Speaker - Ellam XT

These speakers are my first pair of DIY. For starters they will probably end up replacing my Linn Keilidh speakers... ehhh... have replaced. And in time end up as rear speakers in a surround setup. The speakers are a replica of Ellam - XT designed by Troels Gravesen or as close as I could get. I hope that my experiences in building these speakers may be of help to others wanting to build their own.

This page will continue to be updated as the project is a work in progress!!

So far both speakers are "finished" and are playing.


Figure 1: Picture of the speaker so far
The speaker stands are Audio Magic Genta 70 cm, giving a tweeter height of 97 cm.

The drivers:
The drivers are as follows:

  • 2 x Scan Speak 15W/8530K00 (Revelator series)
  • 2 x Vifa XT25TG30-04
    For further info about the drivers see www.tymphany.com

    Cabinet:
    The cabinets are made of a 19 mm MDF plate and with a bit of care it is possible to make the cabinets from one peace of 80 x 120 cm MDF plate.

    Drawings of the front and back plate. Also see the pdf for a description and drawings of the cabinet

    Pictures of the cabinet:

    Figure 2: Cabinets with bitumen pads

    Figure 3: The other cabinet with bitumen pads, felt and a bass port Di45x150mm

    Figure 4: Bass port exit, fillet r12.6 mm

    Figure 5: Reenforced frontplate

    Crossover:
    The crossover is the one that was designed for Ellam XT by Troels.

    Figure 6: The Crossover

    Measurements:
    The measurement were performed outside, at 1.8m height, at 1m distance, tweeter height
    Double gate were used, 6.25ms. (limeted by the first reflection)

    Figure 6: Response. Measured outside with a quality B&K microphone

    Sound:
    For now I am quite pleased and I'll probable have to listen some more ;-)
    Some keywords that comes to my mind are smooth, detailed, good perspective and good bass extension (for such a small speaker) It goes a bit deeper than my Linn Keilidh* speakers, which are specified as -3db@50Hz. The speaker is in no way directional
    In my ears it does a lot of things what a good loudspeaker should do!

    *) The Linn Kielidth is a floor stander, which 1999 were sold at approximately 1600€. It is a 2 way d'Appolito construction. For further info see www.linn.co.uk/