Lenehan Kit Loudspeakers

[evil c]

Need to quote his name to fire him up - @@Lenehan Audio 

 

So how's the 8" two way design progressing too - Mike??

[Guest guru]

thomo, what's your thinking for affordable ? mdf or birch ply ? drivers matched ? paper or hemp ? standard, high efficiency or alnico ?

[THOMO]

thomo, what's your thinking for affordable ? mdf or birch ply ? drivers matched ? paper or hemp ? standard, high efficiency or alnico ?

 

I reckon under $3000 with flat pack birch ply cabinets or under $2000 with no cabinets.

Or cabinets in solid 25mm quarter sawn jarrah.

 

Jon

[Guest guru]

You can buy on line for $2800 US now for the drivers and x-over. Cabinets are $1200 US so $4k. The drivers are the ones outside factory spec for matching and the x-over components are different but you do save $400 over what it costs to buy a factory pair but then you have to add freight for the diy version. 25 mm jarrah will sound so different as to sounding nothing like a factory version so it would just be a weird 8 inch 2 way. Enough of this though ,it's mikes thread and it's his speakers.

[Lenehan Audio]

Hi Lads. Thanks for the continued interest ! I am just chipping to get into this and have an 8 inch two way near completed .

Next up is have these bits CNC cut not just knocked up on our factory table saw and hand routed .

I certainly do have an excellent 8inch mid bass driver that is 95db sensitive , this would produce a superb valve amp speaker .

It's just time at the moment lads ! Bloody time that's holding me up

Regards Mike Lenehan

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[Sparkle]

Still holding my breathe!  

[Lenehan Audio]

You can buy on line for $2800 US now for the drivers and x-over. Cabinets are $1200 US so $4k. The drivers are the ones outside factory spec for matching and the x-over components are different but you do save $400 over what it costs to buy a factory pair but then you have to add freight for the diy version. 25 mm jarrah will sound so different as to sounding nothing like a factory version so it would just be a weird 8 inch 2 way. Enough of this though ,it's mikes thread and it's his speakers.

Hi Guru     right oh mate ! come on which kit are ya talking about  ??? gimme the low down bro , which kit is US$2800    Mike Lenehan

[Gordon Macfarlane]

Hi Guru     right oh mate ! come on which kit are ya talking about  ??? gimme the low down bro , which kit is US$2800    Mike Lenehan

Here you go Mike : http://www.ankaudiokits.com/newSpkr.html

[Lenehan Audio]

Mike,

Yes an Audio note ANE type PLEASE!

The world is screaming out for an affordable high sensitivity valve amp friendly speaker.We have all those ridiculous wizzer coned based speakers  to show as evidence of that!

Hi THOMO

                  ok yes I have an 8inch driver that exhibits 95.5db of half space sensitivity . haven't used it yet but it appears to be a beautiful thing , this doesn't mean though that we can build a two way speaker that is 95.5db sensitive.

 

There's a couple of reasonably simple concepts here but they do need a bit of explaining so hang in if yuzz can !

 

Firstly lets take a look at the AudioNote AN-E and why it was successful !

 

 This loudspeaker appears to be designed with reduced half to full space compensation ! which means it needs to be put close to the wall behind it to sound evenly balanced . Whats happening here is that the designer is using the very wide baffle and the wall close behind the speaker to couple supportive reflections and re reflections . The sound from the speaker drivers themselves and the reflected sound from the wide front baffle and the close wall behind the speaker all go forward to the listener and boost the speakers sensitivity by perhaps 2 to 4db. 

 

Ok Ok  hang on lads it aint all roses ya know ! theres two initial things here that can cause potential problems ! firstly the wide baffle allows the boosting of frequencies down to whats called the step boost frequency .  This is a combination of frequencies calculated from primarily the wavelength at the width of the baffle and also but to a lesser extent the height of the baffle. Now the problem with big baffles is that the energy that reflects forward to lift the sensitivity of the speaker overall is slightly time smeared in respect of the energy coming directly off the drivers themselves ! And Sooooo > Distortion is the result , but BUT !! some people like this distortion , it's generally called the big speaker sound . Where as a mini monitor by virtue of it's small baffle has very little of this type of distortion. 

 

But then some dudes say ! yeah but I like the big speaker sound , I like the weight and harmonic richness . that weight your hearing is DISTORTION I'm afraid , it's like pot ash filler in OMO detergent . 

 

 I'm sure the AN-E designer had extensive knowledge of the compromises he was making. giving a little more time smearing here and getting a little more sensitivity there!! and subjective pleasantry has significant relevance particularly when you are designing to a formula ! that formula including 8watts of single ended 300B power.

 

I'm certainly interested in giving a speaker like this a go and I think I may be able to get perhaps a genuine 92db sensitivity with a very easy 8 ohm load and in fact because most valve amps can simply be switched to the 4 ohm tap I have devised a plan to perhaps get 95db sensitivity with a very easy drivable load (perhaps a maximum of 15degrees capacitive with 6ohms on board )  The baffle though would be very minimal as per my ML1 or ML2 designs , some wall proximity would be required so as long as the rear of the speaker was around 300 to 400mm from the rear wall . Trying to minimise the foreshortening of three dimensional soundstage depth is still the challenge. We shall see !   

                                                           Regards Mike Lenehan

[Upfront]

I'm still keen for a bookshelf kit if its still on the cards Mike

[Sparkle]

Interesting explanation Mike!  Also shows that one really needs to listen carefully to speakers before purchasing as people have different ideas of what god sound is! looking forward to hearing your latest creations!

[vsixtyfour]

Thought I would give this thread a nudge as I'm keen to hear if there has been any progress on the kits as well!

 

Any news Mike?

[Lenehan Audio]

Hi vsixtyfour

I know I keep saying it but it's happening ! Making these kits buildable is a bit of a challenge . I'm sort of wanting them to actually perform and the thing is the drivers are easy , very easy in fact it's the cabinets that might get a bit out there .

Our production speakers are difficult to build and one must be careful what one expects of your ! Average kit builder ! I'm going to include some solid cast iron rod and/or filled copper tubing . I just find it very difficult to listen to or be identified with the blurring sound of cabinet coloration . Anyway lads hang in it just has to be right . Regards Mike Lenehan

[Upfront]

Hi vsixtyfour

I know I keep saying it but it's happening ! Making these kits buildable is a bit of a challenge . I'm sort of wanting them to actually perform and the thing is the drivers are easy , very easy in fact it's the cabinets that might get a bit out there .

Our production speakers are difficult to build and one must be careful what one expects of your ! Average kit builder ! I'm going to include some solid cast iron rod and/or filled copper tubing . I just find it very difficult to listen to or be identified with the blurring sound of cabinet coloration . Anyway lads hang in it just has to be right . Regards Mike Lenehan

What kits are you actually planning Mike? Floorstanding and bookshelf speakers? Just one or the other?

[Gremrock]

Is this kit idea still pushing on? I may know someone interested in the not too distant future... MY extent of diy would be lifting the speakers onto the stands though. ML2's Here i come!

[BRM]

Managed to have a listen to the latest prototype of the stand mount speakers the other day with @Cafad.  Quite impressed with the massive bass and imaging.  It would be interesting to demo them using more familiar source equipment & songs. Definitely interested in a set if the price is right.

[Dean Gale]

Managed to have a listen to the latest prototype of the stand mount speakers the other day with [mention=130663]Cafad[/mention].  Quite impressed with the massive bass and imaging.  It would be interesting to demo them using more familiar source equipment & songs. Definitely interested in a set if the price is right.

What size drivers were used ? Still interested in this but lost track, are any available for sale yet ?

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[vsixtyfour]

Any updates on ETA?

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[Dean Gale]

If you want someone to field test I'd be willing. Detailing it bit , by bit, would be fun. Of course I'd pay for the kit. I have built a center channel of my own design ,which came out pretty well sound wise. .

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[BRM]

At a guess, I'd say it was probably around 6"-ish, maybe smaller?  I think there might be some similarity with the ML1's. However, the front baffle had the angular type front similar to the ML2's, but may change for the final product.

 

Nothing for sale yet, but I think it's not too far away.  Still some minor tweaking to go along with developing the detailed instructions.

[Cafad]

I would have guessed at a 5 or 5.5 inch bass driver.  I don't recall actually asking Mike, we were too busy talking about everything else.

[Dean Gale]

Thanks.

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[bhobba]

Hi Guys

 

Mike is still forging ahead.   I cant reveal more than that even if I wanted to because I don't know much more.  I too have heard late prototypes and they are impressive.

 

I am assured as soon as they are finalized Mike will do a long post.

 

Had a chat to Rawl99 the other day.   When finished may be able to compare to it on his ML1 system which is more along the lines of the equipment it will likely be used with rather than the ultra high end stuff Mike has in his shop.  I personally own a number of bits of gear in that mold like the Aualic mini and Explorer 2 and we both have some heavily upgraded Leak 20's - not braking the bank sort of stuff - but more likely what systems built around this speaker will use.

 

Don't worry I am sure its getting close now.

 

Thanks

Bill 

[sir sanders zingmore]

1 hour ago, bhobba said:

Hi Guys

 

Mike is still forging ahead.   I cant reveal more than that even if I wanted to because I don't know much more.  I too have heard late prototypes and they are impressive.

 

.........

 

Don't worry I am sure its getting close now.

 

Thanks

Bill 

 

 

About 4 to 6 months still??  

 

 

On 04/11/2014 at 9:04 PM, Lenehan Audio said:

Hi Upfront            ok I would roughly estimate 4 to 6months on the 8inch two-way  .    Regards Mike

 

Edited July 16, 2017 by Sir Sanders Zingmore

[Lenehan Audio]

Hi Guys         sorry for the horrifying amount of time this is taking ! yes we fully developed the 8inch twoway and to be honest it was not good enough. an immense amount of time went in and the results were simply not good enough . This is a long story so I wont start it now !! maybe a very interesting thread at a later time .

 

So what is the first Kit speaker ??   it's a 5.5inch twoway similar in size to an ML1, using an SB acoustics 25mm tweeter and a custom made 5.5inch paper cone bass drive .  Its close Lads its close ! and it is definately a max of 3 to six weeks away . 

                   I'll post again tonight when I get home ,     Regards Mike Lenehan