First speaker set

[wb8723]

Hi,
First post from a diy audio beginner. If there's a thread that I haven't found that would be good to look at, feel free to link me and close this thread. Also, I feel like I'm maybe defiling this forum by not posting about some sort of high end speakers that I'm building with the finest sound and fancy cabinets, but here goes. I'm a dj and I'm attempting to build some 2-way PA loudspeakers this summer. I have some Gemini GW-1560 15", 8 ohm, 150 watt rms woofers. I'm somewhat lost as to what to pair these with. Any advice on what horn/drivers would work with these? I'm looking to make them loud, but I won't blast them often. Also, I've gotten a friend interested in helping me build these things and he wants to make some sort of innovative or crazy cabs for them. He's thinking along the lines of a very non-traditional cab shape. I know there are reasons that most cabs are rectangular or trapezoidal. Is it very unintelligent to differ from the traditional design?

Thanks in advance,
Will

[dave_gerecke]

Hey Will, I won't comment on Mid/Hi Freq drivers for these, except to say perhaps you should build the bass drivers into a cab of their own, and then you can experiment with different drivers/horns for the top end. I will say that there are differing views here at diyaudio, so in reality, anything goes for projects. Just keep it clean and respectful, like the moderators ask.
I would say that the main reason that speaker cabs are rectangles is ease of construction. Trapezoidal cabs are built specifically to put a horn in front of the bass driver, thus adding some mechanical amplification at the frequency of the horn. Building cabs in other shapes can actually have advantages. If the cabinet has a more complex shape to the box behind the woofer, the less likely you are to get standing waves in the box that create resonances. Give it some time, you will probably hear from Cal Weldon and planet10. These two, among others, know a lot about speakers. Cal in particular is probably a good source for your type of design!

Peace,

Dave