Cheap drivers for Voigt pipes & folded pipes! & cabinet build considerations

[@TheRealPaulRR]

Hi, firstly hoping I have not multiply posted it, so for Hugo and all other interested parties. I have both the 1878's and 532's and purchased them on the basis of the 532's. I have used both in back loaded horns and Voigt pipes as main and surround speakers.The 1878's are much better in the bass and have more grunt, but for me they feel slow and a bit too good natured, but I was using them with Lowther's in a Voigt pipe and Acousta cabinets, So everything appears slow in comparison. But I have just purchased another 532 (£23) to replace the 1878 VP which is the centre speaker. The 532's will need a subwoofer for the bass, whereas you might get away without with the 1878's , but not for me. You really do need to listen as it very much depends upon your preferences. Both the units have fabulous imaging and disappear, neither go very loud though

[@realworldaudio]

Thank you Paul for sharing!

[@patrickgrantham8800]

Janos, the SB Acoustics SB20... is a very underrated speaker, mainly due to the price. But don't let that put you off. Having built many 'normal' speakers over the years, I decided to build a Voigt pipe for the first time and chose this driver at the recommendation of my UK supplier. I ended up building a folded, mass loaded Voigt pipe. The finished result is quite frankly stunning. I did have to use a BSC circuit to tame the mid/top rise, and the finished speaker has been in my listening room for a while now and does sound very very good. If anyone is thinking of building an 8" Voight pipe on a budget, this is the driver to use. I am happy to share the design and BSC circuit.

[@TheRealPaulRR]

Janos, Nigel, I’m in the UK too and have built Voigt pipes straight and folded for Lowther, SB Acoustics ( current in use) and Tang Band 3” drivers in folded Voigt pipes. Wood options are limited in UK. Happy to chat direct. Paul in London

[@hugobloemers4425]

Have you got experience with the Tang Band W3-1878? I am very curious about these speakers but they are too expensive to "just buy". I would be interested in your feed back here in the comments.

[@TheRealPaulRR]

@@hugobloemers4425 I have W3-1878s, three of them were purchased to replace the W3-532’s. So in spec terms everything is much better, more bass more cone travel. When I tried them in both back loaded horns and Voigt pipes, for me were less musical. To me the W3-532’s are more dynamic over a limited range. So are used as rear speakers in my cinema setup. The front centre Voigt pipe is being replaced with a 532 ordered today. When I tried them all as VP or horns imaging was amazing, speakers disappeared both units. But mismatched to the Lowther DX units in Acousta cabinets or Voigt pipe. But everything appears slow compared to a Lowther. So my current system is SB Acoustics 8” full range in Voigt pipes, and the 532’s at the rear. 2A3 PSE powering the main with a REL sub and Yamaha sub , the latter for theatre. You would have to listen to see your preferences.

[@TheRealPaulRR]

Hi, I have both the 1878's and 532's and purchased them on the basis of the 532's. I have used both in back loaded horns and Voigt pipes as main and surround speakers.The 1878's are much better in the bass and have more grunt, but for me they feel slow and a bit too good natured, but I was using them with Lowther's in a Voigt pipe and Acousta cabinets, So everything appears slow in comparison. But I have just purchased another 532 (£23) to replace the 1878 VP which is the centre speaker. The 532's will need a subwoofer for the bass, whereas you might get away without with the 1878's , but not for me. You really do need to listen as it very much depends upon your preferences. Both the units have fabulous imaging and disappear, neither go very loud though @@hugobloemers4425

[@HarpBaldfellow]

My current speakers, a pair of "Frugel Horns", use Mark Audio drivers and sound great using either a transistor amp (Quad Vena Play 2) or my new tube amp based on a modified Mullard 3-3 design. My current thinking for my "soon to be built" folded Voigts was the Mark Audio Alpair 11MS (about £200 a pair incl taxes in the UK). I found the drivers needed much more burning in than suggested by the supplier, a few hundred hours.

[@HarpBaldfellow]

A very timely video for me, as will be the upcoming on the folded pipe...I will be starting my build towards mid June and am currently going through the design and driver selection process. I am in the UK too and will face similar issues to other UK builders in that wood is both expensive and hard to come by in sizes big enough, so I may well be using plywood or laminated pine (i.e. ~4inch lengths glued together to make wider pieces).

[@Tim_MacLellan]

Thank you for your effort. Many interesting tips here. I'm looking at frequenciy response from the Fostex drivers. To me Fostex FE208EZ seem to be the best choise. Much smoother in the treble region. Looking at the rest of the data, is anything working against it?

[@hugobloemers4425]

The FE208EZ is a very good driver. I would be very happy with it.

[@toeknee8481]

question about voight pipes and room size. Do you measure your room wall to wall or speaker position to wall . My room is a bit over 19 foot long but my normal speaker position is about 5 feet from the wall. So if I want so match the speaker height to a quarter wave is my room 19 feet or 14 feet?

[@toeknee8481]

i think i got my answer to the above by watching one of your previous videos on how you set up your room to improve mid bass..it seems the bass will extend to the longest point available. i have a similar room shape and that video also explained to me why one corner of my room had strongest bass as well... I think my best option is to close off the opening to my other room with a thick curtain.

[@TheRealPaulRR]

Has anyone experience of Valchromat to build speaker cabinets.