Lansche plasma guy Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Hi Andrew. Please port the front, not the rear. All the Ported Tannoys ive seen are ported at the front or in long slits down each side of the front. A 100mm minimum diameter to lessen chuffing noise and making he port length adjustale to dial it in. Ive done just this with two different pairs of 15 inch Tannoys before and both times the sound was transformed. The cabinet is way too small as a closed box and the speakers cant breath. As wonderful as they sound they should be amazing when you port them and get the tuning right. Much more open, alive and clear. A really huge difference. They can be such beautiful speakers and the cabinet will make or kill them. That Radford looks in great nick. Ive heard Daniels a few times before and it was stunning. LPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentient Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 (edited) Will do. Am interested to know why front ported is better than rear? Greater sense of volume? Edited July 1, 2012 by ozmillsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JohnA Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 It took quite some time for the system to come together. But it's really starting to sing now. The Tannoys have a beguiling beauty that is hard to describe. Everything has pro's and con's, but I feel this rig is more musically engaging and involving, than what I was getting before. I like it very much, and find myself getting lost in the music very easily. thats great news mate. I have been listening to lots of speakers of late and its great to hear what each one has to offer. As you say, each one had pros and cons and at the end of the day, the ones that pull you into the music are the ones you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viognier Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Lovely Radford Oz. I spent 6-8 months looking for a clean one when living in the UK recently. Still looking as would love to try one with my Quad ESL57. Well done on an excellent purchase. Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodhi Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Well done Millsy on assembling a very nice system The SGR CX3B's are nice speakers. Most of all, it's great to see your enthusiasm for audio and your rig. Great stuff Cheers, Bodhi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentient Posted July 1, 2012 Author Share Posted July 1, 2012 Thanks for the nice words guys. Well, I got my hands dirty on the Tannoys today. Time to port the sealed cabinets, I took LPG's advise and ported the front, and F me, what an ordeal that was. The details. 1) Take the back off, and have a peak under the skirt to gauge where to drill. This cabinet is interesting, it looks like it was originally made with rear venting (a series of little holes down the back), but at some point in time these vents were sealed up. I ponder for awhile restoring the rear to allow for venting, but decided to stick with porting the front. The back section is in 2 pieces, I removed the lower section which is where I want to port. The back is screwed in, but it was also heavily glued !! I had to chisel it off. :blink: Doesnt look pretty, but here is the lower back revealed after I butchered it. We see some adsorption treatments in there, and good access to the crossover from here which is cool if I want to remove it and upgrade things. It all looks like it was put together in the 60's. I had to remove some of that stuffing, as it was in the way of where the port was going to go. 2) Next the drilling. Well bugger me, I destoyed 2 Ozito drills today, 1 on each speaker. Those cheapy drills made in china are not made to last. The front of these cabinets is freaking thick !! To drill the hole, I had to attack it from both the front and the rear, because my 102mm hole drilling piece was not thick enough to get all the way through. Here is the piece that I drilled out, showing you how thick the b_stard is. My thumb and mobile in frame for scale. Drill #1 was a brand new 750w Ozito that I bought this morning. It busted half way through the first speaker. :angry: So I take it back to Bunnings for a refund and buy the next model up the 1500w Ozito, which looked to be a much heavier duty drill. I completed speaker 1, and here is the cabinet after the hole has been cut out. Drill #2 busted half way through the 2nd speaker, and I havent finished the job. The missus got me onto other work. :mad: So, my system is in limbo until I finish drilling out the 2nd speaker. 3) Fitting the port. Yet to be done. Need to get some, a quick google and I found these (102mm = 4" diameter)...... http://www.djcity.com.au/scp4p http://www.ebay.com....2#ht_2674wt_894 The jaycar port is adjustable in length for tuning, but they dont appear to have the right size. http://www.jaycar.co...w.asp?ID=CX2684 Anyone know of a place in Sydney that stocks ports? (apart from Jaycar) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockandorRoll Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 What hole saw bit did you use? A lot of time the reason you kill the equipment is because you're working it too hard. you would be amazed what a good quality holesaw like a Lenox can do for the job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentient Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 On the 1st drill I started with a cheapy $16 hole saw. When I upgraded to the more powerful drill, I also bought a more expensive hole saw. $140 in total for the holesaw + connector piece. The problem is the thickness, the holesaw can't make it all the way through, and if I move the angle even slightly while drilling, the drill catches and locks. The top chuck piece is held onto the drill shaft by a screw, and it's this screw that has snapped on both drills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tax Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Any progress here millsy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 (edited) That is indeed very thick! Nice to see such construction in a speaker Pity about the drills though... Edited July 10, 2012 by datafone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockandorRoll Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Gotta say, I'm quite shocked that you killed two drills and hole saws. I've given the Ozito gear a bit of a hammering and it still performed alright. Did the holesaws burn out/blunten? You're cutting through some thick wood and double siding it but any decent gear should still perform. I'm guessing heat and overuse killed em Sorry for going on about holesaws, tools are another love of mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentient Posted July 9, 2012 Author Share Posted July 9, 2012 Hey R&R, both holesaws are fine and still usable. But when the 1st $30 drill busted, I figured I better try an up-spec'd holesaw that could drill a deeper hole. Like I said, the holesaw/drill was getting caught and was jamming. I finished the job. At the suggestion of my bunnings store dude, I turned the speed right down, and went gently gently. It took significantly longer, but eventually got through the 2nd hole. I bought some 4" ports off EBay, and they fit perfectly. Amazing, but the ports are snug and tight. I haven't spent any time tuning the ports, I just pushed them all the way in, which ended up about half way into the depth of the cabinet - then played some bass heavy tracks and waited for any chuffing. Nothing. Just loads more bass, not just additional bass, but more musical speedy bass. It's almost like the tannoys were constricted before in a cabinet that was too small for them. It sounds significantly better to my ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Spencer Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Those hole saws, if they are the ones I'm thinking of, are meant for things like plasterboard ie cut outs for downlights etc. Much easier task. Using them on speaker boxes is a PITA, anything good enough for a speaker box means slow going, I hate using those things. Very easy to burn the timber, you have to go very slow, applying light pressure for brief moments at a time or it jams up, you burn timber and also heat up the saw. I prefer to use a router and a jig. I'm guessing that the Tannoy isn't meant for a sealed box and it would probably be rolling off around 100 Hz. A sealed box can typically be half the volume of an appropriate vented box. Make a sealed box too small and you get a high Q peak before roll off. Make it larger than needed and you get even more roll off and a low Q. Ideally for your vented box you want to know the net box volume, port diameter and then you can model it and find the right length, depending on where you want to tune it. It's actually pretty easy with a free program like WinISD if you have the TS parameters for your driver. Your box filling changes things in a vented box. In a sealed box, stuffing the entire box makes the midrange less "boxy." In a vented box, it makes the vent not quite do its job due to internal losses, so you want less, but altering the amount allows for a certain amount of "tuning." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentient Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 Hey Paul, I've removed the main stuffing that was in the road of where the port went, but I'll have a play around with the rest and see what difference it makes. It's now mainly down the bottom of the cabinet, and some up behind the driver, there's an unobstructed view from driver to port ATM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentient Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 Hey guys, I forgot to post a pic of the completed porting job. Here it is...... Still sounding very good. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proftournesol Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 How have the new ports affected the sound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Muon Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 looks good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentient Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 How have the new ports affected the sound? The bass has opened right up, not just in volume but in responsiveness, it's sounding much more natural now. Before the porting it was a bit constricted in the bass, a bit deadish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodhi Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Hey guys, I forgot to post a pic of the completed porting job. Here it is...... Still sounding very good. They big woofers :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazz Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Nice job Oz. I have heard Tannoy's in the past and they may not be intrinsically super accurate as other speakers but for dynamics, listenability and just relaxing to the music they are fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamve Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Hi Andrew, Now the bass is a bit more sorted, try the LCY's. Should focus and balance the bass somewhat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juicester Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 geez don't tell too many people about adding ports to sealed cabinets.... apparently it's a crime! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentient Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 yeah I know. I guess it depends on the drivers. These old tannoys were designed to be used in vented enclosures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentient Posted September 9, 2013 Author Share Posted September 9, 2013 (edited) Time for a quick update to this thread. In the last year I have moved house (again), and have ended up with a larger listening room. My audio journey knows no boundaries, and I have ventured into another format (R2R). My main rig is now very much distinctively vintage, and a friend commented that it looks to be right out of the 70's or 80's. I havent gone out of my way to be vintage, it's just evolved that way. Besides, it kinda suits the decor. Even though there is not much material around, I'm really enjoying the R2R sound. It's got an uncanny beauty about it, that is hard to describe. Like anything, it all hinges on the quality of the recording. Current generation 15ips master tapes are the go. The tape machine required a re-org of the system, and some new shelves. Given this is a temporary location, I resisted the urge to splash on big buck isolation shelves: Edited September 9, 2013 by ozmillsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sentient Posted September 9, 2013 Author Share Posted September 9, 2013 A closer look at the gear; The vinyl rig, * Luxman PD310 with Syrinx PU3 and Denon 103r (in Kingwood body) * Golden Age Audio Stepup * EAR 834P MM Phono 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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