Makizou, I finally did it.

[Harderror]

Ok guys, I dug up the half-assed plans off of here and decided to try and build them. I had ordered a set of the Fostex FE87SE which, I can only assume are like the original FE87 model. These drivers sound so sweet! Like Butter! They only handle 5 watts but man do they make good use of it! I like them far better than the FE87E. Regardless. I decided to try and build something compact for them. This little horn rocks for it's size! Now, granted, I made a couple of small errors in the conversion to standard wood from metric, but, the sound is still great. They are not bass monsters but they are clean and balanced. They do reproduce surprisingly low notes for a 42cm tall box. I would even guess that I am hearing 50 Hz. For those of you that claim that horns don't work this small, I challange you to build a set and see if it is a horn or a T-Line. It definitely doesn't perform like a t-line. It acts every bit like a horn. Regardless, I am drawing up a set of plans (that are correct) and going to build them and see if it is even better. I can only hope so. I will post the plans when I do this. Hopefuly I won't violate any copyright laws with this.
This puts the sets of built speakers up to 7 now. The GF is starting to notice that there are speakers everywhere. hehe.

 

[mrlots2do]

The Tempest, sorry, only pic I have of this project. I built this little gem just before christmas. Drivers are FE87.

 

[Scottmoose]

Nice one guys, both look pretty good to me.

For those of you that claim that horns don't work this small, I challange you to build a set and see if it is a horn or a T-Line. It definitely doesn't perform like a t-line. It acts every bit like a horn.

It's a cascading set of 1/2 wave resonators, like most of the Fostex Factory designs on their site. So technically it cannot be classified as a horn. That doesn't necessarily mean it won't sound like one though. I still like the Fostex designs myself. This little thing looks ideal for an unusual pair of desktop speakers.

 

[gatesgt]

Makizou FE87 horn

Guys, I am new to the forum and had a question. Where can I find the design plans for this horn? There are a couple of Japanese websites that inform it is a Nagoaka Tetsuo design. If it is, what book do I need to get it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Scottmoose]

The upper one (the D118 I believe) is definitely in one of his books, but which I'm not sure. Have a search and you should find some basic plans on the internet -enough to build it with anyway. I've just been looking at them, but since they are copyright to Mr. Nagaoka I can't post a link. You should find them easily though.

Scott

 

[Ioan]

Makizou plan

Here is the plan.

 

[gatesgt]

D-8BH or D-118?

Scott,

Thanks for the reply. I think that top one is a D-8BH. From one of the Japanese websites anyway. I have searched for these plans high and low without any luck. Have you looked at the Nagoaka Tetsuo Book #5 yet? I am wondering if there are any promising designs in it for the FE-87SP from Madisound.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[gatesgt]

Makizou design

Thank you very much. Would you happen to know the width of the speaker?

Thanks again,
Greg

 

[Ioan]

Makizou width

You're welcome.

I have never seen the "official" width of this design, but looking at the proportions of the mouth, and applying the golden ratio, the
internal width should be something around 110 mm.

Ioan

 

[eric1138]

Makizou M-8BH

I measured the drawing, which shows the cutout for the speaker. Assuming the cutout is round, and measure the picture dimensions, I get 120mm width for all the pieces that go between the walls of the box.

I have a pair of 70mm speakers from a set of Altec PC speakers - the T/S parameters are nearly identical to the FE87E. I'm going to start cutting the wood for these little horns on the weekend.

Here's some photos I found of the kit going together:
http://makizouphoto.hp.infoseek.co.jp/ito.html

Here's the company that makes the kits:
http://hb6.seikyou.ne.jp/home/makizou/

Here's a guy in Japan who built the kit:
http://www.atatan.com/~s-ito/sp/makizou.html

Eric.

 

[tburman]

This looks like a nice little box to play with discarded PC speaker drivers. I've tried to follow the plan posted above and done a Google SketchUp 6 file. Does this look about right? I've gone with 120mm width between the sides, but scaling is trivial.

 

[eric1138]

I haven't used Sketchup. Can you export the file as a jpg or bmp ?

I'm finishing the speakers today. I have to seal the wood and wait for them to dry. Then I can install the wire and speakers. I'll post picutres when I'm done.

Eric.

 

[tburman]

Not too useful as an image, but here it is anyway.

 

[eric1138]

That's pretty neat. That's what I built. I used 5/8" plywood because that's what we have around here - it's really close to 16mm. I've been having trouble posting my pictures of the finsihed speakers, but I will try again tonight.

The frequency response is good down to 100 Hz. Between 100 Hz and 50 Hz, there is a definite drop, and below 50 Hz, there is absolutely nothing. But in my den, they fill the room. Great for jazz and classical, but I would not recommend them for pop.

Eric.

 

[eric1138]

Let's try this again. This is a picture of one of the finished speakers. I had to use pink foam because it's all I had.

Eric.

 

[tburman]

That looks very nice Eric. This design is looking increasingly attractive.

 

[eric1138]

Thanks. I used a half-sheet of plywood - it was actually 8 feet by 22 inches. And I still have about a third of that left. It took about 3 hours to cut all the pieces out and sand them and make sure all the panels were the same width. Then about 2 hours to put it all together. I used glue and 1" brads (tiny nails).

I sprayed the mouth of the horn flat black because I forgot to sand that part - I figured the black paint would hide the roughness. Quick sand with 150 grit and then a couple coats of varathane. A thin layer of silicone sealant for the speaker baffle and the speaker cutout.

I using them with a LM1875 chip amp that's sitting on the desk in pieces because I haven't built the box for it yet... one of these days More than enough for my den.

Eric.

 

[AdamThorne]

What driver parameters designate a driver that would be suitable for this enclosure? I feel like discussion often involves swapping drivers that are frequently horn-loaded among common horn designs. I don't know if people are doing this randomly, or if there is a method to the madness.

I would like to experiment with a small backhorn type design (I know this isn't exactly a horn), but since it is an experiment I would prefer to keep the cost down. Can anyone suggest how I might choose a suitable driver in the economy class?

 

[eric1138]

I got lucky - the drivers I had on hand measured very close to the FE-87E, which is the recommended driver for this enclosure.

I measured the drivers, then went looking for how to design a small horn for them. By chance, I saw this cool looking enclosure (from Makizou). After some hunting on Japanese web sites, I decided to build it.

The drivers I used came out of a set of $20 Altec PC speakers. Look at what's around - cheap PC speakers may be the way to go. Something in the 3" to 4" range wil get you enough air movement to get response down to maybe 70 or 80 Hz. Small is not good for low frequencies, but I only need to make this work for my den - not a concert hall.

Eric.

 

[G]

I got lucky - the drivers I had on hand measured very close to the FE-87E, which is the recommended driver for this enclosure.

I measured the drivers, then went looking for how to design a small horn for them. By chance, I saw this cool looking enclosure (from Makizou). After some hunting on Japanese web sites, I decided to build it.

The drivers I used came out of a set of $20 Altec PC speakers. Look at what's around - cheap PC speakers may be the way to go. Something in the 3" to 4" range wil get you enough air movement to get response down to maybe 70 or 80 Hz. Small is not good for low frequencies, but I only need to make this work for my den - not a concert hall.

Eric.

There are a couple of the TB drivers that would seem to be perfect for these enclosures if you have the watts to push them.