Parts Express DIY C-Note Speaker Review

[xarkkon]

So... this thread inspired me to try this kit...

View attachment 127974

This is my first attempt at speaker building... And...

1) I have no idea how some of you knock this off over a weekend
2) There is never enough sanding
3) Order of operations is not as obvious as one might think
4) Somehow I avoided any redos

I shortened the port as in @Rick Sykora 's thread and added some acousta stuff in the bottom half. Three surfaces inside are covered by textured rubber exercise matt (don't comment, I don't know why I thought that'd be a good idea).

They sound not bad at all, but rapidly A/B'ing them against Revel M22s they are clearly inferior, and at rather loud volumes, with bass heavy music, the ports get farty.

Over all - it was a fun and pleasant experience, and quite possibly I've caught the bug... I've started to eyeball a kit from CSS.

Thanks to this forum for getting me to have a go, and adding a new life experience.

that's a real beautiful build, congrats!

 

[mhardy6647]

They sound not bad at all, but rapidly A/B'ing them against Revel M22s they are clearly inferior...

I would certainly hope so!

 

[eddantes]

I would certainly hope so!

Well... it wasn't the "direction" that I was curious about, rather the "distance" from a known quantity like the M22...

While the "distance" wasn't big, it was easy to discern, even for a quasi-deaf person like me.

 

[ejh2854]

Not sure how I stumbled across this thread, but have been reading it with interest... thanks to all for their commentary!

I built a set of the C-Note MTs shortly after the introduction, and then one of the C-Note centers as they came out. My 2¢: mine are cross-braced and lined with mattress topper, but there's still a notable amount of liveliness to the enclosure itself... Chris P's Sonic Barrier suggestion for damping the enclosure is the route I'd follow if building another set, as there's too much energy escaping through the walls.

Getting ready to refinish the set, haven't tried cutting down the port length (yet) but have dithered with adding denim stuffing... to my ears that seems to be going in the wrong direction, will putz with Acousta-Stuf next and throw a mic on them.

For the cost though, I don't see how anyone can have a serious grumble with these... on stands and out in the room a bit, they're a credit to their designer

.

 

[datrumole]

Not sure how I stumbled across this thread, but have been reading it with interest... thanks to all for their commentary!

I built a set of the C-Note MTs shortly after the introduction, and then one of the C-Note centers as they came out. My 2¢: mine are cross-braced and lined with mattress topper, but there's still a notable amount of liveliness to the enclosure itself... Chris P's Sonic Barrier suggestion for damping the enclosure is the route I'd follow if building another set, as there's too much energy escaping through the walls.

Getting ready to refinish the set, haven't tried cutting down the port length (yet) but have dithered with adding denim stuffing... to my ears that seems to be going in the wrong direction, will putz with Acousta-Stuf next and throw a mic on them.

For the cost though, I don't see how anyone can have a serious grumble with these... on stands and out in the room a bit, they're a credit to their designer

.

worth noting, i built a pair for myself and a pair for a friend, and had ran out of topper to line with on his. so i quickly threw them together before i ran out to buy more topper and see if it made a difference

grabbed a ton of measurements with umik and rew, and not a lick of noticeable/meaningful differences. i dont have the charts anymore, but couldnt have been more than +/- 0.2db in any one direction across teh spectrum

the only thing i would suggest for simplicity if you truly felt it needed to quiet the enclosure down, would be some vertical dowels to stiffen up the long panels

 

[ejh2854]

Thanks, and not surprised to hear that the topper made a negligible difference in your measurements.

The XOs in the MTs are on the enclosure inside/bottom, so adding vertical bracing is probably a non-starter at this point- I'll have a deeper look while everything is apart for refinish. For the center I added a little stiffening to the short axis:

....but it is what it is, at this point and I am on to other projects.

Ed

.

 

[rhenry74]

This was my first DIY speaker. I think they sound great. I chronicled my build experience here:

Thanks to this forum for all the great information.

 

[kfirsolomon]

Hello experts. Noob here.
I'm disappointed with mine since they lack bass depth and punch.
Using uncalibrated mic I got SPLs that confirm what I'm hearing.
They roll off at 200hz. Barely audible at 50hz.
I'm comparing these to my current 90's JVC mini stereo SP-S20BK and even these sound better (bass wise).
Even my puny little JBL Flip 5 sounds deeper sometimes. (See flat SPL with sharp drop off at 60hz but flat above that).

I'm using optical into Schiit Modi 3+ --> Aiyima A07 --> speakers.
No grills.
0.22 additional caps L2.
No serious stuffing or damping.

I tried the following but I saw (and heard) little to no difference:
Put speakers close to the back wall
Pull speakers 12" away from the back wall
Toe in, toe out
Sock in port
4" or 7" port (without socks

The speakers are placed at the edges of a 6.5 feet wooden cabinet (TV console).
They are used as 2.0 in my living room (24x18x8 feet approx).

Any advice?
What am I missing? Where is the C-Notes magic?!

 

[Colonel7]

Hello experts. Noob here.
I'm disappointed with mine since they lack bass depth and punch.
Using uncalibrated mic I got SPLs that confirm what I'm hearing.
They roll off at 200hz. Barely audible at 50hz.
I'm comparing these to my current 90's JVC mini stereo SP-S20BK and even these sound better (bass wise).
Even my puny little JBL Flip 5 sounds deeper sometimes. (See flat SPL with sharp drop off at 60hz but flat above that).

I'm using optical into Schiit Modi 3+ --> Aiyima A07 --> speakers.
No grills.
0.22 additional caps L2.
No serious stuffing or damping.

I tried the following but I saw (and heard) little to no difference:
Put speakers close to the back wall
Pull speakers 12" away from the back wall
Toe in, toe out
Sock in port
4" or 7" port (without socks

The speakers are placed at the edges of a 6.5 feet wooden cabinet (TV console).
They are used as 2.0 in my living room (18x12x8 feet approx).

Any advice?
What am I missing? Where is the C-Notes magic?!

That is a very large room for ~5" woofers. How far away are you when listening? C-notes are best when used nearfield or in a very small room. And like all 5" , you need a sub for best sound quality ( some would even say satisfactory SQ).

 

[kfirsolomon]

That is a very large room for ~5" woofers. How far away are you when listening? C-notes are best when used nearfield or in a very small room. And like all 5" , you need a sub for best sound quality ( some would even say satisfactory SQ).

Apparently I got my room measurements wrong (switching meters to feet).
The room is actually 24x18x8 feet (edited original post to correct dimensions) and I'm sitting about 8 feet from the speakers.

Even if the room is too large for them, I'd expect the SPL to be similar to the one everyone else got... And these to be better (lower) than tiny portable JBLs...

 

[sychan]

From everything I read, the C-Notes should sound pretty solid over most of that 50hz-200hz range. Are you sure the crossovers are built properly, and that they are connected to the drivers using the right polarity, etc...? I think I saw a thread where someone had put the crossover inductors on the same plane, and it affected the midrange badly, so there are all kinds of ways that the crossover might be off.

You might want to try the Parts Express Tech Talk forum:

Tech Talk Audio Forum - Techtalk Speaker Building, Audio, Video Discussion Forum

Want opinions about your speaker cabinet design or audio related challenge? Post questions or comments on our Technical Discussion Board, Audio Forum. Hundreds of technicians, engineers, and hobbyists nationwide read and discuss electronics related challenges each week. We welcome your...

techtalk.parts-express.com

 

[kfirsolomon]

From everything I read, the C-Notes should sound pretty solid over most of that 50hz-200hz range. Are you sure the crossovers are built properly, and that they are connected to the drivers using the right polarity, etc...? I think I saw a thread where someone had put the crossover inductors on the same plane, and it affected the midrange badly, so there are all kinds of ways that the crossover might be off.

You might want to try the Parts Express Tech Talk forum:

Tech Talk Audio Forum - Techtalk Speaker Building, Audio, Video Discussion Forum

Want opinions about your speaker cabinet design or audio related challenge? Post questions or comments on our Technical Discussion Board, Audio Forum. Hundreds of technicians, engineers, and hobbyists nationwide read and discuss electronics related challenges each week. We welcome your...

techtalk.parts-express.com

I know, thats why I am so disappointed.
I'm certain I kept the inductors on perpendicular planes, and made sure to get the polarity right. The only thing I'm less certain about is the way I attached the extra capacitor over L2 (is there a way to do this wrong?!).

I'll ask over on Parts Express Tech Talk too...
Still, if anyone else had a similar issue with these (or with other speakers) and found a solution, I'll be glad to know!

 

[pseudoid]

Over all - it was a fun and pleasant experience, and quite possibly I've caught the bug... I've started to eyeball a kit from CSS.

Although I may have the patience to do a DIY set of bookshelf speakers, I am scared to go down that bottomless pit you refer to as "caught the bug". Updates and upgrades belong in the software realm for me >> I keep reading that most DIY speakers "can" always sound better w/a tweak here and a change there...

 

[eddantes]

I know, thats why I am so disappointed.
I'm certain I kept the inductors on perpendicular planes, and made sure to get the polarity right. The only thing I'm less certain about is the way I attached the extra capacitor over L2 (is there a way to do this wrong?!).

I'll ask over on Parts Express Tech Talk too...
Still, if anyone else had a similar issue with these (or with other speakers) and found a solution, I'll be glad to know!

I bet you wired the xover wrong.

As for inductors on the same plane - sheesh, I dunno, it might be audible... but boy... I do doubt it. Here's my "slaped it together" job on my xovers. I just followed the diagram and used some old exercise mat to make it easier to glue into the bottom of the speaker.

It ain't no art, and I bet my C-notes sound like all the other ones. So long as the circuit is competed correctly and you aren;t grounding out somewhere - it should work OK.

But then again - I aint no technician.

 

[kfirsolomon]

I bet you wired the xover wrong.

As for inductors on the same plane - sheesh, I dunno, it might be audible... but boy... I do doubt it. Here's my "slaped it together" job on my xovers. I just followed the diagram and used some old exercise mat to make it easier to glue into the bottom of the speaker.

View attachment 164979

It ain't no art, and I bet my C-notes sound like all the other ones. So long as the circuit is competed correctly and you aren;t grounding out somewhere - it should work OK.

But then again - I aint no technician.

Seems simple enough.
Again, unless I got the 0.22 cap wrong?
Maybe I'll remove it and re-test...

 

[Doodski]

Seems simple enough.
Again, unless I got the 0.22 cap wrong?
Maybe I'll remove it and re-test...

I'm curious why you don't use one of these prototype PCBs for the Xover?

 

[eddantes]

I'm curious why you don't use one of these prototype PCBs for the Xover?

I definetly will next time around... This time, I just followed the instructions. PCBs like this should def make it easier.

 

[sychan]

I'm curious why you don't use one of these prototype PCBs for the Xover?

You could just get the C-Note specific board from Matt Grant:

Pair of Crossover PCBs for the C-Note / C-Sharp DIY speaker kit - PCB Board Kit | eBay

2x Crossover PCBs for the C-Note / C-Sharp speaker kit. -- Updated v1.1 Boards now feature position for the optional notch filter modification using a 0.22uF cap to reduce output at the woofer cone breakup.

www.ebay.com

 

[eddantes]

You could just get the C-Note specific board from Matt Grant:

Pair of Crossover PCBs for the C-Note / C-Sharp DIY speaker kit - PCB Board Kit | eBay

2x Crossover PCBs for the C-Note / C-Sharp speaker kit. -- Updated v1.1 Boards now feature position for the optional notch filter modification using a 0.22uF cap to reduce output at the woofer cone breakup.

www.ebay.com

Ok ... where were you when this thread was fresh and I was ordering the kit?!

 

[sychan]

Ok ... where were you when this thread was fresh and I was ordering the kit?!

Its not too late to redo the crossover, since it seems to be a little dodgy anyway.