Certainly! Already interested in building a pair (or two, one desktop monitors, and another floor stander) with Alpairs but cabinet construction is what prevents me proceeding at the moment.
Excellent, thanks for this straightforward method of contribution to those who well deserve it.
Good luck.
Hi Studio Au,
Do you need a minimum order quantity to proceed with manufacturing?
Count me in for Scott's Simple Reflex cabinets initially. This way I can test them both in my 8'x7' study and living room.
Hi Scott,
Is there any major difference between simple reflex and pensil cabinets other than the bass extension?
Cheers.
Do you need a minimum order quantity to proceed with manufacturing?
Count me in for Scott's Simple Reflex cabinets initially. This way I can test them both in my 8'x7' study and living room.
Hi Scott,
Is there any major difference between simple reflex and pensil cabinets other than the bass extension?
Cheers.
EU shipping could be fine. At the moment the 10p Pensil is using 1.5 sheets of ply. Which with cutouts and such would come in around 30-40kg's. EU shipping would start at around £35 (depending on exact weight and location).
For economy, we are cutting 2x 10p Pensil designs, so there will be one available very soon.
There won't be a minimum order, once tool paths for all the kits are made, we should be able to nest and economise on material, and with perhaps a two week lead time, be able to produce a run of a few.
In talks with Oak Audio (Uk Mark Audio dealer) about them stocking or being the front end of the operation, with made to order and shipped directly from the factory.
For economy, we are cutting 2x 10p Pensil designs, so there will be one available very soon.
There won't be a minimum order, once tool paths for all the kits are made, we should be able to nest and economise on material, and with perhaps a two week lead time, be able to produce a run of a few.
In talks with Oak Audio (Uk Mark Audio dealer) about them stocking or being the front end of the operation, with made to order and shipped directly from the factory.
Without jumping too far ahead of myself,
To make these extra special, looking at producing some hardwood baffles instead of the ply.
Most boxes are veneered after being glued up, but this raises a few tricky problems with the baffle. For me it would be great to have a ply exterior, that could be left, stained, or veneered. But have a baffle in walnut, oak, cherry, that wouldn't require any fiddly work.
Sneak peak; visualised with 10p and a gold 10.3
To make these extra special, looking at producing some hardwood baffles instead of the ply.
Most boxes are veneered after being glued up, but this raises a few tricky problems with the baffle. For me it would be great to have a ply exterior, that could be left, stained, or veneered. But have a baffle in walnut, oak, cherry, that wouldn't require any fiddly work.
Sneak peak; visualised with 10p and a gold 10.3
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
One more thing....
Early experiments;
Ala MagicoMini, could have great potential for sealed Alpair Cabinets (as the internal cabinet is simply made up with different amount of layers, and would only require a different baffle for corresponding 7/10/12 drivers.
This process is hugely wasteful, and Dave at Planet 10 might chime in about plywood not being used in its best orientation. Might be expensive, but done well can look like a £20,000 speaker.
This thread is intended as a general interest, please pm me for specifics.
Early experiments;
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Ala MagicoMini, could have great potential for sealed Alpair Cabinets (as the internal cabinet is simply made up with different amount of layers, and would only require a different baffle for corresponding 7/10/12 drivers.
This process is hugely wasteful, and Dave at Planet 10 might chime in about plywood not being used in its best orientation. Might be expensive, but done well can look like a £20,000 speaker.
This thread is intended as a general interest, please pm me for specifics.
Studio Au,
Your concepts look beautiful - more power to the UK DIYer.
Regarding your stacked laminate cabinet - have you though about backs also with something like this:
Curvomatic - The quickest and best way to make curved molds
With your precision CNC you can have a very accurate and well made internal frame.
Your concepts look beautiful - more power to the UK DIYer.
Regarding your stacked laminate cabinet - have you though about backs also with something like this:
Curvomatic - The quickest and best way to make curved molds
With your precision CNC you can have a very accurate and well made internal frame.
If I start producing curved ones I think I will have to buy one, discovered them after making these prototypes (on our little hobby CNC).
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/markaudio/254280-curved-pensil-inspired-alpair-10-3-prototypes-build-log.html
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/markaudio/254280-curved-pensil-inspired-alpair-10-3-prototypes-build-log.html
yup, no matter what materials and fabrication techniques you employ
CCM
curves cost money
To my thinking, B&Ws curved plywood lamination method is still the most elegant and probably sonically superior fabrication - scroll down to "Cabinets"
800 Series Diamond | Technology - Bowers & Wilkins | B&W Speakers
although the manufacturing infrastructure is rather specialized and expensive, and perhaps limited compared to what can be achieved with the stacked lamination technique that CNC wizards like to demonstrate -
CCM
curves cost money
To my thinking, B&Ws curved plywood lamination method is still the most elegant and probably sonically superior fabrication - scroll down to "Cabinets"
800 Series Diamond | Technology - Bowers & Wilkins | B&W Speakers
although the manufacturing infrastructure is rather specialized and expensive, and perhaps limited compared to what can be achieved with the stacked lamination technique that CNC wizards like to demonstrate -
I'd be interested in a pair of small BR boxes for some Alpair 7.3s. Just noticed a supplier has popped up on eBay. Louis, any ideas how much those would be posted to Sheffield?
So far as I can tell, the laminated construction needn't be that wasteful, if you're prepared to do each curved bit as two parts. That way, you could nest lots of them very close to each other. Assembly gets more difficult, I suppose, but if you want to cut down on material use, it might be worth looking at.
Some curved cabinets would be really cool!
Chris
So far as I can tell, the laminated construction needn't be that wasteful, if you're prepared to do each curved bit as two parts. That way, you could nest lots of them very close to each other. Assembly gets more difficult, I suppose, but if you want to cut down on material use, it might be worth looking at.
Some curved cabinets would be really cool!
Chris
Yes, the assembly gets very time consuming and painstaking once you start breaking curves into nested parts, not to mention the additional tool bit paths / drilling for joints and alignment. Then there's the prep and finishing work.
We do rather a lot of this type of thing with solid hardwoods for cruise ship refitting work - pre-finished assemblies that need to be broken down for containerized transport and on site installation world wide.
But yes, a well executed curved design can look pretty cool indeed.
We do rather a lot of this type of thing with solid hardwoods for cruise ship refitting work - pre-finished assemblies that need to be broken down for containerized transport and on site installation world wide.
But yes, a well executed curved design can look pretty cool indeed.
So far there are a few designs in the works:
1) Pensil 10p
2) Simple Reflex 10p/10.3
3) FHxl 10p/10.3
I'm keen to work up the whole Pensil series, along with a few more smaller bookshelf versions for the 7-12.
Ill need to check the tolerances of the 10p Pensil and make sure everything goes together as plans. Once thats sorted, Ill look at the curved ones (these were in two parts, and designed to have solid baffles and a solid chunk at the back to have a scallop taken out like some sonus faber for recessed terminals)
1) Pensil 10p
2) Simple Reflex 10p/10.3
3) FHxl 10p/10.3
I'm keen to work up the whole Pensil series, along with a few more smaller bookshelf versions for the 7-12.
Ill need to check the tolerances of the 10p Pensil and make sure everything goes together as plans. Once thats sorted, Ill look at the curved ones (these were in two parts, and designed to have solid baffles and a solid chunk at the back to have a scallop taken out like some sonus faber for recessed terminals)
If an 18mm front panel is routed to flush fit an Alpair 10.3, there will only be ~8mm thickness left to support the driver and take the screws. MA supply screws which have 16mm of thread behind the driver frame, which would suggest that they are designed to mount on to a baffle of at least 18mm thickness. Have you considered either a thicker front panel or a second 10mm front panel (to allow flush mounting of the driver on the primary panel) to give the driver full support? A secondary panel could also be used to provide a full width face covering the exposed ply edges of the sides.
Perhaps others have experience of whether such thickness is necessary.
In practise we have found 18mm baffle works fine. But then most of our speakers (FHs excluded) have a driver brace to the back of the cabinet.
dave
In that case, looks like we're good to go with the Pensils. I'm looking forward to Louis' impressions of his first build.
A couple of suggestions, particularly for Pensils.
For the terminals, if you would like to use deltron 4mm sockets, use a drill hole (8mm iircc) through the panel and on the internal side a 14mm diameter hole around it to a depth of 9mm. That internal hole will accommodate the nut and the typical hex spanner fitment on screwdriver sets. I will typically use epoxy resin to permanently fix the nut.
On the panel to panel joints consider ones that will resist outward pressure. E.g. Channels on the top and bottom that will fit rebated side panels and a rebate at the top of the front panel. This should be easy for CNC and result in better sound.
No real need for that frame around the port on the front panel (still correct size?). There should be enough structural integrity across the front with the aforementioned rebate, brace and glue around top and sides.
Cheers,
Andrew
For the terminals, if you would like to use deltron 4mm sockets, use a drill hole (8mm iircc) through the panel and on the internal side a 14mm diameter hole around it to a depth of 9mm. That internal hole will accommodate the nut and the typical hex spanner fitment on screwdriver sets. I will typically use epoxy resin to permanently fix the nut.
On the panel to panel joints consider ones that will resist outward pressure. E.g. Channels on the top and bottom that will fit rebated side panels and a rebate at the top of the front panel. This should be easy for CNC and result in better sound.
No real need for that frame around the port on the front panel (still correct size?). There should be enough structural integrity across the front with the aforementioned rebate, brace and glue around top and sides.
Cheers,
Andrew
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