Frugel-Horn Lite for 3" drivers

Also, I am not too interested in bass under 800 Hz, as this will be handled by a woofer, but I am very interested in the sound frequencies above this.

Thanks in advance.

If we are looking only for 800Hz above frequencies from it , then we may need to look for different box for it . Not sure how much the horn will contribute above these frequencies.. as we r having woofer for low frequencies we may need to look at waw /fast designs ..
 
If 'all' you require is 800Hz + then that is, as noted, the direct radiation zone from the driver. FH-lite is a bass horn, it only functions in the lower registers and if you're not using that there is no real value in using it other than [possibly] indirectly provide a small amount of passive EQ for reasons I don't have time to go into right now as I'm at work. If monopole radiation is desired, you may as well run it in a small sealed compartment, or possibly a resistively vented compartment to bleed off any unwanted excess pressure.
 
18mm plans for the Frugal-Horn Lite™

Hi all!

Does anyone have plans for the 18mm/3/4” version of the Frugal Horn Lite™?
I tried to reproduce the internal dimensions in CAD while making the panels 3/4” thick and it did throw off the design somewhat. It is a little bit taller a little bit wider, and the tapered curve on the back is off by a good amount.

Thank you!
 
Thanks David. Here are some pics of the finished articles. Hope everyone is nice about them, because I am inordinately proud of the veneer finish I managed to achieve with what was actually a scrap piece of ply panelling from a friend that had obviously been used for protecting something from wet concrete...

I built these because I am a big fan of the FaitalPro 3FE22/3FE25, and I saw a comment from David somewhere on the forum that if you want the most bass out of these drivers, put them in a Frugel Horn Lite. I have to say that they do give more bass than my other enclosures (TABAQs) which is to be expected from a horn, I guess, but they also seem to do a better job of taming the rising high end response of the FaitalPros, which surprised me. I have a sub running with them, but I often turn it off, because for a lot of my music the bass from the FHLs is enough. The overall response is so smooth, even without a BSC. In the TABAQs, the Faitals are still a little shrill, even against the wall. This is just listening impressions, I haven't done any measuring or simulating...but I am really enjoying these speakers.

Hi Luigiman,
Congrats for nice looking and sounding builds ..
Could you please share some details of the damping materials used here , what thickness of fiberglass layer did you used and how much polyfill was used to get the balance of bass and treble without using BSC..
 
Hi Luigiman,
Congrats for nice looking and sounding builds ..
Could you please share some details of the damping materials used here , what thickness of fiberglass layer did you used and how much polyfill was used to get the balance of bass and treble without using BSC..

Hi, thanks for the compliments. I used pillow poly stuffing, the cheapest I could find on Amazon, for the stuffing. I also use this in my TABAQ builds, it seems to work great, and costs a lot less than the stuff marketed as speaker stuffing. This is probably galling to the purists on here, but as they say - works for me anyway...

For the fiberglass layer I had some used Ecophon ceiling tiles. I think they are 15mm thick, and I peeled off the hard coating and got them down to about 12mm thick. For all the damping I used the exact weights and placement on the plan, and I never bothered to adjust it, it sounded great straight off. I have noticed that the speakers have improved a little in some rooms over others, but they have always been satisfactory.
 
Interesting that you mention the FaitalPRO 3” full rangers. I actually installed one in both doors in my friend Jake’s Mustang GT playing 800hz and up and they are FANTASTIC. It’s the $33, 3” neodymium one.

Yes, I really like these drivers. I use the ferrite version because they are a little cheaper and to my ears sound about the same as the neos. They are far and away the best value 3in full range drivers I can find in the UK, I can get a pair for £21, and I have build a pair of TABAQS and FHLs for £26 with scrap MDF from work. If you are fussy you need a sub for the very low end, but for a lot of music both my TABAQ builds and my FHLs are great.
 
The 3rd in the series of small horns based on the Frugel-Horn Mk3 is the Frugel-Horn Lite aimed at supporting 3" drivers.

Designed to target the Fostex FF85wk, sims show that it should work with a wide range of 3" drivers (see drawings for those summed)

We built the original proto-type in early January with the FF85wKeN and have refined the design since then. As one would expect with 3" drivers bass extention is somewhat limited, but listening we were very impressed with bass reproduction. Comparing to more bass capable speakers, they produce the 1st harmonic very well, creating the illusion of deeper bass. This will satisfy many. Higher frequencies will depend on the driver used, with the F85wKeN they are very good.

FH-Lite-extents.gif


FH-Lite-protosS.jpg


With pressure on to get this out i worked on a basic set of drawings today (thanx David). Please contact me with any QC input.
http://www.frugal-horn.com/downloads/Frugel-Horn-Lite-0v9-290615.pdf

Link updated 29-june-2015

Now with its own pages on Frugal-Horn.com The Frugel-Horn

dave
Dave, I have a pair of Dayton ps95-8 (https://www.parts-express.com/pedocs/specs/295-349--dayton-audio-ps95-8-spec-sheet.pdf).
Does FH lite work too for ps95 ?
Thanks, Kim.
 
@Scottmoose Scott, I have the 5.3 Alpair in your Baby labs and I must say they really impressed me with what they are capable of. My question is, is there more to be had out of the 5.3 by back loaded horn or larger TL? I’m really curious if you’ve modelled this just to see what the max output/lowest frequencies they are cable of?? Thanks
 
It depends on what you're aiming for. 'Maximum output' = 'highest gain', although beyond a certain point of 'more is better' the laws of diminishing returns kick in as to how much excess output is useful. As far as LF extension is concerned, technically (technically) Flc = 29.95Hz. But to do that, you'd need a full-sized reactance-annulled horn, and headroom would be more or less nil. Depending on size, 60Hz is about the practical limit I'd be happy taking these to, and only with a horn to ensure you have some headroom.
 
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I did a couple of searches on this but didn't turn up a direct answer. Perhaps I asked the search question incorrectly?

Anyway, I am considering building the FXL to run Fostex FF85WK. This will be for audio only, powered by my amp that runs pentodes and tetrodes in SE triode mode (Tubelab SSE). I realize that there are many variables involved in how a given loudspeaker performs in a particular listening room.

With that realization in mind, does anyone have experience of the approximate frequency at which this FXL/Fostex combination needs sub support to achieve something like a full range, at moderate to low volumes?
 
Technically, yes, but it also depends what you call 'something like a full range', since in practice this can be a bit on the elastic side, as many people who live with, say, an LS3/5a sans LF support will testify. I didn't design it to produce a great deal of LF extension, but it covers the first harmonic of the most common bass fundamentals, so as with the BBC's acoustical scaling (other acoustic studies on the same lines being available ;) ) it sounds like it goes lower than it actually does. It's a conjuring trick of course, but quite an effective one, since in many cases it really isn't all that obvious, especially on acoustic sets and / or at lower levels, until you either switch on a sub-array, or substitute a larger speaker that genuinely does get lower. There were quite a few FHLs in rooms at the North West Audio Show just before the Covid-19 pandemic; I spent a while in most, people watching, and it was interesting to see how many walked out commenting on how much bass they produce (none of them, including the exhibitors ever knew that I was its designer). So -YMMV as always, as the saying goes. ;)
 
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