DL8 modding

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Dr Bunsen Honeydew
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#106 Re: DL8 modding

Post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Any progress Dave.
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Dave the bass
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#107 Re: DL8 modding

Post by Dave the bass »

In life and enjoyment? Yes!

But DL8 modding? No.
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#108 Re: DL8 modding

Post by karatestu »

Is there a final outcome for this project ? I have been following it with interest.

My doc modded drivers will be arriving soon. Can't wait to get started.

Stu
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#109 Re: DL8 modding

Post by Dave the bass »

Tomorrow should see them finished hopefully matey.

Out for a bike ride today while the sun is shinning, but Sunday grey clouds of gloom are forecast so it looks like 'DL8 day' could be tomorrow, yey! :)
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#110 Re: DL8 modding

Post by Dave the bass »

Whahey! They work!

Here they are in all their glory. Before I went on Hols a couple of weeks ago I gave them a bit of extra doping in the centre where the Bison Kit had pulled and reacted with the PlastiDip coating, its not pretty...
Image

So, they've had a good few weeks to dry/set/settle after all that gluey doping process so the mid bass drive units feel nice and dry to the touch now and are no longer 'sticky' or tacky in feel.

The finished results look like this...

Fostex HF horn on curvaceous MDF mounting gasket...
Image

And with doped Mid/Bass unit...
Image

Even the original grilles fit back on now....
Image
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#111 Re: DL8 modding

Post by IslandPink »

So you got the steel plate in, then ?
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#112 Re: DL8 modding

Post by Dave the bass »

Yeah Mark, scroll back a page and there's some piccies showing the steel plate going in. I screwed n glued it in position. Each cabinet is a lot heavier than they were originally.
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#113 Re: DL8 modding

Post by karatestu »

Excellent Dave.

Do you have any comments on the sound or do they need running in ?

Thanks, Stu
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#114 Re: DL8 modding

Post by IslandPink »

Dave the bass wrote: Sun Mar 05, 2017 12:41 pm Yeah Mark, scroll back a page and there's some piccies showing the steel plate going in. I screwed n glued it in position.
You're not wrong ! - missed that.
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#115 Re: DL8 modding

Post by Dave the bass »

Sorry about one of the piccies appearing 90 degrees out of kilter, Photobucket wont allow me to correct it at the mo.
karatestu wrote: Sun Mar 05, 2017 4:50 pm Do you have any comments on the sound or do they need running in ?
Ta!

I'm guessing here but I'd imagine they'll need a time to free up and re-acclimatise after what they've gone through but initial impressions are...

Pro's.

They still actually work after all they've been through!
There's nothing horrible about the overall sound (IMO).
They cover a wide bandwidth of sound.
VLF's especially are fulsome, there's summat going on that gives the impression of 'big bass' akin to the hump of an LS3/5a. As a result of this Kickdrums in particular and muted bass notes are an 'exciting' listen. Its fast too, which is great, its not that slow subwoofery slob-type-bass.
Its a very dry 'tone' and they still retain that sealed enclosure tightness I've heard in other IB designs which I like a lot.
As before the Fostex tweeter 'may' be a little too prominent in the long term, I think I'll leave 'em be for now, early days yet.
Overall IMO I'd say they sound better than they did before carrying out the mods which is great.

Cons.

I can't prove it but... I don't think they're as efficient as the unmodded DL8's so I have to drive them approx 2 clicks more on my TVC.
They appear very sensitive to backwards/forwards room positioning for some reason. Getting this not right results in an odd out of focus/phasey sound at the listening position in my room.
That fulsome bass has forced me to move the cabinets forward a bit, its too overbearing otherwise IMO when they're close to the rear wall.
Currently the speakers don't do that imaging 'thing' so well that I love about other speakers I've played with and built in the past. What they do do well though is exacting 'Left' 'Right' and 'Centre' but thats it! Its very precise and liveable-with but there's little of that holographic imagining like you get with a speaker like a Saburo IMO (in my room).

Initial Conclusion.

They're fun! They really are. Are they 'accurate'? Probably not. Did I mention they're fun, YES! I think there's some accentuations at both ends of the audio spectrum which maybe are adding to the fun factor, does it matter? Nope, I don't think so as its a characterful listen and not unpleasant. Maybe the best way to describe the overall sound is like erm.....its a bit like the sonic equivalent of the modern day 'Barbie' style make-up some women are sporting at the moment :)

Think...
Image

I'm happy to have characterful pair of speakers in my 'collection'.

Howzat?
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Nick
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#116 Re: DL8 modding

Post by Nick »

I wonder if its worth trying swapping the phase of the tweeter?
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#117 Re: DL8 modding

Post by Dave the bass »

Easily done, I'll give it a go later this week when I've got used to how they sound as-is.
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Dr Bunsen Honeydew
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#118 Re: DL8 modding

Post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Any update on how these are running in and any changes you have done.
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#119 Re: DL8 modding

Post by Dave the bass »

Well, I've been running them in on 3 different amps over the last 2 weeks or so. A DIY 2A3 SET, a class 'D' HiFiBerry Pi/DAC amp and a 1990's SS Denon amp.

IMO, the speakers haven't changed their sound at all. They're in 'steady-state'. They do still suit the 1990's SS amp the best IMO, they're tight, fun and enjoyable to listen to particularly on that amp, dunno why, but they are. Source on that amp is a SB Touch -> AK 4636 DAC -> Denon, nothing bonkers fancy, just that.

For now I've kept the HF horn in-phase with the mid/bass unit as I wanted to hear each amp and source without introducing another variable yet.
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Dr Bunsen Honeydew
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#120 Re: DL8 modding

Post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Sounds good. I was interested as I have convinced myself the doping settles and runs in, but that is with new drivers that run in anyway. So to hear old drivers being doped don't show a run in is interesting.
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