For my new speakers, splendid audio characteristics, excellent looks and a compact size was on my wish list. Effectiveness was another parameter, as they should be driven sufficiently by small Class-A F5 power amps.

The designer of this speaker is Udo Wohlgemuth and I bought the part kit directly from his company ADW. The Eton ER4 ribbon tweeter has a large diaphragm and is known for a detailed and neutral sound.
The Eton 7-375/32 Hex is a woofer/midband driver with a stiff and lightweight sandwich cone made of Nomex honeycomb covered with fibre material.
The Eton drivers are of excellent quality and have a great reputation not only within the DIY community but also amongst high-end manufacturers.

The cabinets are of made of MDF and palisander veneered. The baffles were produced on a CNC-router as this the best way to produce identical parts that are perfectly accurate. Inside the cabinets, thin felt was used for damping all surfaces.

As a modification of the original design, the sides of my speaker are formed by a thin MDF plate and a thick slate plate bonded to it with industrial glue.

My wife accurately cut the slate plates with a big bridge saw in the workshop of a stonemason. Each plate weighs 23.7 kg or 52.25 pounds.

For the crossover I milled circuit boards from copper clad FR4 Epoxy material with 70µm copper layer. The crossovers are mounted on the back side of the aluminum terminal plates.
All internal wiring is Van den Hul cable.

The size of each speaker cabinet is 25.6 x 29 x 105 cm. This converts to 10.1 x 11.4 x 44.4 inches. At 65.6 kg or 144.6 pounds per piece, these speakers are very heavy. I believe the rigid and heavy construction contributes to the really great acoustic characteristics.

Comments

• GA-Audio
• 26 August 2011 at 03:50PM
• Excellent design, excellent craftsmanship, super.