TLAH Review

[Natesmitguitar]

This was my first build and now my first review.
What can I review about my TLAH's? Building, plans, and sound. First of all, it wasn't the most difficult build. Of course I had to learn a few things about cutting and refresh my memory for wiring. However, it was easy to put it all together with some help from my dad, Tom. A shout out goes to him for helping me. In light of reviewing the plans, they are very clear and they're good for referral should one choose to customize a little bit. In terms of sound, I don't even know where to begin. They aren't broken in yet as they were finished a couple Monday's ago. Breaking them in will obviously increase performance. I wasn't expecting much bottom end as the woofers I had chosen were only meant to go down to about 80Hz and I have also set my receiver to only send 100Hz and up to the speakers.

However, they take whatever is thrown at them and it's translated into honey, only for my ears. Whatever I listen to, it's very sweet sounding. I have the option of -10 to +10 for treble, and putting it at 1 gives enough high end as the crossovers are designed for 6kHz and up. I've listened to music and it they are incredibly tight when listening to house/electronic. I watched Iron Man with them as well. I know Iron Man well audio-wise, and when listening to them with the TLAH's, I noticed several new sounds/audio details that I had never heard before. It was incredible! When placed in a corner or with a wall behind them, they really put out. Thanks to Bill for these awesome plans! Thanks to my dad for helping me with the build, and thanks to those of you who helped me out with the crossover designing. Here's a pic of the final build:

[Charles Warwick]

Cool, the white is a pretty neat look. I was very torn between paint and stain, but I kind of like the look of stain, and it's simpler to apply...

I built a set of TLAHs pretty similar to that, and I felt that the highs needed to be toned down a little bit, but I actually extended the tweeter line to match the length of the 3X5s line, but the ohms were about the same, but the extra sensitivity makes them seem kind of bright to me.
I love how well I can hear the dialogue on my TLAHs, personally.

Did you end up tapering the TLAHs, or did you just leave it as a sealed box, like a large SLA?

I made a set of tapered ones that were still floor standing:



Not the best view of just the speakers, but they show how they were done.

I'd say your next project sounds like a T18 or TT to fill out that bottom end that they lack!

[Drey Chennells]

Those are really cool sets of TLAHs guys, nice pics. I especially like the blender Charles that has to really come in handy for effects..

[Doug Hart]

I especially like the blender Charles that has to really come in handy for effects..

You don't know about the blender trick Drey?
You turn the blender on full speed and then determine the fundamental frequency of the blender.
That's where you set your crossover. Then you place the blender between the two speakers and turn it on when your are playing music. The blender running at crossover frequency perfectly aligns the phase between the woofers and tweeters. It's a pretty amazing difference in sound quality.
It makes about as much difference as the $10/ft oxygenized, synthesized, ionized, BS-ized, speaker cable.

[Drey Chennells]

I especially like the blender Charles that has to really come in handy for effects..

You don't know about the blender trick Drey?
You turn the blender on full speed and then determine the fundamental frequency of the blender.
That's where you set your crossover. Then you place the blender between the two speakers and turn it on when your are playing music. The blender running at crossover frequency perfectly aligns the phase between the woofers and tweeters. It's a pretty amazing difference in sound quality.
It makes about as much difference as the $10/ft oxygenized, synthesized, ionized, BS-ized, speaker cable.

hahaaa it's "blender optimized tuning" ! Thats funny man I almost used a smiley icon ; )

[Doug Hart]

blame lack of sleep

[Tom Smit]

Thanks Nate!
Here are a couple of close-ups of the tweeter horns. Personally, I think they look cool!
It was enjoyable helping Nate with this father/son project (or should it be son/father). As for the sound, impressive considering they are a twelve ohm load, and a bunch of small drivers. Clarity is definitely there. But, it looks like a TT is on the way sometime to help on the bottom end. Wow, that would be the envy of a lot of folk, me thinks.

[Charles Warwick]

Apparently the blender was far more important than even I had originally realized!

I currently have a TAT, and it is plenty loud but I'm seriously considering building a TT because on movies the AT doesn't quite cut it for the level I want...

Is the TLAH that you built sealed? One thing I wish I had done was make the base bigger because it tends to be rather front heavy and it recently got tipped over and broke a table! Granted, I then had to take all the woofers out and reglue the bits of baffle that broke off in the fall, it kind of split along where the woofers are screwed in. I sort of feel like the regular TLAH pro is a much better option for floor standing than the one I made since at least it has a bigger base.

How did you paint them? I like the shiny-ness and smooth surface of it, since I can never seem to get that. For some reason painting things always confuses me. I like duratex because you just apply it and that's it, but for home audio you can use different kind of paints, put varnish on it, lacquer, and the textures can vary depending on how you apply it. It's just confusing to me, I like stains, but that's just cause I've used them alot more I suppose.

[Natesmitguitar]

These are not sealed. They have the backs screwed in, but it's so tight that nothing was put in to lines the sides of the backs where they're screwed in. They are a bit tippy...I thought they'd be fine if they had a little extra tilt back, but now I'm thinking that the extra 3/4" on the bottom is too much :S. The paint is just Krlyon spray paint from Canadian Tire hardware store. On one speaker I used Gloss White for the whole thing. On the other, I used flat white and then glossed with a separate spray. They pretty much turned out the same and they look pretty nice. However, I think the build quality is more important than fashion. At this point, I am definitely in the function before fashion position. My dad's (Tammo/Tom) unfinished (visual-wise) AT doesn't look the nicest BUT it sounds stinkin' awesome.

[SeisTres]

I currently have a TAT, and it is plenty loud but I'm seriously considering building a TT because on movies the AT doesn't quite cut it for the level I want...

If the TAT doesn't cut it, neither will the TT. It goes lower, not louder. If you want louder, load either one of them with the hl10, dual load them, or build two singles.

[Charles Warwick]

I currently have a TAT, and it is plenty loud but I'm seriously considering building a TT because on movies the AT doesn't quite cut it for the level I want...

If the TAT doesn't cut it, neither will the TT. It goes lower, not louder. If you want louder, load either one of them with the hl10, dual load them, or build two singles.

Hm, the lack of clarity in my writing disappoints me...
What I meant is, the TAT is plenty loud for music, but on movies the TAT doesn't quite satisfy because the low bass, 30hz-ish, is lacking the levels I desire. There, that's a bit clearer.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I currently have a TAT, and it is plenty loud but I'm seriously considering building a TT because on movies the AT doesn't quite cut it for the level I want...

If the TAT doesn't cut it, neither will the TT. It goes lower, not louder. If you want louder, load either one of them with the hl10, dual load them, or build two singles.

Hm, the lack of clarity in my writing disappoints me...
What I meant is, the TAT is plenty loud for music, but on movies the TAT doesn't quite satisfy because the low bass, 30hz-ish, is lacking the levels I desire. There, that's a bit clearer.

TAT is only good to 40 Hz. TT is happy to 30 Hz. THT goes flat to at least 20Hz.

[Sydney]

THT goes flat to at least 20Hz.

What version would that be?

( This 36" version is -10db @ 20Hz in a corner )

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

THT goes flat to at least 20Hz.

What version would that be?

All of them, as charts don't account for cabin gain. And as every room is different it's not possible to post charts with cabin gain included.

[JohnnyTightlips]

What crossover did you end up using? I am building mine with the exact same speakers/tweeters and number of speakers/tweeters. Just wondering which crossover in the plans I should use or if I could buy the one from speaker hardware. I have the boxes built and will start painting them soon. The only thing I have not thought of is the crossover and wiring. Would I have been better off with a different driver count as far as ohm rating? I could do 9 and 12 but wanted to try what you did.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-wCrI ... 121425.jpg

Thanks