The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

chunnybh wrote:Lowther are still in business and still produce hi-end speakers. They also still have a department for maintaining their classic vintage speakers. The vintage drivers are highly sought after and can be returned to original specs by Lowther.
The DCH was also available for home construction. Lowther supplied plans and a mold for the "Distributing Cone".

Here are a few of my behemoths.

Wonderful, thank you for sharing your photos and the information. I assume the driver is a field coil. Out of curiosity, if you've used your DCH, what have you driven it with?

Cheers,
Fran

dzavracky wrote:

VanEpsFan1914 wrote:David, are you going to try building this too?

*hold my beer

David

Not to get too far off topic, but you'll find the HiFi Haven thread I linked in my first post indispensably helpful for you to understand the complexities involved.

Cheers,
Fran

I assume the driver is a field coil. Out of curiosity, if you've used your DCH, what have you driven it with?

The DCH was last fitted with a Lowther PM7A driver. Currently it's got a cheap bluetooth speaker just sitting in it and I use it to play music from my phone. My plan is to get the original field coil driver working again. I still haven't figured out how to power the field coil.

chunnybh wrote:

I assume the driver is a field coil. Out of curiosity, if you've used your DCH, what have you driven it with?

The DCH was last fitted with a Lowther PM7A driver. Currently it's got a cheap bluetooth speaker just sitting in it and I use it to play music from my phone. My plan is to get the original field coil driver working again. I still haven't figured out how to power the field coil.

How do you like the sound? Also, best of luck with an original driver and amplification.

I think I'd have a lot of fun trying different contemporary full-range drivers.

The DCH really fascinates me.

Cheers,
Fran

How do you like the sound? Also, best of luck with an original driver and amplification.
I think I'd have a lot of fun trying different contemporary full-range drivers.
The DCH really fascinates me.

The DCH is excellent for playing 78's. The basic principal is that of a corner-reflex speaker and that is also it limiting factor. The sound is deflected and creates a non directional presence which gives mono reproduction a depth otherwise missing from a forward facing speaker. Of course this creates havoc in stereo.
The Beatles mono White album is sublime through one DCH and the stereo version through two DCH units made me seasick.

I've tried several full-range drivers but the sound is more effected by the amp. Vintage low watt amps perform the best.

Home construct units are relatively easy to make and there are plenty of patterns around. To get a feel for the effect, simply turn your current speaker into a corner of the room.

chunnybh wrote:

How do you like the sound? Also, best of luck with an original driver and amplification.
I think I'd have a lot of fun trying different contemporary full-range drivers.
The DCH really fascinates me.

The DCH is excellent for playing 78's. The basic principal is that of a corner-reflex speaker and that is also it limiting factor. The sound is deflected and creates a non directional presence which gives mono reproduction a depth otherwise missing from a forward facing speaker. Of course this creates havoc in stereo.
The Beatles mono White album is sublime through one DCH and the stereo version through two DCH units made me seasick.

I've tried several full-range drivers but the sound is more effected by the amp. Vintage low watt amps perform the best.

Home construct units are relatively easy to make and there are plenty of patterns around. To get a feel for the effect, simply turn your current speaker into a corner of the room.

Thank you for your assessment. I've learned quite a bit through the generous responses to my query. I can imagine the VDCH would be a nice addition to my mono system, but I'm no woodworker. Still, I'm quite smitten with design.

Cheers,
Fran

For posterity, I came across this build documentation http://www.itishifi.com/2013/07/secrets ... r.html?m=1, for anyone (David) who might like to recreate this interesting and unique speaker.

The complexity of design is made obvious, and also reinforces why the OP at HiFi Haven approached his build as he did.

Cheers,
Fran