home hi-fi & stereo speakers,woofers & cabinets

[mathewhebailey0]

Just thought of an idea on home hi-fi & stereo speakers,woofers & cabinets both made & not made by the equipment manufacturer,anywhere from vintage to modern,etc.
I got to thinking of designing & building a W type bass horn cabinet that is 12 inches in length,width,depth & height using small woofers,a miniature version of what is known as a Shearer bass horn. (browse Google,Bing,etc for that type of horn)

 

[whirlcool]

Looked at that article about the Shearer horn. Those are enough to blow the roof off of most any house!
Are you going to use these speakers as an addition to your current speaker system, or will it be stand alone?

I read your post several times and I understand it, but it looks like you hit Send Message before you were finished writing what you wanted to say. My comment is then
And??????

 

[arbilab]

You do NOT want the HWD dimensions to match, or even be integer multiples of each other.

 

[tolivac]

Maybe building this for his home theater-and a large one?Cinemas have used horns for decades-for improved efficiency.Amplifier power is expensive to them!Haven't seen someone design and build a speaker system in years.Usually most are purchased complete today-and yes you can still buy Altec Voice of the theater Speaker systems-a horn system.the Japanese audiophiles love them!And with theaters changing out equipment for digital-some may be replacing their speakers-could be a good place to look.But you will need a truck and lots of space-cinema speaker systems are LARGE!Surprizing what is behind that screen!

 

[firedome]

Yes horns need to be BIG:

We have the Altec VOTs in their consumer version, "The Valencia", even then pretty large in a 3.6 cu ft ported cabinet, but for full bass reproduction Voice Of the Theater A7 models have at least 7 cu ft for the 15" woofer to do its' best coupled to the 500 Hz sectoral horn tweeter. We have even smaller Barzilay cabs in the LR at present due to the SAF (Spousal Approval Factor) with big University 315-C Triaxials, their competitor to the Altec 604-D, in about a 2.8 cu ft cabinet, and while outstanding overall coupled to the right tube amp, they are somewhat lacking in the lowest bass region. True folded horn cabinets like the Klipschorn need to be really big, even Paul Klipsch's cabinet design was a severe compromise made to "fit" in living rooms that were less than the size of a bowling alley!

 

[arbilab]

One can adapt to ducted port or acoustic suspension if one needs to compromise space/cost. I'm perfectly happy with 1977 JBL L-100s and a Technics SH9010 to clean up the bottom 3 octaves.

L-100 is the bookshelf/laydown version of 4311 studio monitors on which much pop/rock was mixed. I wouldn't recommend putting them in a bookshelf though. They need to be near ear level and at least a foot out from walls/corners. Don't put 4311s on the floor either. Placement is very critical with both these systems.

 

[jerrod6]

I have Silestone quartz.  So far no problem with it.  You just clean it with soap and water or non ammonia Windex.  It doesn't show any scratches and doesn't need any special polishing.

 

[tolivac]

Klipsh commercial diviasion makes horn systems for cinema and sound reinforcement.They are based on the Klipsch "LaScala" design.At one time IMAX cinemas were using klipsch systems.When they went to digital-they are replacing the Klipsch systems forgot what they were using--its much smaller than the Klipsch speakers.I remember Altec Valencia-Circuit City had them many years ago-sounded so nice-but the price and size-was living in a small apartment at that time.So had to chose something smaller and less expensive.JBL 4311 series were used in most radio stations as monitor speakers.Both studio and transmitter sites.for me I don't mind "fridge" size speaker systems-again if it can cut back on amp power-so much the better.

 

[bwoods]

Speaker Building

If any of you are interested in speaker and or hi/fi building, I recommend visiting Parts Express and also MCM electronics. Both stores are located near Dayton, Ohio where I used to live. I was a frequent visitor there and it is a great place to go for speakers, tubes, cabinets, amps, car audio, video and even some computer parts. Both will send you a free catalog.

If you get on the Parts Express mailing list, they periodically send out flyers and each flyer has a speaker kit plan designed by their audio personnel, and built out of Part Express components. Explicit instructions are given as well as the testes audio specs of the design and possible modifications you may make to it. They also have a question and answer forum, online, if you have audio questions you would like to ask.

Nothing can quite match Allied Electronics, Lafayette and Olsen Electronics, of yesteryear, but Parts Express and MCM still allow you to experience the fun and self-satisfaction of designing and building your own audio system.

When I was Asst. Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering, at my university, I had many EE students who did audio related projects for their senior projects.

Pictured below is a tube amp, designed from scratch by a group of my EE students (forgive the dust, it was in storage for my move). The department only supplies a limited amount of money for students projects, they pooled their own money to complete the amp, then surprised me with it, as a gift, after the senior project presentations that year. The amp has emotional meaning to me that I cannot express with words.

The tubes were scrounged from an area surplus sales store, but all of the caps and resistors and pots they bought new, as audio grade (very expensive) from Parts Express and MCM.

It's not a high powered amp, so the sound is not overly loud, but very clean with low harmonic distortion, a lot of headroom and of course, for those of you know about audio, tubes are legendary for fantastic transient response.

I coupled this amp with a Garrard Zero 100 turntable, with a Shure V-15 Mark III cartridge, and Two Design Acoustics D-6 speakers for some really nice sound.

Parts Express: Speakers, Amplifiers, Audio Parts and Solutions

Your Audio Solutions HQ Since 1986. Shop Audio Parts from Speakers and Subwoofers to Home Theater and Pro Audio. Top Gear at Low Prices and FREE Shipping

partsexpress.com

 

[tolivac]

the "Barry Woods" looks like a fine little amp-looks like PP 6V6 and 6SN7 drivers.and maybe a GZ34 rectifier tube behind the Ruby cap.Dust it off--and ENJOY.Mate the "Barry Woods" amp to an efficient speaker systems-HI-FI Bliss!the simplicity of that amp is a winner,too.What is the preamp like?

 

[firedome]

That's a cool little amp Barry... my guess would be 5Y3GTs for rectification, that would have been more typical for early 50s era amps that used 6SN7s and 6V6GTs, and nice that Hammond power and output trannies are still available these days. If we were still publishing 'Vacuum Tube Valley' magazine (RIP) we'd have been interested in an article on it and the schematic for DIYers.