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Ok, it's really just another 2-way....
Why Shrubbery... This project owes at least some of its inspiration to the Totem Forest - but since this is a stand-mounted speaker, while the Forest is a floor-stander, this seemed more like a shrub. A good working familiarity with Monty Python and the Holy Grail sealed the deal.
This project took a long, winding road to reach it's final destination. About 2 years ago, I happened upon some HiVi D6.8's for a ridiculously low price on ebay (I think about $20/pair). I had always thought they would be an interesting driver and I had read about John Marsh's Elaine Marie project which used the D6 woofer and an XT-25 tweeter (this was the precursor to the Modula MT). Shortly after I acquired the D6.8's, Jon W started a thread about the Modula MT's that he had built, in which he compared them to the Totem Forest (which is a two-way design using the D6.8 and a Seas tweeter).
Modula MT-Totem Forest Thread
This comparison peaked my curiosity enough to take a break from another project I was working on to audition the HiVi with the Seas T25-001. With not too much work, I was able to get an LR2 crossover at around 2.5 kHz and it sounded quite decent. I needed the tweeter for the other project, so the experiment was relatively short-lived, but I knew that the D6.8 was on my short-list for a new project.
I always had in the back of my mind that I would use an LR2 crossover for the D6.8 - based on my first experiment. When Seas introduced the H1499 tweeter with the DXT waveguide, it seemed like a natural for that application - especially after reading some early reviews from Zaph and Jed. So, I picked up a pair and mounted them along with the D6.8's in the trusty Parts Express 0.75 cu. ft. MT enclosure.
Well, it's usually not the best idea to put a round peg into a square hole. Somehow, these two drivers just did not want to go LR2 - at least not without serious brute force (like 15 or 16 crossover components) - so I tried some other approaches and wound up with something closer to LR4 at 2.2 kHz.
What I learned was that the real value of the DXT waveguide in this application was not so much that it enables an easy LR2 crossover, but rather that it controls directivity such that the LR4 crossover has a smoother transition between the woofer and tweeter than usual for an LR4 two-way.
How does it sound... Well, I think they strike a nice balance between ease of listening and detail. Rather than go on and on in vague terms, I'll refer you to the DIY Iowa 2008 Budget Class Results (Thanks to Doug Peterson and Todd Premo).
DIY Iowa 2008 Budget Results
The best thing about these is that they really can compete with the best budget speakers around (like the Modula MT's) and are easy to build. If you are woodworking-challenged, just buy the P.E. cabinets, cut the tweeter hole centered 4"' down from the top, and cut the woofer hole centered 10" down from the top. There is also a 2" diameter port, 7" long in the back - but that's about it.
Here is some more info....
Why Shrubbery... This project owes at least some of its inspiration to the Totem Forest - but since this is a stand-mounted speaker, while the Forest is a floor-stander, this seemed more like a shrub. A good working familiarity with Monty Python and the Holy Grail sealed the deal.
This project took a long, winding road to reach it's final destination. About 2 years ago, I happened upon some HiVi D6.8's for a ridiculously low price on ebay (I think about $20/pair). I had always thought they would be an interesting driver and I had read about John Marsh's Elaine Marie project which used the D6 woofer and an XT-25 tweeter (this was the precursor to the Modula MT). Shortly after I acquired the D6.8's, Jon W started a thread about the Modula MT's that he had built, in which he compared them to the Totem Forest (which is a two-way design using the D6.8 and a Seas tweeter).
Modula MT-Totem Forest Thread
This comparison peaked my curiosity enough to take a break from another project I was working on to audition the HiVi with the Seas T25-001. With not too much work, I was able to get an LR2 crossover at around 2.5 kHz and it sounded quite decent. I needed the tweeter for the other project, so the experiment was relatively short-lived, but I knew that the D6.8 was on my short-list for a new project.
I always had in the back of my mind that I would use an LR2 crossover for the D6.8 - based on my first experiment. When Seas introduced the H1499 tweeter with the DXT waveguide, it seemed like a natural for that application - especially after reading some early reviews from Zaph and Jed. So, I picked up a pair and mounted them along with the D6.8's in the trusty Parts Express 0.75 cu. ft. MT enclosure.
Well, it's usually not the best idea to put a round peg into a square hole. Somehow, these two drivers just did not want to go LR2 - at least not without serious brute force (like 15 or 16 crossover components) - so I tried some other approaches and wound up with something closer to LR4 at 2.2 kHz.
What I learned was that the real value of the DXT waveguide in this application was not so much that it enables an easy LR2 crossover, but rather that it controls directivity such that the LR4 crossover has a smoother transition between the woofer and tweeter than usual for an LR4 two-way.
How does it sound... Well, I think they strike a nice balance between ease of listening and detail. Rather than go on and on in vague terms, I'll refer you to the DIY Iowa 2008 Budget Class Results (Thanks to Doug Peterson and Todd Premo).
DIY Iowa 2008 Budget Results
The best thing about these is that they really can compete with the best budget speakers around (like the Modula MT's) and are easy to build. If you are woodworking-challenged, just buy the P.E. cabinets, cut the tweeter hole centered 4"' down from the top, and cut the woofer hole centered 10" down from the top. There is also a 2" diameter port, 7" long in the back - but that's about it.
Here is some more info....
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