“Super WB4” Assembled, broken-in, not finished

Neil Blanchard Designs Super WB4 -- Unfinished

All my projects seem unfinished, but in this case, the speakers are completed, just unfinished. Will they be on my desk?  Will they be in the TigerFox 360? 

The WB4 is a DIY mass-loaded transmission line speaker that uses a full-range driver.  The standard model uses a Sounderlink driver that needs a baffle step filter.  I have built a version using a Tang Band W4-1879 driver, which is much more expensive. So far, there is no need for the filter; the driver is directly wired to the amplifier.  The Tang Band handles a little more power at 25 watts and is 8 ohms.

After a few weeks of listening and a long dance with a system to drive them, the “project” seems finished.  All the gear is tucked away in my Victrola cabinet, with the speakers resting on a pair of 19-inch three-post Sound Anchor stands.

This design is part of a trend that I’ve been following. I did not just construct my speakers; I designed a complete system for them.  I will be doing the same for the Neil Blanchard Designs 4t4 speakers very soon.

  

The stereo includes one source: a Pi2Design Mercury 3 streamer.  The sources deliver digital signals to a Geshelli JNOG2S AKM4499 DAC that has Sparkos 2590 Pro discrete op-amps in the unbalanced signal path. Amplification is done with a PJ. MIAOLAI A7 Integrated. The A7 utilizes a TI TPA3116 chip amp, capable of delivering up to 30 WPC into 8 ohms, paired with a 6N3 tube in the preamp.

One of the key aspects of the design is that all components operate at 12V DC.  The “power supply” consists of a 12V 55AH SLA battery and a commercial charger. The charger is manually disconnected while listening.

The cabling is simple.  One Toslink cable for the sources, one 3.5mm-to-RCA interconnect cable, and speaker cables.  Finally, there are four DC power cables made from Audioquest Rocket 22 speaker cable, a nice 15 AWG all-copper stranded cable.

Next time some listening expereiences.

Neil Blanchard "Super"WB4 assembly

Neil cuts the cabinet parts out using a CNC router system and ships the parts in a nice, safe box.

Before assembling the cabinets, I dry fit them to ensure a proper fit.

Assembling the flatpack is straightforward, but you will need clamps.  A friend of mine is a cabinet maker, and he has the tools.  This project focuses on using as little glue as possible.  

The first one was slow, but all went well.

The second one was a bit faster, as we both learned a bit more

We left each speaker clamped up for an hour, and I waited a few days to mount the driver and cut a hole for mounting binding posts.  You can watch this at 2x if you like!

For the next speaker I build, I will put the inserts on the inside the other way around before assembling the cabinet.  (Long Story)

Since there is no crossover, the wiring is bog-simple.  I am using 14awg wire from Reality Cables to connect the driver to the binding posts.  Over time, I have three or four binding posts to try.

The next step is to weigh the proper amount of polyfil and add it to the front end of the transmission line behind the driver.

Mounting the driver is easy: push on the connectors and screw the driver down to the cabinet.

A quick setup and listening check!

And the break-in period starts.  Face the speakers towards each other, swapping one so it is out of phase to help cancel the sound.  Play your favorite test disk for AT LEAST 300 hours

NOTE

I am sure you have noticed that I have not finished the cabinets.   I do not know which location in the house I will be using these in, and that decision will dictate the finish.  These may go on the road with me for demo and training!