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HATT-SE Mk-II
Th e H ATT-SE Mk-II Micro Mon it or

It has be en mor e than e ight ye ar s since the first Hum ble H o mem ade Hi -F i S pe cial Editio n mi ni-mo nito r was bo rn, tim e fo r an
upda te. The compa ct oute r di mensio ns, 12 ce nti metr e smal l Sea s Ex ce l woo fer a nd the use of a se ri es cr ossov er ha ve bee n k ept.
N ew a re the twe ete r, the ca bi ne t tuni ng and o f cour se ther e hav e be en some cha nge s to the filte r de sign.

N ever chan ge a w inn er

This co nce pt is, just l ike i n the o ri gina l ve rsio n, ba sed a ro und the Se as Excel W 12CY001 / E0021 mid-wo ofer. This l ittle 12cm
driv er with it's gre y m agnesium cone has be en a ro und fo r quite so me y ea rs but can stil l co mpete with the best minia ture woo fe rs
a va ila ble to da y. It's co ne a re a i s a me re 50cm2! In com pa riso n to o ther har d co ne mate ria ls ma gne sium shows much l owe r
distor tion l ev els, espe cia lly t he 3rd and 5th ha rmo nic disto rtio n ar e much low er i n l ev el tha n alum inium for e xa mple. Thi s r esults
in a wo ofer that co mbi ne s the wa rmth o f pa pe r wi th the definitio n of a luminium - a n ide al mat eri al fo r ma ki ng driv er s fr om. The
ma gne sium cone has a natura l r ubber sur ro und a nd i n it's ce ntre we se e a shiny so li d copper pha se -plug. On the re ar ther e i s a
la rge m agnet sy ste m tha t pr oduce s the driv ing fo rce fo r the light-we ight co ne ( Mms = 7,5 gra mme s). A re la tiv ely lo ng v oi ce -coi l
can ta ke 6m m line ar pea k-pe ak e xcursio n and ev en 9mm pe ak -pea k mo ve ment when driv en to it's ma xi mum. A ll the co mpo nents
a re hel d i nto pla ce by a sti ff a nd light- wei ght ca st ba ske t that is we ll v enti late d fr ont and ba ck. Yo u can ev en se e the v oi ce -coi l
betwe en the rea r suspe nsi on a nd the fro nt po le -pi ece , so be ca re ful no t to le t any dust or othe r parti cl es ge t in the re! F ina lly the
baske t ha s six mounting ho le s to e nsur e a secure bonding wi th the baffle.

N ew for the H ATT-SE M k-II is the twe ete r. The pre vi ous model use d the S ea s P re stige 27TAF C-G / H 0883 which is still a ve ry ni ce
twe ete r, but the new Se as Pre stige 27TBC DGB -DXT / H 1499 is the same one a s used in the H umble H om ema de H i- Fi N ebula r
M onito r. The go al of this ex ercise is to se e wha t ha ppe ns if the sa me twee ter is use d in a tota lly diffe re nt wa y. The N ebula r
M onito r use s a par all el cro sso ve r wi th stee p slo pe s and co rre ctio n- netwo rk s, the HATT- SE M k-II use s a mo re sim ple se rie s-
cro sso ve r. If y ou wa nt to k now mo re about the DXT- twee ter and how it wo rk s, plea se check out my ar ticle a bo ut the N ebula r
M onito r.

Th e c abinet

The woo fe r and the cabinet wo rk togethe r in a bass-r efle x ali gnme nt wi th a nett vo lume o f 5 li tre s. A t the fro nt of the ca bi ne t
the re i s a slot sha pe d o pe ning o f the po rt that i s tune d to a lo w 48Hz. In combinati on with the pa ram ete rs of the mi d-w oo fe r this
r esults in a - 3dB- po int of about 45H z. Qui te lo w fo r such a littl e wo ofer. Eve n though the vo lume is o nly 5 l itre s, the ca bine ts are
ma de fr om r ela tiv ely thick 22mm mdf. Inside we find a ra ther l ong r efle x po rt tha t i s a lso ma de fr om the sa me ma ter ia l. This po rt
a lso acts as ca bi net bra cing, so any e xtra inter nal pane ls a re no t ne cessar y.
The photo sho ws how the ca bine t is buil t and a lso sho ws a few sma ll but impor tant deta ils. The dri ve r fra me s ar e co unter sunk
a nd the woo fe r's cut- out is cham fe re d o n the inside o f the ba ffle so tha t the wo ofer ca n "bre athe " fre ely at the ba ck. If the ba ffle
is no t cha mfer ed on the i nsi de , the air will cr ea te tur bule nce a nd re flectio n pr oble ms i n cl ose pro xi mity to the co ne. Fur the rm ore
both e nds of the port a re ro unded-o ff with a 10m m radius, a lso to minimi ze tur bule nce pr oble ms. It's be st to mak e a ll the se
deta ils be fo re the ca binets ar e assem ble d. The i nsi de o f the ca bine t wall s is line d with a sel f- adhe sive anti- re so nance m ate ria l
constr ucte d fr om bitumen foil wit h a thick ne ss o f 4mm. This ma ter ia l co ve rs a ll the inside pa nel s ex cept for the baffle a nd the
inside o f the por t. I use d Inte rtechnik Bitum ex FG4 a nd put in a fe w sta pl es to ensure a per fe ct bo nding of the mate ria l wi th the
mdf. The ca nce l flutter echo's the ca bine ts a re lo osel y fille d wi th Bonded Aceta te F ibre dam ping woo l. A highe r re sol uti on drawi ng
is av ail able o n r equest.

Th e c ross over

The basis o f thi s fil ter is a m odified seco nd-o rder ser ies cro sso ve r. F irst o f a ll the lo w-pass functio n is for med by inducto r L 1 tha t
le ts low fre que nci es pa ss by the twee ter and dir ects the m v ia wo ofe r and L2 ba ck to the amp. H igh fr eque ncies li ke to go thro ugh
gro up C5 / C6 a nd v ia the twe ete r to C1, then ba ck to the minus si de o f the a mp. The twe ete r le ve l is da mpe d by the seri es
r esistor s R1 / R 4 a nd the pa ra lle l r esistor R2 whe re bypa ss capacit or C 4 lets the highe st fr equencie s pa ss by r esistor R4 cre ati ng
mo re " ai r" a nd transpar ency. The woo fe rs co ne bre ak- up at high fre que nci es is cut by ca pa ci tor C 2 tha t for ms a "black ho le " ci rcuit
to ge ther wi th L2. The w oo fe r has a Zo be l-ne twer k para lle l so that L2 doe s it's pr oper ly, i t co mpe nsa te s the i mpe da nce rise a t
higher fr equencies due to the vo ice- co il i nductance o f the woo fe r. All ca pa ci tor s must be go od qua lity MKP 's a nd the two inducto rs
must be l ow Rdc a ir-co re ty pe s.
 L1 = 0,47mH / 16AW G co pper -foil / R dc = 0,22 o hms R1 = 1,5 ohms / 10 wa tts MOX r esisto r

L2 = 1,20mH / 14AW G co pper -foil / R dc = 0,27 o hms R2 = 3,9 ohms / 10 wa tts MOX r esisto r

C1 = 4,7uF Cl ar ity Ca p SA 630VDC R3 = 3,3 ohms / 10 wa tts MOX r esisto r

C2 = 0,22uF Cl ar ity Ca p SA 630VDC R4 = 3,9 ohms / 10 wa tts MOX r esisto r

C3 = 3,3uF Cl ar ity Ca p SA 630VDC

C4 = 4,7uF Cl ar ity Ca p SA 630VDC

C5 = 1,5uF J antze n Audio S uper io r Z-Ca p

C6 = 6,8uF Cl ar ity Ca p SA 630VDC

Meas urin g an d list ening

These littl e fe llo ws ne ed a few wee ks of no rma l use to burn-i n. Dur ing this pro ce ss the ba ss wil l beco me de eper a nd ga in
definiti on, the i mage wi ll beco me mor e spatia l a nd the tre bl e wi ll gai n fi ne deta il a nd r efine ment. The spe ak er s sho uld be pl aced
o n so me sturdy sta nds with the twee te r at e ar -hei ght. The se spea ke rs pr oduce qui te som e ba ss co nsi de ring the ve ry sma ll wo ofe r
used. It is re la tive ly de ep, has de finitio n and co uld be de scribed as on the wa rm side of neutra l ra ther tha n on the dry side. Goi ng
sea mle ssl y up the fre que ncy spe ctrum, the tr eble i s transpare nt and pr ecise but ne ve r har sh of ov er -etche d. Thi ngs lik e the pi ng
o f a cym ba l o r the wipi ng o f brushe s o n the sna re -drum com e a cro ss quite rea listi c. Instrume nts and voices a re pla ced wel l
separ ate d i n space with go od front to ba ck i maging. The H ATT-SE M k-II is a go od al l-r ound spea ke r for small liste ni ng r oo ms tha t
pro duces ev er ything i n a ne utral m anner.

The fr equency me asure me nts show a re la tiv ely smo o th re spo nse (re d curv e) wi thout any la rge pea ks or dips. Only the o utput
fro m the por t (gre en cur ve ) ha s a few irr egular itie s in the uppe r re gi on but the se ble nd i n with the rest when l istening furthe r
a way tha n the sta nda rd 1 me ter me asure me nt . The pea k a t 1k H z a nd the dip a t 550H z i n the o ve ra ll re spo nse a re actual ly caused
by woo fe r / po rt inter actio n - this is quite nor mal a nd ca n be found in nea rly a ny po rte d two- way syste m. If the por t is cl osed
( purple curv e) these ir re gula riti es disappe a r r esulting in a rule r fla t mi dra nge , idea l sho uld yo u de cide to use these spe ak er s in
com bina tio n wi th a sub-wo ofe r. The por t do es hav e a te xt- bo ok response a ro und it's tuning fre que ncy, ve ry smo oth a ny quite
sym metr ical . The o ve ra ll efficiency is lo w a s to be ex pected fr om a ve ry sma ll spe ak er : about 82 to 84dB's fo r 2,83 vo lt i nput
le ve l.

The distor tion l ev els a re rathe r l ow consider ing the size of these little spe ak er s. The seco nd ha rmo nic sho ws a co uple of pe a ks in
the mi dra nge ca used by the po rt but see ing a s o ur hea ring doe sn't find 2nd har mo ni c unpl ea sa nt, I woul dn't worr y a bo ut it.
The impedance plot final ly shows the po rt tuning frequency ce ntr ed at 48H z and t he ove ra ll impedance ne ve r dr ops belo w 6,5
o hms. This should m ak e life a li ttle e asie r fo r yo ur am pli fi er, it do esn't ne ed to de liv er he aps o f curre nt.

Tony Ge e, The N e the rl ands, Ja nua ry 2011

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2000 - 2011