Looking for Mentor to help with DIY

[smasters_45]

Hello,
At my school each senior does a senior project of his or her choice, and I have decided to build (or possibly design, although I read that this is rather hard) a couple pairs of speakers for my project. As part of the project, I need to find a mentor to help me with any questions that I might have, as well as being able to point me in the right direction. I am wondering if there is anyone from south east Michigan who would be willing to help me out? I would pay for all of the matierals that I need, of course. I have basic DIY skills, such as sodering, and I recently assembled the BR-1 kit from PE, so I have a basic understanding of DIY concepts. If you think you could help me out, please either post here, or email me at smasters@comcast.net.

Thank you very much.
Sean

[Cal Weldon]

Hi Sean,

There are many here willing to help. Areyou looking for someone that can be by your side or can we start through the forum?

What sort of project do you have in mind?

[smasters_45]

Wow, thanks for the quick and friendly reply!

I'm looking for someone to be by my side for a portion of the project. Like a local "go to" guy that I could ask about specifics of a cross over, or how to add bracing to a box, etc. I realize that I could probably get all my answers from the forum from various people, but I believe for my project it is specified that I must have one specific mentor.

As for projects, I was thinking about building Zaph's cheap MTM in a sealed box, and then possibly designing my own speakers. Maybe a floorstanding speaker of some kind?

Thanks

[Tenson]

A speaker using the CSS FR125S full range 4" driver would be a good and not too pricey project. http://www.madaboutsound.com/prod_det.asp?product_id=13

I'm thinking a design similar to the Eclipse. http://www.eclipse-td.com/e05_512/index.html

If you can get some of the metal Ikea salad bowls you can do a spherical enclosure like some other guy on here did for some subwoofers. They do the bowls in smaller sizes so thats not a problem.

No crossover, no woodwork, just a little bit of cutting thin metal and epoxy glue.





You can then impress them with the genius behind spherical enclosures in terms of baffle-step and vibration control (if you mound a driver in the front and back) and the advantage of di-poles and full range speakers.

Edit: Tangband do some cheaper 4" full range drivers.

[sreten]

Originally posted by smasters_45
Wow, thanks for the quick and friendly reply!

I'm looking for someone to be by my side for a portion of the project. Like a local "go to" guy that I could ask about specifics of a cross over, or how to add bracing to a box, etc. I realize that I could probably get all my answers from the forum from various people, but I believe for my project it is specified that I must have one specific mentor.

As for projects, I was thinking about building Zaph's cheap MTM in a sealed box, and then possibly designing my own speakers. Maybe a floorstanding speaker of some kind?

Thanks

Hi,

How about building the floorstanding version of Zaph's BAMTM ?

Then possibly as a project review the design of the BAMTM using
as much data as possible from various sources and various tools.

http://www.rjbaudio.com/Audiofiles/FRDtools.html

There is a lot to learn from doing this ........

/sreten.

[smasters_45]

Thanks for the replies and emails. Tons of good info here, I appreciate it!

I asked my class principal today, and he said that the mentor does not need to live around me. Infact, the only interaction needed is through email or forums. However, I cannot say my mentor was the DIYAudio.com forums. Is there anyone who is willing to answer specific questions that I might have through email?
Thank you.

[CharlieLaub]

Hi Sean,

You are welcome to check out my web site and contact me if you want advice or background. I have a pretty good working knowledge about loudspeaker design from the science and physics end of things.

Good luck with your project.

Charlie
http://audio.claub.net