Build of gr-research X-LS Encore

[DIY Newbie 2020]

will get a rasp! tried a coping saw but it was a little too tight an angle to saw it out. worse comes to worst i'll get a drill file bit


rounding over the outside face? glad to know i'm not alone in the mistakes department! heh. glad to hear too that the set is doing you well. any photos of the end product? congrats!

Here is a picture of the almost finished product. I need to clear coat and wet sand and polish to finish them. I am thinking of changing the front baffles before that as the tweeter holes are 2mm too big after jig saw and router was not that accurate. I am enjoying running them in at the moment. The bass is coming in nicely. The tweeter is a star.

 

[wje]

Upgraded unit shipped yesterday to Amir! It takes about a week for UPS ground to get a package out to Seattle. If all goes well, will see how much No rez and premium crossover parts affect the results...

I'm looking forward to the follow-up review on your revised speaker. I've been continuing my work on renovating the X-SLS pair that I picked up with the Skiing Ninja crossovers. In my case, it appears the previous owner did upgrade the caps with the Sonicaps and the resistors, but didn't use the ribbon inductors which I believe were also an option at the time. Additionally, the standard cabinet damping material wasn't replaced with No-Rez. However, for the price I paid on this used pair, the performance - subjectively, to my ears is pretty good.

 

[RickS]

I'm looking forward to the follow-up review on your revised speaker. I've been continuing my work on renovating the X-SLS pair that I picked up with the Skiing Ninja crossovers. In my case, it appears the previous owner did upgrade the caps with the Sonicaps and the resistors, but didn't use the ribbon inductors which I believe were also an option at the time. Additionally, the standard cabinet damping material wasn't replaced with No-Rez. However, for the price I paid on this used pair, the performance - objectively, to my ears is pretty good.

View attachment 83540

From what have heard from Danny, the tower is a more appropriate volume for the woofer. Because the cabinet is bigger, the No Rez, might help with damping the bigger panels. Unfortunately, our next round of testing will not help much since the cabinets are so different.

If you suspect the cabinet resonates, might talk to Danny. If he does not offer a decent discount on the No Rez, the 3/4 inch Sonic Barrier is a better deal.

 

[DIY Newbie 2020]

I was not happy with the tweeter fitment that had large gaps. I fit new front baffles and went for a satin grey clear coated front /mint green chalk matt clear coated sides/back combination as the room is Timeless grey.

 

[wje]

I was not happy with the tweeter fitment that had large gaps. I fit new front baffles and went for a satin grey clear coated front /mint green chalk matt clear coated sides/back combination as the room is Timeless grey.

Very nice!

 

[RickS]

I was not happy with the tweeter fitment that had large gaps. I fit new front baffles and went for a satin grey clear coated front /mint green chalk matt clear coated sides/back combination as the room is Timeless grey.View attachment 89102

Nice work!

Even with fancy jigs and a nice plunge router, I struggle with getting nice gaps. Getting depth right can be very tricky. For the Bagby Mandolin, I did not route deep enough and ended up rabbeting them and chiseling the edge as the even the widest rabbet bit is not enough.

 

[DIY Newbie 2020]

Nice work!

Even with fancy jigs and a nice plunge router, I struggle with getting nice gaps. Getting depth right can be very tricky. For the Bagby Mandolin, I did not route deep enough and ended up rabbeting them and chiseling the edge as the even the widest rabbet is not enough.

Thanks Rick. It is tricky for sure. I think I hold my breath every time I do one.

DN

 

[DIY Newbie 2020]

Very nice!

Thanks wje

 

[xarkkon]

I was not happy with the tweeter fitment that had large gaps. I fit new front baffles and went for a satin grey clear coated front /mint green chalk matt clear coated sides/back combination as the room is Timeless grey.View attachment 89102

beautiful! love the colour combination as well! did you paint them separately first before installing the front? the front baffle looks pretty thin... was that intentional?

 

[wje]

I've finally finished up the restoration of the X-SLS speakers I purchased. I installed new, heavy duty 5-way binding posts and applied satin black enamel paint to fix some of the surface issues that were present when I bought them. I have to re-do and touch up a few paint runs from the enamel I used. These have the air core inductors, SoniCaps and Mills resistors. I'm still impressed with the sound that they're able to produce. Subjectively speaking, I like their sound even more than the Sonus Faber Venere 2.5 speakers which sold for $2,499. The Venere 2.5 speakers are to be sold today. However, not sure if I'll hold onto the X-SLS because of room constraints in my condominium along with focusing my efforts on the rebuild of the McIntosh MC-7270 amplifier. I will keep utilizing the Wharfedale Linton Heritage speakers, with their matching stands as my speakers in the foreseeable future. They just do a lot of things "right" with the music I listen to.

 

[DIY Newbie 2020]

beautiful! love the colour combination as well! did you paint them separately first before installing the front? the front baffle looks pretty thin... was that intentional?

Hey xarkkon thanks very much for the comment. I am very happy with how they came out too.
I painted the sides,top and back first. I glued the new baffles and had to use filler to make it all work. So I attached the front baffles and then tapped off them from the sides and painted from there. I'll upload some photos later.
DN

 

[DIY Newbie 2020]

I've finally finished up the restoration of the X-SLS speakers I purchased. I installed new, heavy duty 5-way binding posts and applied satin black enamel paint to fix some of the surface issues that were present when I bought them. I have to re-do and touch up a few paint runs from the enamel I used. These have the air core inductors, SoniCaps and Mills resistors. I'm still impressed with the sound that they're able to produce. Subjectively speaking, I like their sound even more than the Sonus Faber Venere 2.5 speakers which sold for $2,499. The Venere 2.5 speakers are to be sold today. However, not sure if I'll hold onto the X-SLS because of room constraints in my condominium along with focusing my efforts on the rebuild of the McIntosh MC-7270 amplifier. I will keep utilizing the Wharfedale Linton Heritage speakers, with their matching stands as my speakers in the foreseeable future. They just do a lot of things "right" with the music I listen to.

View attachment 89177

Hey wje those are interesting tweeters in the X-SLS pair, are they mark 1 versions Danny sells today as they seem to have a different waveguide.

 

[wje]

Hey wje those are interesting tweeters in the X-SLS pair, are they mark 1 versions Danny sells today as they seem to have a different waveguide.

Yes, they appear to be the same tweeter that is offered by GR Research. I didn't buy the tweeters, but bought the complete speakers, locally. Aside from the crossover work with the Skiing Ninja crossovers, I'm not sure what else was done, but possibly a previous owner opted for the updated tweeter over the standard offering from AV123.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Maybe 15 years ago, I won a pair of the original Onix X-LS speakers in a giveaway drawing by Tone Audio magazine. The speakers had just been released. Shortly after I received them, AV123 (the manufacture at the time) discovered that the tweeters in that batch were out of spec and shipped me free replacement tweeters. I installed them and kept the speakers for a while. I remember thinking they sounded good although the highs were a little recessed. The speakers were a little on the large size for bookshelf speakers, I recall. I ended up giving them away to my brother, I think. It’s a little bit of a haze.

 

[Ashley Salmond]

I can't believe people use solid core wires in speakers with all the vibration going on there.

 

[Ashley Salmond]

I can't believe people use solid core wires in speakers with all the vibration going on there.

 

[77SunsetStrip]

To cause any problem at all with a solid core wire, it must be flexed repeatedly more than +/- 30 degrees. There is no vibration mode in a loudspeaker that can accomplish that amount of flexing. Pure myth.

 

[NTK]

To cause any problem at all with a solid core wire, it must be flexed repeatedly more than +/- 30 degrees. There is no vibration mode in a loudspeaker that can accomplish that amount of flexing. Pure myth.

You seem to know little about fatigue failures.

From figure 5 in this paper, the fatigue limit of OFC at 10^7 cycles is ~900 micro-strain = 0.09%.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/file/index/docid/254042/filename/ajp-jp4199505C747.pdf

That means, with a cyclic "stretch" of 0.09% amplitude, the wire will break in about 10^7 cycles. 10^7 cycles at 100 Hz is 10^5 sec = 27.8 hours. If the wire is pre-stressed, as usually happens when fighting stiff wires to fit into connections, it will last shorter.

Also, a "flex of +/-30 deg" doesn't mean anything. What matters is the bend radius.

The "stretch" at the surface of the wire, given the bend radius "R" and wire diameter "d", can be calculated as follows:

Circumference of circle at the center of wire = 2*pi*R
Circumference of circle at the outer surface of wire = 2*pi*(R + d/2)

Therefore, the ratio is (R + d/2)/R = 1 + d/(2R), and the "stretch ratio" ∆L/L (i.e. strain) is d/(2R).

For a 2 mm diameter wire, and a fatigue strain limit of 0.09%, the minimum bend radius is: 0.0009 = 2 mm /(2 R) → R = 1111 mm (i.e. a minimum bend radius of > 1m).

 

[RickS]

To cause any problem at all with a solid core wire, it must be flexed repeatedly more than +/- 30 degrees. There is no vibration mode in a loudspeaker that can accomplish that amount of flexing. Pure myth.

That is a pretty broad statement...

Are you saying the hard jacket (of the solid core wire) would make no buzz (or other sound), if it was rubbing against the port tube?

For that matter, from personal experience, the solid wire's lack of flexibility does strain connections at every termination point internally. The (likely stranded) wire connecting the speaker to the amplifier is likely much longer than the internal speaker wiring.

GR's case for solid core internal wiring for a speaker seems pretty deeply flawed to me.

 

[77SunsetStrip]

Only about 40 years experience, NTK. The referenced paper and calculations presented have no connection to the vibration modes inside a loudspeaker. One thing you did get right is bend radius. Must be a very small bend radius repeatedly worked at least +/- 30 degrees to fracture a solid wire. There is no vibration mode of any frequency inside a speaker enclosure that can do that.

If a solid core wire, or any wire, is against a port tube and buzzes that is a port tube issue. Poor construction practice is a different issue.

The discussion of wire with regard to personal preference or ease of installation is a valid concern. Stranded wire is easier for the DIY builder. Using solid core wire does require more care. Tradeoff's of that nature are real world considerations. Vibration inside a speaker fracturing a solid core wire is not a real world consideration.