"The Puget Sound DIY Speaker Contest"

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"The Puget Sound!" DIY Speaker Contest for 2018

Hi All,

I'm pleased to announce that The Pacific Northwest Audio Society ("PNWAS" or "the Club"), in conjunction with the "Sound DIY Club" will once again be sponsoring "The Puget Sound!" DIY Speaker Contest this year, on Mercer Island.

The Contest is scheduled for Saturday, August 11th with the doors opening for entries at about 9:00 AM and the general public at approximately 9:30 to 9:45. We will attempt to start the judging at 10:00.

I will be filling in more information in the coming days, weeks and months, so be sure to check back from time to time as additional information is published.


Best Regards,
TerryO
 
What Will Happen?

Speaker Contest: "The Puget Sound!" DIY Speaker Contest

The Contest will be held at the Mercer Island Congregational Church, 4545 Island Crest Way, Mercer Island, WA

Doors open at 9:00 a.m., and judging begins between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m.. We may be flexible on start time if a contestant is traveling some distance and may be arriving later than the start time; please let us know in advance so we can schedule accordingly.

Entries
This year there will be two "classes" of entries: original DIY designs and kits. We realize that a lot of effort, experience, skill and sometimes luck are needed to come up with a successful design. Many accomplished designers learned their craft by starting with kits of one sort or another and subsequently progressed toward original designs. For others, the lack of time or experience makes a kit a means towards better, affordable sound.

A Kit is defined as...
...Any pre-designed or published design (publication includes the Internet) that is the product of another person. This may be plans, parts, kit, or both plus cabinets, etc. Any major deviation from the plans may at some point constitute an original design -- however, a club appointed technical committee will have the final determination if this problem presents itself. All kits must have been offered to and available to the general public at some time. We rely on the integrity of the contestant!

The kit class is broken by cost per pair, and excludes the cost of the cabinet and finish. The breakdown for kits is as follows:

$0-$175/pair
$176-$325/pair
$326+/pair

Original Designs:

The breakdown is as follows:

One way ----under $75/over $75
Two way ----under $200/over $200
Three way -- under $300/over $300
Unlimited ---- no limit

NOTE: This is for drivers and crossover parts only; cabinet material and finish are not included. We again rely on the contestants' integrity. Your uncle who owns the HiFi Emporium cannot give you a special deal that isn't or hasn't been available to the general public. Nuff Said!

The speakers will be driven by the system the club supplies. Don't bring your own MegaWatt Hyper Triode Amp -- we're not going to use it. To keep it simple, we are not going to allow biamping or plate amps for a bass module.

The entry fee is $5 if you pre-register two weeks in advance or $10 if you register at the door. If you have any questions please post on one of the forums with an official thread on the contest, like this one. Also, it would help us a great deal if you'd let us know or think you're coming. A downloadable format entry form and the address to send it and your entry fee will be provided at a later date.

Judging

The judging will be by a panel of judges in a special room set aside for this. We will have three judges, which in turn plays his personal pre-selected musical selections (2-3 minutes max.) while sitting in the "sweet spot." Each contestant is allowed to specify general guidelines to set-up, that is, distance apart, toe-in, although corner loaded speakers will need to provide their own artificial corners. Remember that the judges will be sitting side by side so that should be taken into consideration.

We intend that judging will be totally blind -- this means that a curtain is utilized to ensure that sound, and not appearance, will be the sole criteria. All speakers will have the loudness adjusted to the same level before judging begins. Set-up of speakers will be by a club crew using notes taken at time of entry. Each judge will be issued a standard evaluation form prior to each session, and will rate each entry by assigning points, after which the form is collected by the Technical Committee member assigned to monitoring the judging (and setting SPL levels prior to each evaluation of an entry, etc). The forms are then scored by the Contest Director, or his designee for total points. After the final entry is judged, the points earned are assigned within each category to determine ranking within that class. The total overall points regardless of category or class will determine Best Sound of Show.

Other Stuff:

General admission of the public is free. We hope to have a garage sale/swap meet type offering for those who wish to sell or buy audio gear for free. However, the owners are responsible for their gear, etc. Don't expect to drop off stuff and return at the end of the day to pick up the money. (Please advise in advance if you wish to sell items).

We are going to let the attendees help out by voting for the Best Craftsmanship, Most Unusual, Most Creative Use of Material (Bondo, duct tape, silly putty, etc.).

Awards:

Each entry will receive a certificate of participation and a print out of his entry's frequency response measured by a qualified expert designated by the Contest Director or head of the Technical Committee. Additional certificates will be awarded to class winners, as well as 2nd place .

Finally a "Best Sound of Show" certificate will be presented to the overall winner. All winners of their respective DIY class are eligible for this. Please note that "kit" speakers aren't eligible for the Best Sound of Show.

Unless overruled by the Technical Committee for violation of the rules, the decision (total points) of the judges is final.

Best Regards,
TerryO
 
I've noticed that nobody has posted anything on this thread, although I've actually spoken to several people that are working on entries for the
Contest. One person is in the process of converting his active 3-way speaker design to utilize a passive 3-way crossover, in order to conform to the Contest Rules. I believe that I'll rattle their cage to stir them up a bit! (y)

Best Regards,
Terry
 
It's a super fun event. Anyone who can go, should. And if you can enter a speaker, so much the better!

Thanks for the kind words Pano...

We are quite proud of our Contest. Gary Koh, the CEO of Genesis Loudspeakers and a friend of mine, took the time to do some research several years ago and discovered that "The Puget Sound! DIY Speaker Contest" was a totally unique event unlike anything else being held Worldwide.

I might add that it's also quite fun and some people have dropped by at previous events to spend a few minutes...and ended up staying the whole day!

Best Regards,
TerryO
 
Hi All,

Just so you don't think we've been asleep, I can report that the arrangements are coming together and all seems pretty much in order. I've been a bit behind due to a grave illness in my Family, but it now seems that everything is going to be all right after all.

I'm putting together the Contest Judging Line-up and the various helpers. I might add that we have three Contestants that I know about and a mention of one or two others so far.

Best Regards,
TerryO
 
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Members of the human race?

Hi, just wondering if there are any entry requirements for the DYI speaker contest? We're thinking of driving up from Oregon to enter. Do we need to be members of (?)

Since Terry hasn't replied yet, I'll say nothing to join. I wasn't a member of anything last time I entered. If you like building speakers, you have found your people.
 
Hi, just wondering if there are any entry requirements for the DYI speaker contest? We're thinking of driving up from Oregon to enter. Do we need to be members of (?)

Hi,
There really isn't too much required other than a entry fee (that helps pay for the venue). Please note that if you use a crossover, it must be a passive configuration, as active crossovers aren't allowed.

Other than that, it's pretty simple.

Hope to see you there!
TerryO
 
Progress toward my speaker contest entry is . . . well . . . progressing.

The balance of the parts that I still need should arrive today. I have a little more sawdust to make, some more measurements, etc. So far so good (all ten thumbs are intact). If everything continues like this, I should be ready in time for the event. :p

Looking forward to seeing other creations at the contest.
 
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So Dave, assuming you have time to complete the initial build - and possibly tweak based upon feedback that weekend, might you be having room in the limousine shared with TO and his bodyguard / entourage to unleash these upon the sullied masses at Dave’s event two weeks hence their debut?

Other than Dave’s considerably revamped front-end/ amplification components, I think we’ve got only one new shiny thing to present. Well, actually considering the putative dead flat finish on the plastic laminate used; guess what, that’s harder to implement and fabricate with than you might imagine- but still a forking lot less work, and likely durable? than paint - not so shiny after all (except for the cones on the Eikonas)
Apologies for the run-on sentences, but even with 6 or more hours of sleep ( I wish) - that’s just the way my brain percolates.
 
So Dave, assuming you have time to complete the initial build - and possibly tweak based upon feedback that weekend, might you be having room in the limousine shared with TO and his bodyguard / entourage to unleash these upon the sullied masses at Dave’s event two weeks hence their debut?

Yes, I plan on bringing them to Vancouver Island to unleash the havoc they may bring. :D

I'm working with only the finest particle board and drywall screws that can be found, for convenient breakdown and transportation. Hopefully the bodyguard won't mind the additional duties to keep an eye on the extra cargo.

Note to self: remember to bring screw gun. ;)
 
The smell of fresh sawdust in the morning

My buddy Howard with his big van helped me acquire a fresh sheet of Appleply plywood and he even cut it up. One sheet yielded two new 50 Liter woofer boxes, and I finally got them glued up yesterday. Glue dries fast in a 90 deg garage. With this plywood the 50 Liter box seems to weigh as almost as much as the 70 liter box I built last time.
 

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more progress

. . . and now for something completely different. :D
Decided to give open baffles a whirl.

On top is a Celestion 6.5" coax, and rounding out the bottom is a 15-inch (unknown) in a U-frame. I made a template for flush mounting the Celestion which was tedious.

The coax woofer crosses over to the HF driver at 3200, and the 15's do the work below about 100 Hz.

Got the whole thing hooked up this evening for the first time. It makes noise! Still a couple more weeks to tinker with it.
 

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I figured I'd follow up. I'm not likely to be at the Seattle/Mercer Island meet this year. I'll see if I can make it down there, but odds are low. "Life events" have pushed my schedule all the way up against the weekend of the meet and driving Calgary->Seattle overnight won't happen. Next time...

However, I am 200 % committed to the Vancouver Island meet two weeks later. Hopefully I'll see many of you there instead.

Tom
 
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