What I did during my Summer Vacation

[Mr. Widget]

OK, so it is now November... and I just finished these things, but I thought I'd share anyway.

During the Summer I was asked to build a pair of 3155 networks for a fellow Forum Member. He decided that he would prefer outboard networks so I built some cases that I thought would be in keeping with the design of the 4355.

The design of this particular circuit was adapted by Giskard and based on the original 3155 as designed by Greg Timbers at JBL. The exact DCR of the coils was critical for optimal performance. The Mills resistors are 1% as were the values for the inductors and capacitors which were individually measured.

This design like the original is not charge coupled, but it was built using metallized polypropylene capacitors that were bypassed with AudioCap Theta Film and Foil caps.

Here is a shot of the board.

[Mr. Widget]

Here is the board in the case.

[Mr. Widget]

Here is the case.

[Mr. Widget]

Detail shot and shameless plug!

[morbo!]

Very impresive!

morbo! is pleased

[Uncle Paul]

Wow! And I mean wow as in WOW!

[Ian Mackenzie]

Impressive,

Very nice box!

Ian

[Mr. Widget]

Very nice box!

Now that can have a very different meaning in American slang....;) but, thanks.

No Mundorfs or AuriCaps here, and I still went over budget!:(


Widget

[Zilch]

Oooooo, nice JOB, Mr. Widget! :thmbsup:

[Rolf]

Very nice work Widget.:applaud: :applaud: :applaud:


Rolf

[Ken Pachkowsky]

Such a showoff

Damned fine work Widget:applaud:

Ken

[John]

Were not worthy:rockon2: :rockon2:

Sweet:applaud:

Are you taking orders:hmm:

[Hofmannhp]

...... and I just finished these things, but I thought I'd share anyway.

......Here is a shot of the board.

that's what I expected from you......great work:applaud: .....looks expensive.
thanks for sharing the pics.

HP

[yggdrasil]

Very nice.

[spkrman57]

I imagine the cost on these would not be very cheap at all, but they definitely look very "professional"!

Ron:applaud:

[Earl K]

Very Nice ! Mr Widget :D

-Apart the great job on aesthetics ( which have become a given from you ) , I particularly like that slide-in mounting board .

:)

[Hamilton]

Yikes! I am now quite certain after seeing that work of art that I will never post a pic of anything I made... :D

[Charlie4350]

I now have crossover envy:applaud:

[Alex Lancaster]

:applaud: Triple WOW!

[DavidF]

I imagine the cost on these would not be very cheap at all, but they definitely look very "professional"!

Ron:applaud:

...but Widget is a professional and his skills are evident here.

Very appealing to the form and function sides of things, Widget.

[morbo!]

Yikes! I am now quite certain after seeing that work of art that I will never post a pic of anything I made... :D


same! well not outta wood anyway (not yet!)skillz needed

[scott fitlin]

Excellent work, very polished and professional looking product! Even your silkscreening is factory perfect!

Custom manufactured by

Widget Works

San Francisco Ca 94103

I like it!

:D

[edgewound]

I'll repeat the accolades....beautiful, Mr. Widget:applaud:

[boputnam]

Jerk...

Made me dig-up some fotos of the 3145 - not nearly as pretty, and buried deep in the cabinet... :o:

[Mr. Widget]

Jerk...

After you mentioned the apparent complexity of the 3145 vs. the 3155, I looked over the schematics. First off the 3145 is a four-way that is switchable to a three-way... this adds a bit to the complexity. Second, for some reason, JBL chose to parallel piles of similar caps... not sure why they would do this, one reason might be that it will statistically increase the tolerance while using inexpensive 10% components... maybe they got a deal on certain values?

Look at those fine sand cast resistors and mylar caps.:D


Widget

[boputnam]

Look at those fine sand cast resistors and mylar caps.:D
Jerk...

Wanna take some hourly work? I'd LOVE to get something akin to those you built, and they don't need no fancy woodwork cases. pm me - I'll bring six-month's worth of Guiness, and of course a new chisel... :rotfl:

[Michael Smith]

Fantastic Widget;your attention to detail is something that I aspire to.
Michael

[porschedpm]

Very nice job on the crossovers, Widget. Let us know how they sound. Just a quick question. Do you know how the new owner of these crossovers will run the Mid, High and Ultra High speaker wires into the cabinet?

[Lancer]

Jerk...

Wanna take some hourly work? I'd LOVE to get something akin to those you built, and they don't need no fancy woodwork cases.Yeah but they will need to be charge-coupled Bo. I believe we've talk about his before.


Excellent thread Mr. Widget! :applaud:
I'm glad you decided to post it! ;)

I agree with Hamilton though. The rest of us will no longer be able to post our projects. :rotfl:

Except Zilch, he has no shame.

[Audiobeer]

Phenominal job! Absolutely beautiful! ;):applaud:

[Wardsweb]

And yet again I'm humbled by your attention to detail in the layout and execution in composition. Your work is beyond reproach. http://audiokarma.org/forums/images/smilies/thumbsup.gif

[pelly3s]

beautiful work i wish i had 5 minutes to even think about doing something that nice.

[Mr. Widget]

...but Widget is a professional and his skills are evident here. On the one hand, I didn't use any special tools (other than professional painting equipment) and and almost anyone could do it... but the fact that I have been building custom one-off prototypes for the last 18 years probably does give me a bit of a head start.:)

Wanna take some hourly work? I'd LOVE to get something akin to those you built...
Yeah but they will need to be charge-coupled Bo. I believe we've talk about his before.I believe Ian is currently working on just such a beast.;)
Nothing like shaming the shameless!

Let us know how they sound. Just a quick question. Do you know how the new owner of these crossovers will run the Mid, High and Ultra High speaker wires into the cabinet?
They are being shipped to Japan and the price I charged didn't include installation so I won't have the opportunity to hear them with their 4355s.:(
The owner is very handy, I am sure he'll have a clever solution, but we never discussed it. I suppose, I'd build a custom input panel.


Widget

[boputnam]

I believe Ian is currently working on just such a beast.;)I thought he was, but then he fell in love with Ken Patchalphabet who has since sniffed more solder than any grown-up should! :(

Maybe I should get topology from Lancer and stock-up on Guinness...

[Mr. Widget]

Sorry dude... I'll let it pass once but not twice. Guinness has two n's.;)
We're talking about something as dear to my heart as JBL's here...:applaud:
Kind of like grills vs. grilles.


Widget

[porschedpm]

I believe Ian is currently working on just such a beast.;)

Ian has indeed been working on a similar project and has completed a similar external passive crossover designed specifically for my biamped pair of 4343's upgraded to 4344 drivers. Although they could be adapted to any 4344/4345 variant. It's interesting to see the different approaches to a similar design goal. Ian constructed these as part of the '4343 to 4344 Upgrade Project'. (Not to be confused with Ian and Ken's joint 'Hi End Active Crossover Project')

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=76309&highlight=4343#post76309

In the process of discussing the design criteria with Ian, we soon found that there were many upgrades to the 4343 that we were discussing that we felt many other members would benefit from, the most significant being the external crossovers. And so the '4343 to 4344 Upgrade Project' was born. I was curious how the owner of your crossovers was going to bring in the MF/HF/UHF speaker cables into the cabinet because that was something that Ian and I discussed at some length. Our solution was to use an 8-pole Speakon connector. This was selected to try to maintain as much as possible the stock appearance of the monitors.

Ian has shipped his crossovers to me and I hope to get them installed in early December so I can give a thorough review. Ian road tested these in his own 4344 and he said the difference is significantly better than the stock crossovers, attributed mostly to the use of much better electronics than that used 30 years ago. The rationale at this point is to use the L-Pads to fine tune the drivers to the room and then, once dialed in, we'll bypass them using the appropriate sized resistors. We discussed charge coupling and may add it later but since this is being done as part of the '4343 to 4344 Upgrade Project' we wanted to do everything on a step by step basis with enough listening tests in between.

[Ian Mackenzie]

I thought he was, but then he fell in love with Ken Patchalphabet who has since sniffed more solder than any grown-up should! :(

Maybe I should get topology from Lancer and stock-up on Guinness...

Dude,

Refill your Glass...your jealous:D

Ever since Ken posted his picture I have been fixated as it were:rotfl: .

I think we need a new avatar for the Widget...Leonardo?


Ian

[jtgyn]

G'Day Widget,
Nice work... as good as a Guinness or maybe two!
Regards Scott