JE Labs Open Baffle redux

Original article

November 2008 Hi Fi Show

G. A. Briggs

Wharfedale SFB3

Stereo Sound "Tube Kingdom"
1996 Volume 3

JE Labs (cheap 😉) DIY version inspired by Stereo Sound
as featured
in Sound Practices issue 17 "JE Homebrewer"

JEL OB for Altec 755 built from
3/4" Birch plywood ca. 1997

Built using Tanguile 'tongue in groove'
 flooring planks for an Altec 605B 
November 2008 Hi-Fi Show

Mondrian 2011 edition
for a 12" driver 

Have fun and happy listening!

Visitor's OB II

12" Philips full range




"This OB has a fantastic sound. Thanks for the inspiration. For all who plan to build this open baffle, don't plan....just do it."




Knut Barnstorf, Germany

Homebrewer - Ding R.

Homebrewer - inspired by Sound Practices!

It has been a while since I saw my good friend Ding R. in Staten Island, NY. Hanging out at his listening room and evaluating his or my projects was part of my routine every time I had a gig in NYC while I was still based in the USA.

A few of his recent projects...

Siemens Bayern drivers in open baffles

Altec 805 horn + 291 + 515

Gray 103s tonearm on a TD124

Ding at the attic in '09...see you again soon!

Mondrian inspired open baffle + RCA 501S1

I won this 12" co-ax on eBay back in late '07 for a little over $100. There were only a few bidders and I was the only one based in the USA, the rest were in Japan. Had a feeling this might be a sleeper... 

When the package arrived I checked the condition of the capacitor with an LCR meter which turned out to be healthy. If it was leaky, I would have searched for a paper in oil cap that would fit in that very same clamp for authenticity and good sound.

I mounted it on an open baffle for testing and it turned out to be a very fine sounding speaker. It does not have the boogie factor of the Altec 605B Duplex instead, it is refined and coherent like an Altec 755A. After a couple of weeks I carefully packed it up and waited for another unit to be listed....never saw another sample. 😞

Click here for a review by none other than the esteemed JGH (who found it a bit bright*) in the December 1956 issue of High Fidelity!

*Sorry Gordon, but I disagree...😆

A special driver deserves a nice looking baffle

Staring at bare plywood for over 10 years can get boring even if the sound is good.😊 For a quite a while, I've had this idea lurking in the back of my mind of combining the aesthetics of my favorite period in art and architecture with DIY audio projects.

Piet Mondrian's Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow, 1930 turned 90 degrees to the right ;)

After a few days wielding a brush, cans of paint and masking tape....

Visitors' Open Baffle redux...

A few years back I uploaded a webpage of OBs built by visitors to the old site. Since then I've received a couple of emails with very interesting image attachments of vintage (DIY?) OBs. 

Vintage DIY?

...obviously inspired by G. A. Briggs venerable design. 

Commercial model?

...seems a bit wider, more squat....

Was this an original logo or just pasted on a DIY project?

Intended to be hung on a wall?

To those visitors who sent me these pictures, I lost your contact information. If you see this blog please send me a message so that I can give you proper credit, thanks!

open baffle ---> how not to...

tall and thin baffle = no bass and sexy slim mids

Leica II + Summitar 50/2
APX100/Rodinal

If memory serves me right this was a production line speaker from the 70s, don't remember the manufacturer but seemingly an attempt to mimic the cosmetics of a Magneplanar using conventional drivers...

Kutztown Radio Show, Spring 2006

Update: According to Terry O this is Bob Carver's Andromeda from the early 80s.

November 2009 Hi-Fi Show

Mono minimalist

Cast of characters

Bessa R + CV Nokton 50/1.5
HP5+/Diafine

Lin - classic speaker guru par excellance and Rofiel - mono aficonado

Rofiel found this Jensen M10 field coil 13" driver (OEM WE TA4151 - more info) stashed in an ancient garage 120 kms. away from Manila

I revived the tube rectified  power supply with fresh Sprague ATOM capacitors. Since original replacement cones are unavailable, we took it to Lin for restoration.

The result of Lin's...

...painstaking labor.

To augment the top end, we added a phenolic diaphragm'ed Jensen RP103 alnico horn tweeter through a simple DIY crossover

Rofiel designed a Klangfilm inspired open baffle using phenolic plywood with piano hinged wings to maximize bass yet convenient transport.

Mono front end: Rek O Kut B12H 

Tonearms: Velvet Touch viscous damped + GE RPX LP stylus (right), 

Argonne 10" viscous damped + GE VRII LP stylus (center back)

Pickering 190 + GE RPX 78 stylus (left)

JEL Mono preamp

with variable EQ

JEL mono amps

SE2A3dx or SE410dx

Lin inspecting the installation of the Jensen M10

Bessa R + CV Nokton 50/1.5
HP5+/Diafine

...gazing on ancillaries 

Bessa R + CV Nokton 50/1.5
HP5+/Diafine

Bessa R + W-Komura 36/1.8
TX400/Difaine

Friends and Visitors

Bessa R + CV Nokton 50/1.5

TX400/Diafine

Bessa R + CV Nokton 50/1.5

HP5+/Diafine

Bessa R + CV Nokton 50/1.5

HP5+/Diafine

Bessa R + CV Nokton 50/1.5
HP5+/Diafine

Bessa R + CV Nokton 50/1.5
HP5+/Diafine

Bessa R + W-Komura 36/1.8

HP5+/Diafine

Me and the Bessa R...

...shooting film!

Thanks to Keith, Francis and Arnold for the digital captures!

See you at the next NHFS!

November 2008 Hi-Fi Show

 Upon instructions from our boss, my first audio gig in Manila

 was to exhibit projects seen but never heard by the local audience. In particular - mono playback and Lenco idler drive turntables.

My wing man setup2 and BenC, a local DIY enthusiast added a twist on open baffle material...

...Philippine Tanguile wood planks, readily available for wood flooring, affordable, more rigid than plywood and even better acoustical properties.

Lenco L75 + Ortofon AS212, Garrard 301 and Thorens TD124II + FR64fx, 

MC step-up transformers: Altec 4722, Ortofon SPU-T1 and Tamura TKS83

JELdx preamp and SE300Bdx (driving 755C/OB)

Grease bearing Garrard 301 in laminated birch-ply plinth, Ortofon 309/SPU GME for stereo LPs...

...flanked at the back by the Philippine debut of a viscous damped Velvet Touch tonearm with cartridge slides loaded with a GE RPX and Denon DL102 for mono LPs.

Philippine premiere of Bogen/Lenco L70 doing alternate duty as mono front end

JEL mono preamp driving JEL SE2A3dx mono amp

Stereo speakers: setup2's Altec 755C/OB augmented by EV T35 tweeters

Mono speaker at center (not a subwoofer;) - Altec 605B/OB 

Wood finishing of OBs, courtesy of our friend Joey of Harana Audio (see below)

The SETUP gang

...and thanks for helping me unload and unpack...

...he he he

Pics from our Harana Audio friends

Thanks to Wiredstate.com members for your pictures!