Plans so far

[Mat_89]

Hey,

I'm a student taking Product Design for AS and I’m designing a set of floor standing speakers as my project.

I just thought I would post and get some constructive criticism.

When finished it will have a Tymphany Revelator Midwoofer (15W/8530K00) as the woofer, not the best but I’m still designing it, Tymphany Revelator Midrange (15M/4531K00) as the midrange and a Revelator (D2904/980000) as the tweeter.






So far this is just the enclosure for woofer. Each section will be milled from 20mm thick birch with a cherry (or similar) inlay in the front.

That’s it for the min. so what do you guys think?

Mat

p.s be kind, I’m new at this.

[FullThrottleRic]

Hi Mat,

Nice rendering

I'd have a look at some other drive units if this is your first project and think about a 2 way to start with, the more drive units you add it gets exponentially harder to get them to work togeather.

I've not heard great things about the 15M Revalators, the 15W's on the other hand are supposed to be very good. I havn't worked with either though so take that with a grain of salt. Also you might find a soft dome tweeter easier to integrate, I use the SS 9500's in my main speakers and am dead happy with them. Remember when looking at drive units more expensive doesn't always mean better

If you decide to go the 3 way route you'll want a bit more cone area for the bass driver, running a single 5" driver as a woofer isn't ideal at higher levels.

Have a look at Troel's Crossover design article for a better explanation of the advantages/disadvantages of various configurarions.

Have fun!

[Jonathan Bright]

Nice to see a fellow Bristolian on the forum. We left in Oct' 1957 and unfortunately never been back. Like the triangular format. It is true that three-ways are more difficult than two -ways but on the other hand you can always work away at the 3-way design and refine it as the years go on. Not sure about the description you gave of the construction. Are you doing a multi layered tiered effect? ie dozens of 20mm sheets on top of one another.

[nunayafb]

Acoustically and physically everything looks ok, however this will require alot of work to build and alot of wood will be wasted, assuming the box is a series of slices. If it is cost and complexity are through the roof with little benefit structurally and acoustically. I would recommend selecting corner radiuses that can be purchased(quarter round stock) and then using solid panels to achieve the height. Obviously the quarter round can not fill the 120 degree gap, so additional quarter rounds will have to be "ripped" to 30 degrees and used in conjunction.
The solid works generated jpeg should claify what I mean.

If this is a concept only drawing then it might not matter, however professors are usually impressed by manufacturability.

[sqlkev]

I, for one, don't like the looks of it. Might sound good, but not appealing.

[David Gatti]

Mat, why are you using the 15w as the woofer? Have you considered the 18w8531 which will leave it for dead in terms of low frequency reproduction?
As for the midrange, it's a really nice driver, though the consensus is that the coated version of the 15 revelator is a little more transparent.

[Mat_89]

Thanks for all your replies

Originally posted by FullThrottleRic
I'd have a look at some other drive units if this is your first project and think about a 2 way to start with, the more drive units you add it gets exponentially harder to get them to work togeather.

Originally posted by Jonathan Bright
It is true that three-ways are more difficult than two -ways but on the other hand you can always work away at the 3-way design and refine it as the years go on.

I am forced to go for 3-way. To change to a 2-way I would have to change pages and pages of PowerPoint slides, re-draw several design sketches and start over all of my calculations. On the plus side, it could be worse, I original wanted it to have 4 speakers. If you severely recommend going 2-way I will but I would prefer not to.

Originally posted by nunayafb
I would recommend selecting corner radiuses that can be purchased (quarter round stock) and then using solid panels to achieve the height. Obviously the quarter round cannot fill the 120 degree gap, so additional quarter rounds will have to be "ripped" to 30 degrees and used in conjunction.

That was my original plan but I have designed the speakers to curve up at the top (I will post a design sketch when I get home) which will be extremely difficult to do with quarter round and solid panels. Making it in sections will be easier to make the curve, should get me more marks for skill and ill be able to play with milling machines. As for the cost, I’m considering using a cheeper wood like beech instead of birch.

Originally posted by David Gatti
[B]Mat, why are you using the 15w as the woofer? Have you considered the 18w8531 which will leave it for dead in terms of low frequency reproduction?

I’ve changed that now. I was going to use them because at the time of concept, anything bigger was too big.

Thanks for all your help. Keep it comming!

[Shaun]

Go for void-free plywood (here we'd call it marine ply). It's stronger that solid wood, but would require paint or veneer as a finish.