Legacy Audio "Whisper" klones

[ThomasW]

http://home.comcast.net/~klone-audio/CropedBoth.jpg

"Real" Whispers cost $14,000. The DIY "clones" cost less than $3,500 for raw materials including electronics :)

How do they sound? Pretty darn good if I do say so myself. You can also ask Joey Millison. He heard them yesterday!

Unlike the "real" Whispers, there are NO iron core inductors or electrolytic caps in the crossover. So the HFE is "sweet"

Only have a few pics at this point. Joey6P took off with a floppy containing the back and side pics. :)

The speakers are fully operational, but not cosmetically finished. The bases and areas with "gray/black" paint are just primed. They'll be painted with a satin black. The bases will have a laminate band surrounding them. And they'll be "spiked"

The URL for more pics is

http://home.comcast.net/~klone-audio/page15WhisperProj1.html

When cosmetically finished I'll post "money shot" pics along with CLIO data. The website will have a complete DIY article with many, many, captioned pics. This is several weeks away.

Oh, BTW, the room you see isn't the HT it's the "family room" where I watch regular TV :)

And yes, this IS Xtreme DIY :B

Enjoy,
ThomasW




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[Pat]

SWEET!!!
Great Job Thomas:)
How do they compare to your "other" speakers?:B




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[ThomasW]

Pat

They have some of the in-room qualities of the ESL array. They have the "air" and "openness" characteristic of planar systems, but not all the intimite "detail".

They "kick-butt" with a slam and punch that no planar has however. They'll be great HT speakers.

They've only been running a short time. The woofers have a very stiff rubber surround and it takes a long time for the woofer to break-in. The woofers in the Marquis project had 40Hz warble tones pumped through them for 7 days straight before they started loosening up. The Whisper woofers didn't get that "pre-use" break-in. So their output increases with daily use.




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[Pat]

I'm sure as you put them through their paces they will get better and better.

Just play them at "Joey Level" for a while...that ought to loosen them up a little:B




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[ThomasW]

You're right about that. We played the Patricia Barber "Companion" CD at the "Joey level" yesterday and today the bass was heavy enough that I raised the output of the midrange about +2db to match up with the woofers :)




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[Pat]

LOL...I knew "Joey Level" would break them in :B




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[Andrew Pratt]

Thomas those are absolutly stunning. http://sam.wood.tripod.com/smilies/whatthahell.gif




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[Bing Fung]

Wow, wow, wow Thomas, those are absolutely stunning! I never though you would be done my speakers, so when are they shipping? ;)

Are those based on the Focals with the TLR Tweeter!?!?

Wow,!

Oh, Did I say WOW?




Bing

[Joey Millison]

They sound freaking amazing, especially from the sweet spot. We listened to, well, I forgot the name actually, heh, but it was a live jazz CD, and it really sounded as though you were in the club. I know it's one of those weird things to listen for, but when I heard the applause after one of the songs it sounded as though I were sitting in the audience. That, and the stand up bass sounded absolutely great with its low tones and the high pitched sound of the strings being struck. It took everything I had not to drool, heh. AND they look incredible, even though they're not finished completely. These things are truly a work of art, I feel bad even calling them "speakers"...they're more like audible sculptures...
If I had the money, and if Thomas hadn't swore he'd never make another pair again, I'd be attempting to make a pair of my own ;)

Thomas,
I'll email you those photos, sorry, I thought I gave you all of the pictures I took of the Whispers, heh. I guess they got mixed up on my laptop with the BILLIONS of pictures we took of the other speakers ;)

[ThomasW]

Bing

They'll ship as soon as your check clears :)

They are my version of these,

http://www.legacy-audio.com/speakers/whisperpg.html

They use the Focal TC120DX2 tweeter not the TLR.

Joey

I got the additional pics. Thanks

The album was Patricia Barber "Companion"




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[Ken Lopata]

Awesome speakers. I was thinking of upgrading my speakers and going with some JMLabs. Since you can buy the same drivers they use from Focal, would it be feasible to build a like crossover and cabinet and just drop in the drivers.

Thomas, I notice you live in Denver, I live in Ken-Caryl. I'd like to get together with you sometime. I was thinking of having a sonosub or box built using 2 of Avatar's new 15" Tempest driver. What do you think of this driver. Thanks.

[Joey Millison]

Uh oh, a new Colorado person to corrupt ;) Welcome to the forum Ken! And to our little Colorado HT clan :)

[ThomasW]

Hi Ken, welcome to the HT-Guide Forum

I haven't dissected a JM Labs speaker, so they may hold some surprises. These could include special custom versions of the Focal drivers. That being said.......

If you can afford the Focal drivers, then making close copies of the JM Labs stuff shouldn't be too big a deal.

I suggest using a supplier like Madisound. They use LEAP ($$$$$) for crossover design. Other than having a good regular software program and a TON of test equipment, to "tweak" and fine turn XO designs, LEAP is the best way to go. LEAP uses the measurements made from the actual speakers and it's IMO the best alternative for XO design when that design has to be made off-site compared to where the speakers are being built.

As you can probably tell from my "profile" I'm partial to Avatar/Adire drivers. I have 4 Tempests on order, for eval and testing. Given the latest T/S data Dan W is posting, this driver look like it's going to be another winner. The "introductory" pricing is most favorable!

I'd be glad to get together. My schedule is very currently tight. I'll be out of the country Sept 16-24th. After that things mellow out.

Several of the people in the front range area have been getting together for local "meets". When one gets scheduled I'll put you on the email list for announcements.




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[Lexman]

Ahh, those bookshelf speakers are pretty! When you building the big ones? lol.

:)

Lex





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[Kyle Richardson]

Speaking of a Colorado HT group...I'm only one state away and would even consider driving out for a weekend to listen to these guys. I have been checking your website for the last while tracking your progress. What is even nicer is when you realize that you designed and built them yourself. Now thats satisfaction.

[Patrick Sun]

Very purty speaker you've got there Mr. W!

I think a HT meet at Thomas's place is a must in the near future. (but must avoid the cold weather months...)




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[ThomasW]

Well. Ok guys, I'll just have an "open-house" weekend.

Pat, it's only really cold here starting in January. In the fall/late fall we have "indian summer" 70+ degree days, cool nights. It's one of the best times to be here.

Speaking of indian summer, that's then tentitive time for a working prototype of the next little speaker project :B




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[ThomasW]

These are block diagrams of the tweeter and midwoofer XO

http://users.t-three.com/ttriff/tweeterXO.jpg
http://users.t-three.com/ttriff/midwooferXO.jpg




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Klone-Audio (http://www.klone-audio.com)