Zaph|Audio

Disclaimer:
All designs on this website are unsupported, and provided without warranty of any kind. No guarantee is made of their performance or suitability for any particular purpose. Use these designs at your own risk. These designs are free for non-commercial use.

Copyright:
All designs, test results and original content posted on these pages are Copyright © 2008 John Krutke, All Rights Reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced in any form without written or email consent from the author.

Q. I'm a complete newbie and I don't know anything about speaker building. Can I ask you some really basic questions?

A. No. Unfortunately, I don't have time to teach Loudspeakers 101. Be aware that all the information a newbie needs is out there. You just have to find it. If you can't find it, you can always ask for help at one of the many DIY forums such as Parts Express Tech Talk or HTguide - Mission Possible DIY. If you ask a question at a forum and nobody helps you, it's probably because the question has been asked 1000 times before, and you haven't searched hard enough for the answer. All forums have search functions, put some effort into using them before asking your question.

Q. I like one of your designs, but I'd like to use a different driver in place of one that you used. Can I do that?

A. No. My designs require specific drivers to work correctly. If you use a different driver, they may not integrate properly and the result is a system that sounds bad. Occasionally, I may know of a tweeter that might work as an alternate and I will list it. But unless I specifically list it, assume the answer is no.

Q. I like one of your designs, but I'd like to build the cabinet a different shape. Will that work?

A. No. The further you stray from the design, the worse the system sounds. The baffle size, shape and driver positioning are major design factors. You may be able to build a floorstanding version of a stand mounted system, provided the width and driver positioning relative to the top and sides is close to the original. In this situation, there will only be about one dB of variation in the frequency response.

Q. I don't have a lot of room, and I'd like to place a speaker right up against the wall. Will your design work in that situation?

A. No, unless the speaker is specifically designed for wall mounting. Doing so on a speaker designed for stand mounting will make it sound muddy and bass heavy.

Q. I built your speaker, followed directions exactly, but I don't like the sound. Why?

A. Because you didn't follow directions exactly. Lots of people build my designs and generally are happy with the results. Occasionally, I hear from someone who is not happy with the sound. When I dig deeper in the quest to help, I often find design changes that DO affect the sound, sometimes drastically.

Q. No really, I built it exactly as recommended and I still don't like the sound.

A. Ok, it is a distinct possibility that you did follow directions but the speakers just don't suit you. Before you build, it's important to do your research to find out if a design really does suit you. Keep in mind that my posted designs are created to impress one person only: Me. My choice of tonal balance, along with other design considerations may not suit everyone.

Q. I just built your design and I know I'm having problems. Can you help me troubleshoot?

A. No. Plain and simple, that's the definition of unsupported. Well, I'd like to help - but there are issues helping anyone who at a minimum can't provide an impedance curve to prove they have the crossover hooked up correctly. It's the number one problem, and without this basic measurement any builder is completely flying blind. Troubleshooting a system without any data other than ears would be an endless quest - one I've been on too many times in the past. To list some problems in the order of commonality:

1. Miswired crossover - test with an impedance curve, and be sure it matches the design.
2. Polarity mixup - test with a response curve or at least listen for holes at the crossover point.
3. Misused in a room - be sure your placement matches designer recommendations.
4. Poor reference of comparison - Listen to something bad long enough and that becomes your standard.
5. Using different driver models - that's like screwing up before you even started.
6. Built the cabinet a different width - at some point, BSC and diffraction ripple mess things up.
7. Poor soldering - clumping globs may not conduct electricity, heat damage happens to caps and resistors.
8. Insufficient damping - results in a ragged midbass with a boxy sound.
9. Surface mounted drivers - cause a ragged lower treble.
10. Drivers out of spec - the only way you'll ever know is by fully measuring them yourself.

Some of these are honest error and some are poor judgement. Some are impossible to detect without measurements. Any number of these (and more) could be happening all at once. I don't want to discourage people, but there's an endless number of ways to screw up a build. It happens more than anyone would think, even to the most careful builders. It gets worse for me at least when a builder immediately assumes something is wrong with the design without any data to back it up.

Q. I built your speakers and I love them! How can I ever thank you?

A. No thanks of any kind are required. I do this because it's fun. I do like to see digital pictures of my designs that people have built. If you post them on a forum, I'll be sure to take a look.

Q. Can you give me some advice on cabinet building?

A. My woodworking skills are not that good. In fact, about 50% of my cabinet building attempts fail in some way. Do you really want my advice? I didn't think so. There are some real woodworking geniuses available on the forums though.

Q. What do you think about expensive botique crossover components?

A. Don't ask me questions on issues where I have a pre-existing bias. Don't ask my opinion on subjects that are common debates on forums, particularly if you've already taken a side. Please see my About Me page.

Q. I am a vendor or for-profit business. Can I quote part of your website?

A. No. Why not? Because inevitably statements are taken out of context and then abused to further profit. For example: "Fountek NeoCD2.0... durable ribbon element... best performance above 4kHz..." does not give the true story about how it performs. You can however link to my website if you want and just say "Zaph Audio tested these".

Q. I am hobbyist with a web page. Can I quote part of your website?

A. Maybe. Look up "Fair Use" on the internet. Note that I'm not afraid to send a lawyer after a web site that has gone beyond fair use.

Q. Can I copy some of your images for my own website?

A. NO. Absolutely not. I retain full intellectual property of all images I create. It breaks my heart to see someone post one of my images and then explain something that isn't there or grotesquely twist an interpetation around in their favor.

Q. Can I mirror your website and translate into a different language?

A. No. I used to allow this, but it turns out that after the translation is done, the person who created it disappears and the page is never kept updated. Then the page becomes old and stagnant in a different language and there's nothing I can do to fix it. I recommend that non-english speaking people use one of the many free online translation services. You might find something here.

Q. Can you send me your driver and project files for one of your SoundEasy projects?

A. No. I "manage" my projects. That means I am also in charge of improvements to these projects. There is nobody more qualified than me to decide which is the best design to post on the web site. By sending project files to others, I open myself up to newbie wannabe designers considering their changes to my projects as "improvements". A person may say "I just want to play around and learn about crossovers." It all starts innocently enough, but then the Padawan learner believes himself a Jedi master and will learn no more, nor will any true master pay any respect to him. So, consider it "creative control" that nobody has access to my projects other than me.

Q. Can you post your measurements in FRD format?

A. No. I don't support the FRD format. Part of the reason is that I don't have time to manage that additional data, but the other reason is related to the above. Newbies doing bad things with good data. The few regretable times I have posted FRD files, I've seen crappy designs come from it that somehow have my name associated with it. For every one person that publishes a good design from my infinite baffle data, there are 4 more who create crap simply because they don't have a good design process. My driver measurements are meant to help designers with a purchasing decision. After you get your drivers, it's best to measure them and use your own data to design with. My advice to newbies: measure, model, listen, and repeat. It's the best learning process, but only when it starts with measuring.

Q. May I comment on a recently posted project?

A. I don't want to slam a door in the face of someone who actually has a question or comment that I might want to hear. The things I want to hear are usually directly related to a recently posted project or test group. With that in mind, there will be a time and place to discuss newly posted projects. The discussion will help correct, update or expand on the newly posted project. From my blog, I will typically link to a discussion on a forum somewhere. The link will remain open anywhere from 1 week to one month, after which the link will be removed and my participation ends. After that I will no longer refer back to the forum post. If this method of accepting feedback becomes abused, (for example, asking a question about the Hi-Vi B3S in a posting regarding a completely different project) then I simply remove the link and end my participation early.