I always consider aesthetics in my designs, but I only have a thimble full of taste. I'm a planar and electrostatic guy. I used (and repaired) Quads for years and decided to build something a little different. So I built these:
http://quadesl.com/diy_esl1.html
They are a single purpose one man performance ride. And sadly, I'm not using them nearly as much as I was. I'm doing a lot more semi-casual listening and my house situation changed quite a bit.
I built a nice little set of bookshelf speakers for my study:
http://quadesl.com/seas_bookshelf.html
And a little something to try out the Jordan JX92 with:
http://quadesl.com/tidytl.html
My ESL's use an active crossover of my own design, and I'm heading that direction with my next set of speakers. I'm now streaming all my audio either to my squeezebox or to several airport expresses. My next set of speakers will be an MTM transmission line floorstander with active crossovers, and each driver will be amplified. The crossover and amps will live in the speakers. Rather than have a volume control for each speaker, I'm going to have a stepped attenuator and do fine tuning (when casually listening) using software.
It's not the wife who is driving the aesthetics, it's me.
Sheldon
http://quadesl.com/diy_esl1.html
They are a single purpose one man performance ride. And sadly, I'm not using them nearly as much as I was. I'm doing a lot more semi-casual listening and my house situation changed quite a bit.
I built a nice little set of bookshelf speakers for my study:
http://quadesl.com/seas_bookshelf.html
And a little something to try out the Jordan JX92 with:
http://quadesl.com/tidytl.html
My ESL's use an active crossover of my own design, and I'm heading that direction with my next set of speakers. I'm now streaming all my audio either to my squeezebox or to several airport expresses. My next set of speakers will be an MTM transmission line floorstander with active crossovers, and each driver will be amplified. The crossover and amps will live in the speakers. Rather than have a volume control for each speaker, I'm going to have a stepped attenuator and do fine tuning (when casually listening) using software.
It's not the wife who is driving the aesthetics, it's me.
Sheldon
polkymon
"I will refer to my notes and give you as much detail as I can in a later post. Btw, which Kharma? My sig pic or the 3.2 replica on my photo gallery?"
I believe I saw them on the web page, but I swear they were the same ones as the avatar.. 3 way with 5" mid and 8" woofer...
I think they were "rings" of MDF from front to back milled to make the enclosure... Or so it appears.. I may be WAYYYY off (nothing new) but from the unfinished picture it looked that way..
I would like to find a CNC wood shop here in the states to make my enclosures.. I'd drive to get them if shipping were prohibative.. Can you say road trip!!
Give me an excuse to go somewhere..
"I will refer to my notes and give you as much detail as I can in a later post. Btw, which Kharma? My sig pic or the 3.2 replica on my photo gallery?"
I believe I saw them on the web page, but I swear they were the same ones as the avatar.. 3 way with 5" mid and 8" woofer...
I think they were "rings" of MDF from front to back milled to make the enclosure... Or so it appears.. I may be WAYYYY off (nothing new) but from the unfinished picture it looked that way..
I would like to find a CNC wood shop here in the states to make my enclosures.. I'd drive to get them if shipping were prohibative.. Can you say road trip!!
Give me an excuse to go somewhere..What exactly is aesthetics? (for audio equipment)
To my eyes, the way which makes things properly functional is beauty already. Any shapes/colors/materials/textures which are properly functional are all beauties. But anything further for the appearance is not essential. (Yes, a good finish looks good for sure, but not essential.)
And I don't see anything wrong with exposed cones or big bass cabinets/baffles. That's the way they should be, isn't it? None of my speakers has grille, totally unecessary. Cones are much much prettier then a piece of flat black lifeless cloth. Why are people always wanting to cover them?
As my observation, people (not us) always want to minimize audio equipment. They always want them smaller. It seems even better to make them disappear. But why? The speakers get their sizes for reasons -- physics! It's mother nature! Just like a piano, if it shrink, it'll be a toy, not a real one. And anyone complains about the size of a couch or bed or freezer?
I'm thinking of that interesting thread about "beating a Bose.... "
To my eyes, the way which makes things properly functional is beauty already. Any shapes/colors/materials/textures which are properly functional are all beauties. But anything further for the appearance is not essential. (Yes, a good finish looks good for sure, but not essential.)
And I don't see anything wrong with exposed cones or big bass cabinets/baffles. That's the way they should be, isn't it? None of my speakers has grille, totally unecessary. Cones are much much prettier then a piece of flat black lifeless cloth. Why are people always wanting to cover them?
As my observation, people (not us) always want to minimize audio equipment. They always want them smaller. It seems even better to make them disappear. But why? The speakers get their sizes for reasons -- physics! It's mother nature! Just like a piano, if it shrink, it'll be a toy, not a real one. And anyone complains about the size of a couch or bed or freezer?
I'm thinking of that interesting thread about "beating a Bose.... "
Art revisited..
Perhaps what I'm trying to say can be summed in a simple phrase.."One will tend to ignore a shout, but will strain to hear a whisper".
On the website with the 'Windswepts'.....The stacks and Concepts are my only choices..the Tulips, Pyramids fall short, hard angles & music don't mix, & the Askews' suffer from the Van Goeh(sp?) Andy Warhol syndrome...hard on the eyes...the Blackwoods are too busy, needs some unifying of several ideas.
The Hex, Trinity, Knapplemeister suffer from the school of cathedral design...with all those "noble" mouldings on the edges.
As to the "I like it & damn the world" mentality....All well and good but one will suffer the "masses" ridicule. Perhaps it could be your neighbor you invite to listen to you newest CD, & upon departure he snickers under his breath at you 'creations'.
I am REALLY NOT trying to shoot down anybodys design, but one must really be schooled in Art to have a good chance at making a GOOD design. Frankly, most of these designs are at the High School level.....consult with someone with true artistic vision...preferably with a dozen or so years of graphic experience. This will open your eyes to the world of Art, history, & the human condition.
____________________________________Rick..........
Perhaps what I'm trying to say can be summed in a simple phrase.."One will tend to ignore a shout, but will strain to hear a whisper".
On the website with the 'Windswepts'.....The stacks and Concepts are my only choices..the Tulips, Pyramids fall short, hard angles & music don't mix, & the Askews' suffer from the Van Goeh(sp?) Andy Warhol syndrome...hard on the eyes...the Blackwoods are too busy, needs some unifying of several ideas.
The Hex, Trinity, Knapplemeister suffer from the school of cathedral design...with all those "noble" mouldings on the edges.
As to the "I like it & damn the world" mentality....All well and good but one will suffer the "masses" ridicule. Perhaps it could be your neighbor you invite to listen to you newest CD, & upon departure he snickers under his breath at you 'creations'.
I am REALLY NOT trying to shoot down anybodys design, but one must really be schooled in Art to have a good chance at making a GOOD design. Frankly, most of these designs are at the High School level.....consult with someone with true artistic vision...preferably with a dozen or so years of graphic experience. This will open your eyes to the world of Art, history, & the human condition.
____________________________________Rick..........
I always try to make designs that do not look like any others. This involves much trade-off, but always trying to do so that technically they are better than rectangular boxes. The design shown in my avatar is one example. If there were now trade-offs, we would probably end up with the same design. It's like people, certainly would be fearful and boring to see all people look the same.
I have found that what probably have more effect on the sound are not knowing exactly the effects of sound with a specific shape. This is one area where more research would be necessary.
I am actually starting to consider designs where speakers are not the same shape for a pair.
I have found that what probably have more effect on the sound are not knowing exactly the effects of sound with a specific shape. This is one area where more research would be necessary.
I am actually starting to consider designs where speakers are not the same shape for a pair.
troystg said:polkymon
I believe I saw them on the web page, but I swear they were the same ones as the avatar.. 3 way with 5" mid and 8" woofer...
I think they were "rings" of MDF from front to back milled to make the enclosure... Or so it appears.. I may be WAYYYY off (nothing new) but from the unfinished picture it looked that way..
I would like to find a CNC wood shop here in the states to make my enclosures.. I'd drive to get them if shipping were prohibative.. Can you say road trip!!
A translam? Not in my lifetime.
The cabinet is canted 5 degrees so keep this in mind on all cuts.
The front and rear baffles and top are 1 1/8" mdf which are actually stair steps from Lowe's ($7.80ea). You'll end up with a 48" x 11" piece after removing front edge. Bottom will be made of this material and a 3/4 mdf sandwiched then sculpted.
Front baffle lines were cut in with a circular saw and sanded with a dowel wrapped in sandpaper. Baffles were edged with a 3/4" roundover.
Top chamber is completely isolated from the bottom chamber and houses the tweeter/mid x-over on a removable board secured by sliding it into an aluminum channel in front and secured by thumbscrews in rear accessible through a panel. The midrange housing is a 1.4l plastic container lined with carpet padding and filled with fiberfill. The curved sides are made of mdf strips and covered with bondo.
Sides are 3/4" mdf and 1/2" mdf with a layer of felt in between. Yes this box is HEAVY!
Absolutely amazing to compare the first and last picture..
Thank you for the photos.. Now I can see that the enclosure can be done with out CNC milling. Although CNC would be easier.
I'll see if I have the time to make some this spring, if not I'll resort to a professional wood worker.
Beautiful enclosures.... Fabulous jobs on all of them.
Thank you for the photos.. Now I can see that the enclosure can be done with out CNC milling. Although CNC would be easier.
I'll see if I have the time to make some this spring, if not I'll resort to a professional wood worker.
Beautiful enclosures.... Fabulous jobs on all of them.
Aesthetics was a primary design criteria when I built a pair of subs. I wanted them to be unique, aestheticly pleasing, and head pounding. They are designed to stack on top of each other as in the picture so they can serve as a stand, or they can be placed seperately for best audio quality. In the picture one is flipped upside down and stacked on the other. Almost looks like one unit. Don
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I'll let you decide. These are not finished but one is close enough that you can see the idea. The speaker is an open baffle table speaker. Since an OB needs to be out in the room a ways for best performance I wanted to combine attractiveness with functionality so that they could serve another purpose beyond sound. Behold the bouquet holder.
The speaker is not yet stained and I have yet to add the feet and the biamp connector plate that will be on the bottom of the base plate. Also to be added is a rear grill cloth and frame.
mike
The speaker is not yet stained and I have yet to add the feet and the biamp connector plate that will be on the bottom of the base plate. Also to be added is a rear grill cloth and frame.
mike
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An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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