Danley DTS-10 "Super Spud" DIY kit - Page 165

The photos I posted were of the showroom.

Mine is up and running! Finished the build a few hours ago. Long story....just don't feel like typing right now.

not too impressed?

You're the fella with the Mackie's right? If so, not being local to Atlanta, I'd be interested in your impressions if you go to Danley's showroom.

bet he's tired from all the heavy lifting.

I did not read all 165 pages of this thread, sorry Could you tell me around which date you posted the pics so i can find the post?

ETA: Found it! Dang, i wish i had found this thread sooner, i might have been able to join you guys for the visit Thanks for the write-up!


Congrats


Not sure about "the" fella But yes, i do have Mackies for my front stage. As for my impressions - i'd be happy to try to convey them, just don't read too much into them, since i do not consider myself much of an expert

Oh, he's impressed alright---I can attest to that! It's just that he has several irons in the fire at the moment. He'll be reporting as soon as he gets time.

For my part, I was very impressed with the DTS-10! It produced deep and powerful bass that interfaced extremely well with Tony's front three speakers (Klipsch). I thought the audio dynamics of his system, already very good, were brought to an amazing new level---on music as well as film soundtracks.

We didn't get to play with it as long as we had hoped today (other matters intervened). However, I can say already that this subwoofer, being sold as a kit for under one grand, has to be a major bargain for the performance it can deliver in a home theater. My overall impression was that the DTS-10 can make even a good audio system sound far more robust and dynamic than ever before.

I am strongly considering the purchase of a DTS-10 or another Danley sub for my HT room. From my perspective, there were a few stressful moments in assembling the kit, but perseverence won the day and we worked through the difficulties encountered. (Tony is much more experienced at building, so I'll defer to his description of the relatively few problems we had, if he deems it worth mentioning.) Suffice to say that after finishing the assembly and listening to the DTS-10 perform, the whole process left us both with smiles on our mugs.

Brandon, I know an innocent young pole dancer at a club about 60 miles from town. We could visit her at work and take measurements. I mean with an SPL meter and not the dancer's anatomy.

The other measurements would be more fun, until the wife found out. What did you replace the Klipsch with?

It's done !

Words really don't do justice to the experience. Thank You Tom Danley.

Just be sure and call and make an appointment before you come.

You are welcome to bring any loudspeaker you want to compare it side by side. That is usually quite eye opening.

That is awesome.

Dance clubs are usually quite a bit louder than strip clubs. I think it is the later that she is interested in.

Just be careful not to permanently damage your daughters or others hearing.

Yes it is a real problem! It may be "fun", but they will pay the price later.

If you are using a home system for that type of thing-pay close attention to how hot your amps run. If they are not pro type units-they are not made for that sort of thing and you could damage them if you are not careful.

When did you get the La Scalas and what did you do with the Paradigm Monitor 9's?

Okay, finally got a minute around here....geez, doesn't the rest of the world know to leave a guy alone to his toys!

The build was fairly easy up until the point that we had to put the final side on. I anticipated from the beginning that it might cause some trouble and it did. There's a half dozen or more dados that all have to line up properly, and it just wasn't happening. So with PL Premium all over the place, Tom and I wrestled with this one piece for nearly an hour. Finally, out of frustration I stood up on the box and it snapped down into place. This cabinet is about the strongest wooden structure I've seen. Built like a tank. Construction was, overall, a rewarding experience.

Finished the cabinet around noon today and then took out the Behringer EP4000. Figured out how to configure it to bridged mono and turned everything on. I could immediately tell that the "tone" of the test tones was different than it had been with my old Velodyne (which by the way, that trusty sub gave me 15 years of reliable thumping ). This tone continued to be evident in all the following demos.

The first two demos were "This is It" and "Star Trek" (the latest one). It took all of 10 seconds to realize that the mid base was much improved. Even in the opening dialog scenes, voices were fuller. I had never taken measurements in my room, but I'm guessing there was a frequency gap between the Velo and the KL650's. Instantly, it was more seamless. My visit to Danley got me more excited about the SH50's, and having the DTS-10 in my room was initially showing itself most in my mains...not the sub at all. Maybe this is the ultimate compliment in that the sub was playing a supporting role better than the old sub? I think so.

In the mid base range, It was really thumping! In your chest thumping. While playing "Star Trek" (which we also demo'd in Mike's personal theater) Tom and I just looked at each other grinning! It really gave the impression of an improved system all across the board....from dynamics, to frequency balance and range. I was very proud of the direction I'm heading acoustically!

Later that evening I got a chance to play a bit more. I used "Lord of the Rings" and did the "Moria" chapter. Does anyone know what frequencies that lowest thump is after the armor is knocked down the well? It was lower than anything I'd heard in the room before. Sort of "grab hold of all the air in the room" low.

Few comments on improvements that I need to work on:

My mid base is much harder hitting than the lowest stuff. Maybe an eq is in order?
The room has a bit more of a "tub" tone. You can see on my construction thread that it's an unfinished room. Maybe the higher SPL's are making it more obvious that I need the carpet and more linacoustic (base traps) to tame things?

Another observation (and I commented on it at the Danley showroom as well) is that the system as a whole is more impactful even at the lower SPL's. It's changed my mental calibration of what "loud" is. Averages of around 90db sound much louder now than the same measurements did prior to the Danley. I suppose it's the capability of more dynamic peaks that causes this?

In contradiction to the above comment, I can listen with the processor volume up higher than before. Volume settings at +5db sound effortless.

Giving you my "raw" thoughts....any comments are welcomed.

Maybe some of you bass enthusiasts can help me with a placement question.

If you want to place the DTS-10 in or near a corner, does it matter that one choice for corner placement is a meeting of two outside walls, while the other corner is formed by an exterior wall meeting an interior wall of the theater that also acts as the border between the HT and an adjacent room?

In other words, is there any reason to expect better sub response by placing it near one of the corners described as opposed to the other?

I'm not even sure there is an issue here at all, but before moving this 290 pounder, it would be nice to find out if others have had such issues---the fewer moves the better. So,any experience or thoughts you can bring to bear on the question would be appreciated.

Great looking sub and room.

Just thought I'd let you know that ML recommends keeping the area around the panel on the center channel clear since it's dipole. By placing the TV on the wall you'll likely improve the sound from the center.

What mains are those?

Mike, I already had LSA's for about a year. I set up the Klipsch the night before the buyer drove up from Atlanta so he could get a demo when he arrived. I almost called and cancelled the sale. Even my wife who seldom comments hated to see them go.
I am really wanting to hear your JTR's.

It might be easier to rotate the furnishings than the room.

"The build was fairly easy up until the point that we had to put the final side on."

Same here.

In anticipation of that, I had used a 1/8" roundover bit on all of the edges of the internal 15" wide panels that would be in the dados, but hadn't thought of the outer narrow panels as belonging to the same "family".

I'd recommend the roundovers as SOP.

Besides making it easier, even if you can get it together by forcing it, there's a chance that doing so will break off splinters that will get jammed in the gap.

i recently put together 2 kits and one final panel came together with no issue at all and on the other sub I assembled a few days later that last panel was a b*tch to say the least. Lots of stomping and hitting with a rubber mallet before it finally went in place. I was starting to freak a little that the PL glue was gonna start hardening it took me so long

[quote=tony123;18259943]
Few comments on improvements that I need to work on:

My mid base is much harder hitting than the lowest stuff. Maybe an eq is in order?
The room has a bit more of a "tub" tone. You can see on my construction thread that it's an unfinished room. Maybe the higher SPL's are making it more obvious that I need the carpet and more linacoustic (base traps) to tame things?


Take a look at the Antimode 8033. I just got it and it works great with my DTS. It's so easy a caveman can do it. Check it out.....http://www.google.com/url?q=http://w...bUBHE2JYU2lVnA

had the exact same issue hah, just glad thats all over with now.

Hi Tom:

From my experience helping n84china build and setup his DTS-10, there will be some differences between those two corners with regard to locating the DTS-10.

If there are no conflicting factors (WAF etc) then I would opt for the corner where the two outside walls converge. Those two walls together are more massive, rigid and less prone to diaphragmatic absorption of the sound energy when it is at its most intense nearfield level than the other corner. Not that SPL will ever be a problem for the DTS-10 in most HT-sized rooms, but preserving as much as possible of the initial SPL allows the most headroom for EQ later.

We ended up selecting the other option (for other reasons), the corner where one outside and one inside wall converge and though the SPL may be less due to the diaphragmatic absorption of the inside wall, the real downside was the extra rattling induced as that interior wall resonated in greater sympathy with the nearfield SPL of the sub. Of course, the sonic barrage of the DTS-10 IS going to rattle the house in any case, but for whatever reason, having the interior wall couple to the nearfield SPL of the sub made the house rattle more.

Also, I think that it is worth a try, again assuming that there are no decor constraints, to experiment with mouth facing wall placement, both with mouth down at floor and mouth at cabinet top. This orientation, in n84china's room, made the initial frequency response smoother (less peaky/nully) and blend better with his mains, even before EQ.

Happy experimenting! (and be sure to bend those knees! )

Threads on the install for easy reference:
Wall facing configuration - Higher resolution measurements

DTS-10 Install and Measurements

Same here almost, my first kit required a dremmel to get G to meet up with K. The second kit had no issues at all until the last panel that took some work.