4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

Post your reviews and pictures here.
Message
Author
Bruce Weldy
Posts: 8301
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 11:37 am
Location: New Braunfels, TX

Re: 4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

#16 Post by Bruce Weldy »

binsley8112 wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 9:21 pm Ok thanks guys, that's a relief. I did notice they store the sheets upright rather than laid flat, so you're probably right about that one, Bill.
I buy from a place here in town occassionally that stores it that way also.....but if your pieces weren't in there nice and tight against the others, it could warp I guess. I've never had a problem.

The birch that the salesman was talking about in the 4x8 sheets was cabinet grade birch. It's good stuff for cabinets in your kitchen....just not speaker cabinets.

6 - T39 3012LF
4 - OT12 2512
1 - T24
1 - SLA Pro
2 - XF210


"A system with a few knobs set up by someone who knows what they are doing is always better than one with a lot of knobs set up by someone who doesn't."

binsley8112
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2018 8:37 am

Re: 4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

#17 Post by binsley8112 »

Another small update... Warm weather is here so it's getting harder to find free time to plug away at these.

ANYHOW... My original plan was to build all 4 SLAs at once, but I decided to assemble one completely to work out any kinks/bad habits and apply what I've learned sequentially to the next boxes. This first one was a pain... Originally when I was ripping the wood I discovered that I somehow had the angle on the blade offset by about 3 or 4 degrees. I thought I had corrected/weeded out all the pieces with angled cuts, but apparently I missed one. Mounting the side to the back revealed that they certainly did not form a right angle. Even though the cut was only off by 3 degrees, the alignment with the top/bottom piece was off by about 1/4 inch, which meant I had to forcibly bend the two connected pieces back into shape. The only way to accomplish that (as far as I knew) was to temporarily mount the top/bottom pieces to hold everything square, and then mount the main brace. Even after removing the top/bottom, the brace wasn't enough on it's own to hold everything square, so I had to cheat a bit and mount the top, then the baffle, then the other side and lastly the bottom. There was still some twisting at the bottom, so I did my best to force it square and then secured the last piece. I think it turned out ok overall, but the next boxes should go more smoothly.

I decided on screws for fasteners. It's what I'm accustomed to from my car audio sub box building days, and I like that the screws forcibly hold the butt joints together. I few misguided pre-drills left some extra holes in the box, but that's nothing a little wood filler can't fix. 8) The plan is to fill all the holes, sand the boxes down, stain them with a light-colored stain and then cover the baffles with grille cloth rather than expanded metal. It's a cosmetic choice, as I'm sick of looking at the big, black looming EV speakers that stick out like a sore thumb.

I was, of course, eager to hear what these sound like, so I went ahead and mounted the crossover, wired everything up and did some listening. For reference, I had the SLA running off my Great American Sound GAS-3200 in bridged mode, which puts out about 800 watts into 8 ohms. Don't worry, I went easy on the levels. :) Not that this speaker was mounted in anything resembling what it's final habitat will be, but I was excited to hear what it can do. My first impressions are that the response of the SLA is extremely natural and smooth. Our current setup, which is a pair of EV Sx100+ tend to be unnaturally bright and lack good midrange response, specifically around vocals. We've had complaints of vocalists being lost in the mix, and I can already hear that the SLAs will rectify much of that. I did a sine sweep just for kicks, and just from listening by ear I can tell that the overall response is indeed pretty flat as Bill suggests. There a few peaks here and there, but nothing a little EQ can't fix. One thing that surprised me was the low-end extension. I wasn't expecting much below 100Hz, but from what I was hearing they do reasonably well down to about 80Hz before rolling off significantly. I've never personally been a fan of how piezos sound, but then I've never listened to one connected to a properly-designed crossover. The piezos blend extremely well with the Alpha 6a, and although not as "crisp" as some of the compression drivers I've heard, they sound more natural and complement the midbass quite well. I did notice that 10k peak in response, so once they're all build and mounted I'll so some EQ-ing to flatten things out. Horizontal off-axis response seems good, and it almost seems like the further you get away from the speaker the better it sounds. I'm limited in distance I can put myself from the speaker in my basement, but as I said I just wanted to hook it up for kicks and get some first impressions.

Anyways, will keep plugging away. I doubt I will post anymore build progress pics until all 4 are completely finished with stain and grille cloth, so that could take a while. :)

Stay tuned!
Attachments
20180604_164224_HDR.jpg
20180605_193307_HDR.jpg

binsley8112
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2018 8:37 am

Re: 4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

#18 Post by binsley8112 »

It's been a while, but I finally hunkered down and got the SLAs finished and mounted.

I coated the boxes in varathane after filling the holes and sanding them down. I think they turned out ok, but if I had to do it again I think I would opt for brad nails to hide the holes better. I'm not the best at applying varathane either, so the finish isn't perfect, but no one will be seeing these close-up for the most part. :) I am a little disappointed in the grille cloth I chose. I thought it would be more opaque and cover the holes. I had some trouble getting it stretched properly too, so you can see a few crinkles in the right light. Maybe I'm just being OCD, I dont know, but I may redo those in the future. The mounts I used are simple articulating TV mounts with a 15-degree tilt. The SLAs are just under the weight limit for these mounts, and they're really convenient for positioning and aiming the speakers properly. They were a breeze to install too.

For now they're all mounted and wired. I didn't spend an extensive amount of time listening and tuning as I ran out of time, but my first impressions are that they fill the room incredibly well with sound, and where vocals were lacking somewhat with the old EVs are now shining through. I played with the EQ a bit to pull down the 10k bump in response and tried to leave everything else as flat as possible. I'm really happy with how they sound, and can't wait to see how they perform with live music. The SLA's are more than loud enough to accommodate this room size, but as I explained before we're not so much concerned about louder as much as room coverage and flat response. The SLAs so far deliver well in both those areas.

Apologies for the clutter in the pictures... It's camp week at the church. :)
Attachments
20180725_175141_HDR.png
20180727_091046_HDR.png
20180729_185646_HDR.png
20180729_185700_HDR.png
20180729_185804_HDR.png

User avatar
Bill Fitzmaurice
Site Admin
Posts: 28619
Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 5:59 pm

Re: 4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

#19 Post by Bill Fitzmaurice »

The way you have them placed comb filtering is unavoidable. They'll work better cross fired, with the tweeter side of the cabs adjacent to each other.

binsley8112
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2018 8:37 am

Re: 4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

#20 Post by binsley8112 »

Ok let me make sure I'm understanding this... So I need to move one speaker above the other, like in a spiral configuration? Maybe I misunderstood when I asked in my original thread, but this is what you suggested to me:
Bill Fitzmaurice wrote:Columns are line arrays, and they go louder than point sources. That's why they've driven point source arrays out of the pro-touring genre. You need four of them, wall mounted, a pair where your EVs are now, another pair just around the corners over the stage, angled inward to cross-fire towards the middle of the seating. For high levels use TLAH Pro, for moderate levels SLA Pro. It will take some experimentation to find the right height to place them at to cover both the front and rear of the room. The tight vertical dispersion helps there, with the right placement the high output close to them will go over the heads of the close seats to minimize hot spots.
Sorry, I'm just not picturing in my head what you're describing.

User avatar
Bill Fitzmaurice
Site Admin
Posts: 28619
Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 5:59 pm

Re: 4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

#21 Post by Bill Fitzmaurice »

You have them aimed outward with respect to each other. That maximizes the distance between them, which aggravates comb filtering. They should be aimed inward with respect to each other, just as the tweeters in melded arrays are aimed inward with respect to each other.

User avatar
James Champer
Posts: 301
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:00 pm
Location: BF Builder - Indianapolis
Contact:

Re: 4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

#22 Post by James Champer »

For clarification Bill, "A" or "B" when used in pairs / quads?

I thought I remembered reading that it was woofers were to be adjacent (A) but you mentioned tweeters (B) and I wanted to make sure. (Thought the OP needed it as well)

SLA-Pro-orientation.gif
.
Retired Authorized Loudspeaker Builder - Indianapolis, IN

Rob Shasta Guitar
Posts: 46
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2016 4:34 pm

Re: 4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

#23 Post by Rob Shasta Guitar »

I've wondered if in placing a pair of Sla pro's if there is an advantage to the tweeters being in or out?
Sla Pro 5" drivers, t39 10" driver

User avatar
Bill Fitzmaurice
Site Admin
Posts: 28619
Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 5:59 pm

Re: 4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

#24 Post by Bill Fitzmaurice »

James Champer wrote: Mon Jul 30, 2018 10:34 am For clarification Bill, "A" or "B" when used in pairs / quads?
It's B. Drivers should be placed ideally less than a wavelength apart, and if not that then as close to that as possible. Tweeters reproduce shorter wavelengths than woofers, so they should be adjacent. Angling the cabs outward increases the distance between the drivers, you want them angled inward to minimize it.

User avatar
James Champer
Posts: 301
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:00 pm
Location: BF Builder - Indianapolis
Contact:

Re: 4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

#25 Post by James Champer »

That was my initial thought (blame it on an old guy's memory :P ) and makes sense for the OP's application (per side of the stage) but that begs the question;

Does that also hold true no matter how far apart a pair (or stacked pair) is?
Retired Authorized Loudspeaker Builder - Indianapolis, IN

User avatar
Bill Fitzmaurice
Site Admin
Posts: 28619
Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 5:59 pm

Re: 4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

#26 Post by Bill Fitzmaurice »

James Champer wrote: Mon Jul 30, 2018 12:40 pm Does that also hold true no matter how far apart a pair (or stacked pair) is?
Sort of. If they can't be placed very close together they should be placed very far apart, as in at least two wavelengths. With a 100Hz crossover to the mains that means 20 feet minimum for the mains. Again, not always possible, but it's what you should strive for.

User avatar
James Champer
Posts: 301
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:00 pm
Location: BF Builder - Indianapolis
Contact:

Re: 4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

#27 Post by James Champer »

Here is your visual OP:


SLA-Pro-orientation2.gif
.
Retired Authorized Loudspeaker Builder - Indianapolis, IN

User avatar
James Champer
Posts: 301
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:00 pm
Location: BF Builder - Indianapolis
Contact:

Re: 4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

#28 Post by James Champer »

Forgive the dramatic angle, I merely threw together a quick 'Shop for ya.

Nice job by the way, I love the color combo!
Retired Authorized Loudspeaker Builder - Indianapolis, IN

binsley8112
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2018 8:37 am

Re: 4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

#29 Post by binsley8112 »

Ok thanks a lot Bill and James (especially for the photo edit). That really clarifies things. Shouldn't be too big a deal to adjust them too because the mounts allow for easy tilting/turning. Glad you like the color. :) Take care.

binsley8112
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2018 8:37 am

Re: 4 x SLA Pro, 1 x Wedgehorn 6 and 2 x Titan 39

#30 Post by binsley8112 »

Ok I think I got it right this time. :)

I can hear an audible difference, especially walking from side to side now. The coverage is definitely more consistent across the room. Had a chance to play with the EQ a little as well and I've got the SLAs sounding superb, or at least to my ears. :hyper:

On to the Wedgehorns and the Titan 39s!
Attachments
20180730_215117_HDR.png
20180730_215103_HDR.png
20180730_215038_HDR.png

Post Reply