I've been enjoying Ultras for about a year now. I listen to a huge variety of music and find they do well with most, especially classical and anything with primarily acoustic instruments. Sometimes I find the sound a bit strident on songs with distorted guitar. I am also a bashed, and while I find the bass to be very accurate I sometimes think about adding a subwoofer.
Some tracks I play that have particularly deep bass will absolutely get the GRS into distortion. I'm wondering what people run as a high pass into their system.
I'm also curious about any of you who have added subwoofers; I really like the bass in the Ultras but I want to relieve them of the very lowest bass duties. Anyone here done this?
I have a Minidsp DDRC-24 in the chain and can take measurements, compute filters against a target curve, and of course run Dirac in my room. Right now I am running Dirac with a Harmon target curve which definitely boosts the bass and absolutely compounds the problem. But at moderate listening levels the bass sounds perfect. It's just when I feel like i need to crank them I get some serious woofer distortion!
Some tracks I play that have particularly deep bass will absolutely get the GRS into distortion. I'm wondering what people run as a high pass into their system.
I'm also curious about any of you who have added subwoofers; I really like the bass in the Ultras but I want to relieve them of the very lowest bass duties. Anyone here done this?
I have a Minidsp DDRC-24 in the chain and can take measurements, compute filters against a target curve, and of course run Dirac in my room. Right now I am running Dirac with a Harmon target curve which definitely boosts the bass and absolutely compounds the problem. But at moderate listening levels the bass sounds perfect. It's just when I feel like i need to crank them I get some serious woofer distortion!
Don't mind the background, my messy shop, but I finished my Manzanitas. I ordered the wrong inductor, so I had to wait for the right one to get here. These guys are well worth the low price tag. They sound far better than the price would lead a guy to believe they should sound. I wasn't sure what to expect with the bass, but I'm very pleasantly surprised. Very impressed all the way around. That little TC9 is a great little driver. I'm going to have to order 10 or 12 more just to have for other projects
Now... I need to find some place for them other than my shop.
Thanks for sharing the design and your advice John.
Now... I need to find some place for them other than my shop.
Thanks for sharing the design and your advice John.
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First, I wanted to thank Pano as well as John.
Second, I used the word finished, but that's only for the first listen. If I shrink the baffle size to 29" X 17", how much different will they sound?
Finally, I'm not sure what finish will look best on them. I don't think veneer will work since I've already recessed the woofer hole, and since I rear-mounted the TC-9, I chamfered the hole in front of the driver. I've never had good results trimming veneer around a recess.
Anyway, thanks again, John and Pano!
First, I wanted to thank Pano as well as John.
Second, I used the word finished, but that's only for the first listen. If I shrink the baffle size to 29" X 17", how much different will they sound?
Finally, I'm not sure what finish will look best on them. I don't think veneer will work since I've already recessed the woofer hole, and since I rear-mounted the TC-9, I chamfered the hole in front of the driver. I've never had good results trimming veneer around a recess.
Anyway, thanks again, John and Pano!
More Ultra bass
Colin Yes the GRS and Peerless are rather limited in their output below 45 Hz. But both were selected for the project due to price and availability. And considering the GRS has a manufacturing price likely below $10, it does amazingly well with few bad habits.
The easiest solution is to add a second GRS wired in parallel. Leave the crossover as is in the short term and see if that gets you enough output.
With the second GRS in place, the pad on the Vifa will need to be adjusted downward and the high pass cap will likely need to be raised a bit in value. Adding a MFD at a time in parallel with the current value to get the Vifa back to it's original crossover point. The Vifa trap should be good as is. Easy to play around a bit and adjust to suit your taste. The Vifa will be close to its limits about the time you run out of woofers again. (Woofers playing way down low) Just my $0.02 worth.
Colin Yes the GRS and Peerless are rather limited in their output below 45 Hz. But both were selected for the project due to price and availability. And considering the GRS has a manufacturing price likely below $10, it does amazingly well with few bad habits.
The easiest solution is to add a second GRS wired in parallel. Leave the crossover as is in the short term and see if that gets you enough output.
With the second GRS in place, the pad on the Vifa will need to be adjusted downward and the high pass cap will likely need to be raised a bit in value. Adding a MFD at a time in parallel with the current value to get the Vifa back to it's original crossover point. The Vifa trap should be good as is. Easy to play around a bit and adjust to suit your taste. The Vifa will be close to its limits about the time you run out of woofers again. (Woofers playing way down low) Just my $0.02 worth.
Reduced baffle dimensions
Mike.. Thanks for the pictures and positive comments! You can reduce the baffle a bit without serious new issues. You will give away some deep bass and over all efficiency. As usual, everything is a trade off of sorts. If you can, do a simple heavy card board mock up using the smaller dimensions and see what you get is acceptable to you. J
Mike.. Thanks for the pictures and positive comments! You can reduce the baffle a bit without serious new issues. You will give away some deep bass and over all efficiency. As usual, everything is a trade off of sorts. If you can, do a simple heavy card board mock up using the smaller dimensions and see what you get is acceptable to you. J
Hi there,
thanks everyone for this.
Both the initial design and the support afterwards.
Plus the great diagrams and initial write up.
Makes a beginner very happy
With such a simple design, I thought this would be a good place to start my journey (apart from a pair of foamboard mini karlsonators and a (mostly pre finished) WHAMMY).
Given my poor woodworking, this is a very forgiving design eh?
I hit lucky and got hold of a used set of parts.
I then found a (most of) sheet of ply in a skip (yippee) which will definitely need some tickling to make it look half respectable. But, again, a great chance for me to make my mistakes.
So, I have made a bunch of mistakes and learned a bunch already
I just have one question (for now ) about generally putting drivers in.
I am just trying to work out the hole size.
On the back of the woofer on the rim. Just inside the screw holes there is a ring of flexible material. Is this to form a seal?
(which I am assuming it is) or is it part of the driver itself and so definitely NOT be compressed?
thanks everyone for this.
Both the initial design and the support afterwards.
Plus the great diagrams and initial write up.
Makes a beginner very happy
With such a simple design, I thought this would be a good place to start my journey (apart from a pair of foamboard mini karlsonators and a (mostly pre finished) WHAMMY).
Given my poor woodworking, this is a very forgiving design eh?
I hit lucky and got hold of a used set of parts.
I then found a (most of) sheet of ply in a skip (yippee) which will definitely need some tickling to make it look half respectable. But, again, a great chance for me to make my mistakes.
So, I have made a bunch of mistakes and learned a bunch already
I just have one question (for now
) about generally putting drivers in.I am just trying to work out the hole size.
On the back of the woofer on the rim. Just inside the screw holes there is a ring of flexible material. Is this to form a seal?
(which I am assuming it is) or is it part of the driver itself and so definitely NOT be compressed?
I've no idea what type of material is best. Weather stripping has been used for several speakers, Ultras included, as it was what was in the basement. It seemed to isolate the woofer from the baffle a bit and changed the sound. Seemed to make the sound a bit more refined.
Was it better or just different? That I can't really answer but the weather stripping is cheap and it's reversible. Not much to lose.
Other speakers have used whatever the designer suggested for a gasket. It's nice to stick closely to the plans so the end result will be what the designer intended.
Was it better or just different? That I can't really answer but the weather stripping is cheap and it's reversible. Not much to lose.
Other speakers have used whatever the designer suggested for a gasket. It's nice to stick closely to the plans so the end result will be what the designer intended.