My Frugel-Horn Build

italynstylion · 19th February 2009, 03:40 AM

After searching up and down the DIYaudio.com full range forum the fist thing I learned was that I knew NOTHING about horn design. It's a totally different ball game than regular audio. I decided on my drivers and my horn design after getting some suggestions from you guys here. The Fostex 126eN had a great reputation and I decided that would be my driver of choice. I went with the frugal horn design because it's compact and also had a good reputation behind it for sounding very very nice when combined with the 126eN.

The drivers wont be here for at least another 3 weeks while Dave puts the finishing touches on them. Normally this would suck, but in this case it's good because it's encouraged me to take my time with the build. I was told to use birch because it "sounded better". Normally I'd use MDF but I wasn't going to argue since horns aren't my area of expertise. I'm going to stain these since it has a nice grain on the wood. This means that I can't get messy with the wood glue because it will cause the wood not to accept stain.

My friend Joseph helped me cut the wood with his delta table saw. Everything came out perfect and very precise. This is the wood before I got started. I'm using a towel to protect the finish on the sides that will be showing.

Since I wouldn't be painting wood filler would not be an option which meant that nails or screws were out of the picture. Joseph let me borrow a few of his clamps (thanks man) and since I needed an extra hand Domokun helped me with assembly.

Team work paid off and we started getting pretty good with the clamps. This helped us do more than one piece at once which cut down on our dry times.

The internals aren't in it and the other side isn't on. This is just what it will look like when it's together before I install the supra baffles.

Finishing up the horn internals...

Internals done right before the side got put on. The areas that are in the middle and very bottom (sealed chambers) were filled with sand before everything was sealed up.

I finished the other one too so I moved on to the supra baffles today. It was really a bitch to cut out the inner parts so that they fit around the top of the enclosure body. It was especially hard too because Domo said he wouldn't help me. He complained about the saw dust getting in his fur or something.

Anyways....I'm basically done building and I need to prep these babies for stain and a protective coat.

What do you guys think? Am I headed in the right direction so far? I built the horns with the small and medium chamber open. Page 9 Explains what I mean. I figured I could fill it in later if i needed to but if I only built the small chamber I'd never be able to open it up more than that.

italynstylion · 19th February 2009, 03:46 AM

I just realized the pictures are ENORMOUS and I'm fixing it....gimme a sec

fwater · 19th February 2009, 05:18 AM

Leave the pictures enormous! I absolutely love this kind of picture documentation of a build, along with any quirks or snags recorded along the way. I am sure that I speak for many others when I say thanks for taking the time, pics are entertaining and useful. Good job!

rjbond3rd · 19th February 2009, 12:46 PM

Beautiful precision build. Hats off to Domokun as he takes a well-earned victory lap up the deflector.

italynstylion · 19th February 2009, 02:02 PM

I do have a question about the binding posts though. I thought about this for a long time before I closed up the box. I see that most people choose to put the binding posts in the lower rear piece of the horn and run the wires up through the inside. I feared that I would be able to hear the wires rattling in there so I decided to put the binding posts on the side of the compression chamber so I could keep the internal wires as short as possible. Is there any problem with that?

AndrewT · 19th February 2009, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by italynstylion
I just realized the pictures are ENORMOUS and I'm fixing it....gimme a sec

Quote:

Originally posted by fwater
Leave the pictures enormous! I absolutely love this kind of picture documentation of a build, along with any quirks or snags recorded along the way. I am sure that I speak for many others when I say thanks for taking the time, pics are entertaining and useful. Good job!

how much detail would we see if the pics were compressed to under the 100k Forum limit?

italynstylion · 19th February 2009, 02:25 PM

There is a forum limit to how big pictures can be? I shrunk them down a bit since last night. They're not still too big are they?

gurley123 · 19th February 2009, 02:41 PM

Those look awesome. Great job.

Are you going to make some deflectors for the rear? Or are you going to just listen to them and decide on that later?

italynstylion · 19th February 2009, 02:51 PM

I will be making the deflectors. I want to get the main enclosures done first though so if the drivers arrive early I'll be able to listen to them.

I'm also trying to come up with a way to integrate a subwoofer into each of the two deflectors without drastically changing their shape. I'm pretty creative so we'll see what happens.

planet10 · 19th February 2009, 06:30 PM

Nice work... the choice of the larger air cavity will give you lots of opportunity to tune it down to the appropriate volume (~2.2litre) with irregular shaped objects.

dave

19th February 2009, 03:40 AM	#1
italynstylion diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Dallas, Tx.	My Frugal Horn Build After searching up and down the DIYaudio.com full range forum the fist thing I learned was that I knew NOTHING about horn design. It's a totally different ball game than regular audio. I decided on my drivers and my horn design after getting some suggestions from you guys here. The Fostex 126eN had a great reputation and I decided that would be my driver of choice. I went with the frugal horn design because it's compact and also had a good reputation behind it for sounding very very nice when combined with the 126eN. The drivers wont be here for at least another 3 weeks while Dave puts the finishing touches on them. Normally this would suck, but in this case it's good because it's encouraged me to take my time with the build. I was told to use birch because it "sounded better". Normally I'd use MDF but I wasn't going to argue since horns aren't my area of expertise. I'm going to stain these since it has a nice grain on the wood. This means that I can't get messy with the wood glue because it will cause the wood not to accept stain. My friend Joseph helped me cut the wood with his delta table saw. Everything came out perfect and very precise. This is the wood before I got started. I'm using a towel to protect the finish on the sides that will be showing. Since I wouldn't be painting wood filler would not be an option which meant that nails or screws were out of the picture. Joseph let me borrow a few of his clamps (thanks man) and since I needed an extra hand Domokun helped me with assembly. Team work paid off and we started getting pretty good with the clamps. This helped us do more than one piece at once which cut down on our dry times. The internals aren't in it and the other side isn't on. This is just what it will look like when it's together before I install the supra baffles. Finishing up the horn internals... Internals done right before the side got put on. The areas that are in the middle and very bottom (sealed chambers) were filled with sand before everything was sealed up. I finished the other one too so I moved on to the supra baffles today. It was really a bitch to cut out the inner parts so that they fit around the top of the enclosure body. It was especially hard too because Domo said he wouldn't help me. He complained about the saw dust getting in his fur or something. Anyways....I'm basically done building and I need to prep these babies for stain and a protective coat. What do you guys think? Am I headed in the right direction so far? I built the horns with the small and medium chamber open. Page 9 Explains what I mean. I figured I could fill it in later if i needed to but if I only built the small chamber I'd never be able to open it up more than that.

19th February 2009, 06:30 PM	#10
planet10 frugal-phile(tm) diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Victoria, BC, NA, Sol III Blog Entries: 4	Nice work... the choice of the larger air cavity will give you lots of opportunity to tune it down to the appropriate volume (~2.2litre) with irregular shaped objects. dave __________________ community sites t-linespeakers.org, frugal-horn.com ........ commercial site planet10-HiFi p10-hifi forum here at diyA

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19th February 2009, 03:46 AM	#2
italynstylion diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Dallas, Tx.	I just realized the pictures are ENORMOUS and I'm fixing it....gimme a sec

19th February 2009, 05:18 AM	#3
fwater diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2007	Leave the pictures enormous! I absolutely love this kind of picture documentation of a build, along with any quirks or snags recorded along the way. I am sure that I speak for many others when I say thanks for taking the time, pics are entertaining and useful. Good job!

19th February 2009, 12:46 PM	#4
rjbond3rd diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2007	Beautiful precision build. Hats off to Domokun as he takes a well-earned victory lap up the deflector.

19th February 2009, 02:02 PM	#5
italynstylion diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Dallas, Tx.	I do have a question about the binding posts though. I thought about this for a long time before I closed up the box. I see that most people choose to put the binding posts in the lower rear piece of the horn and run the wires up through the inside. I feared that I would be able to hear the wires rattling in there so I decided to put the binding posts on the side of the compression chamber so I could keep the internal wires as short as possible. Is there any problem with that?

19th February 2009, 02:25 PM	#7
italynstylion diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Dallas, Tx.	There is a forum limit to how big pictures can be? I shrunk them down a bit since last night. They're not still too big are they?

19th February 2009, 02:41 PM	#8
gurley123 diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2007	Those look awesome. Great job. Are you going to make some deflectors for the rear? Or are you going to just listen to them and decide on that later?

19th February 2009, 02:51 PM	#9
italynstylion diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Dallas, Tx.	I will be making the deflectors. I want to get the main enclosures done first though so if the drivers arrive early I'll be able to listen to them. I'm also trying to come up with a way to integrate a subwoofer into each of the two deflectors without drastically changing their shape. I'm pretty creative so we'll see what happens.

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