Metal Speaker Enclosures ? A bad idea ?

[banglacx]

Can you post a link to the public domain designs that you speak of, esp. the design which you are using.

The science is all there – material and enclosure is in public domain…

 

[marekst]

I presented my horns seven years ago on single driver site, but the thread is mostly gone. My article on audiostereo.pl was the best source but also shows empty thread? The info how to make composite horn is on thread about speaker material on this forum. I just opened a dedicated thread for the horns.

 

[mirekti]

It's been three and a half years since last post in this thread. I wondered if anything changed in the mean time in regards to aluminum cabinets i.e. how expensive would it be to build a custom one? How thick the aluminum should be (concerned about the weight)?
I don't plan on building a full range speaker, but something like Magico Q1 in my version with RAAL twitter and Accuton Bass/Midrange.
Also, I believe I read somewhere that aluminum cabinets shouldn't be vented, but not sure why.

 

[Bjohannesen]

My Kvart&Bølge quarter wave speaker has an aluminum enclosure. The foot / port is "heavy metal". It works very well. We got the equipment to fold the alu and stamp the hole for the driver.

The alu is covered with veener. The cabinet is not completly "dead" but the result is awesome.

Kvart&Bølge originates from my TABAQ.


Hi
Bjørn

 

[logotrikes]

Hi folks,

Just thought I'd chip in here on the "making speaker enclosures from metal" debate.

I've been checking out "Nime Audio Designs" and saw a space age, "alien" type speaker I quite fancied. So I scribbled some, thought about it some, trying to make it from MDF in my head, and all I came up with was complicated and time consuming, curves, mitres etc.

Looking again I happened upon a Youtube video of these suckers being fabricated, and it turns out they're made from SS and Aluminium. Now that's more my speed. I have the TIG gear, a capable laser cutting shop I've used on most of my metal projects, and it could be made from 1/8th inch mild steel, maybe 3/16th, or 3 to 4mm in my money.

I can't really see an issue, at least from the fabrication. Before I retired I spent many years as a welder/fabricator, and if a job like this came across my bench I wouldn't see it as being out of the ordinary.

Now, it would need some bracing, as many posters have pointed out. Adequate bracing for a vibrationally immune cabinet might be the hard part.

That's the bit I would struggle with. Going to all that trouble and expense and I end up with a dog with fleas. Nime Audio know what they're about, but there must have been a
first time in their recent history when someone said "Lets try it, never know if we don't..."

These things sell for over USD20K a pair, and I can see to some extent where the money goes. However, a joker like me working in a shed, "could" come up with something similar.

Can I be bothered, is the question. I'm doing a pair of "Overnight Sensations" at the minute, and I thought I might try the Speedsters next, perhaps in a steel enclosure.

Hmmm...

Cheers, Martin

 

[cyclotronguy]

Hi Martin

Sounds like we're in the same worlds. I can hand cut 1/2" (13mm plate) with a hand held plasma.... no issue. Welding same, no issue.

My garage DIY work benches have 2" (50mm) blanchard ground steel tops.

Fabrication and sourcing material simply isn't the issue, technically or practically.

Setting aside public acceptance it comes down to shipping and moving if someone wanted to do this commercially. Joe average has enough problems with a 75 pound electronics package..... in their house.

Not that a JBL L-300 clone in class 30 gray iron doesn't hold charm...........

 

[Nikolas Ojala]

Genelec makes aluminium speakers.

The Genelec Story | Genelec.com

 

[jimk04]

A friend of mine uses a different forum here in the UK and there are a lot of proponents of lining conventional cabinets with a layer of steel. Even ceramic tiles ...?!

 

[cyclotronguy]

Back when we all had TV's with CRT's, adding A36 steel plate (BS 4360 for our friends in the UK) to the inside of speaker cabinets (for magnetic shielding) was pretty common

Done properly it would seriously move panel resonance out of the area of interest!

 

[HIFI0101]

wires can sort easily!

 

[djn]

These are repurposed minimus 11s aluminum cabs and sound great.

 

[InTheCold]

Doubting, please excuse my "harping". I too enjoy some fencing, and I'm a little too invested in the topic as my family has been making cast iron for about 100 years now (OK Foundry, Flexible Gray and Ductile Iron Casting.). I'm daily making engineering and architectural recommendations about the selection of materials between gray iron, ductile iron, and sometimes aluminum. (Hopefully correctly, but many times it is a bit subjective).

We are making restoration castings for many of those cast iron storefronts in NYC and one of the biggest challenges we face is educating Architect's that gray cast iron is NOT a structural material and we are often substituting ductile iron for that purpose either as part of the design or just to protect ourselves from the misuse of gray iron. There were a few bridges built in England and some buildings were built with gray iron used as structural supports, but it didn't take long for folks to figure out that gray iron fails catestrophically when overloaded. It essentially has no elastic to plastic yield point, and just breaks when overloaded.

Most of the columns and half columns used in buildings are really "faux" structural elements even from far back. It is mostly today's Architect's and builders that confuse purely decorative purpose with structural as the knowledge of how to use the material has been lost.

The key properties of gray iron are that it is the easiest of all metals to cast and it is cheap due to the abundance of iron and being easily cast. It is not very strong, but it is strong enough and is 3X as strong in compression than tension, AND it absorbs vibration.

Ultimately, I think cast aluminum may be the better material for an enclosure, but I wouldn't want my crusty, rusty friend gray iron ruled out for the wrong reasons (or ruled in).

It may be a silly pursuit to make a cast enclosure, but I have the means to do it, and if there's a couple of other people interested who have better enclosure/driver/crossover etc. design skills to help model the performance, I'd be interested in leveraging their contribution. For example, I think Metrenome is a very good candidate for several reasons and is already designed. And not the least attractive quality is that I think Metrenome would look fantastic with a black patina on a rough sand cast finish for a modern interior space. Or allowed to rust to a dark brown patina and then oiled or clear coated. I could never install a large front loaded horn in my house, but I don't think my wife would ban some iron Metrenome's from the living room (after all she married a foundryman) and I have some friends who'll help me carry them.

Although the castings and shipping wouldn't be cheap, once the foundry pattern is made (which I have people to make who I barter with) it would be easy for me to ship some rough castings to others in the community.

I happened to read this thread, as I am considering building a metal speaker. Do you have a bit of time to chat? are you still interested in building such speakers?

If you do, please let me know, and I will give you my info so that we can continue this conversation.

In the Cold