Ellam XT variant, built by Rafal
Copyright 2013 © Troels Gravesen
Hi Troels,
Two years ago I had seen photos of Sonus Faber
Guarneri Memento/Homage speakers and I wanted them ever since. Since
they cost around $15,000.00 it was doubtful that I would buy them
anytime soon so I decided to build them myself. Unfortunately I had no
experience nor tools for building DIY speakers. I never used CAD before
either. I never even saw the SF Guarneri Memento/Homage speakers in
person, only on photos online.
I have designed the cabinets in CAD to my
liking and I made them from mdf cut on scroll saw (it was the only power
tool I had at the time). Enclosure is damped with 2mm bitumen pads/10mm
felt on all walls and lamb wool on top/bottom/back. Speakers are mounted
using drive-in nuts, driver holes are chamfered which made audible
difference. Bass reflex was customized from Monacor BR-50HP and is glued
to the inside of back plate. Speakers were hand painted to high gloss
and polished with a drill + polishing pad. Crossover parts are Jantzen
Standard Z-cap/Jantzen SUPERES/Jantzen Wire air coils.
I have chosen your Ellam-XT design because I
found a lot of good reviews about it (and the drivers that were used in
them) and as a bonus they look similar to the drivers in Sonus Faber
Cremona Auditor.
I realize that it is not a perfect copy of
your design as front panel dimensions/drivers placement/cabinets shape
are different (internal volume is roughly the same), but it's still your
crossover I'm using (and loving it) so kudos to you.
I'll probably measure it (I made a few
measurements already) and play with the crossover if there's anything
that needs changing (once I learn how to do it properly), but it sounds
superb so I don't really have motivation nor time to do so right now.
The speakers are a wedding gift for my brother and I still need to make
another pair for myself.
Thanks for your hard work and keep it coming.
Sincerely,
Rafal
