DIY Speaker cabinet construction
 

I'm about to embark on a speaker build, and I thought I'd check in to see what
useful things other speaker builders on this ng have found out. I've built
several before, but I thought to do something a little different. Design will
be a 2-way (or MTM) box. The first decision I've made is to use thick alu U
shape extrusions front and back. The sides will be bolted to the extrusion, and
the top + bottom screwed down, so the whole thing can be taken apart quite
easily. I could use drive units front and back and join them with a metal pipe
to stop resonances. I could fit a bottom with a tuned pipe to increase the
bass.
As for materials for the sides and top, I could go with twin walls and sand in
between. I could get some of that interesting wood laminate I saw at the HiFi
show - very thick, from alternate layers of thin ply, and adhesive in a kind of
thin plastic tile with labyrinthine folds.
The alu U section I have is 6" wide and very chunky. Units would therefore be
restricted in size - I have some B110s to use, may also look at Morel 142.
Size would be 15" high, not decided on depth. Width would be the 6" plate plus
the thickness of the walls, which I'd expect to be not less than 2" each side.
Comments? Andy

=== Andy Evans ===
Visit our Website:- http://www.artsandmedia.com
Audio, music and health pages and interesting links.

DIY Speaker cabinet construction
 

Andy Evans wrote:

I'm about to embark on a speaker build, and I thought I'd check in to
see what useful things other speaker builders on this ng have found
out. I've built several before, but I thought to do something a
little different. Design will be a 2-way (or MTM) box. The first
decision I've made is to use thick alu U shape extrusions front and
back.

Do you mean a 'rectangular' U-shape, like box section with one face removed?
How wide are the faces that come back, and how thick is the extrusion?


The sides will be bolted to the extrusion, and the top + bottom
screwed down, so the whole thing can be taken apart quite easily.

How would you seal the joins?


... I
could use drive units front and back and join them with a metal pipe
to stop resonances. ...

Do you mean like a compression post between the front and back panels? Would
a solid bar be better than a pipe?


As for materials for the sides and top, I could go with twin walls
and sand in between.

How about moulded panels, using some sort of resin with sand (or other
filler/mass) mixed through to make a paste?


I could get some of that interesting wood
laminate I saw at the HiFi show - very thick, from alternate layers
of thin ply, and adhesive in a kind of thin plastic tile with
labyrinthine folds.

Can't visualise where the folds come into it.


The alu U section I have is 6" wide and very chunky. Units would
therefore be restricted in size - I have some B110s to use, may also
look at Morel 142. Size would be 15" high, not decided on depth.
Width would be the 6" plate plus the thickness of the walls, which
I'd expect to be not less than 2" each side. Comments? Andy

You could go for golden ratio sizes (internally): 6" wide, 10" deep, 16"
high. Supposed to give a good spread of distances between panels, such that
standing waves are spread out (ie, better than a cube). That would give a
volume of 15 litres, less cone, magnet and internal bracing.


--
Wally
www.artbywally.com
www.wally.myby.co.uk

DIY Speaker cabinet construction
 

U section is also called 'channel' You can see some profiles at :
http://catalogues.kellysearch.com/ca...5526&pg=9&pn=&
type=2&q=7&cn=1

Mine is 6" wide. It's in the car, so can't give you the other measurements, but
I think it's 3" deep.

=== Andy Evans ===
Visit our Website:- http://www.artsandmedia.com
Audio, music and health pages and interesting links.

DIY Speaker cabinet construction
 

Andy Evans wrote:

I'm about to embark on a speaker build,

I have some B110s to use, may also look at Morel 142.
Size would be 15" high, not decided on depth. Width would be the 6" plate plus
the thickness of the walls, which I'd expect to be not less than 2" each side.

Alloy plus 2" of MDF seems a little excessive for a B110, especially as
there is no point in an enclosure any bigger than 10l.
I used 18mm. MDF with veneer on the outside and bitumen on the inside.

A pair of B110s went on ebay for £112 this afternoon (5727464855).
Why not sell yours to an enthusiast and use something more modern,
better and cheaper?

--
Eiron.

DIY Speaker cabinet construction
 

Alloy plus 2" of MDF seems a little excessive for a B110, especially as
there is no point in an enclosure any bigger than 10l. I used 18mm. MDF with
veneer on the outside and bitumen on the inside.

That's pretty much what I have right now.

A pair of B110s went on ebay for £112 this afternoon (5727464855). Why not
sell yours to an enthusiast and use something more modern, better and cheaper?

Eiron - that's a great idea. Thanks for telling me - I had no idea. But what
instead?

=== Andy Evans ===
Visit our Website:- http://www.artsandmedia.com
Audio, music and health pages and interesting links.

DIY Speaker cabinet construction
 

Andy Evans wrote:

Alloy plus 2" of MDF seems a little excessive for a B110, especially as
there is no point in an enclosure any bigger than 10l. I used 18mm. MDF with
veneer on the outside and bitumen on the inside.

That's pretty much what I have right now.


A pair of B110s went on ebay for £112 this afternoon (5727464855). Why not

sell yours to an enthusiast and use something more modern, better and cheaper?

Eiron - that's a great idea. Thanks for telling me - I had no idea. But what
instead?


Wilmslow Audio, http://www.wilmslow-audio.co.uk recommends
the Monacor SPH-135/AD as a direct replacement for the B110 at £35.

However, the SPH-135C with a carbon fibre cone, looks much sexier.

http://www.monacor.com has all the details.

Perhaps I should sell my KEF drivers. Unfortunately I have a
sentimental attachment to them....

--
Eiron.

DIY Speaker cabinet construction
 

Eiron wrote in
:

..

: A pair of B110s went on ebay for £112 this afternoon (5727464855). Why not
:
: sell yours to an enthusiast and use something more modern, better and cheaper?
:
: Eiron - that's a great idea. Thanks for telling me - I had no idea. But what
: instead?
:
:
: Wilmslow Audio, http://www.wilmslow-audio.co.uk recommends
: the Monacor SPH-135/AD as a direct replacement for the B110 at £35.
:
: However, the SPH-135C with a carbon fibre cone, looks much sexier.

If that's what you want ... but the 135 is WA's only "B110 replacement".
They do have different characteristics, as can be seen from the details.

: http://www.monacor.com has all the details.

Compare especially the middle and bottom of each page.

http://www.monacor.com/int/en/produktseite_gesamtprogramm.php?artid=2098&spr=EN& typ=u
http://www.monacor.com/int/en/produktseite_gesamtprogramm.php?artid=2081&spr=EN& typ=u

: Perhaps I should sell my KEF drivers. Unfortunately I have a
: sentimental attachment to them....

Me too ... I was lucky to get a new pair as a service kit a few years ago.

RdM

DIY Speaker cabinet construction
 

Before doing anything I would go here; http://www.diyaudio.com/ and go to
the loudspeaker section and ask a few questions about cabinets, ask for some
software to design your boxes and then discuss what you want to do, you will
probable find someone whose already done it.

It's a very good forum.

Jem

DIY Speaker cabinet construction
 

Before doing anything I would go here; http://www.diyaudio.com/ and go to
the loudspeaker section and ask a few questions about cabinets

Good idea - I usually only look at the tubes page.

=== Andy Evans ===
Visit our Website:- http://www.artsandmedia.com
Audio, music and health pages and interesting links.