Jaycar Response specs, anyone?

[Minimalfi]

Hi all, I want to make some speakers with my son and I have these Jaycar Response speakers. I got them years (& years) ago as replacement transducers following a party that blew an amp and a speaker (long since sold). I could whack them in a cabinet but I'm too 'hifi' to not at least try and get the box dimensions right for speakers. And of course I need to match some tweeters. If anyone knows some or all of the specs Id really appreciate it.

[surprisetech]

1 hour ago, Minimalfi said:

Hi all, I want to make some speakers with my son and I have these Jaycar Response speakers. I got them years (& years) ago as replacement transducers following a party that blew an amp and a speaker (long since sold). I could whack them in a cabinet but I'm too 'hifi' to not at least try and get the box dimensions right for speakers. And of course I need to match some tweeters. If anyone knows some or all of the specs Id really appreciate it.

 

You're in luck!

I still have the speaker driver pages from a late 80's Jaycar catalogue from when I built my first surround speakers.  I used the best of the Response dome tweeters in that design.  I considered this woofer, but a 6" woofer from Altronics was a better match for the 15L enclosure kit that Dick Smith was selling.  Those speakers are still giving good service on my back deck.

 

Specs for your CW-2135 look pretty good for a 6.5" driver.  Match it with a tweeter from the likes of SB Acoustics and cross them over at around 2kHz and you could finish up with something pretty special.  The SB19ST-C000-4 is a good match for sensitivity.

https://www.wagneronline.com.au/sb-acoustics-dome-tweeter-st/sba-drivers/sb-acoustics/speaker-drivers/audio-speakers-pa/sb19st-c000-4-64599/991310/pd/

 

Happy building!

[Minimalfi]

Wow. Thanks @surprisetech!! What a legend. That's more than I expected. I appreciate it. Looks like we can work with these vs sell and re-buy. Cheers!

[surprisetech]

42 minutes ago, Minimalfi said:

Wow. Thanks @surprisetech!! What a legend. That's more than I expected. I appreciate it. Looks like we can work with these vs sell and re-buy. Cheers!

 

You're welcome.  DIY speakers is always good fun, but makes for good covid lockdown therapy too!

 

If you need any help with the crossover design, just post here and I'm sure you'll get plenty of assistance.

The good thing about 2-way designs is that good crossover components are affordable at tweeter crossover frequencies and you won't need to resort to using any bipolar electrolytics if you're on a budget.

[Flash]

As a first year apprentice I saved up and bought the Jacar Response 12” CF woofers, as well as tweeters, mids, and crossovers. Built MDF enclosures to spec (ported). I routed and recessed the drivers to sit flush, and made grills (poorly, haha). I partitioned the boxes, so they ended up being bigger than necessary, and weighed a ton. By memory they were about 1400x400x350. 
i thought they sounded terrific, and played loud, haha. The best part is they live on. Now each propping up an end of my mate’s shed bar, and supplying tunes!

 

Sorry to hijack your thread. I hope your build goes well, and it gives you and your young bloke as much enjoyment as it did me. 

[Domo]

That's a blast from the past! When I was a teenager I made a project but with the 8" version of those. They're really nice woofers, I carefully prized the dust caps off and spray painted them black and glued them back on.

[Minimalfi]

Ha, love the stories. Progress has been slow and steady on the build. We have cut the box but assembly is yet to start. I think we have struck on a new anti resonance system as each panel had a patent pending jigsaw 'wiggle'. Nothing some wood putty, sanding and spray painting won't fix!  Double Wall MDF so we can recess the woofer and for fun we're putting damping material between layers. Heading into multiple kg per speaker territory.

 

We are going with @surprisetech's tweeter suggestion. My son was flagging when we started comparing standard components against the crossover designs so I have pushed the boat out and ordered a 4ch Hifi berry amplifier and DSP card. This will allow us to package Bluetooth receiver, DAC and amp into the speakers. I didn't have an amp to drive them so gets two birds with one stone. Best yet it will let us set the cross over on the fly through the GUI. He is a tech head So I think there will be some tweaking. Also means we can EQ out the worst design flaws.

 

@Domo I am intrigued about your custom dust caps. I know the large 'response' logo is dragging down our visuals. I was going to do some customisation of my own with a black sharpie!

 

I'm hoping to get more cabinet assembly done this weekend so we can get some putty drying and sanding under way. We have some time as I ordered one tweeter ( vivid brain?), ordered another yesterday...

[surprisetech]

3 hours ago, Minimalfi said:

Ha, love the stories. Progress has been slow and steady on the build. We have cut the box but assembly is yet to start. I think we have struck on a new anti resonance system as each panel had a patent pending jigsaw 'wiggle'. Nothing some wood putty, sanding and spray painting won't fix!  Double Wall MDF so we can recess the woofer and for fun we're putting damping material between layers. Heading into multiple kg per speaker territory.

 

We are going with @surprisetech's tweeter suggestion. My son was flagging when we started comparing standard components against the crossover designs so I have pushed the boat out and ordered a 4ch Hifi berry amplifier and DSP card. This will allow us to package Bluetooth receiver, DAC and amp into the speakers. I didn't have an amp to drive them so gets two birds with one stone. Best yet it will let us set the cross over on the fly through the GUI. He is a tech head So I think there will be some tweaking. Also means we can EQ out the worst design flaws.

 

@Domo I am intrigued about your custom dust caps. I know the large 'response' logo is dragging down our visuals. I was going to do some customisation of my own with a black sharpie!

 

I'm hoping to get more cabinet assembly done this weekend so we can get some putty drying and sanding under way. We have some time as I ordered one tweeter ( vivid brain?), ordered another yesterday...

 

Good to hear it's underway.  Slow & steady is the way to go.

The Hifi Berry solution is a great idea for those drivers.  Bass should be nice & tight with no crossover components in the way.

 

If the Sharpie doesn't provide the coverage you need on the dust caps, black nail polish might be an option.

A steady hand and the little brush that comes with the product allows you to 'paint' it on accurately without having to remove them.

A single thin coat should not add any significant mass and may improve the stiffness.

I've used it on paper dust caps with success. 

I'm not sure what material the domes are made of in your drivers so I guess you would need to check that the solvent in the nail polish would not adversely effect the material.  Unfortunately, with a speaker cone it's not really possible to "test on an inconspicuous area first"!

You could probably do a test by painting just a tiny bit over a part of the logo first to make sure it adheres well, hides the logo and has no unexpected side effects.

 

Keep the updates coming.

 

 

[Minimalfi]

Wow, this project is taking longer than I thought. Between work and life it is moving in fits and starts. Amazing journey, I am starting to think about how to apply my learnings to version II!!

 

I did read that the cabinet can take 30-40 hours for a beginner and I think that is true. I wish my jigsaw skill now could have been applied at the beginning. My last cut was mm accurate to make the trapezoid back panels, fitting to off-angle cuts made I messed up before. If I cut that well before I wouldn't have needed it.  I have sealed, filled and primed the cabinets.  Learning #1 - if something looks 99% LEAVE IT ALONE cos you'll only make it worse!!

 

The wiring is ready and tested. We are using a neutrik fourpole as the umbilical between the speaker with the electronics and the 'dumb' speaker. Perfect for the woofer and tweeter lines from the amp card. The hifiberry card is loaded and mounted on my homemade standoffs with anti vibration. Crossover is set though I know we'll likely tweak it later. I have wool felt and wadding for cabinet stuffing cut and glued ready for assembly. I used a sharpie to remove the offending logo from the dust caps but it left a bluish tint, when I was spraying the woofer screws I put some black matte paint on plastic and used a fine brush to dapple the marker pen, great success!

 

Next steps are another can of primer before outer coat. Can't say enough good stuff about rustoleum 2x primer, it is a great product. Once dry the last stage will be the fitting of drivers with some last minute soldering. Bah! The neutrik connectors tested my amateurish soldering but I'm getting better.

 

Interesting to think about internal wiring, to fix or leave loose, inside wadding or next to cabinet walls? I don't want the tweeter cable to be resting on the woofer basket but no-one talks about it so maybe this is occupying way too much of my brain right now!

 

I am intrigued to hear these speakers working because they have an internal trapezoid and double MDF solid walls - they are heavy even without the woofers. Active amplification and adjustable DSP crossover. Time will tell...

[Minimalfi]

Getting there! My progress photos have a break because final assembly stalled after we could only get sound from the tweeter channels.

 

Lots of electronic troubleshooting, I had some crimped quick fit connectors on the woofers to help in later changes but they got cutoff quickly and replaced with soldered connection (I had already successfully tested them for continuity so was getting desperate).

 

The hifiberry/beocreate card is amazing but the downside of the DSP crossover is the complexity of the code. I didn't have to buy and solder capacitors or inductors but I spent hours looking at a terminal screen to debug the install!!

 

We fully assembled a mono active whilst troubleshooting continued. My son was stoked and blasted us all evening with ? music?

 

Changing crossover, polarity, delay and gain between drivers on the fly is cool! This morning I had a breakthrough and proof of life from all four channels . I will fit the other cabinet's tweeter and woofer. Stereo by nightfall (I hope). 

 

[Minimalfi]

Final comments after a listen and tweaking.

 

The speakers have been in my office for testing whilst we wait for my son's new IKEA to turn up. It has given me a chance to listen to them, play with the crossover and compare to my usual setup. 

 

I have tweaked from the original 2k linkwitz-reilly 24db/octave with high and low pass filters at the drivers ranges. Now we are sitting with 4th order custom Q at 2.1k for woofer and 2.3k for tweeter. Sitting above and below the Fs respectively. I have put a bump on the woofer of 5.5db at 50hz and a high shelf on the tweeter (4.5db at 5.5k). No other limits on the outside of the frequency spectrum.

 

The speakers have great bass weight and sound really well balanced, even with only a crossover point set. They don't have the dynamic range of my Buchardt S400s but at the moment the depth and width of the soundstage is blowing me away.

 

Sitting on my custom barstool/granite paver hifi stands a metre out from the front wall and 30cm from side they are laying out music beautifully. I will definitely be looking at where my usual speakers rest after this and or an all active setup.

 

I am tempted to try and upgrade the drivers to see how good I can these DIY speakers. If you push too hard they start getting ragged. Metallica at moderate to loud isn't nice. Electronic music at similar levels is still pretty good so there is something in that. Tweeter?

 

Jazz and acoustic is excellent with a little sibilance every now and then. I guess for twenty year old woofers, $30 tweeters, old MDF shelves, expensive Swiss electronics a few other bits and pieces and 60hours of work I am pretty impressed!

[Domo]

Nice looking build, well done! One comment - is that a couple of countersunk robertson drive screws holding the woofer in? 

[Minimalfi]

1 hour ago, Domo said:

Nice looking build, well done! One comment - is that a couple of countersunk robertson drive screws holding the woofer in? 

Yes. They are some screws I had lying around. I didn't get the flush fit to work because I don't have a router and decided not to build up the 15mm MDF. These had the right 'look' and depth to reach through.  Plus grip to get the job done. Some serious scrounging happened for this build!!