Hey there everyone... I've been a lurker around here for a long time, but never had the need to post... until now.
To catch everyone up, I've been a Decware Plans owner for about 3-4 years... built the 10 and 12" deathboxes... both still in operation around here. All the Imperial stories have been getting me interested in starting a build.
Admittedly, I've found that Steve makes himself scarse, to post, and it has led to some really stupid suggestions by the end users... IE, trying to cram an Imperial in a car is just stupid, because of the giant wave it makes... standing waves and cancelation would really make a suck-fest. But again, it's fun to suggest things we wouldn't do ourselves and let others be our guinea pigs.
That said...... My name is Bill and I like to build loudspeakers. Like Steve, and others, I'm a musician as well as a comptuer specialist....I have dozens of hobbies... lets just say I'm patient and always curious.
Many of you know of the PA speaker designer Bill Fitzmaurice.... He designed the Tuba Sub series, the DR horns... you get the idea... Anyway, I made a deal similar to what some of us have here with Steve... get the plans for all the speakers for one money.... cool right? I built both the Wedgehorn 10 and the original Wedgehorn... hardly hi-fi, but a very hearable stage monitor... I intend to try the DR horns and the Tuba Subs next....
While having discussions in his forum, I asked about vintage speaker designs... like the Altec VOT, and the Jensen Imperial... Needless to say it's a growing topic. I'm not trying to start a war, but what I read here, and what I read there are total opposites. I'd really like to hear from people who have built the full range imperial.... I want to make Theatre/Auditiorium speakers in the near future...
It's really something to hear all the buzz here... and then hear that the Imperial is a dead horse not worth beating......
Please no wars... I'd like to hear from Steve and other designers. Bill Fitzmaurice has some good designs, but he's been quick to shut down other designs.... on the old forum I remember bringing up death box... I was told "It's better than a normal sealed box, but not even in the same class as Tuba"...... My DB10 (Dayton Quattro loaded) is a very welcome addition to my home stereo... sounds great, and very musical... plus it's an easy build compared to Tuba... I say DB gets props for performance/difficulty if nothing else.
Anyway.... I want to know who's heard the Imperial.... and the Tuba... and the VOT... are the vintage designs really dead animals? Something tells me that Bill F is too quick to dismiss the designs, but there may be some truth in there....
here's our discussion.
http://billfitzmaurice.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=116Let us now commence civil discussion... We're all in this together... we want great sounding speakers right?