Bottlehead Forum
Bottlehead Kits => Jaeger Speaker => Topic started by: oguinn on April 03, 2020, 06:18:30 AM
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I wanted to share a few notes as I progress through the build so future builders can benefit.
- The inductor leads on mine were a bit short. Where I needed to, I soldered wire to the lead ends to make them fit.
- I used a QuadHands workstation and that helped me keep the wires somewhat organized. You’re going to need something since you end up with a lot of long, thin wires.
- The packing on the kit was really, really nice. The boxes obviously went through some hell getting here but everything arrived in great condition. Kudos to the team on that.
- The dry fit is so, so critical. Even after I thought I worked out the kinks, though, some things shifted somehow when I added glue. I was frantically scrambling to “persuade†pieces into place. A rubber mallet was super helpful.
- I bought a large moving blanket and used that as my assembly area. That seems to have worked just fine
- I’d also recommend assembling where the speakers will live. The 150 pound shipping weight isn’t a lie, and hauling these things up the steps once completed would be a big ordeal
Really looking forward to finishing these over the next week or so. I’ll post more notes as I have them.
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Second cabinet done. And like most things you do twice, the second time was much easier. The thing I tried this time that really made my life easier was to not lock the cams until everything was in place. It was a little tougher to reach, but I was able to move much faster and not have issues where the pieces weren't as easy to move into position.
I also used a lot more glue.
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Picture of the glued-up cabinets and my exhausted helper.
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Nice! Your friend looks dog tired from helping assemble them.
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Great tips, Jameson. The two things I'll offer about the glue are 1) wiping up any glue that squeezes out of the joint onto the outside of the cabinet with a damp cloth before it dries is helpful and 2) running another bead onto the insides of the joints once the original glue is dry can help to assure the cabinet is air-tight. You don't want air leaking out (or in) anywhere except the ports.
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There do seem to be some small gaps between the face and the rest of the cabinet, so I do plan to add even more glue in there (somehow - that’s a tight fit!)
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I put a dab of glue on the tip of my finger and just run it along the inside seam wherever I can't apply it right from the bottle, like along the front panel seams up by the tweeter.
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If you want an excuse to buy more tools (which I usually do), there are syringes that work really well for this. You can even use a shop vac and pieces of cardboard over the holes in the cabinet to pressurize the interior with negative pressure so the glue gets sucked into the cracks.
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Good call, I just picked up some syringes. Our shop vac is at my parents’ house across the state so I might have to skip that one, unfortunately.
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Quick question - the cotton insulation I received doesn't match the measurements in the manual. I ended up with a 29" overall instead of 32". I have two 8" square pieces, two 8"x12" pieces, and a remaining piece that will be two 8"x9" pieces. Is that alright? Any preference on where the 8"x9" pieces go if so?
I’m currently putting one behind each tweeter
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Pull on it a little. The stuff gets scrunched up in the packaging and needs to be stretched out a bit. There should be a piece wedged in the top of the cabinet above the port, and a similar one at the bottom of the cabinet under the bottom port. Make all four of those about the same size. If you can't stretch them out a little make them all 8 x 10.5. The third piece in each cabinet goes behind the upper woofer, not behind the tweeter. Use the 8" square for that. Don't worry about exact measurements, just put the same sized piece in each position in the two cabinets.
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Thanks, Doc. All finished!
I've got the Stereomour II on tweeter duty for now. I think I like it better this way. It seems like the highs are more detailed (I heard parts in Talking Heads' Slippery People that I'd never heard before, and that's my test track for any new piece of equipment), and the bass feels more weighty. It's entirely too early to tell for sure.
Overall I'm very pleased with the sound. I'm not over the moon with the finishing job I did, but that's on me.
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The collection is growing!
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I think it's done growing for a bit. We have a baby on the way, and I feel like the little guy plus the new house will put a significant crimp on my freewheeling audio spending.
I still have that Mainline in the closet, though...
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Congrats! I like the look. Looks like with a little more clear finish they will match up nicely with the rest of the gear.
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This isn't typically a question I'd ask since it's probably subjective, but do you think I'd be better served with the speakers on the same wall? Right now the listening spot will be equidistant from the speakers in straight lines from the drivers, but I'm considering putting everything on the same wall and having a more conventional setup.
The reason I'm asking is two-fold: 1) It's a ton of rearranging to accomplish that setup, 2) I'd probably have to move the Stereomour into one of those cubbies, which has room for it but I'm not sure how the amp would fare with more limited airflow.
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It's pretty hard to say without actually seeing the room. Symmetry always helps in a setup, so if the setup along the wall sets the speakers up more symmetrically in relation to the room dimensions it might sound better. You really have to try it and see, though room modeling software can give you a rough idea of any major issues with resonance.
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Yeah, I was afraid of that answer. It’s a funky shaped room, and Room EQ Wizard doesn’t have a good model to fit it.
I will say this, though: as positioned right now these things are insanely holographic. If you blindfolded me without seeing the setup in advance I’d 100% think there was a center channel.
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Can you post a rough floor plan, or better yet maybe post a 360 image of the room somewhere?
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Yeah, let me see what I can do.
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Okay, here's a rough floor plan. As you can see it's an oddly shaped room. The little cove the speakers (in gold), Kallax shelves with amps (in blue), and armchair (in green) are in is 10' wide by 7'3" long.
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Of course I'm not sure how this would work relative to traffic flow and the other things in the room, but my initial thought is put the Kallax shelves on each side wall of the alcove, put the jagers in each corner of the alcove (set in a bit from the corners in order to be clear of the shelves) and center your chair in the opening of the alcove. That would be the most symmetrical setup, which would help with any image shift you might be experiencing at various frequencies. The odd cutaway of one wall might make an awkward arrangement with the Kallax unit in front of it, but that layout is my best guess based upon the drawing.
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I'll give that a shot when I have another book case I can put in the middle. The current issue with that layout, which of course you had no way of knowing, is that the only power outlet is in the center of that middle wall and both surfaces have amps on them currently. Thinking out loud: I'd need to have a cord long enough to supply power to both shelves and/or provide enough space in a skinnier center cabinet for the amps to sit.
Question for you - the individual shelves are about 13" by 13". There's physically enough room for the Stereomour II, the BeePre, the Mainline, and the Eros in the cubbies. Is there enough space, though, for those amps not to overheat if they're closed in on the top, bottom, left, and right sides?
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I just wanted to take a second and share some impressions.
First, let me say that I think I’m done upgrading the major parts of my system for a bit now. The Jägers have made a material difference in the sound. The detail and realism are stunning. There are new parts in old songs, and after moving my room around a bit I’m getting a beautiful holographic sound like I’ve never experienced.
The low end, I think, is great, but it won’t satisfy people who are bassheads. Maybe that’s not fair since I had a separate sub previously and leaned on it pretty heavily. I don’t miss the sub, though, since the low end I’m getting is probably closer to what it should be now. Maybe I’ll throw a sub in the mix as a test if someone around here has one to loan. But maybe I won’t, because I like the sound and I’m lazy.
I currently can’t tell a difference between powering the tweeter with the Stereomour and the woofers with the Kaiju instead of running everything with the Kaiju. When I get my cables back from Bluejeans (having them reterminated since I couldn’t for the life of me get the spade terminals they use to make a solid connection with either the Jägers or the Stereomour), I’ll test again. I’d love to have a good use for the Stereomour but won’t miss having to turn yet another amp on.
Anyway, the takeaway for me is that I love these speakers. I’m glad I bought them and I wish I was better at staining the cabinets (or maybe just more patient), but god help me if I ever have to move out of this third story office space.
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One thing you can try on the speakers is toning lacquer. It can help to even out the high contrast in the grain, which is usually what people dislike about dark stain on birch cabinetry. I used to mix my own and use it a lot on antique radio restorations where it was often used to make the milled edges that were usually poplar blend into the walnut and other veneers that were on top of the cabinets panels. This vid has a pretty good example of what it does -
https://youtu.be/XL_58_22SEA
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Oh interesting. I’ll check that out. Thanks, Doc. I hope you recover soon!
One more note: because of the shape of my room and where I sit relative to the speakers, the position of the cabinets matter a lot. For weeks I thought I was starting to go deaf in my right ear (more than I am already from a childhood injury) but I toed the right cabinet out a couple inches and the entire image shifted to the middle.
These revelations are probably obvious for most people, but this is my first set of really nice speakers where things like this matter.
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Jameson,
You still have your X2, don’t you? Remember, when you cross your sub(s) actively, you are adding more than just extended low end. You are relieving the mains of producing the lowest frequencies, thereby reducing distortion, eliminating duplication of frequencies and creating significant headroom. By crossing subs actively, you are improving both the bottom end and the top end.
Jamie
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Doc, thanks for that video - very helpful and timely! I was literally just about to stain some birch ply for a worktable top and now will try the approach in the video to hopefully get a better result. Fortunately, the first stage materials (pre-stain and gel stain) were available at my neighborhood Lowe's; I may order some toning (toner?) lacquer if I can't find it locally (unlikely, since the usual suspects for more niche woodworking products are not 'essential' under the current lockdown).
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Mohawk is one of the more well known toning lacquers. If you can't Amazon it try someone who deals with guitar building like Stewmac.
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Great looking speakers! Thanks for posting the tips too as I am glueing up my front baffles and have a seam too.