Got My New Toys Finished.

[JMac]

My new toys. Many thanks to Colin (Boggit/IQ speakers) for the veener. I think the colour is spot on.

Think I need some bigger stands!!

 

[CnoEvil]

That all looks great - Congratulations.

Those are good stands, but if you want something more substantial, look at Partington.

 

[iQ Speakers]

Wozzer they look fantastic, glad you liked the veneer it was a pleasure, did you use the veneer glue I sent you? How did you finish the veneer? Pics of the crossovers?

And after your worries I bet they sound amazing, better than anything you heard before? I'm guessing you would of had to pay £3.5-£4K to get a sound as good, let us all know. The front in black also looks superbly finished. I have to say your carpenter friend/relative and you have done an amazing job, congratulations!

 

[Vladimir]

Absolutely gorgeous! *ok* And they certanly have a substantial size to them. The Scan-Speaks will fill up that space with sound easily.

 

[expat_mike]

That all looks great - Congratulations.

Those are good stands, but if you want something more substantial, look at Partington.

They are Partington's Dreadnoughts.

You beat me to posting that they look like my Dreadnoughts.

 

[Al ears]

That all looks great - Congratulations.

Those are good stands, but if you want something more substantial, look at Partington.

They are Partington's CnoEvil (Dreadnoughts) to which a larger top-plate could be fitted if required.

Good size speakers, they look even bigger than my old EB Acoustics EB2's. They certainly look very substantial, especially those binding posts. Which model are they?

 

[Al ears]

That all looks great - Congratulations.

Those are good stands, but if you want something more substantial, look at Partington.

They are Partington's Dreadnoughts.

You beat me to posting that they look like my Dreadnoughts.

You've got to be quick off the mark on here Mike

I too have a pair plus a pair of Super Dreadnoughts ( and 2 pairs of Atacama SE24's downstairs for the home cinema surrounds.

 

[CnoEvil]

That all looks great - Congratulations.

Those are good stands, but if you want something more substantial, look at Partington.

They are Partington's CnoEvil (Dreadnoughts)

Good size speakers, they look even bigger than my old EB Acoustics EB2's.

On a quick look, I thought they were Custom Design FS 104...but the advice still stands (bad pun) ie. Bigger Partingtons

 

[Al ears]

That all looks great - Congratulations.

Those are good stands, but if you want something more substantial, look at Partington.

They are Partington's CnoEvil (Dreadnoughts)

Good size speakers, they look even bigger than my old EB Acoustics EB2's.

On a quick look, I thought they were Custom Design FS 104...but the advice still stands (bad pun) ie. Bigger Partingtons

There is certainly some similarity I'd agree. Yep, buy Super Dreadnoughts...... ;-)

 

[iQ Speakers]

The guy's just spent months building these beautiful speakers and you lot are banging on about something he perched them on to take a photo for us. Just because your not familiar with them come on give the guy some respect! *new_russian* *acute*

 

[Al ears]

The guy's just spent months building these beautiful speakers and you lot are banging on about something he perched them on to take a photo for us. Just because your not familiar with them come on give the guy some respect! *new_russian* *acute*

To be honest there have been a lot of compliments about them in these threads and the OP was the one that mentioned stands.

What's up Boggit? not getting enough mentions

By the way what exactly is that veneer? Is it light oak or maple??

 

[JMac]

Thanks for the kind words gutys. These are a few more random pics I have. I did have a whole host of photos showing the internal construction and damping but I managed to lose my phone last weekend so lost them too.

Stands are Dreadnoughts but I think I'm going to replace them with Ultimas. The speakers weight an absoulte tonne (estimate 15kg+ EACH) and certainly arent going anywhere fast. In truth, they're a little large for the room I'm using them in to do them justice but I built them with a longer term aim in mind. Eventually I hope to have a room where I can give them proper space to breath.

Soundwise I'm still working them in. They were only finished last night so I've just been playing stuff on loop and leaving the room to burn them in. I suspect it'll be a few months before they're fully run in but they're already much better than the Tannoy DC6 SE's they replace which I have to say, are very capable speakers for the money they go for these days. It's not a night/day difference but I'm limited by the rest of my equipment and the room at the minute.

As you'd expect with monitors, they're very fussy about the quality of the recording. I've mainly been playing stuff from soundcloud and normal res spotify but have put a few lossless .wavs through them and that difference is night and day. There's just so much more there.

As I said, still being limited by the partnering equipment as I'm using my MF M1 SDAC as DAC and Pre along with a Beringer A500 for power. I'm going to have to give some thought to the next amplifier and bought the Beringer as a holding pattern whilst I think. One thing I have noticed is that the drivers like/need to be worked hard for the best results so I'm thinking I need something with a lot of power on tap, maybe a Bryston 4BSST2 or similar. Auditioning is going to be difficult as there's no way I'm lugging these from shop to shop due to the weight and obviously I cant quote a make/model for the stores to make recommendations.

They've taken me a good three/four months to build mainly due to work constraints but equally its made it a little bit more wallet friendly to rather than laying out all the money upfront.

Not sure how he did the veenering to be honest Colin. I just ducked my head in the garage once or twice for that bit and saw lots of body pieces with large, heavy clamps holding the veneer in place, but he has done a great job on them given he didnt have any specicialist veneering equipment.

Terminals and plates are WBT signatures and the veneer is white american oak with a couple of layers of clear varnish on.

 

[Vladimir]

The crossovers are pure esoteric gala.

 

[Al ears]

The crossovers are pure esoteric gala.

Never heard of them. Do they use Mundorf caps??

EDIT: Oops, posted that before I saw the recently added photos's..... Nice!

 

[iQ Speakers]

Cheers al ears only joshing! And to be honest no! *biggrin*American White Oak by the way. Just taking a snipe at us all going on about cables, stands etc! A lot of effort and skill has gone into these babies this finish does not happen by accident. Crossovers looking good too.

 

[Andrewjvt]

Excellent finish very posh

 

[Al ears]

Cheers al ears only joshing! And to be honest no! *biggrin*American White Oak by the way. Just taking a snipe at us all going on about cables, stands etc! A lot of effort and skill has gone into these babies this finish does not happen by accident. Crossovers looking good too.

Joshing? Me to. Anyway in amongst all the support advice I've lost the fact as to what these speakers actually are.

Do you know if they are a one-off homebuild or are they a kit from somewhere?

They certainly look to be of a size I would be interested in.

EDIT: Perhaps I should have quoted the JMac's thread with those questions...

 

[DocG]

They look the business, JMac; I'm impressed!

As Alears asked: is it a kit? Can't imagine you designed the XO by yourself... Or did you?

 

[iQ Speakers]

Exactly! I think they are from Troels Gravesen using very expensive Scan-Speak Iluminator drivers. Im Sure Jmac will be along and fill us in. They do look mighty impresive the finish is superb.

 

[chebby]

Mmmm. Rebate joints. Thick ply. Nice.

 

[Coll]

They are indeed Troels Gravesen design, they are called Scan Speak Illuminator.

I know because I made the I Scan Speak Illumina 66 floorstanders and posted on here some months ago.

 

[expat_mike]

I have just spent a while looking at the troels gravesen website.

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Diy_Loudspeaker_Projects.htm

I have had to stop, because there was a high risk that I would do something foolish, and be tempted to order a kit tonight.

There are certainly plenty of ideas on the site, for those who feel confident to try building their own speakers.

 

[Coll]

I have just spent a while looking at the troels gravesen website.

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Diy_Loudspeaker_Projects.htm

I have had to stop, because there was a high risk that I would do something foolish, and be tempted to order a kit tonight.

There are certainly plenty of ideas on the site, for those who feel confident to try building their own speakers.

Troels is a brilliant designer I am sure you would not go wrong with any of his designs and with the tweeter resistor options you can tune the speakers to how you like them. I have actually used a 3 way toggle switch on mine with 3 resistor values so that I can keep changing the tweeter output to suit my taste.

If you are not sure on making your own cabinets you could maybe get iq to make them. You would end up with some seriously good speakers.

Mine cost £1700 for parts and about 120 hours labour. I reckon they would compete with speakers cosring £5/£6 k

 

[expat_mike]

Troels is a brilliant designer I am sure you would not go wrong with any of his designs and with the tweeter resistor options you can tune the speakers to how you like them. I have actually used a 3 way toggle switch on mine with 3 resistor values so that I can keep changing the tweeter output to suit my taste.

If you are not sure on making your own cabinets you could maybe get iq to make them. You would end up with some seriously good speakers.

Mine cost £1700 for parts and about 120 hours labour. I reckon they would compete with speakers cosring £5/£6 k

The only part of making the cabinets, that I would feel uneasy about would be applying veneer. That issue can always be mitigated by using coloured lacquer instead.

The biggest reason not to try a speaker project, is that at present i am not using my existing kit enough to warrant all the time, effort and cost involved in upgrading.

 

[Coll]

Understand what you are saying. I'm retired so had plenty of time.

It was a great sense of achievement when they were finished and everyone who sees and hears them think they are great.