Drew Daniels' ANCIENT AUDIOPHILE system

[speakerdave]

This is what's here and dedicated to the project.

[4] 2245H 18" subwoofer (baskets)
[2] 2220H 15" midbass drivers
[2] 2123H 10" midrange drivers
[2] 2445 4" compression drivers w/2452-SL phrams
[2] 2397 Smith horns
[2] 2405 Diffraction tweeters w/new phrams
[1] Marchand XM-44 4 way crossover


A mix of decent amplifiers that could be traded in favor a better fit. The largest being a com-tech 1600.
A DSP unit to manage the subwoofers.

Intended use if the room?
Read, study, relax, listen, enjoy.....just what I do now.

You left out 'Have a blast,' or is that off the record?

It does sound like fun. Some of the suggested alternates are good; Drew Daniels's design was done more than twenty years ago, I think. Better options in some frequency bands have come along, but still, the drivers you have are more than satisfactory. Are you going to have Marchand tailor the crossover output to compensate for driver non-linearities?

[speakerdave]

It was! I heard it back in the 80s on a visit to Disney. It was big and open, utterly effortless. The Saturn V launch shook the floor. But, yeah, you gotta use the high efficiency 15 to get anything near that level of performance. With the quad woofers Drew was using (per side!) the whole rig had to be operating at 100 spl. He was the ultimate believer of high efficiency for max fidelity. Mike

I heard it too. I was ready to walk in the other direction, because I usually cannot abide SR systems, but it was quite listenable.

It should be noted those eight woofers were outside.

[speakerdave]

. . . . Maybe the rectangular 100x100 would be interesting if mounted sideway!

Should be at least as interesting.

[speakerdave]

As much as I recognize the 2245 as being a superb infrabass driver, I find it lacks the roundness and kick of a midbass driver such as a 2220 or 2225 . . . .

I have to agree with this.

[grey]

You left out 'Have a blast,' or is that off the record?

It does sound like fun. Some of the suggested alternates are good; Drew Daniels's design was done more than twenty years ago, I think. Better options in some frequency bands have come along, but still, the drivers you have are more than satisfactory. Are you going to have Marchand tailor the crossover output to compensate for driver non-linearities?

I will be doing the measurements and crossover configuration. I have a good understanding of how to configure it per recommendations. Well, at least good enough to not cook a driver. Setting this up is part of the fun. Good sound early on may be a different story.

This all started with thoughts of a modified 4345 configuration and the idea keeps growing. Maybe you can see the relation? I've never heard a big 4-way monitor, so I will surely be in for a an experience.

So many ways to do this. The E-145 looks like an excellent driver. Although less sensitive than the 2220, it reads that it would handle that range very well. The suggestions on combos are noted and appreciated. Keep them coming. More tinkering and swapping down the road is almost a guarantee. For the short term I'm sticking with the current parts as a viable plan to get it up and running.

The 4719x cabinets gone, so not an option now. What could be wrong with 12 ft3 diy cabs.

[frank23]

Hello 4313B

Good Eye! It's a PTH1010 with a 2435. I always wondered what a 2452SL would sound like on one.

Rob

I sold my pth1010+2435 combination about 2 years ago. I could not get it to sound as sweet as the 2344+2420.

[Robh3606]

I sold my pth1010+2435 combination about 2 years ago. I could not get it to sound as sweet as the 2344+2420.

Well whatever you like is what matters. Once I got the 2435's I never looked back.

Rob

[mmc8180]

I actually built the system per his plans about 4-5 years ago (two columns and 4 subwoofer boxes). I tracked Drew down when I was well underway and discussed some details of his design and possible changes. He mentioned he personally knew of only one other person that had built them. He urged me to faithfully stick to his design, and I did except for a few modifications that he didn't have an issue with. Yes he was about high efficiency in this design, but above all his main motivation was achieving very low distortion

[svollmer]

I actually built the system per his plans about 4-5 years ago (two columns and 4 subwoofer boxes). I tracked Drew down when I was well underway and discussed some details of his design and possible changes. He mentioned he personally knew of only one other person that had built them. He urged me to faithfully stick to his design, and I did except for a few modifications that he didn't have an issue with. Yes he was about high efficiency in this design, but above all his main motivation was achieving very low distortion

Got any pictures? We'd love to see them!

[mmc8180]

The JBL components are:
2405
2450
2382a
2012
2220
2242

The biggest differences with Drews design are the 2405's and double thickness oak plywood vs. mdf

You probably recognize Altec A-7 components and Klipschorns. There are 6 other subwoofers as well.

The amps were selected for low distortion and rated power that would be twice that of the respective speakers rated power per Drew's recommendation. Analog active crossovers, equalizers and time delays. Real time analyzer to measure response

I tend to collect and not let things go. Nothing like massive excess

Got any pictures? We'd love to see them!

[hjames]

Wow - thanks so much for sharing the pix - very cool!!

The biggest differences with Drew's design are the 2405's and double thickness oak plywood vs. mdf

I tend to collect and not let things go. Nothing like massive excess

[Don Mascali]

Too much, is just right...

Beautiful work.

[yggdrasil]

That's a serious system!

I tend to collect and not let things go.

Yeah, selling off stuff just doesn't get my heart pumping either.

Johnny

[Baron030]

Holly Crap!!! Does that look nice!!!
I wish I had the room for the sub-woofers.
I was forced to build only the “satellite” speakers of the Drew Daniel’s ANCIENT AUDIOPHILE system.
But, you were able build the whole shebang.
Congratulations!

Baron030

[1audiohack]

That's freakin' awesome!!!

I have collected every single piece and part to build this system and only need dedicate the time.

Thanks for sharing,
Barry.