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TDL TRL2

Cheers Mike, i'll have a look around for some chopping boards that will fit the new sixes of cab- they're a fair bit bigger than they were before. They're coming along quite nicely, just the front baffles to go now. At the moment i'm just using some leftover 18mm ply for plinths, i might want something a bit bigger though- i always felt the RTLs were a bit too short for my listening position..

I've sealed the entire interior of the cabinets with caulk- used 3 tubes of caulk in total (!) and i'm just waiting for the filler to dry completely before i start sanding (noooo.....) I got hold of some A4 gloss black perspex to fit around the drivers if you see what i mean- the woofer and tweeter will dril directly into the new baffle and the 4mm perspex will be around them- photos will explain it better later. Still on my list:

damping with foam etc
fiit front baffle
fit perspex
fit mesh
grain filler on wood
rough sanding
fine sanding
finer sanding
black woodstain
matt black car paint
very fine sanding
more paint
more paint... x3/4

Initial plans for the crossover are to replace with the closest values i can find of originals- polypropene mundorf caps and 12W mills from hificollective i think

P.S. How does this putty look? http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a329/fraser1985/DSCN0666.jpg

It's arbolite dual purpose putty, not ideal but should do the job for now.. i hope
 
Intresting idea with the putty, should damp the frame from ringing quite well. With the new caps you might not find 6uF available so use a combination to get the right capacitance. I used 5.6 + 039uF and I think Rumplestilskin used 2 x 3uF.

One thing to bear in mind is the dimensions of the front baffle. The width of the baffle effects the frequency response of the drivers (more so the tweeter). The crossover would have been designed with this in mind. If your baffles are a fair bit wider now you might want to consider chamfering the edges which would look cool anyway. On the other hand if its not too much bigger then It'll probably be fine.

Perspex is a nice idea, if you get the cutouts really close with minimal gap around the drivers it should look ace buddy!

Heres a nice example:

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/HDS164.htm

HDS164+XT25.jpg
 
Should the putty be on the magnet as well? I wasn't sure how much to chuck on them

Yeah i was thinking that about the caps, might post photos to get a bit of help with them as i'm no electronic expert... Hopefully the baffle won't make too much of a difference.

Those speakers look amazing, if mine look anywhere near that finish i'll be very happy!
 
Should the putty be on the magnet as well? I wasn't sure how much to chuck on them
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The only thing to consider is that adding the extra mass to the driver frame and magnet reduces the volume of the cab. This farly critical to the bass performance. I would just do the frame 'legs' and fill the mounting flange. Get some 'no more nails' glue and fill the small gap where the magnet meets the chassis.

Its worth trying some foam on the magnet I reckon. Use some dimple foam, cut a circle the right size and stick it on the back of the magent. The idea is to stop 'standing waves' inside the enclosure.

Mike.
 
If the putty is Linseed oil traditional it will dry out and go rock solid.......not what you want. You can paint it with gloss to slow this process down. If it is Butyl based putty it will not harden so is probably better as long as it stays on.
 
Still taking my time with the front baffles, perspex is a nightmare to cut and getting the circles spot on into 18mm ply isn't too easy either... At the moment i've hooked them up with some quick soldering and quick-fix cabinet stuffing. Sound good as always but i'm waiting to get my main amps back so can't really tell yet. I can already say though, even unfinished, the cabinets are definitely not the weak point any longer. I can barely lift them anymore :) At a guess i'd say between 35-40 kilos when completely finished and they are very dead when i tap them, no resonance whatsoever.

lexi the putty stays soft for a long time, but i'm not sure if it's quite right for this purpose- it might harden out after a while so i'll keep an eye on it, might end up using blu-tack...
 
Nice work Fraser. I used to heat a rod and then put it through perspex number plates rather than drill......they can split. May not be neat enough for your application here. Hacksawing it is a nightmare. It may run through a table saw?
 
lexi the putty stays soft for a long time, but i'm not sure if it's quite right for this purpose- it might harden out after a while so i'll keep an eye on it, might end up using blu-tack...
Click to expand...


Use the 2 part resisn to fill the mounting flange of the driver.

http://uk.farnell.com/robnor/el116f-gy/resin-polyurethane-twin/dp/725950

For the frame legs, just glue some strips of bitumin on, and glue the gap where the magnet joins the basket. Job done.

perspex is a nightmare to cut and getting the circles spot on into 18mm ply isn't too easy either...
Click to expand...

You need a special jig for the router to get perfect holes. As for the perspex, you could get a professional company to make em for you...

Mike
 
I'm starting to be very pleased by my system :) I was using a VRDS 10SE up til now but i got hold of a philips CD104 yesterday and have been doing some intense listening... it's an amazing combination. The highs aren't shrill at all, no matter what i throw at them, and the bass is insane but not boomy at all- the word bouncy comes to mind. I've never had such a 'musical' system before- and i'm not even finished the speakers yet lol

this sanding goes on and on forever and ever and ever........ i'll get the final lot done tomorrow and get some pics up. Then the painting and the crossover will be tackled
 
Excellent link mike, i'm glad to see all the mundorfs got a great review as i'm already armed with a bunch of those! hard to believe these wee things make such a difference before you hear it for yourself though- we'll see in a few weeks eh :)

My system has been transformed in a very very nice way- i got my monos back firing on all cylinders and the speakers are screaming out the music- the bass!!! I'm still sans pre-amp till i get my cheapo chinese valve job so i'm either running straight out of my sources (don't want to be my neighbours right now heh) or out the headphone out of the CDP's- not exactly ideal but still a huge deal better than before...

I'm very interested to see how far you can take system upgrades before the RTLs start holding it back? No sign of it yet :)
 
Cool,

I have modded my CD player and Amp (Cambridge Audio) and the system sounds really good. I really think the RTL's after a few mods are worthy of decent equippment. I had borrowed a Cambridge 840A for a while and the RTL's really flourished producing a lovely smooth sound with bags of detail and really tight bass. The sound was overall very natural.

So are you saying the bass has improved since you re-clad the cabinets then?

Mike.
 
You're the latest of many, many folk to recommend cambridge stuff to me lately- they're a company i've neve heard at any great length; i always had the impression they were a lower end company; probably because they are so widely available! Interesting though...

I've kind of voided the 'experiment' as it were, as i've changed sources and serviced my main amps at the same time as the speakers, but i can without doubt say my system is better now. Way, way better. I guess maybe the bass is the biggest improvement, the word that first comes to mind is the 'fullness' of the sound now. Nothing is lost in anyway; all the detail and bounciness is still there, just bags more of everything!

I'm very happy with the changes so far (in case anyone missed that)

P.S. btw how do you have the TDLs positioned? At the moment mine are about a foot away from the back and side walls, toed in a fair bit. I'm never sure about the positioning...
 
You're the latest of many, many folk to recommend cambridge stuff to me lately- they're a company i've neve heard at any great length; i always had the impression they were a lower end company; probably because they are so widely available! Interesting though...
Click to expand...

Upto the 740 - 840 range they are classed in the 'budget' end of hi-fi, but are also widely considered to be the best in this price range. As, I have discovered with my CDP (640C v2), a few quids worth of mods make a good player into something really special. Im working on improving my amp (340A SE) and its allready getting rather good. I plan to get a new transformwer capable of delivering more amps and of an optimal voltage to get max power out of the output chips into 4ohms. Currently the amp is set up to match a wide variety of loads so its not 'optimal' for my tdl's, however, by dropping the supply voltage a couple of volts I can get more power into a 4 ohm load thus driving the RTL's more efficiently.


P.S. btw how do you have the TDLs positioned? At the moment mine are about a foot away from the back and side walls, toed in a fair bit. I'm never sure about the positioning...
Click to expand...

Mine are 2ft from rear wall. The distance between them is equal to the distance from each speaker to the listening position. About 5 deg toe-in. Listening position is about 2ft from rear wall. They image really well producing a high and wide soundstage well outside the spekers physical size. I often get the 'surround effect' when watching movies, sounds coming from above the head and wayy off to the sides etc. Its really amazing.
 
Beilieve it or not... still sanding. I keep going a bit too far... re-doing bits with filler and doing it again.. ad infinitum

I've been experimenting with the paint as well and i've settled on my final choice: matt black car paint- cheapo stuff from halfords :D I've sprayed my amps with this already and it came out superb! Very happy so once i'm done with the priming i'll give the speakers a go.

Today i finished the crossovers; i couldn't find a 6uF so i used a 5.6 mundorf; and a 2r mills resistor. it's definitely different but i'll have to wait for a while to see if things calm down... Detail is amazing but i listen to a lot of modern rock which can get a bit nasty on the cymbals with this level of high detail. Stuff which used to sound a bit muddled is much clearer though. Did you notice a burn in period when you fiddled with the crossovers?

Interesting you use such a small toe in mike, i had mine similarly positioned but last night i went for more of a triangle and i like it a lot better- everything is pinpoint... i guess it depends on the individual room
 
The Morels have a larger dome so It might be that they have better dispersal properties?

Didnt Elton John have a song about sanding? "Im still sanding, yeah yeah yeah. Im still sanding, yeah yeah yeah......." lol!

Things will settle down a bit as the caps bed in. I found that after changing the caps I had a mismatch with my QED Silver anniversary. Its a bright sounding cable so I changed it to a 'non-plated' copper cable I found at work. The sound with this cable was miles better than the QED and really smoothed the sound without losing detail. I have a s***t load in the garage so I'll send you some if you like?

l_8d447f2bfb300666adab27256633a6b0.jpg


l_389b87c3ab33de62398166d2dfbbb380.jpg


l_6ebb4dad3ec3b37f16e712dc443c2488.jpg
 
Aye i suppose the tweeters would have a big effect as well. I'll wait and see what happens with the burn in, if things settle down then that'll be fine, if not then i might try and get hold of some small caps to use with the 5.6s to bring it closer to 6- i'll need your guidance on that though as i haven't tried that before...

If that doesn't do it then i might take you up on that cable offer; i think i need to rewire them anyway it's a bit shoddy at the moment :)
 
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