New naim AMP for custom build speaker

[Mark84]

I am glad the resistor change has made a difference.

The treble level of the tweeter is what really dictates your listening comfort level. By reducing it, you will raise the volume on the amp and in turn will raise the level of the bass and mids bringing things into balance. You need to try the different options until the tweeter disappears and you no longer hear treble. Just nice smooth music. Or whatever pleases you.

As for the speaker, I’m not sure what your options are. You can go over it again and try to find your mistake or maybe send a detailed picture of the crossover to Troels.

My guess is that you have missed a link or something simple. If possible, change the crossovers over and see if the issue persists in the same speaker or switches to the other narrowing it down to the crossover or a driver.

[Retm]

Tried that aswell. I can tell exactly which speaker is the „good“ and which is the „bad“ sounding

[Suedkiez]

Oh, yes, saw that now. As Mark said, you could try switching the crossovers - even more faff, but what can you do

[Mark84]

@Suedkiez

even more faff, but what can you do

Yeah, It’s really the only way forward. You need to isolate where the problem is. It could be a faulty component but first you need to narrow it down to the crossover.

[Mike-B]

I have designed & rebuild a lot of speakers over the years & I’ve always used a SPL meter with a tone generator.
I can’t imagine doing anything with drivers levels & crossovers changes without this.
And reading those last few posts, you are in bad need of this. First thing I would do is check & double check both your cover circuits & components are wired & installed exactly as per Troels schematic.

[Retm]

Thanks Mike!

I just checked the appstore just for fun if there is an app for this around… in fact there are hundreds!

I know the microphone of an Iphone is by far not a standard to measure the speakers… bht check this out:

I placed the speakers the same way. Smae distance, same angle, same place for microphone, same „test duration“.

Thats the result:

One speaker is noticeably louder!!! There must something really be wrong when my iphone can hear the difference….

Ohhh no…. Lets do this all over again…
I‘m even thinking of doing the whole crossover from scratch again….

[Retm]

With which frequencies should I do the test?
Do you have a tipp for me @Mike-B

[Suedkiez]

You could try frequencies that are right in the middle of each of your chassis’ ranges, as defined by the crossover frequencies

[Retm]

Thanks ! But Sorry @Suedkiez thats to advanced for me. Can you tell me the same thing in other words (for someone who doesn’t understand )

Reto!

[Suedkiez]

Your crossover will split the sound into different frequency ranges for the different drivers. So the bass driver will go to, e.g., 90 Hz, the mid driver from 90 to 2000 Hz, and the tweeter takes over at 2000 Hz. The splits are of course not sharp, but there is a slope.

So if you pick frequencies that are not close to the handover frequencies, you should be able to find some that the crossover sends exclusively to one driver.

E.g., if the crossover frequencies are like in the above examples at 90 and 2000 Hz, then a, say, 60 Hz tone should only come out of the bass driver, 400 Hz should only come out of the mid driver, and 4000 Hz should only come out of the tweeter.

Maybe this way you can narrow down which drivers play at less volume in one of the speakers

[Mike-B]

I use 1/3 octave white sound tones to plot the levels.
See the graphic pic. This show open field (no room) plus close mic in room that shows better how the room affects the levels
This can be developed further to show each individual drivers rise & fall.

After this it gets complicated moving into electrical impedance.

[Mark84]

@Retm, there’s really no need to be messing around with a tone generator, you know something is wrong as you can hear it. Troels has already done the hard work and developed a good crossover. All you need to do is make sure it’s wired correctly and you’ll be fine. I recommend to get the crossovers out of the cabinet and study them for a mistake. If you can’t find anything then contact Troels and Michael from Jantzen and send some pictures of your crossover. They are really helpful.

[Retm]

Hello Guys!

I found the problem! It was on the crossover
The solder did not cover the whole connection and so i had do redo it… now everything is working fine!! Did a small db test again and they have almost the same measurements… my ear can’t hear a difference now.

Now I started to really enjoy the music coming out of the speakers!
Really really happy with the faital! There is a soundstage now and when I close my eyes I can tell exactly where the instrument is coming from. Left, right, middle… I really enjoy this!

And the bass is definitely more present! I think I would be fine selling the svs subwoofer… will figure that out over the coming weeks.

Thanks guys!

[Suedkiez]

After so much sweat invested, the enjoyment is even better. Have fun!

[Retm]

Thank you!

I still do have 2 more things on my mind.

Another phono preamp since the powercord of my Vincent is making strange noises… maybe a rega but I‘m not really liking the looks…

And I would love to get some advice or recommendations for speaker stands… I dont know if I can open a topic in this naim forum since its about a speaker and not about naim gear…

Thanks !

[Suedkiez]

@Retm

I dont know if I can open a topic in this naim forum since its about a speaker and not about naim gear…

Have you seen the other threads? No problem at all

[n-lot]

@Mark84

The one thing that worries me, especially since you have imaging issues is the edge/Lip that you have on your speaker around the cabinet. Troels’s front baffle is flat.

I actually asked about this (in relation to the 3WC-15) as I quite like the look. Troels indicated it wouldn’t matter as long as it’s only a few mm.

@Retm I’m not sure these were linked before, but here are the other speaker build threads:

Speaker build - CNO4

A friend came over for dinner a few weeks back and was so impressed by the sound of my DIY speakers that he ended up making me an offer I couldn’t refuse. He likes music played loud and has spent years trying to find a good pair of large speakers that can go loud and still sound HIFI. He has now purchased a Nova to go with them. I can attest that it sounds super powerful and plays very loud without distortion and he is rather happy. [image] This has left me without speakers so I am on to my…

Speaker Build - CNO Grande

So this is very long overdue… I had considered building some speakers since buying my amp and streamer but it was this topic started by @Mark84 that really inspired me to look into it more seriously. Mark’s CNO4 Build I had seen the Troels Gravesen site before but hadn’t read it in depth, maybe a little put off by the rather old style of the site! However, even if you’re not considering building speakers I highly recommend you take a look, it’s really interesting to read about the process, wh…

If you have any pictures of your own build process, perhaps you wouldn’t mind adding one of your own

I’d be especially interested as I’m looking to build myself a pair of the 3WC-15 later this year.

[Retm]

thank you for your interest! Sure thing I will post about my speakerbuild. But don’t blame me I don’t have as many (interesting/good) pictures of my build as @Mark84 does

I will try my best but give me a few more days… very busy right now…

[Mark84]

@Retm I’m really glad it all worked out for you! I knew it would be something simple. It’s easy to do and hard to spot. I remember doing it in one of my first builds. You know when it’s right. Same for tweeter adjustment too so make sure you play and get that right. That can only be done by ear. Looking forward to seeing some pictures of your speakers build. Hope you enjoy your Atom.