Clarity on Seas Thor Kit

[Byrd]

I am going to be building the Seas Thor kit soon but have a few questions which I would like clarified

1. In the AudioXpress article I have noticed that in some places the woofers are refered to as W18EX units and in others they are refered to as W18E units. Which is it and why this discrepancy?

2. What are thoughts on cabinet wall thickness? The standard design documents recomend +- 18mm for all sides except the front - which recomends +- 25mm. What differences are likely to be noticed with thicker / thinner wood? What is the maximum thickness one would go for, there must be a diminishing returns rule applied to this.

[Shaun]

Hi, Ross

I don't think you'll find 25mm locally. I've just finished a set of Thor boxes for a friend, and I had to resort to 22mm. Just keep the internal dimensions the same. Thicker walls will result in more rigid sides. However, I don't think it is practical to increase the wall thickness, as it is already of a respectable thickness, yielding a fairly "dead" enclosure.

The boxes without drivers are already quite wieldy, so you may regret adding more mass...

[Byrd]

Hey - Thanks Shaun

Being from SA - you should welcome heavier speakers. Theives are generaly lazy and wouldn't want to carry em out of your house. I plan to add a cavity to mine and fill it with concrete. Steal that ya bastards

I know what you mean about the 22mm vs 1 Inch. Why can't things just be standardised. I would be able to get 32 mm and as I say weight isn't an issue for me, but it is ALOT more expensive. Think I'll stick to the 22. Was your buddy happy with what he got?

[Scottmoose]

Count yourselves lucky guys -here in the UK, the maximum size MDF I can find is 18mm.

I know the feeling about thieves. A couple of years back, I lost most of my kit to the loathsome little maggots, including my much-loved LP12. I reflect on occasion that they might best serve the cause of the Earth by being buried under 6' of the stuff.

Speaking of sizes, I seem to recall from other threads that the Thor box is actually shallower than is ideal (I could be wrong there, though). If you're confident enough to draw up your own plans, it would probably be worth your while to use Martin King's MathCad worksheets to work out an optimum for these drivers -the Thor was based upon transitional work and TL tables; Martin's software is much more powerful, and much more accurate. It's relatively easy to simulate two drivers with it too, especially as they're identical. I haven't modelled the Thor in it yet, but I might plug the dimensions and T/S parameters of the drivers into it shortly and see what it comes out with.

Cheers
Scott

[RobWells]

25mm and 38mm are readily available from good timber merchants in the UK. I've bought both from 2 local companies...

I bought 38mm from here:

http://www.lathamtimber.co.uk/Products.asp?Cat=61

Rob.

sorry thats got nothing to do with the thor kit btw Byrd..

[Byrd]

Hey Scotmoose.

It sounds really strange that a bunch of those sort of folk would make off with a turntable. Scumbags.. Anyway I agree with your sentiments.

Mathcad - "Hissss Hissss - Non free software Hiss Hisssss" . Damn don't have it - and if I did would likely not know how to use it.

If you could pop something together for us that would be great - I would be interested to see the results. Apparently the depth was cut down slightly but that it no severe effect subjectivly. I would like to prototype both the Thor as it is and the Thor as it should be and listen for myself.

[Scottmoose]

Indeed it isn't freeware, but that's no problem! Martin has provided a free version of the MathCad8 explorer to download from his site for those who don't own the program. You can't save, but you can copy into programs like Word etc, and it all works just the same otherwise.
Best
Scott

[JDeV]

Originally posted by Byrd
Was your buddy happy with what he got?

I am the lucky buddy
Am actually going to collect the boxes this afternoon from Shaun, and will fit drivers and x-overs tonight.
Pictures and feedback will follow soon

Goodluck with yours.

[Byrd]

Thanks Scott - will check it out.

JDev - Thanks. My goodies arrive next week sometime - then it's just a matter of finding a bit of time to do some building. I am busy building 12 channels of the Leach amp clone at the moment - so that will take a bit of time to complete.

I wish there was a bit more of a diy community in Durban - it feels very isolated out here hearing about the dudes in JHB & capetown. It must be nice not to have to build everything just to hear it.

Looking forward to lots of pics etc.

[john van ommen]

Thor was designed by D'Appolito based on Augspurger's work. In defense of Augspurger's alignment tables -

In the AudioXpress article, D'Appolito states that he'd reduced the size of the enclosure arbitrarily.

Based on building many TLs myself, and modeling many more, I would anticipate that reducing the enclosure in such a way would reduce output in the deep bass. In other words, I would expect the bass to sound 'thin.' There are ways to reduce a TL, but arbitrarily shrinking the box ISN'T the best solution.

I agree with the other posters; redesigning the Thor Enclosure in Mathcad is a great idea.

John