Caladan by Clayton Shaw DIY

Mini DSP is very good for test purposes when developing loudspeakers and designing a crossover point, but is very bad for listening to music. The DAC built into the Mini DSP is far from an audiophile DAC, let alone if you have a Turntable player as a source, which is converted from analog to digital and back to analog. Creating a crossover is not possible without measurement and knowledge. By the way, I own a mini DSP but only for testing until I have developed a crossover.
 
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For all those who want to rebuild a Caladan, it is essential to mount the woofers from the rear and not from the front. The sound pressure of the woofers increases by about 2 dB, which makes the tweeter appear quiet. To compensate for this, Clayton has already done the right thing and mounted the drivers from the rear.
 
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@Chemarcelo
You did exactly as I envisioned. Very glad you got such great results. Look at other designs such as member Juhazi where he uses that mid in that fashion with a tweeter above. There might be more goodness awaiting you!

I agree with babus that MiniDSP 4x10HD is not that good as a digital xo (I have one), but I totally agree with you that active is great! I run active 4 ways with digital crossover. You need a 4-way DAC. I use Lynx Hilo. And I use Acourate software for developing the xo filters.

BTW punchier bass might have to do with midbass harmonics that reach the midrange that have been improved with the new driver.
 
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There is nothing wrong with using the original drivers as in the Caladan and keeping the Dayton Audio tweeter, as long as you don't listen super loud otherwise you will make the tweeter sweat due to low crossover. My drivers have now arrived and are running at 10Hz on the tone generator to burn them in. I will try to get it ready in the next few days
 
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I had many speakers before, from the 20k Sonus Guarneri stand-mount, to Klipsch Heresy I and IV, OB Lii Song Drivers F15, and many others DIY projects. I had La Scalas from 1980 to new RP-600M II which I liked a lot for their price. In the next few days I think I'm going to built a pair of Sibelius with the Alpair's 10.3 that I just got.
I listen to mostly blues and jazz, I like acoustic music and I like when the sound system has presence, when it's alive and has "meat on the bones" if you know what I mean. It has to have realism. Check this out
 
I had many speakers before, from the 20k Sonus Guarneri stand-mount, to Klipsch Heresy I and IV, OB Lii Song Drivers F15, and many others DIY projects. I had La Scalas from 1980 to new RP-600M II which I liked a lot for their price. In the next few days I think I'm going to built a pair of Sibelius with the Alpair's 10.3 that I just got.
I listen to mostly blues and jazz, I like acoustic music and I like when the sound system has presence, when it's alive and has "meat on the bones" if you know what I mean. It has to have realism. Check this out
The way the speakers sound from the video may be good for jazz and instruments but modern music will not sound good. (missing midbass) To me the Caladan seems more suitable for all kinds of music.
 
That's my quandary right now: boxed or OB midbass? I had boxed speakers before. I've been experimenting with OB and love the midbass definition but with my drivers (18" Faital 18HP1010) OB midbass sounds a bit anemic. Plus 18" is too large for midbass - now I know. My next step would be buying 12" midbasses for either OB or sealed box.

@Chemarcelo
With digital xo you can experiment until satisfied. No need to know the xo diagram.
 
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I think they use a very minimalist crossover, sounded far from ideal to me.
they sound amazingly good but in small rooms like mine they can be too bass-heavy but in a large room they are simply unbeatable. You can only hear how they really sound when you have them, unfortunately youtube compresses the audio material so you can't experience the real thing.
It is a 2-order crossover and this shows that you don't have to bend much in the frequency response.
 
This is my perfect system. I love the Qualio. I’ll build it if I could get the crossover diagram or the actual XOs.
From a HiFi Knights review thru Google:
"Qualio IQ incorporates a 9.5″ Satori woofer that goes up to 600Hz via a shallow yet high 2nd-order slope, while its neighbor 6.5” Satori transducer with a cellulose cone is subject to a 1st-order network on both ends. Although the manufacturer markets the latter as mid/woofer, Grzegorz explained that it proved excellent on full-range duties without a box. Mundorf AMT ribbon tweeter also used as a dipole type takes over at 8kHz on a 2nd-order filter. Qualio IQ’s crossover comprises Mundorf EVO/EVO-oil caps for the AMT and 6.5-incher that also got wax ribbon coils, while the woofer sees Mundorf electrolytic capacitors and Jantzen copper air coils. Internal wiring is copper litz exclusively."
 
There is nothing wrong with using the original drivers as in the Caladan and keeping the Dayton Audio tweeter, as long as you don't listen super loud otherwise you will make the tweeter sweat due to low crossover. My drivers have now arrived and are running at 10Hz on the tone generator to burn them in. I will try to get it ready in the next few days
Have you finished your Caladans? I was curious to hear your comments.