Boat making techniques in Speaker Cabinet making....

sansterre · 21st May 2013, 08:03 PM

Hey Guys, this is a question I've wondered about for a while. There's a course offered out my way at the trades school teaching cabinet making, and as part of the course they do a section on boat and canoe building. If you approached building a speaker cabinet in this way, with a round back like the hull of a boat, do you think you could get some interesting effects? Think it would have any effect? I know i've got a round back ovation guitar, and the design has kept up because it puts out more sound as a general rule. Is the same true for speakers? Think it's worth checking out? Thanks!

chrisb · 23rd May 2013, 03:47 PM

It wouldn't take long to find much weirder design and material/construction approaches by DIYers over the years, so certainly, why not.

As to the sonic effects of any particular design / material / technique, good luck finding consensus on that

kevinahcc20 · 23rd May 2013, 05:52 PM

I would expect that fiberglass boat building techniques would be better applied to speaker cabinets than wooden boatbuilding techniques. The structure of a boat hull is designed to provide flotation, balance and resistance to hydrodynamic forces, not to be acoustically optimum.

chrisb · 23rd May 2013, 06:08 PM

define "acoustically optimum"

these innocent queries have a habit if devolving into polemics, the short-cut to an answer for sansterre might include the question - do you have a particular application / aesthetic in mind?

kevinahcc20 · 23rd May 2013, 07:55 PM

In a boat acoustically optimum is when you only hear the sound of water rushing by the outside of the hull!

Rajapruk · 23rd May 2013, 08:43 PM

The JBL Ti10k speaker cabinets were built with technique from danish boat-builders.
Very nice sounding speaker. Looking a little bit like a canoe, especially if you glue two of them together.

chrisb · 23rd May 2013, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevinahcc20

In a boat acoustically optimum is when you only hear the sound of water rushing by the outside of the hull!

chrisb · 23rd May 2013, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rajapruk

The JBL Ti10k speaker cabinets were built with technique from danish boat-builders.
Very nice sounding speaker. Looking a little bit like a canoe, especially if you glue two of them together.

FWIW, having primarily a woodworking industry background my personal favorite "non-standard" (non-monkey coffin) design / construction methodology for speaker enclosures is that employed by B&W in the Nautilus series. It's rather tricky for a DIYer to emulate the production engineering of even the wooden enclosure portion in entirety (& I've tried more than once

) .

Cal Weldon · 23rd May 2013, 09:54 PM

If you have a speaker that sounds good and floats, you are approaching nirvana.

Speedskater · 23rd May 2013, 09:59 PM

The boat building WEST System (Wet Epoxy Saturation Technique) is a wonderful way to DIY curved plywood objects.

WEST SYSTEM | Project for Epoxy

21st May 2013, 08:03 PM	#1
sansterre diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2013	Boat making techniques in Speaker Cabinet making.... Hey Guys, this is a question I've wondered about for a while. There's a course offered out my way at the trades school teaching cabinet making, and as part of the course they do a section on boat and canoe building. If you approached building a speaker cabinet in this way, with a round back like the hull of a boat, do you think you could get some interesting effects? Think it would have any effect? I know i've got a round back ovation guitar, and the design has kept up because it puts out more sound as a general rule. Is the same true for speakers? Think it's worth checking out? Thanks!

23rd May 2013, 03:47 PM	#2
chrisb diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: victoria BC	It wouldn't take long to find much weirder design and material/construction approaches by DIYers over the years, so certainly, why not. As to the sonic effects of any particular design / material / technique, good luck finding consensus on that __________________ you don't really believe everything you think, do you? community sites t-linespeakers.org, frugal-horn.com commercial site planet10-HiFi

23rd May 2013, 05:52 PM	#3
kevinahcc20 diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Farmington Hills, MI USA	I would expect that fiberglass boat building techniques would be better applied to speaker cabinets than wooden boatbuilding techniques. The structure of a boat hull is designed to provide flotation, balance and resistance to hydrodynamic forces, not to be acoustically optimum. __________________ Kevin(ahcc20)...I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy!

23rd May 2013, 06:08 PM	#4
chrisb diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: victoria BC	define "acoustically optimum" these innocent queries have a habit if devolving into polemics, the short-cut to an answer for sansterre might include the question - do you have a particular application / aesthetic in mind? __________________ you don't really believe everything you think, do you? community sites t-linespeakers.org, frugal-horn.com commercial site planet10-HiFi

23rd May 2013, 07:55 PM	#5
kevinahcc20 diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Farmington Hills, MI USA	In a boat acoustically optimum is when you only hear the sound of water rushing by the outside of the hull! __________________ Kevin(ahcc20)...I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy!


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23rd May 2013, 08:43 PM	#6
Rajapruk diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Gothenburg	The JBL Ti10k speaker cabinets were built with technique from danish boat-builders. Very nice sounding speaker. Looking a little bit like a canoe, especially if you glue two of them together.

23rd May 2013, 09:54 PM	#9
Cal Weldon Speakerholic diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: British Columbia	If you have a speaker that sounds good and floats, you are approaching nirvana. __________________ Next stop: Margaritaville Some of Cal's stuff \| Cal Weldon Consulting

23rd May 2013, 09:59 PM	#10
Speedskater diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Lakewood, Ohio	The boat building WEST System (Wet Epoxy Saturation Technique) is a wonderful way to DIY curved plywood objects. WEST SYSTEM \| Project for Epoxy __________________ Kevin

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