My Zaph ZD3C Center Channel Project

[buggers]

Having built the Natp and MTM Modula if I could do over I would have built all modulas. Of course money comes into play...

[pocho]

buggers wrote:

Having built the Natp and MTM Modula if I could do over I would have built all modulas. Of course money comes into play...

I know it may be all about one's perception or taste in choosing one over the other but could you elaborate why you'd choose to do the Modula's vs. the Nat P's?

[pocho]

Usil: "felt that the balance between the midrange and woofers was not quite right. The woofers were underperforming compared to the mid-range. So I re-read Zaph’s right-up and saw that the woofers are sensitive to the inductor DCR and that the woofer circuit L16 inductor provides variability to the woofers based on its DCR. I had originally used the default 1.5 mh inductor (PE – part 255-426) with a DCR of 0.38 so I looked to see what other inductors were available with a lower DCR. I choose the Jantzen 1.5mh toroidal inductor (PE – 255-804) with a DCR of 0.049. The results were immediately noticeable and very dramatic to my ear and this brought the woofers perfectly into balance with the mid-range."

Well I couldn't wait for my backorder inductor from PE and tested the speaker without the midrange speaker. And YES, the bass is pretty weak but of course my guess is that Mr. Zaph designed the CC to enhance the mid and tweeter sound. hmmmm, that Jantzen 1.5mh toroidal inductor (PE – 255-804) is pretty expensive ~ $50 since I'm in Hawaii. Geez, hopefully everything will sound a whole lot better once the midrange is installed.

[Mario]

pocho wrote:

Well I couldn't wait for my backorder inductor from PE and tested the speaker without the midrange speaker. And YES, the bass is pretty weak but of course my guess is that Mr. Zaph designed the CC to enhance the mid and tweeter sound. hmmmm, that Jantzen 1.5mh toroidal inductor (PE – 255-804) is pretty expensive ~ $50 since I'm in Hawaii. Geez, hopefully everything will sound a whole lot better once the midrange is installed.

I wonder if you can pad down the mid and the twitter (Zaph explains these options on his site) and then equalize the entire CC to bring it back in line with your mains.

[Usil]

I consider what I did as simply tuning in to my 'ear' and what I was hearing. It was not accenting the base but simply normalizing it to the other frequencies. I would suppose that others may follow a diffrent path.

I don't remember the toroidal inductor costing that much but maybe they have had a price increase. I felt that I had gone this far with the project and that this was going to be my center channel forever so I just did what I needed to do to finish the project. DIY provides you with the flexibility to experiment and that is what I did within the constraints of the original project wite-up by the author.

Good luck with your build. Mine still meets all my expectations and has been a joy in my 5.1 system.

Usil

[pocho]

I don't know if I want to pad the tweeter and mid xo's, at the moment I've got my recv'rs CC adjusted to 8/10(of course no midrange driver), with my front/surrounds at normal levels 0/10. If I were to pad the mid/tweeter it'd make no sense as I'd need more power to drive the CC. And the resistor for both circuit is already at 1ohm. I'm a newbie at this but I think I'm missing the midbass of the 2 rs180 drivers, it could be that its a CC design and not much should be expected out of them(and if so, what a waste)

That PE toroidal inductor #255-804 is ~$35 + shipping(~$15) to Hawaii. However I mite try that other inductor option Zaph listed which is PE part# 255-104 that has a DCR of .16ohms which would cost me ~$18 total. At my initial parts order I was thinking of going for that toroidal inductor which now I think I should have gotten as you never know until you got something to compare it to on hand.
I'll wait for my completion of the speaker and a break-in period and see how it goes from there.

thanks guys

[Usil]

I am in no way qualified to comment on cross over redesign. What I did was simply follow the authors notes on making tweeks to the system. I could not design a cross over and even if I could I only have my ear to listen too, as I have no way to fully measure output differences.

My comment was only to note that I thought that the RS-180s seemed to be a little weak in volume compared to the other speakers and not that they were not effectively providing the range the cross over was directing at them.

I use a Onkyo 605 and when I use audessy I set my fronts and center to 80 htz so that anything lower is directed to my sub-woofer. This is the most efficient set-up for me so the center is not even going to get anything below 80 htz which is the lower part of the range for the RS-180 and it still being efficient.

You may ask around and see if there is another way to get what you want. (Use a seperate thread so all will review and comment. Your message here may not get seen by all.

Usil

[pocho]

Usil,
thanks for the response, your explanation of a change to a lower inductor DCR for more rs180 volume is what I may be looking for after my speaker break-in period. My current volume output from them is very very low compared to the other speakers being the reason for my recv'r CC db increase. The rs52 mid driver must be the main driver in the CC design. Since I'm a newbie and not very savy in audio terms it may have been hard for most knowledgable folks to understand what I'm getting at.

I like using your thread if you don't mind. You're always there to give me your 2cents no matter if you're a master of this or not.
edit: at this stage of my build almost completed I may not need theories but someone with actual hands on experience who've tried different components and heard the difference.

[pocho]

I completed my build with your help. Thank you

So far so good