Designing amps and building them is fun. But it would be even more fun if I had something to hook them up to. This is my first attempt as rebuilding my speaker system after the great rift of 2004-2018 (dramatic music in the background). I left off with a set of AER BD2 or BD3 untis in Oris horns, sold off both in moment of complete brainfarting. So first thing I did was look up to see if I could order a pair again. Nearly had a stroke!!!! They cost €3000-4000 each now, completely insane!!!! This would not be an option.
So I said, screw it, as I am more interesting in getting something playing that is 90% of what I want, instead of bending over backwards for the AERs. In the past I've always wanted to experiment with a compression driver and decided the goal of my new speaker system would be a three-way with a bass unit, horn for 300-9kHz and a tweeter on top. This is going to be a ton of work, making cabinets and cross-overs... so what can I make that will have me up an running in a short time? This is when I stumbled upon the TangBand W8-1772, which has the looks of the AER, which kind of sold me on that idea. Not expecting anywhere near the quality, but they should offer something familiar in an affordable package and short build time.
These units will operate at 150Hz and up. For bass I have two options, namely an 8" Hivi unit in a 65l cabinet, sadly at 88dB, and my old bass cabinets with 150Hz fronthorn and onken style BR, fitted with an Altec 515C. So to get playing in a hurry, I only need to make a small 25 liter cabinet for the Tangs, and crossovers for both speakers.
more to follow...