Zaph L18 seas 27tbfc/g

[nate1r]

I just wanted to point out that Zaph's all metal system is excellent, very smooth and open sound. My last D.I.Y speakers cost about $400.00 and sounded like turds compared to the these. I used truck bed liner on the boxes and it came out pretty decent, but I would have done more if I knew I was going to like these speakers as much as I do. Zaph is right on about the seas 27tbfc/g I see no reason to spend more on a pair of tweeters. Hey Zaph do you have any plans to use a excel 7" in a 2 way. I was a little suprised to see zaph use a excel tweeter in a two way is the t25cf 001 any better than the 27tbfc/G?

[crackyflipside]

What were your $400 DIY 'turds'?

I do like the look of all metal drivers in a speaker; any pictures?

[Finleyville]

I, too, recently finished this same project. I love their sound! I will be posting a new thread when I am all done with my custom baffles and stands.

[nate1r]

I made the mbow1, the crossover was great the tweeters where expensive but very nice and the mid range was good for the price I guess. Overall they where a little closed in and had a bit too much distortion in the midrange for my tastes. So I decided to spend more on the midrange and it paid off. I blew a lot of cash on goertz inductors which seemed like a waste of money. I used steel laminate inductors on the L18 system and they sound great as far as I can tell.

[JasonB]

I made the mbow1, the crossover was great the tweeters where expensive but very nice and the mid range was good for the price I guess. Overall they where a little closed in and had a bit too much distortion in the midrange for my tastes. So I decided to spend more on the midrange and it paid off. I blew a lot of cash on goertz inductors which seemed like a waste of money. I used iron core on the L18 system and they sound great as far as I can tell.

Nate,

I currently have a pair of Zaph's Seas L18/27TBFCG's and previously had a pair of Dennis Murphy's CAOW1's. I agree that Zaph's Seas design is very good but I am surprised to hear your comments on the MBOW1's. Double check that the tweeters in your MBOW1's are wired in reverse polarity of the woofers, I know I have seen it missed before. Both these designs are really good and I don't think there should be that much of a difference in the midrange performance.

Jason

[nate1r]

The tweeter was hooked up out of polarity as it should have been but I wanted a more open midrange with less distortion. I have not heard the caow1 so I cant comment but I suspect at the very least the midrange is cleaner. I decided to spend less on tweeters and more on the midrange and it worked out for me, I liked the m130 for $25 each and yes the design of the mbow1 is top notch but I do like the zaph L18 system alot more. I just wanted to thank zaph for doing what he does and not trying to sell us stuff in the process, not that there is anything wrong with that but Zaph seems to get nothing out of it except the occassional thank you or (more than likely)harrasment from driver manufacturers after he posts distortion measurements. Zaph has alot of balls for doing what he does and he does it for the benefit of the diy community, not to sell drivers.