I have already built 4 small full range planar speakers (21" x 24" x 2.5") using neo magnets. Am thinking of making larger speakers(24" x 48" x 2.5"). Any suggestions would be more than welcome. When I first started building full range planar speakers, I used ferrite magnets. The biggest one was about 7ft x 2ft. the small planars I made were about 3db louder!!! Does the size of the baffle make much difference to the bass? I have no technical ability or measuring devices, I'm afraid I'm a complete ignoramous in this respect.!! So technical jargon would go right over my head. Although I can follow schematics, as I have built several valve amplifiers (33). Although if they didn't work, it was hard luck and start on the next one!!! Let me have your thoughts, Thanks.
Hi Everybody,
There doesn't seem to be much interest in building a very simple full range (20hz- 20khz). planar speaker, which is very very, simple to build. No massive power supplies or complicated frames. I made mine out of dimantled warddrobes which I was given. You just cut out a big hole trapezoid in shape line the hole with draughft proofing tape, use a sheet of perforated steel. Put the magnets on, no glue needed. Stick the aluminium tape on a heavy duty refuse sack in the correct position. Use a surround to lift the refuse sack with the aliu' foil on. So it does not touch the manets, then use another surround to support the grill cloth, or not dependig on your preferences!! Trap the 2 ends of the foil with screws and penny washers connect your amp to the screws, and voila a wonderful sounding full range speaker, what could be simpler!!?? Happy building.
There doesn't seem to be much interest in building a very simple full range (20hz- 20khz). planar speaker, which is very very, simple to build. No massive power supplies or complicated frames. I made mine out of dimantled warddrobes which I was given. You just cut out a big hole trapezoid in shape line the hole with draughft proofing tape, use a sheet of perforated steel. Put the magnets on, no glue needed. Stick the aluminium tape on a heavy duty refuse sack in the correct position. Use a surround to lift the refuse sack with the aliu' foil on. So it does not touch the manets, then use another surround to support the grill cloth, or not dependig on your preferences!! Trap the 2 ends of the foil with screws and penny washers connect your amp to the screws, and voila a wonderful sounding full range speaker, what could be simpler!!?? Happy building.
Long time ago I made LaFolia fullrange ribbon
First one had bass membrane only fixed at top and bottom - it sounded fantastic but too much flapping around at higher level
So I tried another version, fixed all way round - to much ressonant drumskin effect
A third one was fixed only at the sides - it was quite good, but not as sweet as the first
So in the end I got tired of it
After several years I got the urge again, and I am planning on a 4-way with dynamic bass and midwoofer - from around 1200hz and up I will use an 8" ribbon and above 8000hz I will use another smaller 4" ribbon
Ribbons will be made of simple alufoil and nothing else - efficiency I hope will be enough to only have a small graphite resistor between amp and ribbon and some nasty filter components
First one had bass membrane only fixed at top and bottom - it sounded fantastic but too much flapping around at higher level
So I tried another version, fixed all way round - to much ressonant drumskin effect
A third one was fixed only at the sides - it was quite good, but not as sweet as the first
So in the end I got tired of it
After several years I got the urge again, and I am planning on a 4-way with dynamic bass and midwoofer - from around 1200hz and up I will use an 8" ribbon and above 8000hz I will use another smaller 4" ribbon
Ribbons will be made of simple alufoil and nothing else - efficiency I hope will be enough to only have a small graphite resistor between amp and ribbon and some nasty filter components
Have ordered 1000 neo magnets, cut out my trapezoid from dismantled wardrobe door, fixed the perforated steel sheet, lined hole with draught proof tape, bought wood for surround. I have already got rubish sacks!! Also grill cloth. So will be busy when the magnets arrive when I have finished 1 speaker will swop with the 21" x 24" x 2.5" one channel and see what the difference in sound and sensitivity is. Simple isn't it??!! Anthony
Oops, forgot the hard bit, (well it is for me being 68yrs old! ), Putting the aluminium foil on the blue rubbish bag . It will probably take me about 4 hrs! Hard on the back and the eyesight. If you rip it, you have to start again. So don't hurry it be patient !! It is well worth the bruises and the backache. A couple of bolts and nuts and washers for the cable fixing and away you go. Wonderfully clear sound and great attack. Will beat any box speakers at any price, naturally I'm biased. Anthony.
Will do ,I'm champing at the bit already, waiting for the magnets. I hope they come soon. They cost me £588.50. They were the cheapest I could find on the internet. The rest of the parts cost about £40 so the magnets are the major cost. But you can spend a lot more on normal speakers. I am also in the process of building a double flamed plasma tweeter. Just a few more details to sort out and make up my mind on a few points. Regards Anthony.
Esl's might be cheaper, but you can end up with lots of problems, after you have built them, from what other people have said. Ordinary box speakers cost a lot more than £650 pounds, for the same sound and if you have to replace the speakers this can cost a fortune . Burning out tweeters is quite common if the speakers are driven quite hard. A lot of people turn up the bass and trebble, which makes replacing individual speakers quite common. Whereas if you burn out a planar, which is nye on impssible, it will only cost a couple of pounds. 1 rubble sack and afew yards of cheap aluminium foil. The magnets will last indefinately !! So cost is not a problem. Anyway I have built smaller speakers for about £300. These compare very favourable with ordinary box speakers at the same price. P lus you get the satisfaction of building them yourself. You can also finish them to your own design colour etc. As for the plasma speakers the joy of building and getting them to work is almost priceless itself. The resulting sound is worth the effort in itself. Also just seeing them is worth the effort on its own, even before you hear the sound which is out of this world. Regards Anthony.
yeah i would really like to hear those plasma's but the costs and the tube design put me off, i have never worked with tubes.
I do build my own esl's hybrids they where not that expensive. i shop for audio trafo's and stator material on second hand sites like ebay etc to keep costs down. and mylar is quite easy to get around here.
I do build my own esl's hybrids they where not that expensive. i shop for audio trafo's and stator material on second hand sites like ebay etc to keep costs down. and mylar is quite easy to get around here.
Coffee
I use aluminium tape 7 hundreth of a mm thick including the adhesive, and 9mm wide on a 10 mtr roll, which is used for sticking on windows for burgular alarms. The rubish bag is 9 hundreths of a mm thick, which doesn't weight much at all with a surface area of about 400 square centimetres. Using 500 neo' magnets, very simple in concept. Place magnets in row after row with the tape positioned in between rows. This is quite a big surface area for driving air, equivalent to a few large cones. If you cannot afford neos you can use ferrites which are cheaper , but they are not so sensitive, so you will need more watts to drive them.Regards Anthony.
I use aluminium tape 7 hundreth of a mm thick including the adhesive, and 9mm wide on a 10 mtr roll, which is used for sticking on windows for burgular alarms. The rubish bag is 9 hundreths of a mm thick, which doesn't weight much at all with a surface area of about 400 square centimetres. Using 500 neo' magnets, very simple in concept. Place magnets in row after row with the tape positioned in between rows. This is quite a big surface area for driving air, equivalent to a few large cones. If you cannot afford neos you can use ferrites which are cheaper , but they are not so sensitive, so you will need more watts to drive them.Regards Anthony.
Wrinex.
When I built my planars using ferrites , I used magnets 50mm x 19mm x 10mm, which was a common size. Although neos cost a lot of money (the ones I use were .85 euros each if you buy a thousand.) Size 50 x 12.7 x 3mm. the difference in the power is about 5 times more. To give some idea of the power difference, I built a ferrite full range planar 0ver 7ft x 2ft, then I built a neo full range planar speaker size 21" x 24" x 2.5" and the neo speaker was 3db louder !!! So they are not really expensive. The small neo speakers cost about £300 for a pair . You get more sensitivity and control,also you can hear every pin drop. And they sound so open and clear. The treble is so easy on the ears, and the bass so tight. Well worth the expense and trouble to build. Regards Anthony
When I built my planars using ferrites , I used magnets 50mm x 19mm x 10mm, which was a common size. Although neos cost a lot of money (the ones I use were .85 euros each if you buy a thousand.) Size 50 x 12.7 x 3mm. the difference in the power is about 5 times more. To give some idea of the power difference, I built a ferrite full range planar 0ver 7ft x 2ft, then I built a neo full range planar speaker size 21" x 24" x 2.5" and the neo speaker was 3db louder !!! So they are not really expensive. The small neo speakers cost about £300 for a pair . You get more sensitivity and control,also you can hear every pin drop. And they sound so open and clear. The treble is so easy on the ears, and the bass so tight. Well worth the expense and trouble to build. Regards Anthony
So , you think £300 is a lot of money for a marvellously sounding speaker?!! Quad esl 57's go for more than that on ebay, and they are not really a full range speaker! Owners are always talking about adding woofers to augment the the light bass!! More expense and the added trouble of incorporating the woofer electronically. So I don't think £300 is too dear for a marvellous sounding speaker, which is easy and cheap to maintain. The first full range planar speakers that I built are still going 20yrs later with the same membrane in position. You can't burn them out, only a lightning strike will, as happened to me! The membrane in question was rebuilt for about £2. A lot cheaper than buyig new coned speakers.If they are still being made. I will try to keep the pictures coming although I have not got a digital camera at the moment. Regards Anthony.
your right ,maybe 300 aint that much.
But i, because the lack of money always hasitate to infest such amount in a project. i dont wanna calculate what i spended the last few months on my speaker i think. it goes bit by bit
eventually. i for instance would like to create a hybride magnaplanar as well. thats gone be crossed at around 300hz, you have any idea of how many magnets i need of wich size ? because i still have allot of perforated steel plate and meter or 6 of mylar film of 3 micron. still have to find the conductive tape you mentioned.
But i, because the lack of money always hasitate to infest such amount in a project. i dont wanna calculate what i spended the last few months on my speaker i think. it goes bit by bit
eventually. i for instance would like to create a hybride magnaplanar as well. thats gone be crossed at around 300hz, you have any idea of how many magnets i need of wich size ? because i still have allot of perforated steel plate and meter or 6 of mylar film of 3 micron. still have to find the conductive tape you mentioned.Hi Wrinex, As for building a hybrid I wouldn't bother , why not build a planar speaker all in one? Don't bother about crossovers you are just wasting money and power on the caps and inductors. I f you use neos for a speaker of size 54 x 61 x 6.5 cm , with a cut out of 42 x 44 cm's, the smaller measurements being the width. Using neo magnets size 50 x 12.7 x 3mm. You will need about 500 magnets for the pair.
price per 200 1.52 each.
price per 500 1.02 each.
price per 1000 .85 each in euros. From cy-magnetics.com
The above measurements are for the square cut out so make it trapezoid in shape, but only place the magnets in the square portoin. as for the tape it is sold by CPC, which can be found on the internet using google, part no SR00001 security foil.
When you make the cut out leave a 25mm bar approximately in the middle, try and get it fully behind 1 of the vertically row of magnets. Regards Anthony.
price per 200 1.52 each.
price per 500 1.02 each.
price per 1000 .85 each in euros. From cy-magnetics.com
The above measurements are for the square cut out so make it trapezoid in shape, but only place the magnets in the square portoin. as for the tape it is sold by CPC, which can be found on the internet using google, part no SR00001 security foil.
When you make the cut out leave a 25mm bar approximately in the middle, try and get it fully behind 1 of the vertically row of magnets. Regards Anthony.
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