Latest Project

[Brian Bunge]

So I've been wanting to build myself some new speakers for quite some time. And I've also been wanting to build some curved cabinets as well. Well someone contacted me about building some cabinets and helping out with the crossover design for some drivers he already had and he also wanted curved cabinets. So we worked out a deal to swap off some labor. He'd work up the CAD drawings for me to offset the added labor of the curved cabinets vs. normal rectangular cabinets. The best part is that the same basic cabinet will work for both of our designs.

So these are an MTMWW design with some LCY ribbon tweeters, Seas Excel 5" mids, and Scan Speak 7" woofers. The mids and woofers are not ones I've seen before. They are both 16 ohm versions so that wiring in parallel yields an 8 ohm load.

So here are some pics of the skeletons of his cabinets. Once the sides are attached the cabinets will be roughly 48"H x 9.5" wide at the front baffle and 5.5" wide at the back and 15.25"D.







Here's one of the cabinets next to my current, and huge, MTMWW's. (Still for sale, btw)





Mine will be an WTMWWW and won't require a mid enclosure. There will also be a WWT/MWW center channel. There will also be a smaller TMWW tower and WT/MW center, and all speakers will have an 8 ohm load. One really annoying friend is also asking for a bi/dipole surround but we'll see if that happens or not.  The drivers will use either 2 or 4 RS180's for woofers, the RS52 2" midrange and the RS28a tweeter.  I will be building the TMWW towers for a customer as soon as these are finished.

Oh yeah, and there will be a curved cabinet subwoofer, too!

[Black Sand Cable]

Nice!

Keep the pics coming!

[Brian Bunge]

Oh, don't worry!  I will!  Too bad the TMWW's will be in black oak.  But I guess for a theater room that works well for most people.  And it'll be a LOT cheaper than the Macassar Ebony that I'll probably be using on mine.

[Black Sand Cable]

Brian, just out of curiosity, why are you using a ribbon in this design?

[Brian Bunge]

The drivers were chosen by the customer.  That's what he sent me, so that's what we're using!

[ik632]

Those are definitely looking nice. Without revealing any trade secrets are you going to bend the material around the sides, or have it cut so that it fits without bending?

[Brian Bunge]

I'll simply be cutting grooves into the 3/4" MDF so that it will bend around the curve.  I've done a test piece and it seemed to work pretty well.  With some wood glue and brad nails it should be fine.

[Brian Bunge]

Here's a rendering of what the subwoofer enclosure will look like.

[ik632]

I've seen that bendy board before (I think it's 1/4 or 1/8 thick but is basically cut with slits down the length to bend around stuff like that. I really like the curved designs. I'm trying to convince my wife to let me upgrade to larger speakers in the living room from the small bookshelf speakers on stands we currently have.

That's pretty sharp looking. Looks like a SW rendering. I also do solid modeling on the side (have a small business) so if you need any other mockups I'd be glad to help out.

[Brian Bunge]

Yeah, I've never understood that.  I tower with the same footprint as the monitor shouldn't be objectionable.  But for some reason it is for some people.  I also like the flexibility of using a lower xo point when crossing to a sub that you normally get from the added bass extension from a tower with multiple woofers vs. a monitor with only one.

I'll keep you in mind about the SW renderings.  I guess as long as Paul needs speakers we'll be trading out labor!

[ik632]

Any new pics on the progress? I'd love to see these when you have them completed. It's inspiring me to build some new speakers for home 

[Brian Bunge]

I've been extremely busy with the damn full time job and family commitments the last few weeks so there isn't any real progress to show.  I'm hoping that'll change this weekend.

In the meantime, here's what the mid/tweeter faceplate for my own line of speakers will look like.  Initially the logo probably will not be on them due to cost.  I'd really like to know what you guys think of the logo though.  I think it's kind of retro and contemporary at the same time.  I really love it!

[richidoo]

I love it Brian. Especially the font, nicely retro, but space age sleek, with a touch of Miami Beach 1920s flair. Paint the speakers peach, cream and light aqua and you will be featured in architecture magazines... I don't quite get the circle part, I guess it is a tuning fork ringing with sound waves emanating forth into the ethers??  The blank white space under the tuning fork is throwing me off. But I'm not too bright this time of day

Maybe you can find a local CNC laser or router who can make the cut for you cheap. There are a lot of woodworking hobbyists who have small CNC tables, all of them would like to have income. They usually take DXF.. Check the shopbot forum for locals.

[stereofool]

I don't quite get the circle part, I guess it is a tuning fork ringing with sound waves emanating forth into the ethers??  The blank white space under the tuning fork is throwing me off. But I'm not too bright this time of day

Rich...that's got to be the sound waves radiating out from the speakers  !

[Carlman]

I like it too, Brian... Very nice.  I 'tweaked' it a little and came up with this:

Not sure if you like that... but I think it communicates the relationship of the tuning device and the resulting soundwaves... dunno.. just a tweak.. I think it looks good either way.

Congrats on going your own way with speaker design.  Can't wait to hear some of your own.  I hope you make a set for a tour or at least an audition or 2 to get the word out about what you're making.

TTYL,
Carl