately can't afford to pay your fees BUT can (with appreciation!) gift you a fine Single Malt/Scotch in lieu for you & Suri - to drown yourselves once I leave!

Sorry no can do :lol: !! besides Am a non Alcoholic kinda person (No offense to anyone,but I don't drink anything of that sort,Please don't mind ) !!

Shall take one of your priced possession as a fee though !!

Regards.

 

[thevortex]

Thanks for the review Suri and hats off to Soundsgreat for the wonderful effort.

Soundsgreat - for the benefit of technically challenged people like me (dont tell me, I am alone, guys) could you explain, when you get a chance, as to what is different about these speakers you have made versus some of the other commercial options we see out there in the market?

I assume you make this for your own listening. Just curious to know what design philosophies you have followed and what they have resulted in. If you can add the 'why's' that would be super. Thanks in advance.

 

[swami69]

Congratulations to Soundsgreat and thanks to Suri for his great review. The review gives me the impression that the speakers sound divine. All the very best and more info on the construction etc., as per request from TheVortex would be very helpful to members. Great work.

swami

 

[soundsgreat]

Hi,

oh! O! That's sounds SCARY.............

Better make that call to the logistics people "fast" and have the stuff air-freighted out of India to my new home quickly..

Anyway - planning to be in Bangalore in April just for a few days and hope we meet.

Arup it'll be my pleasure to have you over for the Audition ! Please do let me know whenever that happens !

Thanks for the review Suri and hats off to Soundsgreat for the wonderful effort.

Soundsgreat - for the benefit of technically challenged people like me (dont tell me, I am alone, guys) could you explain, when you get a chance, as to what is different about these speakers you have made versus some of the other commercial options we see out there in the market?

Well Am not sure what you mean by technically challenged,but on that subject have already posted so...........


Before I begin LET ME CLARIFY THAT ITS NOT MY INTENTION TO SHOW ANY SUPERIORITY OF MINE OR INFERIORITY OF OTHERS

People interested in taking pot shots and bashing can take a break and look else where as I will not bother to reply !! I don't have patience or time for those....................

Moving on here's the details :

What is different ??

The main difference between this and any other commercial offering is the design,Mine TWQT (Tapered Quarter Wavelength Transmission ) or in simple terms a TL (Transmission Line) theory based where you take the driver and put it a box which extends the lows of the driver beyond its Fs and thus produces clean bass and also due to minimal internal resonance due the flare's present which is part of the Transmission Line,Also bare minimum or nil standing waves,The sound reproduced is more accurate in all the frequency band .(well its a rough explanation,to be accurate I'll need 3 pages or so.... )

The commercial offerings (majority of them) are based on the so called Port tuned or Vented,where you tune the port of the speakers above the Fs of the driver ! This although is a good approach but has too many headache's including port noise (where the back wave generated by the driver rushes through them creating turbulence which in turn creates noise) and 100 more other problems !

The above may not confused as total failure of the design or to be taken as a something and blown out of proportion ! its in a nutshell the basic idea of the speaker design and one has to listen and see whether it suits them or not !

Second difference is,I use all custom made components including the drivers ! This way I have full control of what I want and how I want it !

Further THE MOST important thing in this,I didn't have to worry bout costs involved (not that Am a millionaire or loaded,but you get the idea) and the targets or whatever nature !

Next was,I always wanted to show that DIY can be always produce better results then any commercial venture out there,So this was a perfect chance for that which I hope I've accomplished ! There are some folks (in this very forum) who go to extra length's to argue that DIY cannot be compared to commercial offerings,So this is my answer to of them !

Well basically a rough thing bout the speakers,if someone needs more info please feel free to ask !

I assume you make this for your own listening. Just curious to know what design philosophies you have followed and what they have resulted in. If you can add the 'why's' that would be super. Thanks in advance.

Well I don't understand the first part of that ! do you mean I made it for myself ?? offcourse I did, Although I've been bombarded with requests to make a pair for them so far I've not taken any decision on them !

But should I take it and offer it I don't see as to why that should be a concern !! Or one shouldn't be surprised if I ever do that (infact I suppose they should be all the more happy ) !

Coming to design philosophies,I think I've already explained it ! The only thing I wish add is, I've not copied any existing design for this project ! Its 100% my own idea and concept that I have worked on for years ( close to 4) ! I set some terms for the design which included top notch sound with top notch aesthetics !

I hope I've been able to achieve both ! What they have resulted ?? well the results is here for everyone to see ! So I suggest one to visit and judge for themselves.

Congratulations to Soundsgreat and thanks to Suri for his great review. The review gives me the impression that the speakers sound divine. All the very best and more info on the construction etc., as per request from TheVortex would be very helpful to members. Great work.

Am really humbled by all the responses that's been poring here ! Am only too glad that it emoted the kind of emotions that I wanted it to.........

As with the construction and other details,I've already given ! Am sorry but Am not in a Liberty to post the pics of the finished or internals due to some issues, The same goes to the drawings of it !

The reason is,Since this is my own work where I've worked my butt off and shed blood and sweat,I don't want someone to just copy in a fraction of seconds and start making money out of it leaving me high and dry !

Call me what you want,but I request all of you to understand me ! offcourse whenever one comes for Audition they will see it all its glory !!

Anything I missed ??

Regards.

 

[rallynut]

awesome soundsg,am sure they're stunning to say the least.may our DIY community rock on!!!!damn,cant believe i have been puttin off my visit for so long !!nows even more of a reason to come to blore!!!cheers

 

[buswal]

Hi soundsgreat,

Is it the same speakers myself along with gooble auditioned it six months back? :yahoo: We were blessed to listen to the same. Have you made any further tweaks to the same. If it is ok shall I drop in one more time to listen to the same.

cheers,

 

[thevortex]

Thank you Soundsgreat for patiently explaining. I still have questions though. So when you get a chance, do jump in with answers:

1) Are there no commercial speaker manufacturers who offer transmission line style speakers?

2) My point about whether you make it for yourself was just to check whether you make it commercially or for your personal use. I understood that you make it for your own satisfaction. That is what matters.

3) When you mention about materials used being entirely your own, what are those materials? Or would it be too revealing to say all that in a public forum? If so, I will definitely understand given that this speaker is worth 4 precious years of your life.

 

[soundsgreat]

Hi,

awesome soundsg,am sure they're stunning to say the least.may our DIY community rock on

Thanks doc for the kind words,well it is rather comforting to see that DIY is getting some (yes still not even 1% of what it should get) recognition in our country ! I only hope people wake up to this reality and start to appreciate the efforts of Us DIY community and such...........

damn,cant believe i have been puttin off my visit for so long !!nows even more of a reason to come to blore!!!cheers

Indeed its been pending from some time,hope to see you soon buddy !

Hi soundsgreat,

Is it the same speakers myself along with gooble auditioned it six months back? We were blessed to listen to the same. Have you made any further tweaks to the same.

Yes its the same one,no tweaks done to the speakers as they are final (at least for now) version ! there's no difference in the entire setup but for some small time tweaks on the Tube Pre with the latest being whats posted in my earlier thread !

Regards.

 

[soundsgreat]

Hi,

Thank you Soundsgreat for patiently explaining. I still have questions though. So when you get a chance, do jump in with answers:

Ohh man before I could finish you have posted :lol: !! Hey buddy its my pleasure to shed some light (with whatever limited Knowledge I have )

Hmm More questions,I love it :licklips: ! Hope the answers are enough for you.

1) Are there no commercial speaker manufacturers who offer transmission line style speakers?

Off course there are but few and far fetched, Some popular companies to make speakers using this technology are PMC, Long gone less known Audiophile brand called Meadowlark and such.

2) My point about whether you make it for yourself was just to check whether you make it commercially or for your personal use. I understood that you make it for your own satisfaction. That is what matters.

Thats what buddy,I did for my own personal satisfaction !! but there have been so many requests to make them similar stuff that if tomorrow I decide to take it that way,I don't see any reason for me to worry or think anyone should have problems !

3) When you mention about materials used being entirely your own, what are those materials? Or would it be too revealing to say all that in a public forum? If so, I will definitely understand given that this speaker is worth 4 precious years of your life.

I guess I've all the details of it, please read the post carefully once again ! I've hidden anything there !

The Driver used is 100% Custom made with all parts machined locally,The Xover is again custom made,What else ??? Box off course is made here and finished here !! If you still have doubts,please shoot what exactly is that you want to know and I shall try my best to answer that !

Regards.

 

[keith_correa]

What did you use to design and model your TWQT enclosures? Martin King's worksheets?

If you can, and you have kept track - can you share with us the price breakup of your drivers, crossover and enclosure?

BTW, what you did with and for your drivers is, IMO, the ultimate DIY for speakers. Well done!

 

[soundsgreat]

Hi,

What did you use to design and model your TWQT enclosures? Martin King's worksheets?

If you can, and you have kept track - can you share with us the price breakup of your drivers, crossover and enclosure?

BTW, what you did with and for your drivers is, IMO, the ultimate DIY for speakers. Well done!

First of thanks for the kind words,Am glad that you appreciate the effort !!

I did not use any software for that ! its plain brain power !! I usually work on some basic design mentally and then work on comp minimally !!

I have not kept the track of how much I spent on what ! Coz it was not easy and even if I had I'd get a heart attack if I know it !!

Reason is,As I've mentioned there isn't a damn thing in this project which is picked off the shelf and used ! every damn thing including the spikes are custom made !

One can imagine how much it might cost to get everything machined,Besides its not that all the things were done at one go, I developed the driver (the first basic sample) then modded it untill I was happy,So driver in itself were made more then once ( couple pairs),next the box I had to reject 5pairs due one or the other issue ! Suri has seen one such pair which I kept it as it was somewhat OK !!

Its not that the first pair of sample drivers were sounding bad or didn't perform,But Am Big NUTT and when I want something I want it to be 100% no 99% or such stuff ! So that took a major toll as I kept re-inventing the wheel with each iteration I did !

With all of the above going you can understand and imagine how tough it'd be to keep track of all the accounts (some may be able to do it,to even an extent of a screw used and its cost !! but not me ) !


Regards.

 

[keith_correa]

With all of the above going you can understand and imagine how tough it'd be to keep track of all the accounts (some may be able to do it,to even an extent of a screw used and its cost !! but not me ) !

I would have thought that keeping track wouldn't be that tough given your "brain power". Thanks for your replies.

 

[soundsgreat]

Hi,

I would have thought that keeping track wouldn't be that tough given your "brain power". Thanks for your replies.

Am not sure whether appreciating or taking a pot shot with that comment !! Sarcastic or otherwise,It makes no difference to me !! So thanks for it in any case .

I know how much I paid to what,have it all up there where it matters ! but just don't want put on paper and break my head when I total it and stare at it endlessly !!

Well these are some of the reasons for me to not post much bout my DIY activity ! One fails to understand ! There's difference between typical DIY with off the shelf components to a DIY where all is ACTUALLY DIY !!

I had written certain things explaining stuff which I deleted coz,If I do that's not going help much ! As folks will be folks and will keep...................................


Regards.

 

[keith_correa]

Well these are some of the reasons for me to not post much bout my DIY activity ! One fails to understand ! There's difference between typical DIY with off the shelf components to a DIY where all is ACTUALLY DIY !!

I had written certain things explaining stuff which I deleted coz,If I do that's not going help much ! As folks will be folks and will keep...................................

If you don't post details - the loss is entirely ours. If I were you, I would share knowledge/details irrespective of what folks say. You keep reiterating in many posts of yours that certain things do not affect you or make a difference to you so why should what folks say make a difference or keep you from sharing knowledge? But then, I'm not you and you are not me so...
Like I said - it's our loss.

 

[heliumflight]

Hi,

Soundsgreat, congratulations. I do admire your DIY spirit!

Kindest regards,
--
helium

 

[keroo1099]

I went and listened to the speakers yesterday and these are my views.

Sound is very subjective, but good speakers must have certain basic properties, and these speakers get most things right which is surprising considering the limitations of the room (which were pointed out).

1. Clarity: They very clear and clean, but need to be played decently loud to get the best out of them.

2. Detail: Considering the front end Soundsgreat is using it has plenty of that. To me the highs seemed a little recessed, but I guess I like more highs. And because the highs are recessed, the mids seem a bit fin your face to me. But what struck me was that whatever was reproduced had plenty of body, it didn't sound 'tinny' at all. People who like 'Maggie' sound wont like this speaker.

3. Attack: This is not a background music kind of speaker that is polite to music. We played a drum section from Shivamani's new album. Individual notes just exploded, and filled the room, starting and stopping exactly on cue. The thing that shocked me most was the quality of the bass. It was deep and incredibly clear, no bloat or hang.

My suggestion to members is to go and hear them for yourself. These are very good speakers any way you see it, and more so for a something that has been manufactured almost part for part.

Kudos.