Building The 5L Onkens For Mark Audio Pluvia 7.2HDs ~ Elinevan NanoOnkens 31Aug24

With no new speakers needed, but my not being done with DIY,  I modeled and built a new pair of restricted port bass reflex speakers for a friend; they are 5 liter Onkens. The design is basically the mini Mark Audio Onken for Pluvia 7, mMar-Ken7p ov8, [mini/m Mark Audio/Mar Onken/Ken Pluvia/p 7/7] from D Dlugos from 28Jan16, but the drivers are the updated and still stellar and affordable, Mark Audio Pluvia Seven HD 2nd gen 100mm (4") drivers. I think they look cool in my keen cabinet.

Select... The MA Pluvia 7.2HD drivers are small, very wide full range 20Hz-30KHz, fairly efficient 86dBSPL, magnesium cone drivers which are well regarded in DIY circles ("punching far above their weight/price") in a variety of cabinets. Mark Audio are in the 2nd (maybe even 3rd) generation of the Pluvia 7, with a dimple in the cap. They supposedly do still require a longer, lower volume, break-in time than most drivers, and a decent amp. Mark Audio did a nice package for a pair of Pluvias which included the drivers and gaskets.

Design... The design required a smidge of interpolation as I didn't need the entire planset to build just this simple cabinet. I got it at least approximately right and the sound is fantastic for a very small full range with just a 4" driver. I did buy a new sheet of 15mm Baltic birch for the build (yeah - Russian imports are a 'bit' inflated these day but dang it, the US has nothing to compare), but used less than half of it. I only needed a skosh of 12mm for the port dividers and I found that in my scrap pile.

Model... I modeled the speaker in hornresp (under Wine on macOS) using Mark Audio's Small/Theil parameters for the driver and the cabinet dimensions. The model isn't perfect as Onkens' restricted ports are harder to input in a straightforward way. The bass reflex approximation is fine and showed the speaker would get down to about 77Hz as expected. I don't know why the high end rolls off as it does in the model but the empirical measurement (farther below) shows it flat way beyond my hearing (after a couple days of break in).

Build...  I picked up the 15mm Baltic birch sheet from CO Lumber and had them panel cut 20" from the 5'x5' sheet in order to get it in the car. I took the sheets to the Nest. On the table saw I first cut the 20"piece into "strips" per my cut sheet; then I did the "crosscuts" per the sheet. I next finished the brace pieces with their oddities and used a 4" hole saw to cut the driver openings in the fronts (so much better than my prior jigsaw method). I also properly sized six 12mm port separators from my scraps. At the end of cutting I had the requisite pile of parts.

Gluing began with the port subassemblies for each speaker. Fortunately my table saw cuts in mm were pretty good and stuff fit like a glove. I eased the interior of the fronts around the drivers using a 45° chamfer bit in my router.

Once the ports dried some I installed the front & back & one side to the bottom & top and clamped it all together. I left one side open to add damping material. I installed the upper and lower braces, assuring the fit of the upper with the driver in place dry. I also marked the front of the cabinet for the drivers' #4 5/8" black wood screws.

On the day after, I lined the interiors with 6mm carpet underlayment secured by spray adhesive. I even covered the internal ports at the back ~ it's an aperiodic Onken after all. Once lined, I glued on the 2nd side to each box and clamped them. Once dried, I bevel cut each front side 45° @ 15mm on the table saw. I  also pilot drilled for the driver screws.

Finish... I then sanded the boxes with 120 then 400 using my palm sander; then I wiped them off and used a tack cloth, and vacuumed inside for dust. I picked my favorite true black stain and used pre-stain before and then stained the cabinets. While staining though I set up an "open" driver break in stand. I read a number of times from DIYers and pros alike that these drivers need plenty of break in time at modest volumes before they really open up, or before I should really turn them up. I don't know for sure but I thought I'd get a head start.

After drying a day I brushed on a light coat of satin lacquer, and repeated again. Lacquer was much harder to work with than poly ~ which Lowe's didn't have in satin or even clear semi-gloss. I signed the rear of the speakers with their "spec," their born on date, and my custom rod building brand name, The Rodfather ~ but the lacquer melted it off when I covered over it. I let them dry about five hours. Then I installed the binding posts with pre-attached #20 solid core copper wiring, placed the gaskets on the drivers, soldered the drivers, and then screwed them in place. Nice!

Listen... I took the new speakers inside and set them up in free space in the Nest Office. Using the NAD D3045 and the new Black Ice FX10H, with my Mac as the source,  I listened to some stuff. Very nice. Not much full loud stuff yet so it's really pretty hard to say. I then left the setup running for a some more of days of burn in. On day 3 I listened again through the NAD and my Black Ice ~ smoother. The Black Ice EL84s get some grunt out of the low end ~ amazing. The high end was very present but mellower, a good thing, and the bottom was bigger and better. I kind of understand the recommendation to use a good amp ~ these might fail attached to an entry level Class D but with the NAD and the Black Ice they were excellent and seemed flat beyond my hearing. These drivers have bristling highs for full rangers but of course lack some punch at the low end; the mids are smooth. A full kit using these as mains should include a subwoofer in a 2.1 setup. Still, really nice.

Measure... With ~72hrs of mostly continuous burn in I was more confident of measuring these keen new NanoOnkens. I kept the speakers elevated and in free space in the Nest Office ~ there wasn't appreciable BDS loss; that's great. They sound fantastic and measured very well. They are indeed full range and the mid-highs are awesome but a system could be improved with the addition of a subwoofer as mentioned prior. The Black Ice drives them to achieve some low end, but it's a bit distorted... overall though these guys are super clean. Really pleased ~ highly recommended.

Gifting... Eline came to the Nest for LD weekend; she's a discerning music fan and likes the new speakers I built. I think she was truly thrilled to hear they were indeed hers for her coming birthday. Matt complimented the custom speakers with a gift of the cool NAD D3045 amp. The setup will adorn her living room TV & streaming gear and Eline's phono and vinyl collection. She loves playing classic songs rendered by killer vocalists... then mimics a few notes all night long. Well offered IMO.

Fishing Williams Fk With Bro Brown ~ Big Fish Day! 30Aug24

Steve drove the 4Runner out to Grand Co for us to fish the Williams Fk. Flows were a stellar ~115cfs and the temp and weather were great too. It was Steve's first outing to this tiny tailwater and after arriving with 6 cars in the lot we hiked right to the confluence with the Colorado. Soon enough I was into some fish on the oil can Perdigon. Other mayfly imitations worked too like red CJs (when a red quill hatch was coming off) and the gold ribbed hare's ear (when the final vestiges of the drakes were hatching). Too, the yellow-orange #14 chubby caught some and turned up others. Ultimately I caught quite a few strong ~17" browns, and some similarly sized rainbows. I had forgotten my net at home so I was using a beach landing approach that was working ok.

Yet, happily, Steve found a net while resting on shore and gave it to me for the afternoon.

It turned out very important as soon after the loaner I hooked into a very strong, big mama holdover 'bow. She took me >300yds downstrean precariously through multiple rapids and runs but the Rodfather Bombadeer kept her out of breakoff spots as I danced down the river. She finally tired and I landed her (using the lucky and fortuitous net) to discover a 21" 4+ pound lady 'bow! My hand couldn't even reach half way around, very satisfying; again the Perdigon worked and, given the big fight and multiple jumps, I was lucky she didn't throw the barbless fly.

 

Great day with my buddy on Bill's ~ sorry it wasn't better for ya bro.  Thanks for coming out and driving.

Vail Valley Fun With Kala ~ The Gore, The Blue Moose, The Ford Amp With Lindsay Lou 27Aug24

Kala & I had a great time over in Vail Valley today. We both did "work" in the AM and then jumped Vail Pass into Eagle Co for the PM, in spectacular weather. Sure there were construction spots and one lane sections on I70 ~ we don't have many months in which to fix and build roads in the mountains. It was quick enough and we arrived at the Dawg Pk to fish Gore Ck before 1pm.

I took Kala on my normal pass at the Stephen's Park section of the Gore ~ we crossed the creek and trundled through the playground to to the creek to fish from above the road bridge upstream past the walk bridge around the bend to the takeout where the dogs play. I did decently below Kala but she didn't land any despite some great casts into a good channel and other good spots. Most of my fish were on the DCEZWD40, but the chubby turned some up and the Perdigon caught some as well; nothing on the caddis. The Gore is getting thin but there were still plenty of bugs hatching. I used the RFT3 while Kala cast the Bombadeer 4wt.

We changed clothes and hit Lionshead for dinner. It's pizza Tuesday and we didn't know Vail 'za so just chose The Blue Moose; the moose is Bruce and he's not loose BTW. Pizza flavor was OK but the crust was not up to the price we paid in Vail.

We were done in time to leave the car in Lionshead and take the Vail intown bus up to the Gerald Ford Amp for the concert. I don't like having to add Gerald now to assure I get the correct venue ~ without it I get COS or elsewhere in the searches... grrr. Gates were at 5:30pm with the Lindsay Lou free concert starting at 6:30pm. We arrive at 6:10pm and still grabbed 7th row center stage... awesome.

Lindsay Lou brought a band and they were all very good. I recognized all 3 of them from videos I've watched. Lindsay Lou was excellent despite the insufficient vocals in the mix from the sound guy... there's a theme here as this was true the last time I came to the Ford Amp for Hurray For The Riff Raff & Norah Jones. Maybe it's the system but it surely appears great. Kala agreed and also thought the venue was spectacular otherwise. Lindsay Lou did two 45 minute sets ~ a nice offering. Her voice is very strong and sweet and fortunately that came through some of the time. Her writing is personal and that too left impressions. She had a cool sparkly outfit on for the occasion.

Anthony, the lead guitarist, was, as usual, excellent and truly wailed when called on... though his antics are a bit much IMO. He and the percussionist provided nice backing vocals but it was Lindsay's voice that carried the show. He did break a string and still played some sections with just 5 while he was repairing the string... pretty good actually.  We were next to a couple who bought a $90 bottle of wine (in an ice bucket) from concession and then left and gave Kala a half bottle of wine! It wasn't up to the Vail pricing (again) but it was something.

It was a gr8 day in Vail Valley with Kala (thanks for coming out my love). While the sound & pizza could've been better, and fish should've jumped after your bugs, the company was stellar.

Upgrading Nest Desk Audio ~ From Good To GR8: NAD & Woo Audio To Black Ice 25Aug24

In audiophilia there are always improvements to be made. My recent measurement of the NAD D3045 Class D amp/dac on my Nest Desk, driving the Blanda108NSs, prompted me to look for even better power. Don't get me wrong, the "salad bowls" sound great with the NAD ~ I bet they can sound even better though with some EL84 power. I bought the Black Ice Glass FX10H integrated amp. My Blanda FE108NSs are fairly efficient @ ~87dB (SPL 1m/w) and are well-matched to that amp on paper. Plus, it's cool looking. My current FX10H is a 12 w per channel (given 8Ωs with stock Psvane EL84s) class AB amplifier. It's entry level from Black Ice but well regarded... at heart I'm just a low-mid priced audiophile and now a DIY and tube guy. It's got a unbalanced headphone jack so has potentially wide use on the Nest Desk. In with the new, forever remember the old.

Black Ice FX10H and stock Psvane EL84s; it was all solidly packaged.

The first A-B testing was done in COS for headphone listing; I used the Schiit Gungnir MB DAC to feed both the FX10H amp and the Schiit Mjolnir 2 headphone amp. This is my reference headphone stack to drive the killer closed Mr Speakers planar magnetic cans. Wow, Black Ice delivered on the headphones out. I was concerned but 1st, it was dead quiet even when cranked and the material was paused. 2nd, fidelity on all the tracks I tried (AJ Lee, Sammy Rae, Molly Tuttle, Phoebe Bridgers) was basically the same on either amp to my ear. 3rd, the Black Ice sound is just a skosh warmer, which is fine. Howdy, the FX10H runs every bit as hot as the Schiit, and that's hot. Each could be cranked with depth and coherence beyond where I was comfortable. 4th, no fatigue using the Mr Speakers driven by either amp. I am very pleased and impressed with the Black Ice FX10H headphone support. If it can handle Mr Speakers cans well, and match the Mjolnir 2 in COS, it will have no issue with my Audeze set @ the Nest Desk. The next headphone test was to compare the FX10H to the Woo Audio WA7 Fireflies DAC/AMP ~ but frankly given the compare with the premium Schiit stack, Black Ice will win again. Yeah, I needed to true the tubes in the Black Ice ~ I did that after transport to Summit Co.

I took the glass top off in order to straighten the tubes. Scheme is easy and effective... I didn't even touch the glass to smudge it.

On the Nest Desk I really I need a DAC as well to take the bitstream from my Mac Studio on USB and send line level stereo analog to the FX10H... I used the venerable Woo Audio WA7 Fireflies to do this initially (there are DAC section line level out RCA terminals for this exact purpose).

I quickly confirmed what I expected... the Black Ice outperforms on headphone listening, not just as an speaker amp. I tried it with both my Audeze planar magnetic and my AKG dynamic cans. Again I did a direct A-B listening test with both amps still in place (it's a busy desktop right now to be sure). Immediately the cans sounded sweet like with my Fireflies driving them, but were more revealing at the mid-high area and had more punch in the low end. Again the FX10H is dead quiet, again its sound was big. This completes one acid test for a big changeover on the Nest Desk, the headphone amp... if I get an alternate DAC, I can sell the Woo Audio Fireflies.

Knowingly, the FX10H was designed with a subwoofer line out; I used this to drive my Blanda Sub of course. The new desktop sound from the Blanda 108NSs was fabulous across a range of content. Listening (I mostly used the recent albums profiled in August Music Appreciation, but some older favs too, especially Molly Tuttle) was great as the bowls emitted a substantially more revealed sound and broad sound stage than when driven with the NAD. Near-field listening is a challenging task for a driver and amp ~ one tends to hear it all very well, like with headphones. It must be very good to not be fatiguing. The FE108NS drivers are quite good for this task (they sound great despite the somewhat wonky SPL sweep data from Fostex) and the new amp brings more smooth, and more mid-high reveal, to the table in my setup. The low end also thumps much more strongly and I had to trim back and reintegrate the subwoofer with this amp. Strong female vocals and acoustic instruments were even more present in the mid-range mix and the high end (with less rolloff with them than with even my favorite FE108EΣ drivers), as with cymbals and tambourines, was great without harshness. I was even able to do direct A-B listening between the NAD and the Black Ice... and that is how I heard it. I am really pleased with the upgrade; it is time to sell the NAD D3045, good as it is ~ my foray into Class D amps has passed.

I measured the the Blanda Bowls driven by each amp. the 20-200Hz measurement is the sub alone while the other SPL curves are the NAD and Black Ice amp sweeps. The extra low end from the Black Ice is apparent... when summed to the sub it's raised up to my house curve ~ but I separated them here to focus on the main amps' differences. Too, the smoothness I reference for the FX10H is shown in the graphs of spectral energy; the NAD showed more and longer "hot spots" (orange& red) where aberrant energy is being delivered. The overall clarity of the drivers in producing sounds from 2Hz-10KHz with either amp is mostly equal. While the Black Ice does have a THD of 1.2% vs the NAD's .5%, that's not all that important for fun musicality IMO. The measurements are solid and support my listening conclusions. I could probably yet tame the humps at 2.5K and 7K with my miniDSP 2x4HD; I may yet do that at least as an experiment whether I leave it in the audio path or not.

Right now the kit is stunning and still counts on the WA7 ESS Sabre DAC.

To prep the Woo Audio WA7/WATP for sale I removed it from it's role even as a DAC. I installed my miniDSP 2x4HD in it's place. I'll have a decent 24bit/192KHz DAC and I'll be able to investigate smoothing the SPL response some using some EQ. As I listened some more I found the setup smoother overall and just as good as that with the WA7 DAC. I measured this new config completely flat first and found that performance is now even better than with the WA7 DAC! Very cool. Hmmm ~ I may yet have more to say.