DIY High pass filters for Vandersteen Model 5A Carbon's?

I'd honestly purchase them from Vandersteen or used.  I realize some folks build their own, but they were voiced with the components that Richard designed for them.  What do you mean they didn't have a Bass cabinet?  Are you saying you just purchased the head unit?

Just out of curiosity, what happened to the bass cabinets? How would you even hook up the speaker wires  when the terminals are on the bass cabinet, and what do you sit the top part on when it is angled?

The "high pass filter" is in this case just a capacitor. You could even build it into the amplifier housing. You need to know the amplifier's impedance and the target -3 dB point for the filter, then you can find an online calculator.

I'm a little confused. Are you missing the entire lower portion? If this is the case we need to talk about your whole plan. :) If you plan on making your own bass cabinet, you could add  speaker level high pass filter, or use an external crossover or DSP unit like a miniDSP to handle everything for you.

Best,

E

So I just read up on this. The Vandersteen design is a 100 hZ, single order (6dB/octave) high pass filter for the top section.

You could replace both missing cabs with 1 or 2 powered subwoofers. The question now is, how do you manage the crossover? You could do this with the normal features of a receiver or a preamp with integrated bass management (Parasound P5/P7), you could also do this with an external active crossover like a miniDSP or a DEQX.  Some powered subs also offer built in high pass filters.

What you have to watch out for is having at least a 6 dB high pass filter for the speaker cabs. More is fine (12, 24, etc.). 

Best,

E

I have similar concerns with the other folks who have responded. First off the Vandersteen filters are designed to be used with the Vandersteen subwoofer and amp that is housed in the lower half of the speaker.  Without that “lower half” any high pass filter will be dependant on the design of the replacement “lower half”.  If you are planning on rebuilding all this without the Vandersteen subwoofer and amplifier you need to forget about the Vandersteen filter and start from scratch.  In reality if you don’t realize this you are probably in way over your head to get a resultant full range speaker that is anything remotely as good as the original 5A Carbon.  Sorry to be harsh about it but the questions you pose seem to indicate a lack of understanding of the scope of this project.  I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it will be a long slog.

Having said all that, did you, perchance, purchase these components here on AudiogoN?  About four months ago a seller from the Houston area was a selling a set of all the drivers and the head unit from 5A’s (not Carbon) that had been in the hurricane floods last year.  I was tempted by that ad to upgrade my original Model 5’s, but there was no guarantee that the components were still 100% functional.  If indeed, you did buy those with the intent of making a new cabinet, well, good luck with that.  It will be a huge project (yes I’m repeating myself, intentionally).

Now if I have the circumstances all wrong, then please correct me!