IPL Acoustic M1tl Speaker Kit, PMC 24 killer?

[iQ Speakers]

Hi after a manic day at work fianally picked up the wood router for the veneer cutting and my plan to rebate the cabinets so the drivers sit fush with the wood. Pictures now added of the crossovers on my previous post.

So i thought i better test my crossovers and drivers so I lashed it all up bending wires over terminals and drivers not screwed in. No side on the box i thought it would help rune the drivers in so when i fianally assemble the speakers it will be run in. And already it sounds pretty good, no more thoughts on sound quality until i put it all together.

 

[jonathanRD]

I've got the IPL website set up in my favorites bar after meeting one of the guys who advertises himself on their site to build their speakers for a fee. He reckons that you would have to pay £1.5 to £2k from a shop - to get equivalent sounding speakers. The pair he was selling at the time were a bit ugly for my tastes, so I thought I would look into it myself and maybe in a year or two pluck up similar courage (is this what we do when we reach our 50's?).

Anyway, I'm also impressed by how quickly you are progressing - keep the posts and pics coming.

 

[iQ Speakers]

Jonathon yes its evidently what we do, as well as ...!!

I agree they can look very ugly, thats why i intend to pick a lovely veneer, rebate the drivers so they are flush and maybe add some bling with stainless steel driver alen bolts and add a custom plinth around 2" high finished in piano black with chamfered edges. I origionally wanted Zebrano to add a modern look but both the and ebony only seem to come in narrow widths meaning i would have to join veneer and i dont think my marquetry skills are up to that.

Yes it has been quick, quicker than i thought mainly due to the quality of the kit, but not the instructions!! they are running now, left them running while at the pub they sound good as they are with no sides and the drivers not screwed in, there is a kind of organic richness to them. MInd you if you sit in front of them it all falls apart! but hopfully when i finsh them they will be semi run in.

Anyway thanks for your interest and i hope i have a positive out come so it encourages you to give it ago.

 

[ID.]

Love these threads. Always enjoy seeing people making their of equipment from kits, etc. Look forward to seeing the completed speakers. Great work!

 

[iQ Speakers]

I'm impressed with how quickly you've put them together, especially with foam all over your hands! I'd have made a complete dog's breakfast of it.

Have you visited Troels Gravesen's website: the king of DIY speakers!

Had a further look at this site today and i have to say they look superb I have my eye on a pair of these http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/JA8008.htm#Speaker-Kit the cabinet design has a real upmarket look to them, the crossovers are imence! Its not clear if they provide the woodwork, in the kit and would be a stearner test of my DIY woodwork skills. They certainly look good with solid wood finishes and make my IPL look a well a little... though i suspect the kit price does not include pre cut cabinet so makes the IPL huge value for money and very smple.

 

[iQ Speakers]

OK had to work all weekend and my business partner is away until Wednesday so no build, just more ordering. Veneer arrived today superbly packed andlooks good from ebay, real veneer. Ordered some Stainless steel spikes and finishing wax and sanding sealent. Decided to go for a natural finish rather than spray laquer which i could get profesionally done easily as i have a body shop on site. They are going to do my add on plinth in a metallic black/grey finish. I have to design these so i can cut them out and router them. So here is the veneer im hoping it will look more inspiring once its sanded and finished, here's hoping! The veneer i really wanted I could not findwide enough with out joining.

 

[iQ Speakers]

Back in the workshop today, filling screw heads and making sure everthing is perfect! Got round to fitting the last side scary moment as once this is on all i have is the driverand crossove hole to gain access. Yep forgot to stick the foam on the side so tomorrow ill have to add it through the available holes which is not ideal, difficult making sure every side was flush but they are on now. Listing to my DB1i's from the next room the IPL definatly sounded better in the same situation though you sat in front of them and the DB1i's were better not bad for no sides and drivers not fixed in place. Tomorrow ill make the custom plinth and finish the cabinets. Routering the flush drivers might be a little more involved than i thought! Iron glue, roller, finishing wax and stainles steel spikes all arrived. Veneer acclimatizing as you can see with the cabinets. Mrs Boggit losing her humour over the dining room table looking like a joiney shop, women no sence of humour. So plan is, finish off cabinet and plinth tomorrow ready foe veneering at the weekend, the router is looking very daunting, and tips would be appreiciated.

.

 

[plastic penguin]

They're looking good, Mr. B. Are they bigger in the flesh (so to speak) than you imagined?

 

[iQ Speakers]

No PP they're not to big the pictures make them look bigger. I can't work out how to post bigger pics yet then I am pretty busy. It's been hugely rewarding so far they sounded really good cannot wait to hear them properly. Forgot to pull the driver nuts into the MDF before I put the sides on more hassle tomorrow!

 

[matt49]

The space for the tweeters is rectangular. Are they ribbon tweeters? Apologies if I've missed something!

Matt

 

[iQ Speakers]

They sure are, Fountek CD1 Ribbon and chunky little things to with a couple of heat sinks on. OK so i'm still wrestling with hosting images trying Dropbox bur you have to alter the link in order for it to produce a picture rather then a link. Now i have gone fron the sublime to the ridiculous in terms of size. See below!

 

[iQ Speakers]

Practise your dovetales and dust off your apron.

Sounds really good. Is it the one with ribbon tweeters?

Think better than the 24 is a huge claim, but good luck nonetheless.

Ok PP now i have a little more time and stress levals have reduced in the Boggit household I have cleared the dining room table of tools and off cuts! Thanks for the kind comments. Huge claim? look at it this way, kit builders now have access to sophisticated software to analyze and perfect respone this was a major factor in IPL becoming commercial. Even in automated factories it must take 3 hours ish to make a complete set of speakers materials, drivers, PAYE, rent, rates Advertising etc. Then the dealers margin 100%? Look at the size of driver and cross over components in the kit, they dwarf PMC units. Its conseivable they will sound better? Wilmslow and Troles Gravessen offer more sophisticated kits. The instructions in my kit are pretty random and not polished I used outside material for further help! The website, delivery time, packaging and presentation is basic! But the kit is very accurate and components are of high quality all at an amazingly basic price! So you never know! Well i won't not hearing the PMC 24! Which make this thread completly futile!

 

[iQ Speakers]

So today finishing off cabinet build. added the foam i missed and making sure all sufaces are flush, the last panel threw the only very slight high edge quickly sorted with a sander. Turns out routering a rebate for the drivers is more invlved than i thought need a jig etc etc. Also i decided that finish is more important than learing how to use a router, so a phone call later to a carpenter friend and droped the blank plinth i had cut round to him with instrution of what i want, rounded off top edge and a grove round the middle where the to sheets are joined to add some visual feel and elevate it from a kit to more of a polished product.

So all pretty much finished, and the lovely thing is i know (hope) they are going to sound awsome due to the running in phase! So its adds encourages me to do a first class job. Just veneering left to tackle and finishing sanding sanding and wax and polishiing, should start at the weekend! Oh i forgot the plinth, after it comes back to me machined ill get it sprayed proffesionally. Fit the stainless steel spikes and not forgeting the drivers! Done.

 

[CnoEvil]

Great job.

Looking at your photo, I see the Sugden sitting on top of the CA Streamer.....if that is their permanent position, it is not ideal for either component. Apologies if I'm overstepping the mark here.

 

[iQ Speakers]

It is Cnoevil, why do you say that? I know its not in an a rack, the CA hardley kicks out any heat and there's plenty of room around the A21SE. It's my listening room and it's about 5 degrees colder than the rest of the house! Even with the Sugden on! Let me know and Happy Christmas to you.

 

[CnoEvil]

It is Cnoevil, why do you say that? I know its not in an a rack, the CA hardley kicks out any heat and there's plenty of room around the A21SE. It's my listening room and it's about 5 degrees colder than the rest of the house! Even with the Sugden on! Let me know and Happy Christmas to you.

A couple of reasons:

- I have generally found that kit usually sounds better if kept separate and isolated from each other. If this is not possible, some sorbothane feet on a Granite or Plywood platform can be placed between the componants (the platform feet would rest on the Streamer, with the Amp on the platform).

- Since the A23SE is Class A, it can kick out a lot of heat (possibly as much as 1 deg C for every Watt), so should if possible, be separated from the Streamer.

I prefer the effect of a plywood platform, which with sorbothene feet, is not an expensive thing to try.....if this makes me bonkers, so be it.

Happy Christmas to you as well, my friend.

 

[iQ Speakers]

Did think about the heat but heat rises and it has little affect I have checked. Well..... I'll put it on things to make!!

a nice solid fancy wood!

 

[iQ Speakers]

 

[CnoEvil]

Did think about the heat but heat rises and it has little affect I have checked. Well..... I'll put it on things to make!!

a nice solid fancy wood!

Here is Lavardin's take on wood:

What is the best rack to put the amplifier ?[/b]

The supporting board of audio components intends first to connect the component to a static and steady physical reference and second to be itself as neutral as possible.
Thus, puting component on resonating materials seems really a bad idea. Meanwhile, some materials at first non suspected for resonating do in fact much more than expected : glass, marble, even granitron and all minerals and metals have very poor self damping modulus and allow vibrations to stay in, be amplified and sent back to component.
The ultimate material is wood. Wood is made of oriented fibers that conduct energy and reduce it when energy has to pass from one fiber to an other. More, the plywood behave much better than solid wood because of its thin cross layers that allow a maximum spreading of the energy. Pressed wood and "medite" powder wood do not spread energy because they lost the fiber structure of real wood.

For these reasons, avoild any stand made completely or partially with :
- Minerals, glass, marble, granitron, ceramic : dry sound, much trebles, loss of nuances
- Carbon fiber, compounts, polyester, etc : like above
- Metal, steel, aluminium, .... : loss of nuances, agressive sound
- Pressed wood and medite : loss of detail and nuances
- Solid wood : expensive and not worth small plywood tears from far: simplified music, loss of nuances
- Springs, rubbers, magnets, air chamber : loss of trebles, detail and nuances."

I have also heard that Maple works well, but can't confirm it.....told you I was nuts!

 

[jonathanRD]

Did think about the heat but heat rises and it has little affect I have checked. Well..... I'll put it on things to make!!

a nice solid fancy wood!

Here is Lavardin's take on wood:

What is the best rack to put the amplifier ?

The supporting board of audio components intends first to connect the component to a static and steady physical reference and second to be itself as neutral as possible. Thus, puting component on resonating materials seems really a bad idea. Meanwhile, some materials at first non suspected for resonating do in fact much more than expected : glass, marble, even granitron and all minerals and metals have very poor self damping modulus and allow vibrations to stay in, be amplified and sent back to component. The ultimate material is wood. Wood is made of oriented fibers that conduct energy and reduce it when energy has to pass from one fiber to an other. More, the plywood behave much better than solid wood because of its thin cross layers that allow a maximum spreading of the energy. Pressed wood and "medite" powder wood do not spread energy because they lost the fiber structure of real wood.

For these reasons, avoild any stand made completely or partially with : - Minerals, glass, marble, granitron, ceramic : dry sound, much trebles, loss of nuances - Carbon fiber, compounts, polyester, etc : like above - Metal, steel, aluminium, .... : loss of nuances, agressive sound - Pressed wood and medite : loss of detail and nuances - Solid wood : expensive and not worth small plywood tears from far: simplified music, loss of nuances - Springs, rubbers, magnets, air chamber : loss of trebles, detail and nuances."

I have also heard that Maple works well, but can't confirm it.....told you I was nuts!

My wife will think I'm bonkers when I tell her we need to ditch our glass & metal stand for some plywood *scratch_one-s_head*

 

[CnoEvil]

Did think about the heat but heat rises and it has little affect I have checked. Well..... I'll put it on things to make!!

a nice solid fancy wood!

Here is Lavardin's take on wood:

What is the best rack to put the amplifier ?

The supporting board of audio components intends first to connect the component to a static and steady physical reference and second to be itself as neutral as possible. Thus, puting component on resonating materials seems really a bad idea. Meanwhile, some materials at first non suspected for resonating do in fact much more than expected : glass, marble, even granitron and all minerals and metals have very poor self damping modulus and allow vibrations to stay in, be amplified and sent back to component. The ultimate material is wood. Wood is made of oriented fibers that conduct energy and reduce it when energy has to pass from one fiber to an other. More, the plywood behave much better than solid wood because of its thin cross layers that allow a maximum spreading of the energy. Pressed wood and "medite" powder wood do not spread energy because they lost the fiber structure of real wood.

For these reasons, avoild any stand made completely or partially with : - Minerals, glass, marble, granitron, ceramic : dry sound, much trebles, loss of nuances - Carbon fiber, compounts, polyester, etc : like above - Metal, steel, aluminium, .... : loss of nuances, agressive sound - Pressed wood and medite : loss of detail and nuances - Solid wood : expensive and not worth small plywood tears from far: simplified music, loss of nuances - Springs, rubbers, magnets, air chamber : loss of trebles, detail and nuances."

I have also heard that Maple works well, but can't confirm it.....told you I was nuts!

My wife will think I'm bonkers when I tell her we need to ditch our glass & metal stand for some plywood *scratch_one-s_head*

We are all bonkers on here...it's just a matter of degrees. *wacko*

 

[iQ Speakers]

You would be surprised how good plywood can look if prepared and finished properly.

 

[plastic penguin]

You would be surprised how good plywood can look if prepared and finished properly.

Indeed.

BTW, did you let the wood dry out before constructing? generally wood picks up certain amount of moisture (in storage) and tends to expand a little. They normally advise 24 hrs at normal room temperature.

 

[DocG]

I triggerd the spam filter just as i was going out last night so here is a couple of pics and a screen shot of the post have to press on.

Hi boggit, send John Duncan an email. He can make the spamfilter problems go away for you (and for us eventually...)! John.duncan.whf@gmail.com.

I'm anxious to see those pics!

 

[iQ Speakers]

Cheer Doc just sent him one, i put a pic up but its huge, just changed to drop box to host done exactly the same as i did with the others!! Anyway must press on coffee break