I will probably build standard cabinets and then try a glass one to see how it comes out. If you set the bottom of the glass in a slotted wood base with recessed LED's, the light will travel up the center of the glass refracting/reflecting(not sure which) off the texture and light the whole thing up. Could be tacky, could be cool! What do you think Dave, 3.8" or 1/2". Wonder if Scottmoose has an opinion? Wonder if i could line interior with absorbant film to help with resonance and standing waves. Mat have wrong idea about resonance.
Buzz, what would you use for stuffing? Or would you opt to not use any at all. It would be nice to strip the sheathing of some solid core copper and make perfect bends on it to show it through the glass window. Just a thought. I always thought dark walnut and raw copper looked fantastic together. Adding some glass to the mix would make it that much more attractive IMO.
What about wood sides and frosted front/rear? You get white stuffing and you should be able to put it in without seeing it and can still secure it to the sides of the cabinet at least. LED lighting would look very trick with some nice wood sides ...
Hi Mp3,
You've got some very nice gear. Hang on the the Sony 707 (I have a yummy all Japan 333EX). The Fi amp should also be nice but its only 3 watts per channel (by the way, I have matched 3 sets of vintage 2a3 tubes).
We need to relate all these factors to room size. Can you give dimensions and details:
1 - length X width X height?
2 - How many walls with glass windows?
3 - Brief description of how the room's set out (eg. you want speaks to go on the long wall, in each corner, small or big sofa centrally positioned etc.)
4 - Listening distance (how far away from the speaks will you sit)?
Don't rush to buy 10.2' or 12's just yet. Let's sort out getting all the factors working for you. Speaker selection is best done when all the audio elements are fully evaluated.
Cheers
Mark.
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Scottmoose,
what do you think of the glass idea? I like the idea of front face being glass, but it would seem this is the worse place in terms of its inherent weaknesses.
Hi Buzz,
Should work OK if the glass is thick enough. I'd suggest using the "smoked" glass (like coffee table) with white polyfill. The big thing will be getting the joints to look nice. Think about creating a wood frame to inset the glass. Done nicely, could look ubber nice.
Cheers
Mark.
Depends on the glass in question & its MOE values (dodgy area to get into with glass for obvious reasons). It can certainly look pretty, & with the right type, I can't think of a good reason why it shouldn't work reasonably, with the obvious caveat that unless you like looking at a large amount of dacron / whatever stuffing, frosted or coloured would be preferable.
Steven ;
frankly I'd suggest this might be a perfect opportunity for anyone regularly reading and posting on a 'net forum to consider migrating to computer based audio - it's come a long way in the past few years, and almost any modern computer with halfway decent sound card and external DAC/Amp can easily trounce all but the more exotic spinners or transport / DAC separates.
It's probably been 3 months since I loaded a disc in my Jolida CD player ( quite a decent sounding machine), but music streamed from my wife's MacBook Pro via Airport Express/toslink to Citypulse DAC gets at least 3-4hrs play every day. Since I haven't yet upgraded the media player from the basic iTunes software (PureMusic for me, ithink), this particular rig is hamstrung in terms of ultimate resolution, but is so damned easy to use.
No doubt there are multitudes of choices of hardware and software available for those running PCs with MS/Linux etc.
Personally I'm a tube amp fanboy myself, but Peter's 3875 kit would be an excellent choice.
the Peter Daniels GC is perfect for what you're doing . i just recently built one and even though my 2 channel stereo amps include phase linear , B&O and yamaha , my gainclone is now my favorite . work's sweet with my alpair 12's
buzz, the glass box idea sounds cool, i'd like to throw out some ideas that come to mind;
I don't know if you can make the holes in tempered, i thought it'll crack when drilling, at least that's the case with aquariums.
The more optically clear Starphire glass 3/4" thickness or even 1" of a multi laminate in places, along with stuffing/damping materials carefully chosen for a utilitarian aesthetic, (long fiber wool etc.), could put them over the top. First thing i noticed and hated about the glass speakers on the market was the dark green tint at the ends and overall glass green tint which imo is bland, ugly and totally unacceptable at their asking price.
I also wonder if a multi lam's bonding agent and silicon sealant's elasticity for joining the box could help with resonances, last thing you want after going to the trouble and expense is for it to ring like a bell.
I don't know if you can make the holes in tempered, i thought it'll crack when drilling, at least that's the case with aquariums.
The more optically clear Starphire glass 3/4" thickness or even 1" of a multi laminate in places, along with stuffing/damping materials carefully chosen for a utilitarian aesthetic, (long fiber wool etc.), could put them over the top. First thing i noticed and hated about the glass speakers on the market was the dark green tint at the ends and overall glass green tint which imo is bland, ugly and totally unacceptable at their asking price.
I also wonder if a multi lam's bonding agent and silicon sealant's elasticity for joining the box could help with resonances, last thing you want after going to the trouble and expense is for it to ring like a bell.
Barry & i hav ebeen discussing glass cabinets for some time. 3/8" is probably sufficient for a small box, for a Pensil i'd probably up the thickness. OThis isn't in consideration that there are lots of kinds of glass.
dave
Thanks for the replies everyone. I will probably try 1/2" glass. The holes will be drilled before tempering. Tempering vs laminate is difficult question. Tempered is definitely harder but this may cause problems. May have large bevel put on ends, Fonken style. Have considered make the face larger than box, like Tony Gee did in one of his speakers. Dampening the mating surfaces should not be hard with right product. Thinking of the polyurethane caulk use to fill end to end mating surfaces in large glass only storefront. The big question that remains is whether or not the thing will ring like a bell. Plan on using frosted glass to hide inner workings. Maybe incorporate a design. My big question is driver mounting. Being in the stained glass business, may even try firing in some color.
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Waterfall_Technology
I was checking these out and noticed the enclosure behind the driver. Based on their website and just the appearance, it seems they have created a sort of variovent behind the speaker killing the waves before they are released into the enclosure. am i reading this wrong. It would not work on the Pensil, but would lend itself to a "Tysen" type enclosure. Bass and glass is kind of scarry
I was checking these out and noticed the enclosure behind the driver. Based on their website and just the appearance, it seems they have created a sort of variovent behind the speaker killing the waves before they are released into the enclosure. am i reading this wrong. It would not work on the Pensil, but would lend itself to a "Tysen" type enclosure. Bass and glass is kind of scarry
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