Faital-12-430
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DRIVERS CROSSOVER CABINET WORKSHOP PICS MEASUREMENTS SPEAKER-KIT CROSSOVER LAYOUT
As mentioned in my review of the
Faital 10RS430, the 12RS430 is the big brother and more than
suitable for hifi application. This Faital-12-430 speaker here is by no means
thought as a replacement of the
Faital-3WC-12, but as an alternative for those who can live with
lower sensitivity, but would like to have deeper bass.
Where the 12PR320
is suitable for a system with 92-93 dB sensitivity, the 12RS430 can manage
some 90 dB, but go some 10 Hz lower for the same size cabinet. There is
a price for everything, and do we want deeper bass for the same volume, we
have to sacrifice something - here sensitivity, but a lot of people have
capable solid state amps that will be more than happy driving
a speaker of 90 dB sensitivity. 90 dB is by no means inefficient.
Cabinet is the same as for Faital-3WC-12, but ports are longer. And I rush to say that using the 12RS430 requires a completely new crossover, not just a couple of resistors to further attenuate the midrange and tweeter. It doesn't work that way. The bass defines the overall tuning of a system and midrange and tweeter must be tuned accordingly. New bass driver and we always start from scratch.
For treble I chose the ScanSpeak Illuminator D3004/660000 fabric dome and at a late stage tried the Beryllium dome D3004/664000. The latter did very well and I decided to make a kit where both options are offered. Tweeter crossover components are different, so you have to decide in advance which version you want. The Kit Instruction following the kit have both versions, so you can make changes at a later stage should you want to do so.
So, when should you build the Faital-3WC-12 and when this new Faital-12-430? Well, roughly, if you don't want to bi-amp and have an ~40 wpc tube amp, build the Faital-3WC-12 and if you have a ~80+ wpc solid state amp, build the Faital-12-430. The latter is less sensitive but goes significantly deeper, but requires more power to fully blossom. Dynamically it doesn't make much difference, but the more power the better for this construction and the 12RS430 can take a lot of heat, 800 watts to specifications. I use my 32 wpc EAR-861 for mid and treble and Hypex FA501s used like standard power-amps for bass. This works wonder.
Basics:
3-driver speaker.
Dimensions: 37.5 x 40 x 68 cm, WxDxH.
System sensitivity: 90 dB/2.8V/1 meter.
Impedance: 4-8 Ohms.
Power requirement: 50+ watts/channel. As always very much depends on
your room size - and obviously how loud you play.
Useful links (Please
follow all links - and read the pages - 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
Left: ScanSpeak D3004/664000 Beryllium tweeter.
Right: ScanSpeak D3004/660000 fabric dome tweeter.
Midrange, Faital 6RS140, 8 Ohms
Bass driver, Faital 12RS430, 8 Ohms.
Download specs here:
D3004/660000 D3004/664000 6RS140-8 12RS430-8
Crossover features a standard LR2 topology. Rs 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.
C1 and L2 are different from the two tweeter options.
Pay notice the midrange driver is connected with
inverted polarity!
Click image to view large.
Cabs were made from
20-21 mm Baltic birch. Now, the old time 3-way classics from 12+4-6+1
were typically made from veneered 3/4" chip board and with no bracing al
all - like the JBL L100 Century. We can do better, thus Baltic birch and bracing -
and not least proper damping. All dimensions based on exactly 20 mm
panel thickness. Adjust to actual conditions.
If you use 18-19 mm MDF or plywood, add bitumen pads to your order.
The reason for not flush mounting the
midrange driver is that we're supposed to listen at midrange height,
thus with the midrange in front of the tweeter and the tweeter
flush-mounted, we have proper time-alignment and we can make a simple
LR2 filter.
The speaker should be placed on stands having
a height that gives you the midrange driver at listening height.
You can make a small cabinet around tweeter
magnet. Not a big deal, but it's easy and doesn't hurt.
Cabinet kits available from Ebel Holztechnik:
https://www.ebelholztechnik.de/galerien/index.php/category/358-faital_3wc_12
The 12RS430 has the same diameter as the 12PR320, so cabinets should
fit.
These cabs obviously needs stands, approx. 270-300 mm height with feet. In the end dependent on where your ears are. Optimal listening height is at midrange center axis.
My stands were made from 30 mm oak planks, 120 x min. 270 mm width.
Pretty expensive - but I like solid oak. Obviously the stands can be
made in numerous ways, choice is yours.
See images below.
BTW: 405 mm depth due to 25 mm front panel.
Feet, see
this.
Also check Faital-3WC-12 for further ideas.
All panels ready in the rough. I added 5 mm oak fillets to the front.
Making the center brace. Here seen from front.
The cabinet panels are NOT made from a laminate. Please
read.
Making the lower panel for midrange enclosure.
Seen from rear. Braces ready for routing some holes.
Seen from rear. All panels finished. Rear panel with port holes and
terminal holes ready.
Port tubes on rear panel. Cutting the front panel, here from 25 mm HDF.
Front panel seen from front (left) and rear (right).
Remember
chamfering the midrange hole. Not needed for bass and tweeter.
And NEVER route for drivers before you have them at hand and can measure
diameter! All things have tolerances. I always make test routings before
doing the final front panel.
Front panels ready.
Testing with drivers. Time to start adding felt material before gluing
it all together.
Damping material seen from front. Remember
hole for wire to midrange.
And don't forget to remove felt where tweeter housing must be. Red
marking. I forgot - and it's a pain removing glued felt after the whole
cabinet is assembled!
Damping material seen from rear side.
Left:
Only this on rear panel. Right: Tweeter protection.
Acoustilux:
The following for both cabinets.
Left: Cut 2 pcs 50x50 cm acoustilix and stuff loosely behind midrange
compartment.
Right: 2 pcs 18 x 70 cm, place at bottom and up sides. Towards rear
panel.
2 pcs 15 x 115 cm, place at bottom and up sides. Towards front panel.
Fasten with 10 mm staples.
Left: Fold 1 pcs 50 x 50 cm and add to midrange cabinet as seen on
photo.
Right: Front panel added beeswax before polishing.
First time setup in my workshop during crossover fine-tuning.
Again, big speakers just do things...
Magnificent bass from bi-amping and stellar mid and treble.
I'm a huge fan of Anthony Wilson and have most of his non-Diana-Krall recordings. Based on Michael Fremer's recommendation, I ordered this new recording - and I wasn't disappointed. A stellar recording and master vinyl processing. This is what vinyl can be when done correctly. I've had quite a few US pressings and wasn't impressed with the vinyl quality, but this one... With the Windfeld Ti cartridge, the 4P9 tonearm and EAR-868PL phonostage, the EAR-861 running the MT section and two Hypex FA501s running the bass drivers - I couldn't be happier. Articulate bass, transparent midrange and smooth treble.
My first to hear hifi-body thought it better to listen in the dark, so
we turned off most of the light, and right, this helps focus on the
music and not be distracted by numerous items in my workshop.
The Beryllium dome option came in late in the process, but working on a
Be dome version for the
Illuminator-71, I couldn't resist trying the 6640 on this
Faital-12-430. This step proved - once again - that the synergy between
drivers can NEVER be guessed from specs - or anything else. We
must try mating drivers and do various crossovers to find out what works and what doesn't.
The 6640 Be dome proved an unexpected synergy with the 6RS140 midrange
driver, so much I had to go through a whole range of recordings to make
sure this was really true. This is so good I'm going to leave in the
6640 tweeters. Not my normal take on tweeters - i use to prefer the soft
domes, which just tells that synergy is more important than intrinsic
quality.
I recently acquired the e.s.t. live in london LP and I used to
think the piano was slightly hard, maybe due to the microphone used - or
whatever countless processing tools may influence what
finally gets through to us. The Be domes proved me wrong. Nothing wrong
with the recording or processing. Where the 6600 tweeter renders a
smooth, transparent and dynamic treble, the 6640 takes it up a notch. In
the end a matter of taste. C1 and L1 are different for the two tweeters,
hence you have to decide in advance, but all values are in the Kit
Instruction, so you may tweak at a later point should you want to
experiment.
This step also shows that a good component rubs off on the adjacent
components. I never heard the 6RS140 do this well. There's a good reason
I fell in love with this midrange driver long ago. Phenomenal!
This speaker will be one of my few stock speakers as an example of what
can be achieved from a classic design.
I used PVA glue for the corners and epoxy for the frames.
Don't worry about epoxy smear, easily sanded off.
Oak planks from Bauhaus may be nowhere perfect having cracks and holes - but part of
the charm of natural materials.
Stands finished. This took quite some time, but I'm pleased with the
result!
Feet I made like
this.
I have some 3 mm rubber pads between the cabinets and the stands.
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.
Frequency response measured at 0.5 m distance. Be dome.
As always: Response graphs tell NOTHING about the sound of a speaker!
However, it does look nice.
Horizontal dispersion at 0, 10, 20 and 30 deg. off-axis.
Final system impedance. An easy load.
This is pretty much an 8 Ohm speaker. Minimum 5 Ohms @ 30 Hz.
Impedance of the bass section (yellow) and MT section (orange) and
combined (red).
The crossover topology for the two tweeter options are the same, but
values of C1
and L1 are different.
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
And please also read this one - again:
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/LCR-RC.htm
This will save me countless mails!
Layout for bass section.
Now, the heavy bass coil, L4, needs special attention. To secure the end
discs, add Superfix as show above and on my
tips page. In addition to this I made a small cradle to further
secure the coil on the board.
Glue support to board and add Superfix.
This way, the heavy thick wire coil will stay in place.
Mid-tweeter section:
Layout MT-section.
Unwind 4-5 cm of L2 to reach input of L3.
I had an old WAX coil for L1, hence the worn look - but it does its
thing.
Speaker wiring:
Placement of crossover on rear panel.
Bass crossover in place and connected to terminals.
Mid-tweeter section in place.
Damping material on top of crossovers.
As always, getting rid of all test-wires from external prototype
crossovers always tighten up the sound.
These are speakers I could (will) live with for years to come.
Living room setup.