Inspired by Petter´s impressive work ( http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=1718854 ), I decided to build a pair myself.
I had a lot of free material (3mm plywood) though it was already cut in 30x30cm square pieces which limited the size of the horns to Fc=348Hz. Being lazy, I went for 8 cells instead of 15
Initial listening tests were quite positive and the idea of an horn system in my livingroom was born:
I had a lot of free material (3mm plywood) though it was already cut in 30x30cm square pieces which limited the size of the horns to Fc=348Hz. Being lazy, I went for 8 cells instead of 15
Initial listening tests were quite positive and the idea of an horn system in my livingroom was born:
Attachments
The idea of an horn loades system in the livingroom didn´t turn out quite as good as I hoped. All efforts to make the multicell/tractrix combo integrate with any of the tested LF systems (various closed boxes and small tapped horns) failed miserably. In a state of escalating frustration/desperation I dug out a pair of old EV SP12B woofers, put them in small open baffles and placed the multicell horns on top of them. With a 900Hz 24dB/oct crossover point it was pretty much an immediate success, especially with some help from an 2x31 band eq...
I don´t miss the tractrix low-midhorns in any other way than that they looked cooler than the open baffles. I put the tracs back into the system yesterday but they went back to storage after two hours, they did nothing that the baffles doesn´t do much better.
With the 12" woofers and some eq there´s no urgent need for additional LF systems as long as I keep the volume at reasonable levels.
Will post pictures sooner or later...
I don´t miss the tractrix low-midhorns in any other way than that they looked cooler than the open baffles. I put the tracs back into the system yesterday but they went back to storage after two hours, they did nothing that the baffles doesn´t do much better.
With the 12" woofers and some eq there´s no urgent need for additional LF systems as long as I keep the volume at reasonable levels.
Will post pictures sooner or later...
Those sectoral horns look nice, and I enjoyed reading about your project in this thread. Makes me remember the thrill of designing and building my Onkens a couple of years back and makes me want to tackle some diy horns to replace the JBLs I use in my system..
My audio room is in the now chilly basement - hope your garden shed is well insulated for those cold winter nights.
My audio room is in the now chilly basement - hope your garden shed is well insulated for those cold winter nights.
There is a common expression about "getting lucky". Most think it refers to sex. I think this sort of thing is the real application. Congrats and respect.
Thank you guys!
The multicell horns were more or less built as prototypes, I wanted to gain some skills before building a pair of bigger 15 cell horns. Unfortunately the 15-cell project went straight south, the parts didn´t fit together at all even though I had put some real effort in making templates and stuff.
If I ever try one more time I´ll ask my brother to cnc-cut a steel or alu template for me...
BTW I have vague plans for building a set out of sheet metal, using a wire EDM to cut all the parts. I might have future access to such a machine, must find a source for free or cheap sheet metal though.
Assembling them might be a mess though, according to some source the guys who soldered the multicells where the highest payed workers in the Altec factories...
The garden shed is insulated but not exactly well insulated. However, I almost prefer being out there in January rather than in August as all the huge, horrible spiders dies when the temp drops...
Now when I´ve found a speaker system that works fairly well in the livingroom it´s time to pay some attention to the heavier stuff in the garden shed again. The horns are position but most of the electronics has moved inside the house as I´ve been messing around with horns and open baffles there over the summer.
Must clean the place after the latest beerbash first though...
The multicell horns were more or less built as prototypes, I wanted to gain some skills before building a pair of bigger 15 cell horns. Unfortunately the 15-cell project went straight south, the parts didn´t fit together at all even though I had put some real effort in making templates and stuff.
If I ever try one more time I´ll ask my brother to cnc-cut a steel or alu template for me...
BTW I have vague plans for building a set out of sheet metal, using a wire EDM to cut all the parts. I might have future access to such a machine, must find a source for free or cheap sheet metal though.
Assembling them might be a mess though, according to some source the guys who soldered the multicells where the highest payed workers in the Altec factories...
The garden shed is insulated but not exactly well insulated. However, I almost prefer being out there in January rather than in August as all the huge, horrible spiders dies when the temp drops...
Now when I´ve found a speaker system that works fairly well in the livingroom it´s time to pay some attention to the heavier stuff in the garden shed again. The horns are position but most of the electronics has moved inside the house as I´ve been messing around with horns and open baffles there over the summer.
Must clean the place after the latest beerbash first though...
Hi, your system is magnificent! And excellent wood works! I love your idea of those bass horn, brilliant!
Say, how does the square Kugelwellen horn compare with the multi-cell?
And about the midbass horn, have you tried larger throat and open back (without the back chamber)? So it might come to point between pure front horn loaded and open baffle
Say, how does the square Kugelwellen horn compare with the multi-cell?
And about the midbass horn, have you tried larger throat and open back (without the back chamber)? So it might come to point between pure front horn loaded and open baffle
Thank you!
The basshorns are far from finished and I´m not sure they will ever be, I have this idea about replacing them with folded tapped horns to get some extra LF extension. If I keep the existing horns they must be raised higher from the floor and braced.
I´ve never compared the KWs to the multicells side by side but I guess the KWs are better. I have some measurement plots to post on both the KWs and the midbass horns when time permits.
I did run the midbass horns without back chambers for a while but I prefer having them in place, with as little chamber volume as possible.
The basshorns are far from finished and I´m not sure they will ever be, I have this idea about replacing them with folded tapped horns to get some extra LF extension. If I keep the existing horns they must be raised higher from the floor and braced.
I´ve never compared the KWs to the multicells side by side but I guess the KWs are better. I have some measurement plots to post on both the KWs and the midbass horns when time permits.
I did run the midbass horns without back chambers for a while but I prefer having them in place, with as little chamber volume as possible.
So, even with the proper chamber which you preferred, the later OB still won. Is that right?
I'd guess maybe some cancellation happened in the overlapping of the OB MB section and the sub. So in that range, the combined response might transform to something like cardioid, thus changed some of the in room power response or reduced some of the room resonances.
Very interesting.
I know what you mean!! The spiders in my garage/listening room/shop drive me nuts! And we are not alone. I have other friends with the same problem.
Do spiders like music? Or do bugs like music so the spiders come to eat them?
Sigh.....
Very cool system, thanks for posting.
Seems to be a bit of confusion going on here:
This thread show two different systems, the large horn system in the shed and the multicell/OB mess in my livingroom. Those white 185Hz tractrix horns where a part of the livingroom system before I replaced them with open baffles.
I´ve tried both the Tractrix horns and the midbass horns with and without back chambers, neither sounded good open-backed.
I guess a back chamber of correct volume is important to get the predicted response from the horn.
Panomaniac: Fortunatley there are no dangerous spiders around here but I still can´t stand the sight of all those legs...
Man that is probably not what you wanted just about now. On the good side you could look for a more stimulating girlfriend.
Does this mean you might have a pair of SE output xfmers you may need to liquidate? PM me if you do. My 'deal' on a pair of Hammond 1629SE's fell through.
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