Gainphile - Melbourne
Reference candidates:
One day I will document thoroughly these systems.
This build was to revisit the previous design which measured and sounded most natural and smooth. So much that the further effort to obtain dipole bass quantity had to be scrapped.
This is the most refined dipole speakers that I have built to date. They project very realistic, holographic soundstage.
This is the most refined dipole speakers that I have built to date. They project very realistic, holographic soundstage.
The wide, pistonic dispersion of small 5" drivers combined with narrow baffle allows very smooth and uniform polar response to 2.5kHz, which is almost one octave above the high xo frequency. The loudspeakers are actively driven using 6 separate amplifier channels.
These are open baffle speakers for the desktop. They are 2-way system with active crossover and eq circuitry. The woofers are Seas L21 and the tweeters are TangBand W3-1364. They are designed to produce 40Hz dipole bass.
The distance to rear wall is about 35cm. I could not hear any faults despite general requirements for dipole speakers to be away from walls. This could be due to the nearfield listening location and that the relative distance is more important than the absolute one. Comparing to my living room dipoles (which is 1m from rear wall), maybe a bit less soundstage, but that's really nitpicking. Phantom image is very scary, almost like the speakers making no sound and the music comes out of the wall. Listening to some classical recording I got goosebumps. If there is one best thing that stands out from them, it's the midrange.
The distance to rear wall is about 35cm. I could not hear any faults despite general requirements for dipole speakers to be away from walls. This could be due to the nearfield listening location and that the relative distance is more important than the absolute one. Comparing to my living room dipoles (which is 1m from rear wall), maybe a bit less soundstage, but that's really nitpicking. Phantom image is very scary, almost like the speakers making no sound and the music comes out of the wall. Listening to some classical recording I got goosebumps. If there is one best thing that stands out from them, it's the midrange.
Other successful projects:
When I saw someone is selling a pair of Seas L21RNXP really cheap on ebay I couldn't resist having a go at rigid piston driver. The Seas drivers are beautiful indeed, and this is not even the magnesium series. They were old types of drivers but never used. The newer ones are L22RNXP. I was hoping that these could be a "poor man's W22".
The most interesting finding was that S9 and S10 sounds similar, albeit the difference in xo point, baffle width, and cone/driver material. I am now convinced that if the design goals are met (frequency response, polar response, etc.) then the speakers would sound similar. I prefer the S9 above, for cost and aesthetics as they are smaller.
The most interesting finding was that S9 and S10 sounds similar, albeit the difference in xo point, baffle width, and cone/driver material. I am now convinced that if the design goals are met (frequency response, polar response, etc.) then the speakers would sound similar. I prefer the S9 above, for cost and aesthetics as they are smaller.
Dipole speakers with 6x 10" woofers as the main strength. It gives great bass, but unfortunately the 5" P13WH midrange is acoustically to small for the 30cm baffle, and hence do not sound as smooth. I have since went back to slim baffle as the S9.
A genius Omni-Directional speaker design by Sigfried Linkwitz. They sound as open as dipole speakers with some superiority in the imaging area. However my clone lacks the transparency and clean sound of the open baffle.
Never embark in loudspeaker projects without adequate measurement tool. The ears are not to be trusted. The good news is a set of measurement tool can be build for under $70, including the soundcard!
DIY Linux-based Audiophile media centre 
My high-resolution music collection has been growing, mostly sourced from Vinyl/LP rips. They are superior than normal CDs which are recorded at 16/44.1kHz.
My high-resolution music collection has been growing, mostly sourced from Vinyl/LP rips. They are superior than normal CDs which are recorded at 16/44.1kHz.
Off-the-shelf audiophile media center or server are very expensive (read: Linn DS is $15,000!). Comparable solution could be built for under $400, including the sound card and Laptop.
Past projects:
- S7 Open Baffle
Discovery of narrow baffle and excellent polar response - Loudspeaker journey
Various speakers built in the past for fun, amusements, and curiosity - S6 Open Baffle
Experiments with large 15" Eminence Alpha woofers. I have since learnt that better result would be obtained by smaller drivers. - Linux-Based Media Centre using Ubuntu, MMS, and SoundBlaster Live! 24bit
- CS2 Clone
Failed project to clone Emerald Physics' CS - 4-Channel Gainclone
My amplifier to driver the active dipole loudspeakers
