Wall Speakers ?

[Bigun]

I read some older posts (after a quick search) about Wall Fonkens but the threads petered out and I didn't learn much on how they sound or about possible improvements, gottcha's etc. ? (am also considering a simple BR as an alternative but I also read that the Fonken sounds better than your typical BR).

My interest is in building some surround sound speakers for use in a basement HT. I could build them inside the walls but I don't see enough merit in that.

I was thinking along the lines of a design that can be used horizontally or vertically. I'm no expert so I tend to jump to conclusions from what I've read (a little knowledge is a dangerous thing?). But it seems to me that the regular Fonken bevelled corners are less critical in terms of their affect on diffraction when a relatively thin enclosure is wall mounted - so a simpler front resistive vent design would be just as effective ?

planet.10 seem to be the authority in these matters ?

p.s. I plan to satisfy those family members who need lots of 'whump' with the ".1" in HT set up.

(trying to post my first attachment....)

[HK26147]

I could build them inside the walls but I don't see enough merit in that.

I built a set of MTM into the walls of my home.
In was not my intend initially, I tried a couple of tests and found I liked it.
Obviously it's not for everyone, or will work for the majority.
It my case it was serendipitous.

Syd

[planet10]

The wall Fonken was a thot experiment, i don't think amyone has biolt it yet,

I would execute the build somewhat differently than the orifinal sketches based on what has been learned from the floorstander & the GR. Something more along the lines of a wider & shorter floorstander.

In an execution like yours a big bevel is probably more important.

dave

[Bigun]

Syd,

that sounds really neat, but the trouble is, my basement is an open concept design, the walls are mostly external foundation concrete lined with drywall that covers the precious few inches of insulation separating me from the Canadian winter and to make it worse, the rear surrounds will likely be mounted from the ceiling - a flogging offence in the audiophile Navy no doubt, but it makes built-in speakers a complex undertaking.


Dave,

it sounds as if there isn't much out there I can copy, which leaves me in unchartered territories without any experience. Of course that might be the better way to avoid getting lazy and never really learning. I will have to order some drivers soon and the rest, is just some bits of wood. As far as I can tell from a weekend surfing the forum etc. I have a simple path to follow:

a) pick an overall approach (e.g. BR, Fonken, TL...)
b) search through some example designs to determine typical enclosure volumes
c) choose cabinet dimensions based on irrational numbers
d) make the whole thing so it can be taken apart and modified as I'll need to find a 'better sound' after the first attempt
e) remember I need two of 'em to plug into the Bryston

and buy a big level

[planet10]

I can probably do a next pass at the wallFonken ... it is somewhere in the queue already....

dave

[Bigun]

I have two stock drivers on order as of today - so no turning back from my first project to produce a stereo pair for testing and if it turns out OK I'll have made a start on the end goal of some nice HT speakers.

Being a beginner I decided to minimize risk. I took a look at some of the excellent Fonken designs on the planet10 site and some older posts for my inspiration.

I noticed that the Fonken, Fonken GR, Fonken tuned floorstander, WallFonken-01 and Flat Fonken all have pretty much the same volume, and therefore, the same port length and the same total port area. The differences are configuration and suggests a good deal of flexibility is possible. That gives me a warm feeling that if I stick to these guidelines and use the same volume as the regular Fonken then I can't go too far from a decent result.

My option A) (see my first post) would leverage from the Flat Fonken
My option B) (see my first post) would leverage from the floorstander Fonken

Dave - Will look forward to your ideas. It seems that you are the community champion for doing this kind of thing.

[planet10]

Originally posted by Bigun
I noticed that the Fonken, Fonken GR, Fonken tuned floorstander, WallFonken-01 and Flat Fonken all have pretty much the same volume, and therefore, the same port length and the same total port area. The differences are configuration

Exactly... 13 litres and the same tuning. Box & port configuration are reconfigured to suit the box (they aren't all the same cross-section and length, but they are all very high aspect ratio and as long as i can get away with.

For the next iteration of the wall fonken i'm probably start with one of the variations on the BiFonken sliced in half -- ideas are still hatching in my head,

dave

[planet10]

1st pass on Take 3 wallFonken... and this one you can build without the bigass tablesaw.

I also just realized that i built the pre-cursor to these in 1981

dave

[Bigun]

This looks interesting...

moving the ports back like this cleans up the front face, something that might be attractive for some people for the regular Fonken where the ports could be designed to exit at the side near the rear of the box. Two reasons this may be attractive - the front of the box is then very 'clean' and the treatment of the wood (varnish, veneer or whatever) is very difficult to do well inside the visible part of the holes.

So...what are the potential effects on the sound when putting the ports close to the back of the box like this, especially if the box were mounted on or close to a wall ?

[HK26147]

So...what are the potential effects on the sound when putting the ports close to the back of the box like this, especially if the box were mounted on or close to a wall ?

I can measure the minor changes ( with an impedance sweep ) of moving a ported cab nearer and further from a boundary.
As long as the port is not obstructed I could not hear a distinct difference; At other frequencies - varying the distance to boundaries had more perceptible effects.