July 17, 2012

HE2 progress

The box for HE2 is almost complete. This one was built manually and it's the demo/prototype. It features a very narrow baffle for 10" drivers with a 13mm roundover and a generous shelf port which eliminates port compression. Bitumin rubber damping also makes the box more dead. Future versions will be CNC machined to keep the price down.


The internal compartment behind the midwoofer will be completely filled to keep the midrange clean and neutral. Most of the box won't be filled to preserve the bass response.


The crossover will be mounted behind the waveguide. You can see the texture of the side walls where bitumin rubber has been mixed with 6mm screenings. The bitumin rubber adds both mass and damping whilst sealing the box. 


Once finishing touches have been applied, it will have a clear finish. I currenly have a Weston Acoustics valve amplifier to test the match. This speaker is intended for valve amplifiers. I'm currently considering making two different crossovers available - depending on whether one intends to use a valve or solid state amp. The valve version would use ferrite cored inductors which have the lowest possible DC resistance, better preserving damping factor and maximising efficiency. The solid state version would use air cored inductors with a slightly higher DC resistance due to the extra copper required. The solid state version might also have more bafflestep compensation.

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