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DTQWT-mkIII, built by Claus, Denmark

Copyright 2021 © Troels Gravesen

Dear Troels
 
Thank you very much for this project. It was my first speaker-build and I learned a lot for the process, your website and your fast replies to any questions during the build.
After having been out of the HiFi game in 30 years I decided it was time to get back to my old hobby again. After some time of reading and making up my mind to what direction I wanted to go I decided on your DTQWT mrk III build since it easy to drive and I had an idea that I would like the sound of it (from the descriptions of others) - so without any listening and nothing but images on the internet I decide to try and build it.
Not having any experience in speaker building I decided that I would like to build it with round sides so I could curve it to a wider rear so the 12" rear base would be hidden from the front. The eco friendly me though it would be a waste of material (and I didn't have access to a CNC router) to make the speaker in complete layers, so I though that I would just do the sides so I could route each layer from a 6x50cm piece of MDF - that makes a total of 4x48 or approx 200 sticks to hand route outside since I don't have an indoor workshop.
I could quickly see that cutting all of this with my handheld circular saw would not result in a good starting point so I made a call to my local carpenter and asked if he fancy a couple of hours in his workshop, being February he though it would be a good idea and I went home with the car full of precut MDF.
Routing 200 pieces of 50cm MDF without a vacuum was not my brightest idea, as I said I learned a lot during the process, but in the end all 4 sides was glued and cut to length. At this point each side weighed 21.6kg and every time I need to work on one it was dragged outside and then back inside for storage - didn't matter that the gym was closed due to covid-19, I got plenty of exercise.
Next bright idea was to use rounded corners for the bottom of the horns, and doing so without a table-saw was an even worse idea, but my carpenter is a nice guy and quickly cut me a new piece when I broke the first one. Gluing the right curves was not an easy exercise but in the end I figured it out.
Rest of build was pretty much according to plan and some 3 month later I was done.
 
Since I decided that digital was the way forward back in the 1986 (where I got my first CD-player) I don't have any record collection so I was free to choose the rest of the equipment with simplicity in mind. I ended up with a Gato-Audio DIA250S-NPN with build in network connection, streamer and DAC.
The 250W class D amp has plenty of power for the DTQWT's but I have a hidden agenda about some tube amps and the Gato would then be a pre-amp or maybe I would use it to bi-amp to the bass.
 
The sound:
Coming from some 30 year old JM-Lab 5 speaker being driven by a Sonos Amp I had high expectations. In the beginning I could not get any depth in the sound picture and the bass was very dominating but I was aware that all parameters had changed, New amp, speakers and listening room.
A lot of moving around with the speakers and the purchase of a calibrated usb mic helped me find a sweet spot for the speakers. I also cut some pieces of 10mm felt to find under the speakers and they absorbed just enough make it all as I wanted.
Now I got a dynamic playing setup where I can hear the details in the music being both the fingers on the bass or the ring out from a high-hat and it all comes together no matter the type of music I listen too. The only downside is that I now have become very picky with the recordings as the setup is pretty revealing of bad recordings. I'm still caught in the 80's and 90's so first tracks when testing are the forever played Dire Straights and Pink Floyd records but everything from modern Jazz to hip-hop and rock and played very well on these speakers. I find the open, revealing and dynamic but not tiring at all. An all time favorite of mine, Sam Brown: STOP! is a number that can easy become too bright on some setup's - here it's played to the best I have ever heard so mission accomplished.
 
Thank you for good design and nothing wrong with your directions, if one follows them :)
 
Kind regards
Claus