DIY 2235h, 2206h, 2446J Be or TAD 4001 and 2405H Build Thread
I thought I'd start a thread on my attempt to build a reference system that is one step more advanced than the JBL Synthesis K2 S9900. Although I have never heard the S9900, I love the design concept and am pretty sure it would rival, or exceed, many high end, audiophile systems. I am thrilled to get your comments (positive or negative) on my project. I realize that in any project like this, there are varying opinions on build theory and I won't bristle at your thoughts.
To start, a little background on me and my design goal. I am a life-long audiophile. This system is exclusively for my home listening room which is 19 x 15 x 9. It is a dedicated listening room and I have it set up as a live end (behind speakers) /dead end (behind listening position) and listen in the longer length of the room.
I have built, and purchased, many speakers in my 30+ year devotion to high end audio. Some of these, kind-of in order, include Infinity Beta Clone's, Wilson Audio WATT/PUPPY and WAMM clones, JBL L300, Altec Model 14's & 19's, Martin Logan (CLS and others), Entec, Muse and Velodyne subs, to name just a few. My latest love is dynamic, dipole speakers from Linkwitz Labs. I have built and owned the Orion and now the LX521. Check them out here. I consider the LX521 the most pure speaker I've ever heard and that includes some of the most celebrated audiophile speakers of all time (Soundlab, IRS, WAMM, B&W Matrix 800). So you ask, why am I building another speaker system? Fair question. The answer is that I love designing and building things and I want to build something that tests how close I can come to my LX521's as my Reference system. In the past, the one shortcoming in my efforts was the ability to analyze the output in a highly detailed, electronic way. I've always just used my, and a few buddies, ears. Well, we all know how accurate that can be.... Now with the creation of affordable DSP, the amateur speaker builder can analyze, evaluate and make changes much easier, cheaper and faster than ever before. So I'm awaiting delivery of my new miniDSP 4x10hd. In addition, I also have the Behringer RTA on hand. Luckily, Mr. Linkwitz has approved a DSP setup for the LX521 to replace my existing ASP. So, with that background, I came here to source what I know to be the best drivers available to see what I (with your help) can build.
To start, I'm not a big fan of the square box solutions (like the 4345) that JBL has historically designed. I've just never been able to eliminate cabinet resonances from big boxes. From a design perspective, I'm much more interested in the cabinets from the JBL Synthesis line. I'm thinking curves with lots of bracing using Sono construction tubing to make a D shaped cabinet. As the title of this thread discloses, I've sourced pristine pairs of the following: 15" (2235h) subwoofer; 12" (2206h) woofer; 2" Compression Driver (2446j) with a 2380 horn and (2405h) tweeter. I'm estimating the crossover points (all LR 24db/oct) at 100, 900, 8000, but those are subject to change with the miniDSP. I'm thinking 5 cf vented (tuned to 30 hz) cabinet for the 2235 and 1 cf sealed (.57 Qtc) for the 2206. I have read that mounting the woofer and midrange as close as possible is very important to achieve a seamless blend between the dynamic woofer and compression driver midrange and it helps to avoid the honking horn effect. I prefer to have an image that is slightly above my seated ear height (38") and plan for the center point of the horn to be about 45" high.
At this point, those are my design thoughts. I'm really going to give this the old college try and compete with the a great reference system that was designed by one of the most important contributors of speaker design in my lifetime. I'd love your thoughts, help and encouragement!
Thanks,
Paul
