This is a drawing I did to gets my wife's approval. My wife didn't like where the current speaker design was going and wanted something more spectacular, so this is it.
The concept is like a H-baffle except I am not just adding depth to increase the low freq response but with extra width as well, all without compromising the high freq resonant point.
With all of the additional mass there should also be a lot less resonance in the frame, and maybe with the elliptical shape of the mouth I might get some horn gain as well.
I am slowly building this design now. I will upload pictures here when it is finished.
The concept is like a H-baffle except I am not just adding depth to increase the low freq response but with extra width as well, all without compromising the high freq resonant point.
With all of the additional mass there should also be a lot less resonance in the frame, and maybe with the elliptical shape of the mouth I might get some horn gain as well.
I am slowly building this design now. I will upload pictures here when it is finished.
Attachments
I though long and hard on how to construct the design, including making it out of layers of MDF but I found that this was too complicated so instead I decided to make the shape as frame.
The frame is mostly made out of 25mm MDF. The skin of the frame is strips of steamed formed 3mm MDF. The gaps in the frame are filled then with expanding foam after they are skinned.
Cheers
Tim
The frame is mostly made out of 25mm MDF. The skin of the frame is strips of steamed formed 3mm MDF. The gaps in the frame are filled then with expanding foam after they are skinned.
Cheers
Tim
Attachments
Hello Tim.
Looks really good. But it's not going to be easy to bent even 3mm MDF. What you think if for a speaker base use a 20mm MDF, and everything else just a foam as a wave-guide? Easy to make any form you want.
These are my 5th generation prototype OB/Suspended speakers and they are by far the best version yet. The air, detail and realism is pretty darn good and far better that anything I have heard yet (that is not saying much though
The drivers are Neo3 (open back), Neo10 and AE dipole 15's.
They are passively crossed at 3kHz and 300Hz and driven by a 60W class A balanced amp of my own design.
Future upgrades include:
A toroid style H enclosue for the dipole 15 which should extend the bass to 32Hz without equalisation.
Seperate amplifier for the dipole 15 with an active crossover and possibly equalisation to extend the bass further.
And maybe in the distant future I will replace the neo3 with a AMT tweeter.
Cheers
Tim
Nice work,
Completely different but very similar, all the drivers are the same
I am using a rejigged Linkwitz ASP active crossover.
Attachments
This is a drawing I did to gets my wife's approval. My wife didn't like where the current speaker design was going and wanted something more spectacular, so this is it.
The concept is like a H-baffle except I am not just adding depth to increase the low freq response but with extra width as well, all without compromising the high freq resonant point.
With all of the additional mass there should also be a lot less resonance in the frame, and maybe with the elliptical shape of the mouth I might get some horn gain as well.
I am slowly building this design now. I will upload pictures here when it is finished.
I hope it performs the way you want that looks like a lot of work.
OB possibilities
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
If you apply enough steam to the 3mm MDF it softens the glue in the wood and allows quite acute angles before splitting. I ran some experiments already and I can easily get a 15-20mm bending radius which is plenty for this project.
I am using foam as a h-baffle for the mid already and it works well, I am not sure about a woofer foam baffle though.
Initially I did have the idea of a frame covered with foam and then fibreglass, sort of like a surfboard, but I have no experience with fibreglass so I went with wood instead.
Nice work,
Completely different but very similar, all the drivers are the same
I am using a rejigged Linkwitz ASP active crossover.
Nice woodworking skills and detailing.
I am going to use Linkwitz filters as well but in a discrete balanced circuit of my own design. Originally the idea was to build better speakers for my amps but now I am designing and building the amps and crossovers for my speakers.
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For those with a need for self expression and WAF, art baffles make sense. I'm using a Ralph Lauren print on one pair and will probably do a mural on my next flat OB's.
My wife wouldn't allow "Buck Rogers" style OB's but she digs art baffles.
My drawing is Buck Rogers white but my wife wants them a gloss coffee bean brown to match the furniture
The images on your speakers look great, they have got me thinking how something like that would look on my design, I still have a long way to go before they are finished so I have time to work it out.
I had to look up 'hot pipe bending' up on the Internet and yes it would work but the reason I went for the 3mm MDF (one other option was bendy ply) is because it is so easy to steam form and work with and I have a total of 48 strips to bend the same way. My idea is to steam, bend and nail the MDF directly on the frame.
I originally gave up on the real wood look because if all of the joins that need to be filled but recently I had the idea of getting a woodwork shop to cnc lathe a large single piece of wood, but where is the fun in that
my next thought though was can you lathe granite TimS I am in the process of building a big CNC 1.65m x 1.0m table to build some cabinets out of 25mm MDF slice just like this but stacked vertically rather than horizontally. I think this would be very doable using lots of MDF slices.
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But just wondering if it wouldn't be easier to CNC the form and cast it out of concrete. Probably do it in two halves.
Edit:
But just wondering if it wouldn't be easier to CNC the form and cast it out of concrete. Probably do it in two halves.
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Cast a stone?
I had a chance years ago to learn "lost wax" casting for traditional Haida art, with Bill Reid. It would not be hard to adapt the technique to come up with a good mold for a toroid.
Alternatively, alabaster, or soapstone, are two examples of stone , readily tooled by hand, or soft enough to cut with a lathe setup.
I originally gave up on the real wood look because if all of the joins that need to be filled but recently I had the idea of getting a woodwork shop to cnc lathe a large single piece of wood, but where is the fun in that
I had a chance years ago to learn "lost wax" casting for traditional Haida art, with Bill Reid. It would not be hard to adapt the technique to come up with a good mold for a toroid.
Alternatively, alabaster, or soapstone, are two examples of stone , readily tooled by hand, or soft enough to cut with a lathe setup.
Building the toroid from stone or lost of wood sounds like a very heavy solution, another option would be to just use pink styrofoam. It would be much lighter too =)
I've found that the baffle doesn't need to be very solid on an OB to increase gain, it just needs to be solid compared to empty air such that the sound wants to travel around rather than through. I have had very good experiences with building lossy baffles of wool, gives almost identical gain as wood so styrofoam should not be a problem. And if it is not enough at very low frequencies you could always just cover it with plaster =)
I've found that the baffle doesn't need to be very solid on an OB to increase gain, it just needs to be solid compared to empty air such that the sound wants to travel around rather than through. I have had very good experiences with building lossy baffles of wool, gives almost identical gain as wood so styrofoam should not be a problem. And if it is not enough at very low frequencies you could always just cover it with plaster =)