TLAH Experimental

[wallywally]

I decided to build some TLAH's that would be used much like the Bose L1's. Small or low volume type gigs. With the columns setup behind the band, so, no need for monitors.

I had some 1016 piezo tweeters and these drivers. The next decision was how big and how many drivers. After more reading and a question to Bill about dimensions, I decided on 12 drivers and 18 Piezo's. I wanted the footprint a small as possible, so the width and depth are midway between the home and pro dimensions, the overall height is 72".

Driver holes in baffle

Piezo's cut

Glue Piezo's

Array's reinforced and wired

Dado

[wallywally]

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Glue up

Baffle bracing

Pet screen covered terminus

Stacked

Stacked, they will be latched together for transport

[wallywally]

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Spray painted, array installed

Drivers and Wires

Pet screen and painting driver frames

Tripod stand mount

Tada

Final weight 36lbs.

[ewetho]

Very cool build!

Now, how about a sound review please!

It has to be good!

[wallywally]

They sound great, I was able to get them EQ'd using a 3 band on a cheesy powered mixer. The biggest plus (which is why I built them) is how far these throw. 50' out still sounds like your wearing headphones

I'm also very happy that I built the piezo's as tall as I did. I have noticed on my SLA's that the "sweet spot" was about mid-way in the hf section. I hoped that making the HF section longer would extend the "sweet spot" so people sitting or standing would be in the zone. It seems to have worked. The center is still sweetest, but above and below are still quite nice.

I wasn't expecting the amount of lows that these will produce, I ran some sine waves and I was impressed. 60hz sounded (ear measurement) to be down by about 6db, 40hz was still very audible and with some boost these could easily be used without a sub for lower volume venues.

I'll write a full review after I get to use them a few times gigging.

Oh yeah, one more thing. After I finished the first one I had to hear it...so into the family room it went. My wife (NOT an authority on sound) requested a pair to replace the SLA's. They do sound that much better.

[netwerks]

Questions:

Are those woofers meeting the plan specs?

(I think I answered my own question as per the plans "The target T/S specs are fs 100 Hz, Qts .5; somewhat lower fs and higher Qts doesn’t hurt. ")

Did you build both pair out of one 4x8 sheet of ply? Did you use auraco or BB?

What kind of power (voltage) will it take?

I'm looking to build a pair of cabs like this on the cheap I just wonder how loud they will go.

Also, isn't TLAH supposed to be tapered wider on top to smaller bottom? Or did you just modify the pro version.

[cheapbasslovin]

How much does it weigh? That looks pretty sweet.

[wallywally]

Questions:

Are those woofers meeting the plan specs?

(I think I answered my own question as per the plans "The target T/S specs are fs 100 Hz, Qts .5; somewhat lower fs and higher Qts doesn’t hurt. ")

Did you build both pair out of one 4x8 sheet of ply? Did you use auraco or BB?

What kind of power (voltage) will it take?

I'm looking to build a pair of cabs like this on the cheap I just wonder how loud they will go.

Also, isn't TLAH supposed to be tapered wider on top to smaller bottom? Or did you just modify the pro version.

Bill said they would work but need to cross @3000-3500k due to cone breakup, not a problem when using piezo's.
I used about 1.25 sheets of auraco.
According to my calculations they should take about 32 volts wired for 6ohms, I haven't tested this yet.
They go quite loud, not DR280 loud, but still very impressive. The biggest advantage is how far they throw the sound, you don't need stupid loud to be heard at a distance. They are also crystal clear.
The new plans have a rectangular TLAH option, the taper is front to back not side to side.

How much does it weigh? That looks pretty sweet.

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Final weight 36lbs.

[cheapbasslovin]

Still, nice build.

[BassMe]

Does anyone know if the GT-302 will go down to 3k to 3.5k well? The FR plot looks good but goldwood lists their usable range as 4k up. Would be interesting to use these woofers with the gt tweets.

[J_Dunavin]

VERY COOL

[ewetho]

I have a pair of cabs with them crossed at 3K but on a 4thorder crosso er and the did well. Would not go lower.

[belphegor]

i want to build these same exact speakers!!!! think 10 ft ceiling are high enough for these line arrays?

[wallywally]

I have them in my HT now and the ceilings are only 8ft. The towers are 6ft tall.

[wallywally]

Somewhere in this thread you can see my mount. I did end up making it deeper so I could angle the box more. I built it this way so the mount would be removable.

Yuuup!

Great build thread. I reviewed that many times before starting my build. I like the stand mount & the pivot bolt setup you have. Plus, the way your arrays transport. Very slick. You have a dozen woofs and at least 16 tweets in each box. Did you have some EQ needed to soften the piezos?

Great job Wally.

Chris

Yes eq is a requirement.

In that wallywally build thread, the Aurasound NS525-255-8A was used ($3.60 ea) which is tempting... 1/10 the price of Alpha 6a. For a TLAH with 12 drivers each, I'm considering their "case" deal for 30 at $2 each, to have some spares.

Ok here's the deal with the experimental TLAH. I built them on the cheap as an experiment for live sound at low volumes. Placed behind the band(no monitors needed). No filters were used only the piezo resistor.
I ran into a few problems with the intended use:
1) My guitarist thinks his guitar is the only instrument that needs to be heard = volume wars
2) At the level he wanted to play, distortion and ear fatigue became a problem.
3) Footprint was large due to tripod stands.

So now random thoughts:
With recorded music at reasonable levels these TLAh's sound fantastic (they reside in my HT). But a combination of factors lead me to abandon them in a pro sound application. I have no doubt with a bit of time and some upgrades (filters and pro grade drivers) these could be made to meet my expectations (so the experiment was a success). They performed much better than a typical 15" with cd.
The biggest flaw is their performance compared to a DR280...As a band we were tweaking and adapting to the new sound until I got the bright idea to throw the DR280's on the tripods in their place. After the first song we all agreed the the DR's must stay.
I couldn't see investing any more money in the TLAh's for pro use. They shine in my HT and I will also use them for parties @ my house this summer.