Open baffle line array nears completion

[xlr8]

Hello all,

Awhile back I came in here looking for ideas for a set of speakers that I could build myself without draining my wallet. I'd like to thank the entire diy community for sharing your projects with the world and also for providing folks like me with a place to come for answers to questions that I'd have to read several books to find otherwise.

Previously, my system consisted of a set of old Maggie MG 3a's that had been hot rodded and driven by all six channels of a cheap Kenwood home theater amp. I've been messing around with audio stuff for years and after spending lots of money on equipment and then having to sell it all due to divorce, this was the best I could come up with on my budget. I've enjoyed the Maggies over the last 3 years, but they were on their way out when I purchased them second hand (possibly 3rd or 4th) for $500, so the idea of diy has been in my head for some time. I love the airy open sound of the maggies as well as the large image they produce. I wanted my set of speakers to mimic this, so I went with an open baffle line array. Pictures to come shortly.

[xlr8]

Hmmm, can't seem to attach images.

[BHTX]

Originally posted by xlr8
Hmmm, can't seem to attach images.

They're probably too large. Annoying, isn't it?
If all else fails, you could host them on another server and either post them directly in this thread, or post links to the images.

[xlr8]

Maybe this will work...

[flaevor]

How about some details?

[xlr8]

Okay, so now you get the idea. I may re-size and attach more later.

In the image, I'm standing next to one of the newly constructed mid/high panels which now sits atop a 2 cubic foot cube which houses 4 Vifa logic 7" 8 ohm drivers. The cubes are midbass boxes and the drivers are mounted in a compound push/pull configuration. The panels consist of 12 Vifa logic 5.25" 4 ohm drivers and one 60" Maggie ribbon tweeter (pirated from the old set) each.

My buddy and my wife were a tremendous help in building these. My wife and I had agreed to spend several weekends taking our time and doing this right but my buddy had other ideas. When he realized what progress we were making, I could not get him to stop working on them. Honestly, we were all exited to hear them, so when we had completed cutting the holes we decided to go ahead and string one up for a listen. I went to Home Depot and bought some cheapo wire and connectors and we were all shocked by the pure, clean and extremely loud sound of just one speaker. The next thing I knew 2 of my other friends, my buddy's wife and the guy next door were ALL over here trying to get the other one up and running. We finally got both of them going and everyone just sort of starred in disbelief. They sound incredible. After a couple of weeks of tweeking placement and crossover adjustments, I can now confidently state that these are some of the best sounding speakers I ever could have hoped to build.

I still have LOTS of work to do here. I still have to round over the edges, angle over the backs of the holes, procure much better wire and connectors and apply some nice mahogany veneer that should match my equipment rack nicely. Problem is, I can't stop listening to them!!

[xlr8]

Okay, sorry, I had to leave the puter for a bit, but wanted to give you folks some more details.

This project has only cost me around $1100 USD and that number includes 2-4.5" hole saws that I had to buy. The veneer was provided free of charge by a friend who works at a local lumber store. The associated harware and MDF was all purchased at Home Depot. The 5.25" Vifas were purchased for $10 each from Madisound, the 7" drivers were $15 ea. What blew my doors off was the price of the Maggie ribbons. Magnepan offers a trade in deal on these. For $200 plus shipping they will send out a refurbished set of tweeters, provided, you send them back your old ones. You can buy these tweeters directly from Magnepan at a cost of $800 total. You folks can do the math...

The panels are made of 2 pieces of MDF 11" wide x 63" tall glued together with liquid nails and clamped with 8 clamps for several days to form a very solid 1-1/2" thick baffle. The panels are mounted to the midbass cubes with reinforced shelving brackets. Not the cheapo little deals that you can bend with your hands, but the real deal solid steel.

My wife and I have noticed something significant soundwise...Although they can reach incredible SPL's, the bass does not sound like it's tearing the house apart. Instead, it is extremely smooth and controlled. Please bear with me here, because I am not a sound engineer. I'm just a guy who wanted to build himself a nice set of speakers. These speakers do not seem to lose much SPL at all when we go upstairs. They seem to just fill the house with beautiful music. The bass is clean and tight and much more realistic than the maggies, yet nothing rattles. We don't know how it is that eight drivers that do not even come close to the surface area of the maggie bass panels can sound so much cleaner, yet not blow the doors open at the back of the room as the maggies did. I have not even braced nor stuffed the cubes yet. Don't get me wrong, the maggie bass was not at all bad, just different somehow. I definately like this better. I do know about the canceling of odd/even order harmonics in a compound push/pull setup like this, but never thought it could be this significant.

[xlr8]

Here's a link to some more photos if anyone is interested...

I'll be finishing these by the end of the year...hopefully.

xlr8's new line arrays

[adason]

eeexcelente! congratulations!
I made something similar few years back
very happy with the results
ed

[mayhem13]

Great concept..the dynamics of the array of cones with the spacious soundfield of the maggie tweeter...not to mention the dipole radiation !!! Any crossover details ?