planning to build zigmahornets using 4" full range drivers. I have not yet decided on which driver to use. i have few questions before starting the build.
1. the top slant end in zigmahornet is for elegance look or its functional. what happens if top end is flat? making it flat makes the build simpler and for my taste it looks neat than having a slat top (others may differ). if its mandator from sound point of view, then i will keep it.
2. i understand originally zigmas were designed for fe103. same dimensions hold good for any 3" or 4" full range? if not, please help me with calculations. i hope there is simple calculator or spread sheet available for the same.
3. BiB vs Zigmahornet. which one sounds better or extracts better bass from tiny full rangers? zigma has better WAF.
4. my living room is 12-14 ft wide with corners where i plan to keep these boxes up against the corner and toed in towards listener. listening distance would be 8ft. are there restrictions/limitations of room shape/size for such boxes?
1. the top slant end in zigmahornet is for elegance look or its functional. what happens if top end is flat? making it flat makes the build simpler and for my taste it looks neat than having a slat top (others may differ). if its mandator from sound point of view, then i will keep it.
2. i understand originally zigmas were designed for fe103. same dimensions hold good for any 3" or 4" full range? if not, please help me with calculations. i hope there is simple calculator or spread sheet available for the same.
3. BiB vs Zigmahornet. which one sounds better or extracts better bass from tiny full rangers? zigma has better WAF.
4. my living room is 12-14 ft wide with corners where i plan to keep these boxes up against the corner and toed in towards listener. listening distance would be 8ft. are there restrictions/limitations of room shape/size for such boxes?
Those are basicly a variation of a mass loaded transmission line. Those need to be calculated for each driver to be exact altough there are some models that are relative good with a lot of drivers (like the pencils).
The top flat or slanted makes a difference, but both can be good when implemented right. But this kind of speakers have no easy prefab solution where you can just throw a different driver in. There are many designs online, but they are not universal. So if you want that Zigmahornet i would keep it with the original driver if you can't redesign it to fit the driver of your choice.
The top flat or slanted makes a difference, but both can be good when implemented right. But this kind of speakers have no easy prefab solution where you can just throw a different driver in. There are many designs online, but they are not universal. So if you want that Zigmahornet i would keep it with the original driver if you can't redesign it to fit the driver of your choice.
soundnovice,
Have read that the Zigmahornets are an older design and there are new designs that use better transmission line modelling and give better performace.
If you like the slim aesthetic with 4" drivers you can look at the TABAQ or Pensil designs too. The original TABAQ was for 3" drivers. but the designer, diyAudio member Bjohannesen has released plans for $" and 5" drivers.
The Pensil designs are there for 4" - 6.5" drivers.
You will find a variety of designs by Scottmoose for quite a few drivers on this thread:
Miscellaneous designs -Mark Audio, Fostex, TB, Dayton, Seas etc.
Have read that the Zigmahornets are an older design and there are new designs that use better transmission line modelling and give better performace.
If you like the slim aesthetic with 4" drivers you can look at the TABAQ or Pensil designs too. The original TABAQ was for 3" drivers. but the designer, diyAudio member Bjohannesen has released plans for $" and 5" drivers.
The Pensil designs are there for 4" - 6.5" drivers.
You will find a variety of designs by Scottmoose for quite a few drivers on this thread:
Miscellaneous designs -Mark Audio, Fostex, TB, Dayton, Seas etc.
i selected zigma hornet especially because i am looking to place the boxes against two corners. they need to be low depth and width so that, they dont appear prominently in the room. and not obstruct other furnitures in the room. so i am ok if they height of them can go reach the top of the ceiling!
if not zigmas, is there any other design which can reach to ceiling but with smaller footprint width/depth wise?
if not zigmas, is there any other design which can reach to ceiling but with smaller footprint width/depth wise?
I made them in 2003. First speaker pair I built. Fun project using FE103E. Really nice on acoustic jazz etc. They did not displace the big JBLs you see in the background but they were a cool intro.
Ultimately for a universal speaker I wanted more bass than the small driver can comfortably deliver.
For a nice compact box that does not sound too lean, I recommend the FF125WK in the factory bass reflex enclosure design. Actually i bought a pair of the Japan market ready made enclosures for it when work brought me to Tokyo - Inwas then in a situation it was difficult to diy at home. Unfortunately I don’t find a photo now.
Ultimately for a universal speaker I wanted more bass than the small driver can comfortably deliver.
For a nice compact box that does not sound too lean, I recommend the FF125WK in the factory bass reflex enclosure design. Actually i bought a pair of the Japan market ready made enclosures for it when work brought me to Tokyo - Inwas then in a situation it was difficult to diy at home. Unfortunately I don’t find a photo now.
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You could make a very long but thin MLTL with a good 4" driver for that like that Zigma Hornet, but then aligned right. I did sim (but never build it) something like that for the Mark Audio Pluvia 7, wich was a pipe of (all internal sizes) 180cm long, 20 wide and 20 deep with a port on the bottom (frontal) of 20cm wide and 2 cm high. The driver is at 75cm from the top It's like a long pencil. This would need a lot of damping (12kg/m³) but would give a good response down to below 40Hz on low power. This could also be done for other drivers i thnk. But the Zigma Hornet is not right aligned, and so the tuning will be off.
1. A flat top pvc pipe build or wood slated top show very little difference
2. 103 sounds thin, without low end…a Bose 3.5 sounds much improved in a zignahornet, still no low end
3.do not expect even satisfactory bass from these, sub required
Why build these then? One of the easiest DIY speaker projects I can imagine, helped a friend build some pvc pipe copies in 2 hrs. Sounded as good as wood. If you have some old drivers doing nothing these can be a fun afternoon project. If you are looking to optimize sound out of nice full range drivers look elsewhere
2. 103 sounds thin, without low end…a Bose 3.5 sounds much improved in a zignahornet, still no low end
3.do not expect even satisfactory bass from these, sub required
Why build these then? One of the easiest DIY speaker projects I can imagine, helped a friend build some pvc pipe copies in 2 hrs. Sounded as good as wood. If you have some old drivers doing nothing these can be a fun afternoon project. If you are looking to optimize sound out of nice full range drivers look elsewhere
FWIW, I heard a pair of Zigmahornets with the Merrill driver at the VSAC2008, and they were frankly quite underwhelming; I’d suggest either the BD Pipes or Woden Vampyr. I built at least half a dozen of the former with combinations of vintage Foster 103F, RS 40-1197, and maybe even Fostex FE103?, but the Vampyr with FF105WK was definitely my favorite in that particular weight class.
