spherical enclosure

[MrSensitive]

I'm looking into buying the ORB audio sattelites.

I was wondering if it would be possible to design a spherical subwoofer enclosure matching the ORB's.
are there any disadvantages (other than very difficult to build)
or sonic problems to such an approach?

if this has been attempted before, i there any documentation available about it?

(other option would be to buy a standard sub, but the sphere would look really nice in my interior..)

many thanks..

 

[Volenti]

A spherical enclosure will have a single, very strong resonance, but unless the enclosure is very large it will occour outside the typical frequency range for a subwoofer.

As for construction I would buy a beachball of around the volume you want and apply fibreglass around it to a thickness thats suitable, then cut out mounting holes ect.

 

[MrSensitive]

thanks,

as for building I was thinking more along the lines of glueing different MDF circles together with reinforcements in the center

 

[AnthonyPT]

Hi

Kris Metaverso of US enclosure made some 24"

NHT based subs that were still upsettng the neighbours at 18hz !

Like smaller spheres you may have to put in absorbsion

cores in the centre then there is balance and supports to

consider. You dont want the unit going face down !

Ferguson Hill also do a sphere. THe Orbs sort of look

very Gallo'ish. The custom paint work is great fun!

Luxman also do some spheres in Aluminium.

They had 5 with tweeters going for AUD$199 in West OZ


http://www.fergusonhill.co.uk/frames/frameset.htm

 

[AnthonyPT]

Also

On the subject of great paint jobs like the Orb people have

done why not do a special yourself !

I have only had it done on 150 mm spheres like this.

What fun on a 12" or a 24"

Regards

Anthony

 

[MrSensitive]

wow,

those Ferguson Hill's look incredible..
but the price is a bit steep..

I think I going to try building one using a 10" driver
sphere would be around 40 - 45 cm in diameter, maybe 50. I will see during the design phase.

any ideas on how something like this needs to be calculated (after i chose a driver)

many thanks..

 

[jeremyg]

not really a sphere...but cool none the less

12 sides...10 of them have drivers....

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

 

[VT67]

Also not a sphere, but it's also not your everyday run of the mill rectangular box.

Regards

 

[pneuma]

Do I win?

Here's the website

P.

 

[Cal Weldon]

Well, you might have won if this wasn't in the subwoofer section. Welcome aboard. Why not take the time to introduce yourself over in the introductions section.

Cal

 

[DcibeL]

Wow, those sure are perdy speakers pneuma! I'm sure they cost a pretty penny too being carved out of marble and all

 

[454Casull]

Why? It seems like an overly excessive amount of work for something with dubious benefits.

 

[MrSensitive]

trying to get this back on track..

OK, so far it looks like spherical enclosures are pretty exclusive and horribly expensive..
makes me want to build one for sure...

what i would like to know is whether there are things to keep in mind when designing the sphere. other then normal enclosure rules. (box volume etc..)

454Casull: can you elaborate on dubious benefits? what do you mean?

 

[Collo]

How about downfiring, and staring down the barrel of a mean-looking port

 

[Volenti]

Or if you're a starwars nerd...

 

[AnthonyPT]

Hi

How about having a look at the B&W PV1s
There might be something there to keep the size
of a DIY unit down and they have that great look

Regards

AnthonyPT

 

[pneuma]

Wow, those sure are perdy speakers pneuma! I'm sure they cost a pretty penny too being carved out of marble and all

Alas, they are not mine. I found those by googling for spherical enclosures.

As pointed out, they aren't actually subs, but they are a killer concept nonetheless.

P.

 

[spots25]

there was an installer on elitecaraudio.com who did a install for a SUV of some sort that had 4 spherical sub enclosures in it. I can't find any pictures, but he told me that he took beach balls, fiberglassed them, cut a part out, pulled the beach ball out, and glassed a MDF ring into it. It was really sweet looking, and is possible

 

[AnthonyPT]

Hi

If you want spheres of about 300mm have

a look at the Historystones molds.

Then maybe two 6-7 inch subs (TB?) will allow

a higher crossover as judging from the size of

those Orbs like the Gallos they need a higher

crossover point than commercial advertising might

suggest! ! ! You could use a lightweight concrete

like Cemlite(R) HE at 1.47kg/litre. for the subs.

Regards

Anthony

http://www.historystones.com/hisstonmolfo.html

 

[MrSensitive]

thanks for this Anthony.

but concrete isn(t exactly what I had in mind.

I'm currently thinking of using polyester or a wooden sphere built by layering different sized rings together.

the latter would also have some potential for good bracing (make one ring with a cross section)