Faital-10-430
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DRIVERS CROSSOVER CABINET WORKSHOP PICS MEASUREMENTS SPEAKER-KIT CROSSOVER LAYOUT
This Faital-10-430 construction had a predecessor featuring the magnificent 12W Discovery drivers from the ScanSpeak Soundbar. These 12W drivers worked so well in the Soundbar that I thought them suitable for a d'Appolito arrangement in a more classic 3-way setup. The finished speaker is seen below.
This arrangement worked technically very well and was compared to the
Faital-12-430, which was finished just a month before. After a
couple of weeks of comparing the Faital-12-430 and Faital-10-430 it
became clear the Faital-12-430 just simply had a better midrange, better
overall coherence. Also the treble was better, not necessarily due to the
6600 tweeter, but I had an all-pass filter to the 9130 tweeter to
keep a simple LR2 filter on a flat baffle and well, the increased
complexity may have added to the final result.
My guess is that the two 12W drivers not being equidistant to the bass
driver was what caused some smearing of the midrange - and after some time I
decided to ditch the project. Pretty much a huge bummer as the speaker was
finished, fortunately except crossovers... Not much to do about
it when the Faital-12-430 just simply had a better midrange and well,
better everything. I wanted the same from the Faital-10-430, just
with a slightly smaller bass driver. I knew it could be done.
This just to sjow that any combination of drivers must be tried and
thoroughly evaluated before launch. What "on paper" may look like a
great idea , doesn't always pan out as expected.
So, I decided to go all in, ordering the 6RS140 midrange drivers. I
wanted the
Faital-10-430 to be the best 10+6+1 classic, I've ever made. But, there
was a change to the midrange driver as I ordered the 16 Ohm version.
Doing the same as the 8 Ohm version, but requiring less
attenuation - and we can get along with fewer uF to the midrange
high-pass section. Money saved for the beryllium tweeter if this
should be your choice.
For tweeter the venerable ScanSpeak D3004/660000, we can hardly find a
better fabric dome. As an alternative SBAcoustics SB29BAC-C000-4
Beryllium tweeter, mostly because I know some of you just must have
Beryllium and the price-value ratio is second to none. The crossover is
the same except for R1. Both resistors follow the kit.
For bass, obviously the magnificent 10RS430. I love this bass driver and
on paper it may not go much deeper than the 10RS350, but in real life it
appears to do, albeit not a lot. Ray Vaughan/Tin Pan Alley came through with all the deep grunt as
wanted. Read my test of the 10RS430
here.
Now, you CANNOT plug in the 10RS430 into your Faital-3WC-10s! The
speakers are tuned differently and the -3WC-10 is more sensitive than
the -10-430. If you have a smaller amp, like 20-25 wpc, go with the
Faital-3WC-10. I tried the -10-430 on my NAD 316BEE-v2 (50 wpc) - and it
does really well.
As the Discovery 12W version was ditched, I thought I could "clean" the cabinet of
front panel and all internal structures without damaging the outer
cabinet finish and front oak fillets! Didn't work out, so the whole
cabinet was ditched. Another bummer! Well, I do like to start with a clean
sheet - and so I did. See workshop images below.
I still have ideas for these magnificent 12W drivers. How about an updated version of
B&O Beovox
CX100 and the
D3004/602200 tweeter? There's always a challenge in making small
speakers, and this Jacob Jensen design is just brilliant. I never had a
pair but always wanted to. But back to the Faital-10-430 ->
To me, these speakers are keepers for the concept of a moderate sized
classic 3-way.
I like it a lot.
Basics:
3-way speaker.
Dimensions: 32 x 34 x 70 cm, WxDxH.
System sensitivity: ~89 dB/2.8V/1 meter.
Impedance: 5-8 Ohms.
Power requirement: 30+ watts/channel.
Useful links (Please
follow all links before e-mailing!):
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/tips.htm
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/tips.htm#CONSTRUCTION_OF_CROSSOVERS
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/crossovers.htm
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/LCR-RC.htm
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Inverted-Polarity.htm
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/choices.htm
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Placement-of-ports.htm
ScanSpeak D3004/660000 soft-dome tweeter.
SBAcoustics SB29BAC-C000-4, Beryllium
tweeter.
Faital 6RS140-16, midrange drivers. 16 Ohms.
Faital 10RS430 bass driver, 8 Ohms. Enormous
magnet system and 6.8 kgs, so take care when lifting.
Download specs here:
Crossover features a standard LR2 topology. R4 is optional but
recommended if you use a tube amp for mid-treble in a bi-amping
situation. This ensures the tube doesn't see a purely capacitive load.
Some tube amps don't like this. My EAR-861 doesn't care and is stable
without Rs.
R7+C5+L5 ensures a linear impedance making the low-pass section work
properly.
Pay notice the midrange driver is connected with
inverted polarity!
Click image to view large.
The cabs were made from 20 mm Baltic birch and 25 mm HDF for front
panel. Adjust braces to actual thickness used. I changed depth to 345 mm
due to increased thickness of front panel.
I also made the cabinets so that if you - for some ideosyncratic reason
- think rear ports are bad, can move the ports to the front. Please read
here on
port placement.
The tweeter cabinet is optional, but doesn't hurt to acoustically
isolate the tweeter from the bass driver.
My mm routing for drivers go like this:
Tweeter: Ø104.5/5.5/11
Midrange: Ø146
Bass: Ø261.5/9.5/17
(outer diameter/depth rebate/width rebate) Do your own measurements and
adjust.
Obviously the Faital-10-430 needs stands. I followed the same path as for the Faital-12-430.
Go to
Faital-12-430 for details and see images below.
For feet I used my standard
procedure.
All panels in the rough. Oak fillets on
front.
Braces and midrange lower panel ready.
Cabinets at this stage just assembled with tape.
Front panel seen from rear and front. Remember to
chamfer midrange driver hole.
And NEVER
route for drivers before you have them at hand and can do your own
measurements. All things have tolerances.
Do your measurements and cut to size minus 10 mm.
Felt on front panel below bass driver - opposite the ports.
Glue for felt.
Rear panel behind bass driver - no felt. This is for the crossover
boards and will be covered with acoustilux.
Left: Cabs after 2nd coat of lacquer. After 48
hours of drying we can start adding terminals, ports, etc.
Right: Adding beeswax to front panel. Ad a thick layer and polish after
~1 hour.
Acoustilux: Cut the following for 2 speakers:
6 pcs 20 x 50 cm, fold one and place on top of crossovers.
Add 2 pieces to cover side panels and crossover below bass driver, thus
4 layers on crossover.
2 pcs 40 x 50 cm, place in cavity below midrange cabinet. Just stuff it
loosely.
2 pcs 28 x 50 cm, fold and cover upper and lower panels in midrange
cabinet.
4 pcs 12 x 15 cm and place on side panels in midrange cabinet.
2 pcs 18 x 50 cm and place on top of bass ports. See image.
Click drawing to view large.
Left: The 3 pieces covering side panels and crossover.
Right: Midrange cabinet.
I made minor flanges on ports, see
tips page.
Left:
Acoustilux covering ports. Right: Stands ready for action.
First time workshop set-up - smaller stands in the making. These from
the Faital-12-430.
One of my friends pointed me to the Søren Bebe Trio - and did I have a
pleasant surprise. If you like Sati - and jazz - you may like this
record. Melodic tunes in soul soothing arrangements. And the recording,
mixing and pressing is first class. Find this Danish pianist and
composer Søren Bebe
here.
This is piano music and hard hit high notes always poses a problem to
speakers - and the cartridge in use in case vinyl is your preferred
source. The workshop Windfeld Ti handles this gracefully - and so did
the Faital-10-430. Treble level is always to be tweaked to find the
right balance.
As from my Faital-12-430 I could fully appreciate the fullness of sound
from the Faital-10-430. Just what I wanted. The F-12-430 has become my
reference for classic 3-ways. It doesn't have to be complicated, a
classic rectangular box, high-quality drivers and state-of-art crossover
design and not least quality of components - and we're into serious
high-end. Enjoy!
As from the Faital-12-430, I obviously gave these new recordings a shot. I couldn't be more pleased, stunning midrange/treble - and potent deep bass driven from 2 x Hypex FA501 modules used as power amps. The e.s.t. recording is particularly the litmus test on cartridge and tuning of the speaker. Suffice to say, the Faital-10-430 handled it all well - even at significant loud levels.
Beryllium dome version.
A friend of mine gave me this old Sheffield Lab LP. Cover showing its
age, but vinyl in excellent condition. Now, this 1979 recording must be
the litmus test for any system. This is big band with very modest bass
and loads of massed brass to put your midrange and tweeter to the test.
Make sure your stylus is well aligned and your speakers - well, well
tuned. Suffice to say the Faital-10-430s did a splendid job of rendering
the timbre of this early "high-end" recording.
A few comments on
MEASUREMENTS before you start interpreting the readings below.
First of all, if we think measurements will
tell us how a speaker sounds, we're wrong. The perception of sound is
way too subjective to be reflected in any measurements we can perform. A
loudspeaker system is meant to give us a satisfying idea of an acoustic
event and for some people a pair of 5 USD ear-plugs are enough, others
spend 200 kUSD on a truly full-range pair of speakers - and the latter
may not be happier than the former.
Measurements may give us an idea of tonal balance of a system, i.e. too
much or too little energy in certain areas, although dispersion
characteristics play a vital role here. A two-way 7+1 and a three-way
7+4+1 may display similar horizontal dispersion, yet sound very
different. Measurements may tell us about bass extension if far-field
measurements are merged with near-field measurements. In addition to
this, ports may contribute to bass extension. Most of we diy'ers do not
have access to an anechoic room for full-range measurements from
20-20000 Hz.
What cannot be seen is what kind of bass performance we get in a given
room. Bass performance is highly dependent on in-room placement of your
speaker and the same speaker can be boomy in one place and lean in
another. Actual SPL level at 1 meter distance and 2.8V input is useful
for en estimate of system sensitivity and combined with the impedance
profile may give an idea of how powerful an amplifier is needed to drive
the speaker to adequate levels.
What measurements do not tell is the very sound of the speaker unless
displaying serious linear distortion. The level of transparency, the
ability to resolve micro-details, the "speed" of the bass, etc., cannot
be derived from these data. Distortion measurements rarely tell much
unless seriously bad, and most modern drivers display low distortion
within their specified operating range.
Many people put way too much into these graphs and my comments here are
only meant as warning against over-interpretation. There are more to
good sound than what can be extracted from a few graphs. Every graph
needs interpretation in terms of what it means sonically and how it
impacts our choice of mating drivers, cabinet and crossover design.
What measurements certainly do not tell is the sonic signature of the
speaker, because speaker cones made from polypropylene, aluminum,
Kevlar, paper, glass fiber, carbon fiber, magnesium, ceramics or even
diamonds all have their way of adding spices to the stew. Nor do
measurements tell what impact the quality of the crossover components
add to the sound, from state of the art components to the cheapest of
coils and caps, they all measure the same if values are correct, yet
sound very different.
The 6RS140-16 without crossover does really well on the intended baffle. Basically flat up
to around 4000 Hz.
The 10RS430 vs 10RS350. Faital has solved the issue of some resonance
around 700 Hz. Not that it matters here, but nice to see.
Final SPL from 300-20000 Hz. 6600 tweeter option.
Horizontal dispersion @ 0, 10, 20 and 30 deg. off axis.
Impedance of bass and MT section respectively.
Combined impedance. Minimum 5.2 Ohms @ 30 Hz.
Parts list for both tweeter versions.
Select tweeter version when ordering.
All kit and component prices may be subject to change and are always to be confirmed by Jantzen Audio Denmark.
Kits can always be bought with/without drivers, or some of the drivers.
Download Complete Kit Sale Presentations:
All technical questions to troels.gravesen@hotmail.com
All questions regarding purchase of kits, please mail Jantzen Audio at contact@jantzen-audio.com
CROSSOVER-LAYOUT
BACK TO INDEX
Check this out before start making crossovers:
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/tips.htm#CONSTRUCTION_OF_CROSSOVERS
Also please read this:
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/LCR-RC.htm
Midrange-tweeter section:
Connect one of R1 to C1 depending on tweeter choice.
Start straightening all leads to enable nice crossovers.
Please follow link above.
Bass section:
Bass layout.
Your MKT caps will all be white. Had some black left to be used.
Speaker wiring
Placement of crossovers on rear panel. Fasten
with screws, NEVER glue!
Left: I often make threads in two of the mounting holes to lift the bass
- and this driver is seriously heavy!
Right: Bass crossover mounted above ports. Fasten with screws, never
glue!
Connect mid and tweeter before mounting board
on rear panel.
Left: Mid-tweeter section on rear panel. Right: Acoustilux in place.
Compact and powerful!
Stands finished.