PVC sewer pipe speakers

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I've been searching for some designs with PVC sewer pipe, and would be interested in any designs and listening experiences. In terms of options we have commonly available (all internal measurements):
110mm - for CHR-70, Alpair 7, Fostex 103E etc
160mm - for JX92S, Alpair 7, Fostex 168E etc
200mm - for Alpair 12, Fostex 208E etc

There are various accessories as well - T junctions, 90 deg. bends, stoppers, access pipes etc which would facilitate a speedy construction.

The other interesting possibility is to put a pipe within a pipe and fill the space between with sand. So 110mm inside 160mm, 160mm inside 200mm, 200mm inside 250mm. Should be pretty inert!!

So how to proceed with this? I can't see it being possible to taper the pipe, so bass reflex is an obvious option. But what could I do in terms of a tuned pipe - ideas?

andy
 
Hi Dave,

I've been looking into this some more. I like my idea of 2 coaxial cheap PVC tubes with sand in the middle. An alternative would be the high pressure type PVC tubing = walls from 7mm to 12mm. But this gets expensive, alas. Sand is cheap!

I'm looking at suppliers here in the UK. Debating how to mount the forward pointing speaker - I can see a few options here! 110mm square hopper looks good - gives you a nice square front tapering down to 110mm pipe - very easy to bolt on a baffle. I'm thinking tall and thin, so thinking of a t junction 2/3 way up rather than a 90 degree bend at the top. Early days! But I'm getting restless to go out and get some tube to play with. Rob Sampson calls it "audio Lego"!

andy
 
Around about 19660 Rex Baldock designed a range of speakers called the tricolumn. Google "Haskelling".
Basically a Voigt type tapered column, they consisted of a vertical tube, open at the floor end, with speaker mounted horizontally at the top end. Inside was another tube, glued at the top, and to one side of the larger pipe, roughly 60% of its OD, and two thirds of its length. This was open at the speaker end, and closed at the lower end. Effectively this gave a taper, consisting of the small pipe, (circular), the area between the two pipes, (crescent),then the large pipe, (circular), with the speaker mounted approximately one third from the closed end taking into account the effect of the floor at the open end. A reflector could be added at the top if desired.
It was mainly designed for speakers of the Super 8 type. Approx size for that unit 9" OD, 36" high. He tried a number of units, including a lowther PM6 in it.
I'm sure using MJK calcs plus more modern units, an interesting and WAF design could result.
 
I was actually ruminating on a "green" speaker. If I had a pipe within a pipe and sand in between, I could plant nice flowers and plants in the sand at the top. I could have a T junction further down and a cap on the top of the pipe, but should leave room for a nice roof of vegetation - sort of a thatched roof effect..... think of the WAF!!

andy
 
I've fund a nice website in the UK which looks good value. Current thinking is to use 160mm pipe. T junction triple socket to mount the speaker unit forwards, cap on top and plain pipe going down, then some sort of base. This could be enclosed in a square box section with sand in between. Cost for a pair of these - pipe plus T plus cap on top - is £71.10 plus VAT.

Given the above I'm thinking bass reflex, and estimating about 21 litres. Drawback with this is that something like a Jordan JX92 or a Alpair 10, which fit into a 160mm pipe, don't really require 21 litres. An Alpair 12 which would be nice doesn't fit into a 160mm pipe! Back to the drawing board, but I smell a very non-resonant enclosure here and quick to make - no need for internal bracing etc. Just have a top which can be unscrewed to have access to the interior.

andy

160mm diameter Pipe and Fittings - Building Supplies R Us
 
Beats the hell out of bose cubes!

Terry
 

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I bought 4x 8" full range driver on ebay for £3 ea with postage, and was experimenting with using traffic cones as rear tapering tubes.

In an effort to partly imitate the B&W nautilus tapering tubes (albeit on a next to free budget)

The small cones fit an 8" driver almost perfectly and the large ones a 12" woofer. The ends are open, so can be closed, stuffed or extended.

I still haven't got round to getting any testing equipment, but the basic project cost under £15 and sounded pretty good.

Has anyone else tried this, or seen it done?
 
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