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My first real pair of DIY speakers had to be TLs and had to be floor standers. So I choose Dan Browns dB616TL. Design specs can be found at Dan’s website https://web.archive.org/web/20070104...2/db616tl2.htm. It’s simple construction and crossover was a good learning experience and a fun pair of speakers to build.
I started by converting all of Dan’s original plans to metric so I could have all the necessary parts cut using CNC. I mocked up all the panels (bar one side), everything was spot-on.
General construction followed. Due to my lack of clamps I decided to glue and screw all panels together. I found it easy to overlay like panels and pilot hole both at the same time.
After some screwing and gluing I had most of the panels in place.
Now some people looking at this pic will think “there’s nothing wrong with that”. But, I didn’t angle the internal divider. I quickly contacted Dan and he said that I can compensate for my mistake by filling the first half of the line densely. Thank goodness: Measure twice cut once…where was I for that lesson.
Anyway Being “down under” I though that Parts Express would take awhile, how wrong was I. 4 days for all the parts to arrive, I was very impressed. The AU$ to US$ isn’t that bad at the moment so the purchase didn’t hurt too much. This design utilizes PE own DC160S-8 6 ½’ Classic shielded woofers and DC28FS-8 1 1/8” shielded silk dome tweeter.
Crossover construction time! I’m going to have the crossovers external so I constructed them loose for mounting in aluminum enclosures later. I tried my best to wrap the conductors of components around each other for good solid connections.
Tweeter x-over.
Woofer x-over
After getting my hands on some scrap Dacron from work I started exploring the stuffing of the line. I used 80oz Dacron throughout. Sandwiching 5 layers together within the first half and folding a long strip on the back end of the line was my starting point.
I also wrangled some sound deadening material for behind the drivers. It uses 2 foam layers on either side of a lead/bitumen sheet (will appear later).
I flush mounted the drivers next.
At this point I had the crossovers fully constructed and was ready for a free air test. So I hooked everything up to my trusty NAD C320.
Worked beautifully.
I glued and stapled the sound deadening in behind the drivers and the adjacent panels.
Dan did mention in the construction notes about the top reflector needing to be cut down. I had to remove about 20mm from the reflector to fit in behind the woofer with the sound deadening in place.
Internal wiring and terminal cup was up next. I choose Supra Rondo 2 for all internal wiring.
I filled the line and added some fill behind the drivers
I finished off by fixing the side panel and went straight into hooking up the x-overs and having a listen.
I can honestly say these are the fantastic speakers. I very happy with the SQ. I don’t think I’ll need to add or remove any stuffing to the line, The response from the rear port is all low bass. The treble is a tad bright, but I suspect this will round off with time. The bass response is full and weighty in my small listening room. The WAF meter even registered a, “they sound excellent”, so I must have done something right. The first tracks put through were Brahms Symphony No.4 Allegro Non Troppo, Norah Jones Come Away With Me and Massive Attack Tear Drop.
I’ve found them power hungry, from memory the C320 is only rated to 40W RMS. Might need to get a 372 or add a 272 power amp to the mix. A little more drive and power never hurt.
I’ll finish them off with some American Walnut veneer soon (the next learning experience). Any new DIYers looking for a rewarding first project, this is a good one.
I started by converting all of Dan’s original plans to metric so I could have all the necessary parts cut using CNC. I mocked up all the panels (bar one side), everything was spot-on.
General construction followed. Due to my lack of clamps I decided to glue and screw all panels together. I found it easy to overlay like panels and pilot hole both at the same time.
After some screwing and gluing I had most of the panels in place.
Now some people looking at this pic will think “there’s nothing wrong with that”. But, I didn’t angle the internal divider. I quickly contacted Dan and he said that I can compensate for my mistake by filling the first half of the line densely. Thank goodness: Measure twice cut once…where was I for that lesson.
Anyway Being “down under” I though that Parts Express would take awhile, how wrong was I. 4 days for all the parts to arrive, I was very impressed. The AU$ to US$ isn’t that bad at the moment so the purchase didn’t hurt too much. This design utilizes PE own DC160S-8 6 ½’ Classic shielded woofers and DC28FS-8 1 1/8” shielded silk dome tweeter.
Crossover construction time! I’m going to have the crossovers external so I constructed them loose for mounting in aluminum enclosures later. I tried my best to wrap the conductors of components around each other for good solid connections.
Tweeter x-over.
Woofer x-over
After getting my hands on some scrap Dacron from work I started exploring the stuffing of the line. I used 80oz Dacron throughout. Sandwiching 5 layers together within the first half and folding a long strip on the back end of the line was my starting point.
I also wrangled some sound deadening material for behind the drivers. It uses 2 foam layers on either side of a lead/bitumen sheet (will appear later).
I flush mounted the drivers next.
At this point I had the crossovers fully constructed and was ready for a free air test. So I hooked everything up to my trusty NAD C320.
Worked beautifully.
I glued and stapled the sound deadening in behind the drivers and the adjacent panels.
Dan did mention in the construction notes about the top reflector needing to be cut down. I had to remove about 20mm from the reflector to fit in behind the woofer with the sound deadening in place.
Internal wiring and terminal cup was up next. I choose Supra Rondo 2 for all internal wiring.
I filled the line and added some fill behind the drivers
I finished off by fixing the side panel and went straight into hooking up the x-overs and having a listen.
I can honestly say these are the fantastic speakers. I very happy with the SQ. I don’t think I’ll need to add or remove any stuffing to the line, The response from the rear port is all low bass. The treble is a tad bright, but I suspect this will round off with time. The bass response is full and weighty in my small listening room. The WAF meter even registered a, “they sound excellent”, so I must have done something right. The first tracks put through were Brahms Symphony No.4 Allegro Non Troppo, Norah Jones Come Away With Me and Massive Attack Tear Drop.
I’ve found them power hungry, from memory the C320 is only rated to 40W RMS. Might need to get a 372 or add a 272 power amp to the mix. A little more drive and power never hurt.
I’ll finish them off with some American Walnut veneer soon (the next learning experience). Any new DIYers looking for a rewarding first project, this is a good one.
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