good/bad materials for making hornbodies/waveguides

[Puggie]

I'm currently using a pair of horns in my car made by Veritas.

basically they are rebadged Radian 745PB compression drivers mated to an antisymetric horn/waveguide (have a look at www.imagedynamicsusa.com if you want an idea of the horn shape).

now the compression drivers are good, the horn shape is good, but the horns are cast (badly) from aluminium, they ring quite badly and are quite rough internally. So I'm looking at copying their general shape and profile from a different material in order to make some better horns.

What materials are good for making hornbodies from, I'm looking for something not too heavy but quite robust (they are mounted under the dashboard in the car so de get a few knocks). I'm thinking of:

wood, nice birch ply, easy to work and shape

fibreglass, could make a plug of the existing hornbody and tidy it up then use that as a mould.

what else is there and how does it stack up against the above suggestions?


EDIT: attached a pic of a horn body, they are Image Dynamics bodies, not quite the same as mine but similar and a good indication of what I'm talking about (you get both left and right hand horns, that is left hand with the compression driver on top).

[sreten]

Hi,

consider painting your current horns with whats called "Hammerite" in the UK.

Surprisingly effective damping of ringing, at least when used inside chrome hubcaps.

/sreten.

[Puggie]

I have tried, a visco elastic dampening liquid designed for damping metalwork and bitumin/butyl based adhesive sound deadening pannels, they still ring a bit.

To be honest I would like to have a play with modifying the shape to change their response slightly, I really want to build new horns but I think I need advice on what sort of materials to make the horns out of before I start. this was really brought about by the TAD clones on here and Baz Hornmans monsters in the full range forum.

thanks for the advice though, its always appreciated.

[mgoedeke]

Get hold of an 18Sound waveguide instead and you have a much better starting-point than the ID. What you have linked might be a compromize for the moutning in a car, but for home use there are definitely much better options around (sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear)

[Puggie]

thanks for your input, you mis-understand me though.

I want to build a pair of new 'better' hornbodies for using in the car with the Radian compression drivers. I want to know what would be the best material to do it in. I don't think the aluminium is a great material for the horn bodies, would wood, fibreglass or something else be better? These are for the car though, not in home.

I've posted this in the main loudspeaker forum, not car audio as it will get more views.

[lndm]

Haven't tried but have heard of auto body filler for horns. Might make a good back/case for a fibreglass form.