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  1. #1
    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    Project Widget

    For those that know about this personal project that has dragged on for just short of forever, you may want to go right to the photos, but for those unfamiliar with my project, I’ll cover the project from initial concept to the present day.

    In late 2004 a buddy of mine bought a pair of Classic Audio T1 speakers (see photo 1). He liked them but thought they could be better. He asked me if I had any ideas on how to improve them. At about this time I was also involved in the ill fated Project May speakers for Don McRitchie. (Another long and winding tale… one that perhaps will be unraveled and told someday.) In any event, during the process, I was exposed to the phenomenal JBL 1500AL woofers. My buddy suggested we try the TAD TD-4003/TH-4003 which were a step up from the Classic Audio’s TAD TD-4001/TH4001 clone.

    I was game, so I mocked them up in some test boxes and audio magic happened. My buddy directed the aesthetics and we came up with the design in photo 2. I set about building them with ribs and laying up pre-kerfed MDF.
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  2. #2
    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    I built the cabinets and we began listening to them. (If only these projects could go as quickly as writing about them!) In any event after a significant amount of effort, they were built and we began critically listening to the prototypes. For some reason the bass wasn’t as clear and articulate as it had been in the test boxes. I performed a number of tests and determined that the cabinets had an internal resonance that was affecting the performance. I found the resonance by examining the impedance sweep of the woofer in the cabinet and while making a number of modifications to the bass boxes, I was able to isolate it to our satisfaction.

    After some soul searching, I decided to take another stab at the design and I offered up the unfinished cabinets on the forum. Member Wardsweb jumped in and took them. He worked out the resonance issue and finished up the speakers magnificently. See his thread: http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...read.php?10692

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    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    I literally went back to the drawing board. At this point, my buddy who was driving the project and most importantly, funding it, suggested that we use a woofer with a bit deeper bass capability and he thought that the addition of a 10” driver might be a good addition as the transfer from a 15” woofer to the lightning fast TD-4003 wasn’t quite what he was hoping for. I had a number of extra Sub1500s from that Parts Express close out that many of us took advantage of. I ordered a pair of TAD TL-1102 woofers. They are remarkably snappy and have extremely low distortion. They proved to fit the bill quite nicely!

    The driver compliment became JBL Sub1500, TAD TL-1102, TAD TD-4003, TAD ET-703. The cabinet design remained exactly the same externally, but now we CNC’d slabs of MDF and used MDF/Baltic Birch laminated flat sections with birch laminated 2 X 4 internal bracing. The horns are a cast mineral filled urethane from molds I made from an original TH-4003. I experimented with several resins and even played around at mimicking the AFAST port that TAD used in their laminated maple horns. Ultimately, I found the horns performed better without the AFAST port when using the extremely hard and dense urethane compound that I landed on. The TL-1102 woofers are in 1.4 cu ft enclosures with rear facing tuned ports. The Sub1500s are in 2.5 cu ft enclosures that are sealed.

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    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    These photos of the raw MDF speakers are of the original prototypes as they were in 2006. After auditioning them we felt we had a winner, so a second pair of these were created and finished in Birdseye maple with black leather for the front baffle. My buddy who has owned dozens and dozens of speakers from virtually every major High End manufacturer and a number of exotic small builders (like the Widgets) had previously had a track record of losing interest in his speakers every few months. I delivered his in early 2007. Shockingly he hasn’t replaced them in over 12 years… I must say that as I was sweating over the details of his speakers I had little hope of them still being in use as his primary system several years later. For him to still love them for over a decade, is both deeply satisfying and shocking.


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    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    Name:  Widget 2 Right.jpg
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    Last edited by Mr. Widget; 02-07-2023 at 09:06 AM.

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    In 2007, I also moved from my workshop and loft in SF to a more traditional and much smaller home. I initially set up my prototype Project Widgets in the living room but due to their size (mostly their depth) and a room mode which caused a narrow Q peak at 72Hz, I could never get them to sound as good as they did in the loft or they do at my buddy’s house. (I discovered the room mode some years later with better room analyzing software when I was optimizing my Everests.) I put the TAD and JBL drivers in storage and kept the empty enclosures in my garage for the next decade or so. Moving forward to last summer, I bought a new house and was told by “she who must be obeyed” that the JBL E2s that had found their way into my previous home would not be making the move. Somehow she accepted the Project Widgets as long as they were "properly" finished. After getting mostly moved in and my workshop somewhat set up, I got back onto the project.
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  7. #7
    Member MoD's Avatar
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    Outstanding work! Impressive.

    Feeling when you make something and that matches expectations, priceless.

    That is very vise construction, I bet sound is big and dynamic. And bass.. is much smarter solution then some big bass horn.
    do not surrender never, except when you have to

  8. #8
    Senior Member martin_wu99's Avatar
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    Perfect!
    46 lover

  9. #9
    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    Thanks everyone for the compliments!

    Sitting here listening to them does make the hours and hours of sweating the details seem worth it. Now there is only the memory of the smell of the Claro Walnut dust as I sanded it and seeing the first glow of the wood as I applied the first coats of Watco oil.


    Widget

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    very nice build, I really like the look of the veneer
    I am curious, what is the port tuning of the enclosure for the Tl-1102?





    Ari

  11. #11
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    Wow Widget !! they look awesome personal speaker projects are very special to me. I admire people who do these projects. The personal time effort and money is a labour of love to have something that's ideal for someone's personal taste is very satisfying. Congrats on a great job.

  12. #12
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    Snap! Very nicely done. Those look (and I'm confident sound) great!

  13. #13
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    What a stunning project. Your craftsmanship and attention to detail is remarkable. Enjoy them!

  14. #14
    Senior Member RedCoat23's Avatar
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    What a journey! They look absolutely fabulous. I can only imagine how they sound. Congratulations on a job well done.

  15. #15
    Member Mitchco's Avatar
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    I can't imagine how good they sound and look in person! Top-shelf man. Congrats.

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