Raising the While Flag on 604 Project

[Panomaniac]

I think the 6" port is small. But this is supposed to be a MLTL, so maybe it's OK. GM will know, he's the MLTL guy.

If it were a bass reflex with that size port, you'd want it short for the most bass. Like 3/4". That should be easy enough to try, right?

As far as crossovers, I would say try Vuki's. It won't cost much to put together. (about $60 each from Parts Express or Madisound) To make it even simpler, you can leave out L2, R2 and substitute a single 4.7uF for C2, C3. It won't be exactly the same, but it will be close enough to hear the potential. At the moment you are most worried about tonal balance.

And as Vuki says, you can vary R3 to change the level of the horn.

The active crossover will allow a lot more tweaking, but takes time to learn. Cost about $275

Did you get a chance to haul them outside over the weekend?

[Seadweller]

Did you get a chance to haul them outside over the weekend?

Unfortunately not...I was away from the house nearly the entire weekend, and now I've got a week's worth of business travel...This is what has made this project such a challenge to finish...

I was also going to buy an SPL meter at Radio Shack, and take some measurements using my Stereophile Test CD, but haven't had time for that either...

I'm having the gentleman in Chicago make the XO's, because the only thing I can do with a soldering iron is melt little plastic army men... My neighbor is an electrical engineer, so maybe he could at least help me with the parts layout...I'm quite unfamiliar with some of the components on Vuki's XO, such as "4R7." Could someone help me decode the components listed on the XO schematic? It looks like it might be fairly easy for me to assemble if I know what the parts are.

The first thing on the agenda is to buy an amplifier...

[Altec Best]

The first thing on the agenda is to buy an amplifier...

Absolutely !! What will you be going with tube or SS

[Panomaniac]

Yes, get the amp first.
You don't even need to solder to put this crossover together. Just use screw terminal blocks.

And we can help with the layout and the shopping list.

I will also be gone the rest of the week on business. Back at it next week?

[Seadweller]

Absolutely !! What will you be going with tube or SS

I'm going back to SS...I sold my Parasound A-21 power amp and Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 pre-amp to buy a Cary SLI-80, and regretted it from day one...The Cary was a magnificent piece of equipment, but I'm in Florida, and it put off a tremendous amount of heat...I seem to prefer a more "analytical" sound, so the tube sound wasn't my cup of tea...My Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 was a SS/Tube hybrid, and it added just enough warmth to the presentation...That combination was incredible...Sure wish I could have it back...

[Seadweller]

I will also be gone the rest of the week on business. Back at it next week?

Sounds great!!

[GM]

Any concensus which way to go?

By the way, how much of a difference does the port configuration make when it comes to bass response? Is diameter more important, or is length the key? Could a 6" port be too small for this cabinet?

Thanks!

You're welcome!

High SQ digital is the way to go in today's 'two bit' world and even if you want a passive XO/response shaping filter(s), finding its specs with digital really simplifies the process considerably.

Quite a bit. The diameter + length sets its efficiency and tuning frequency, i.e. whether or not it may 'wheeze'/'chuff' at high power. For some reason I thought you cloned Jay Fisher's MLTL, but the driver is in the wrong place, so to answer your Q I need to know the cab's net Vb and the port's length.

If it's around 10.3 ft^3 like JF's, then a 6" dia. port is plenty large enough to handle the Iconic 704's/GPA 604-8H II's 100 W rating.

GM

[Altec Best]

I'm going back to SS...I sold my Parasound A-21 power amp and Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 pre-amp to buy a Cary SLI-80, and regretted it from day one...The Cary was a magnificent piece of equipment, but I'm in Florida, and it put off a tremendous amount of heat...I seem to prefer a more "analytical" sound, so the tube sound wasn't my cup of tea...My Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 was a SS/Tube hybrid, and it added just enough warmth to the presentation...That combination was incredible...Sure wish I could have it back...

I like the sound of both, I like to switch occaisonally depending on program material I feel like listening to,I think the Altec 604-8G's sound fantastic with tubes though,right now I'm using SS with my 19's and can't wait to get the 604's back into the mix again.

[GM]

I was also going to buy an SPL meter at Radio Shack, and take some measurements using my Stereophile Test CD, but haven't had time for that either...

.........such as "4R7."

I assume you have a laptop for business, so one of the freeware programs such as ARTA, HolmImpulse or similar would be the way to go: Re-Jigging the jig: Speaker testing device for Arta, Speaker Workshop & HOLMImpulse - diyAudio

4R7 = 4.7 ohms

GM

[GM]

I'm going back to SS...

I too prefer 'analytical', but there's a certain synergy between SET and compression horns, so tubes for HF and at least 200 'clean' watts for the woofer to ensure it's likely never to clip on transients (preferably Class A, but A-B is OK if at least the first 10 W is CL-A and its DF is < 80 which indicates a minimal amount of -nfb in CL-B mode) seems to satisfy both the bass 'sharpness' and inner detail/presentation the two excel at to ~ 'have your cake and eat it too', though not exactly the cheapest way to go.

GM