DIY Klipsch Belle with Bill Woods Conical Horn

[ldarieut]

where does one source 25mm walnut ply? That just looks so awesome.

 

[freddi]

a bifurcated beauty and nice tribute to PWK.

 

[atilsley]

When I was in high school shop, I was very fortunate to get a set of plans to make the Khorn. Yes, it was a big challenge for me, but I knew that it would be years before I ever had the resources again to do it. Now that I look at the Belle design a little closer, it seems that it has a horn loaded design similar to the Khorn. My point here is that the bigger horn had beyond astounding bass, and I would expect at least some of that to apply to the Belle design as well. Though corner placement certainly completed the Khorn response, it did quite well, even if not in a corner, well, maybe not the bottom octave but certainly there on up. What would be the bass extension of the Belle design?

Thanks. There’s no doubting the significant bass output of the K-horn. I liken it to the Tannoy Autograph, which shares similar attributes in terms of corner loading and size. A room has to be able to accommodate the size. (As an aside, I have built the Tannoy GRF Corner Horn, using layers of CNC’d MDF. I would stick to a traditional build method if I built another GRF. I’ve also built a number of GRF Rectangular horns, which I think is a great all-round speaker, with deep bass and moderate sizing.)

My mate already has a pair of JBL 4345’s, which uses an 18-inch driver in approx. 300 litre cabinet. I’ve listened to this system….and it is phenomenal in its output. As such, my mate wasn’t chasing outright bass depth in the Klipsch project, which is why we settled on the Belle. He also didn’t want to vary the design, by adding a bass reflex extension. As I wrote earlier, he can use the bass output from the JBL, as this is run via a separate amp with active xover.

If I was building a system with no restrictions, I would opt for the Klipsch Jubilee, with the giant horn. PK’s swan song. I believe this speaker sacrifices a small amount of bass depth to the K-horn…but makes up for it in output/scale/attack.

 

[atilsley]

where does one source 25mm walnut ply? That just looks so awesome.

I'm in Oz. Using a good local supplier Sharpe Panels. In walnut, the 2400mm x 1200mm sheets are approx AUD$550. I built a large system recently for Li Song 10-inch woofers, using 25mm ply with Jarrah veneer and Jarrah hardwood trim.

 

[Ixnay]

They were always glad to see me at the local woodworking supply. Glue was never allowed to get very old in my shop. Now that I see what you were gluing stack after stack, I wonder just how adhesive that was used? And did you have pegs or something similar to keep the alignment of each section?
i can't express my astonishment when I see such a build properly done! We have all seen the messes from the masses.

You are so right about a room being able to handle volume and frequency. Corner horns would be a joke in my present listening room and so I have built smallish rear loaded horns. All in all I am happy.

So, after building the first DNA model, I wanted deeper bass response than I was getting, so the DNA2 came along with me trying different driver combinations and ending up here.

 

[atilsley]

Thanks. Yes....for these CNC'd layered jobs, I always use dowels for cabinet alignment.

 

[bonjonno]

Simply stunning cabinet work 😳

 

[atilsley]

In room.

 

[djn]

Absolutely beautiful build!!! Do you have measurements? How do they sound?

 

[atilsley]

Sorry, no measurements yet. I haven't heard them playing yet....but my mate who I built them for reports they are sounding very good. Lively, punchy...and good bass depth (given the small nature of the bass horn).