opinions wanted on my new website

[diy speaker guy]

There's not much there yet, only one page which will eventually live in a "projects" section that doesn't exist yet. Here it is. http://sites.google.com/site/amateuraudio/the-smallest-ob

This is obviously a free google hosted site. Free and easy to use, but not many tools available. After trying 12 different ways I eventually gave up on trying to put a column of text beside a picture and I was very unhappy with that, so any advice would be appreciated. PM me if you have experience with laying out a google site.

Between me and my neighbour/partner in crime, we have at least a dozen fullrange projects to share, and at least a dozen subs. Everything from 1/4 cubic foot sealed to 30 cubic foot back loaded horn. There will probably also be a "theory" section and depending on a lot of things I might include step by step guides with lots of pictures, showing how to use the software design tools I use.

I need some opinions on the content you see on this first page. Should there be more text? Less? Is there enough details or would you like to see more? If so, do you want more subjective stuff or more objective stuff? More pics or less?

Probably most important, what do you think about google ads? I don't find them offensive but it might make the site look cheesy(er). I've personally never clicked a google ad before... But it would be nice if this site could contribute a few bucks to my hobby. Being Canadian, it's not an inexpensive hobby.

Any opinions on anything are welcome. This is my first try at a new medium.

[charlielaub]

So far so good! Interesting use of the high Q coax. Impressive extension with the 8" baffle...

Looking forward to more writeups, etc. Keep us posted.

-Charlie

[brianpowers27]

The site looks pretty nice. I can't recall exactly how to accomplish the text by pictures task.

The easiest way is to make the page two columns and place the pictures ont he right side. You could also use a table...

If you are experienced with html you could edit the html of the page to change the image property.
http://www.w3schools.com/html/tryit.asp?filename=tryhtml_image_align

[waynew]

I like your site, but I must disagree with you calling that design "the smallest OB". I believe I have that title from when I used an Aura Sound A3S on a tiny piece of Cherry (layed back at 7degrees). ;P

good site! It will be a great resource when you get it all fleshed out.

Regards,

Wayne

PS - You can keep calling it the smallest OB. I don't really mind at all, and I took mine apart a long time ago.

[evilskillit]

Nice, its always good to see more design sites go up, especially with measurements. So good luck, hopefully you actually get the thing going and keep it rolling.

[Wolf]

I like your site, but I must disagree with you calling that design "the smallest OB". I believe I have that title from when I used an Aura Sound A3S on a tiny piece of Cherry (layed back at 7degrees). ;P

good site! It will be a great resource when you get it all fleshed out.

Regards,

Wayne

PS - You can keep calling it the smallest OB. I don't really mind at all, and I took mine apart a long time ago.

Not to pick Wayne, but the A3S is a HiVi driver, and the Aura is probably the NS3. :p:)
Wolf

[waynew]

Go ahead and pick on me Wolf. I have switched them both in and out so many times, I cannot remember which is which anymore. I was still the first...neener neeener neeeener:p

[Wolf]

Go ahead and pick on me Wolf. I have switched them both in and out so many times, I cannot remember which is which anymore. I was still the first...neener neeener neeeener:p

LOL! :D:D
Wolf

[diy speaker guy]

The site looks pretty nice. I can't recall exactly how to accomplish the text by pictures task.

The easiest way is to make the page two columns and place the pictures ont he right side. You could also use a table...

If you are experienced with html you could edit the html of the page to change the image property.
http://www.w3schools.com/html/tryit.asp?filename=tryhtml_image_align

Thanks everyone.

Brian, I tried both columns and tables. The problem I have is that when you reduce the screen size, it smushes up the text column so that it can display the whole page without scrolling. Incredibly annoying and I don't know how to change that. I need to somehow specify the column (or table cell) widths so they don't change when the screen size changes.

Wayne, how big was your ob? The page title was just the first thing that popped in my mind.

[brianpowers27]

Brian, I tried both columns and tables. The problem I have is that when you reduce the screen size, it smushes up the text column so that it can display the whole page without scrolling. Incredibly annoying and I don't know how to change that. I need to somehow specify the column (or table cell) widths so they don't change when the screen size changes.


go into the html mode nd make sure that the image is inside of a paragraph tag. The image must have the property set like this... align="right"

[waynew]

Thanks everyone.

Wayne, how big was your ob? The page title was just the first thing that popped in my mind.

It was 5.5" wide x 8" tall and used the Aura 3" driver. It sounded horrible and I had thought about putting a piece of polished copper pipe onto the back of it and making it a T-Line to increase the low freq. response...until I found out what 3" dia. copper pipe went for at the time.
Basically, I had some scrap cherry in the shop and my table saw was already set a 7degrees...viola...OB. I think it took me all of 20 minutes to build!

[diy speaker guy]

go into the html mode nd make sure that the image is inside of a paragraph tag. The image must have the property set like this... align="right"

The html button doesn't do anything at all, not sure why. I am able to view the code though by other means. It's a huge mess and I'm not sure how to do what I want to do anyway.

I was able to figure out a workaround though, using tables and a line of dots with no spaces to force the column width to stay the same regardless of screen size.

Now it will only look the way I intended it with 1024 x 768 so I might make some more changes again later. Maybe.

[diy speaker guy]

It was 5.5" wide x 8" tall and used the Aura 3" driver. It sounded horrible and I had thought about putting a piece of polished copper pipe onto the back of it and making it a T-Line to increase the low freq. response...until I found out what 3" dia. copper pipe went for at the time.
Basically, I had some scrap cherry in the shop and my table saw was already set a 7degrees...viola...OB. I think it took me all of 20 minutes to build!

Yeah, you really need a high q driver if you want any output at all below the baffle step frequency, which is pretty high with only 5.5 inch width, and then you get the big diffraction peak (regardless of baffle width) which can be really problematic.

Anyway, I figured my buddy's ob wasn't actually the smallest ob in the world and I'll probably change that page title at some point when I think of something clever and witty to change it to. (It's not the name of the design, I've never named a project before.)

[Æ]

Don't know if you have the time or interest, but this is the http://www.w3.org/ to go to for more information on building web pages. They have some simple HTML tutoring http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Guide/

[diy speaker guy]

Thanks very much, I do appreciate it and I'll check it out at some point but for now I've got this figured out. I had to go into the settings and tell it that the page was 1024 px wide and now it (mostly) does just what I want it to. That only took 2 hours to figure out (considerably longer than it took to write up the content).

Next write up will probably be big pipe/horns with fullrange single drivers. Hopefully I can get that page up within the next couple of days. Unbelievable spl considering the tiny 4 inch cones and .35 mil xmax rating. Huge boxes though.

[Æ]

Thanks very much, I do appreciate it and I'll check it out at some point but for now I've got this figured out. I had to go into the settings and tell it that the page was 1024 px wide and now it (mostly) does just what I want it to. That only took 2 hours to figure out (considerably longer than it took to write up the content).

Next write up will probably be big pipe/horns with 4 inch single driver fullrange. Hopefully I can get that page up within the next couple of days.

I've got a pair of 4 inch PIONEER full rangers that I don't quite know what to do with. I kind of like your open baffle setup. I'm not quite up to building a folded horn.

[diy speaker guy]

Unless they have ridiculously high q they will need baffles quite a bit bigger than my buddy's to get down that low. If you know the parameters and have an idea how low you want them to go I can model them for you.

The pipe/horns are a very simple build. If you can build a shelf port or put bracing inside a box you can make these. There's only 1 divider and it's straight. I can model the pioneer in this style of box too, but unless it has ridiculously low q the box will be incredibly large. Mine measures (off the top of my head) approximately 8 x 15 x 50 inches for a 4 inch driver with q = .25. As q gets bigger the box gets bigger really fast. If you like, I can model the pioneers in this type of box as well for you.

I should have at least most of the page done tomorrow so I'll post here again when it's up so you can check it out.

[Æ]

Thanks for the reply. I was going to put my pair of PIONEERs into some Greg Monfort ML-TQWT or whatever, but the enclosure is really too small for a floor stander and too big for a bookshelf. Interested in seeing your plans/design. I don't know specs for my full rangers, their suspension is a bit tight, so I suspect they have a fairly high mechanical Q.



Unless they have ridiculously high q they will need baffles quite a bit bigger than my buddy's to get down that low. If you know the parameters and have an idea how low you want them to go I can model them for you.

The pipe/horns are a very simple build. If you can build a shelf port or put bracing inside a box you can make these. There's only 1 divider and it's straight. I can model the pioneer in this style of box too, but unless it has ridiculously low q the box will be incredibly large. Mine measures (off the top of my head) approximately 8 x 15 x 50 inches for a 4 inch driver with q = .25. As q gets bigger the box gets bigger really fast. If you like, I can model the pioneers in this type of box as well for you.

I should have at least most of the page done tomorrow so I'll post here again when it's up so you can check it out.

[diy speaker guy]

I wasn't able to start working on the website til 9 pm so I wrote up the rotary sub project because there's not much to say about it. It only took an hour or so. It is located here. http://sites.google.com/site/amateuraudio/the-rotary-sub This project was an epic fail but very very interesting nonetheless.

I'll get started on the pipe/horn page tonight but probably won't finish it til tomorrow.

[diy speaker guy]

Well that didn't take long. The pipe/horn page is up. http://sites.google.com/site/amateuraudio/conical-pipe-horn

I'm just finishing some small edits and formatting but it's basically done.

[Æ]

Well that didn't take long. The pipe/horn page is up. http://sites.google.com/site/amateuraudio/conical-pipe-horn

I'm just finishing some small edits and formatting but it's basically done.

Thanks for the heads up.
Darn, that enclosure is big and for such a little driver.

[diy speaker guy]

Yes it is, but that's what's required to get 50 hz out of a 4 inch driver without needing a sub. Also, it's so efficient that if you power it with a little t amp like the dayton it will run for weeks before you need to change the batteries.

[Æ]

Yes it is, but that's what's required to get 50 hz out of a 4 inch driver without needing a sub. Also, it's so efficient that if you power it with a little t amp like the dayton it will run for weeks before you need to change the batteries.

Or an 8 watt tube amp.

I went to the Planet 10 website, I didn't see the plans there for your horn. Which one is it?
Home Depot has some nice finished sheets of plywood and MDF 2x4 (24"x48") easy to carry and rip into smaller sizes. Would almost be perfect for this.

[diy speaker guy]

I have no idea where Planet10 is hiding those plans but I do have a copy that I can send you if you want. It's nothing special, it looks a lot like mine but it vents out the bottom instead of the back. All you need is the BIB calculator anyway.

[Æ]

I have no idea where Planet10 is hiding those plans but I do have a copy that I can send you if you want. It's nothing special, it looks a lot like mine but it vents out the bottom instead of the back. All you need is the BIB calculator anyway.

Yes, I would like that. I sent you a Private Message.
Thanks

[diy speaker guy]

Ok I emailed the plans to you. But these are specific to the fostex 126/127 driver - which incidentally is the same driver shown in my conical pipe/horn page. You will notice that planet10's is a bit smaller, I mentioned in my writeup that my boxes were a bit big for the 126.

Make sure you get the BIB calculator too, from here - http://www.ZillaAudio.com/bib-calculator.htm so you can design for any given driver.

[Æ]

Ok I emailed the plans to you. But these are specific to the fostex 126/127 driver - which incidentally is the same driver shown in my conical pipe/horn page. You will notice that planet10's is a bit smaller, I mentioned in my writeup that my boxes were a bit big for the 126.

Make sure you get the BIB calculator too, from here - http://www.ZillaAudio.com/bib-calculator.htm so you can design for any given driver.

Thanks, I got it.

Can you actually get 50Hz from a FOSTEX 126/127 in your BIB enclosure?
The free air resonance of those drivers isn't that low to begin with.

Your horns are open on the back. Wouldn't that make them a bit shorter than if they were open on the bottom? Do you have an additional internal bend, piece of wood to compensate for the change?

My PIONEER full range is similar to the FOSTEX FE103 in size/performance. I will need a slightly smaller enclosure than what you are using, but hopefully it will look as good as yours.

So, you are up there in Canada. . . ever correspond with Gio Militano? I have my little tube amp pictured at his website.

[diy speaker guy]

Yeah, the measurements show it, 50 hz no problem. It's impressive but realistically there's only so much a 4 inch driver can do, and corner loading helps a lot. Fs on my fostex is 70 and it's generally safe to tune to fs x .707.

The 103 would need a considerably smaller enclosure than the one I presented - just a bit over half the size of mine. A few inches shorter (lower fs), so it would need to be inverted and vented either through the bottom like p10's or out the back like mine. It won't get quite down to 50 hz either but it will be close.

Mine do not have any additional height to compensate for being back vented. GM is always saying that length should be added to compensate but according to my measurements it's not required - the measurement matches the model pretty well.

I've never heard of Gio Militano.

[Æ]

Yeah, the measurements show it, 50 hz no problem. It's impressive but realistically there's only so much a 4 inch driver can do, and corner loading helps a lot. Fs on my fostex is 70 and it's generally safe to tune to fs x .707.

The 103 would need a considerably smaller enclosure than the one I presented - just a bit over half the size of mine. A few inches shorter (lower fs), so it would need to be inverted and vented either through the bottom like p10's or out the back like mine. It won't get quite down to 50 hz either but it will be close.

Mine do not have any additional height to compensate for being back vented. GM is always saying that length should be added to compensate but according to my measurements it's not required - the measurement matches the model pretty well.

I've never heard of Gio Militano.

Try this website:
http://diyaudioprojects.com/Speakers/speakers.htm
and this too
http://www.retrothing.com/2009/03/the-diy-audio-projects-blog.html

[diy speaker guy]

No new content but I had to shift everything around so the previous links probably won't work anymore. This is the new permanent (I hope) link to the projects page.

http://sites.google.com/site/amateuraudio/projects-1

[diy speaker guy]

Opinions still welcome.

Improved appearance, added 2 new projects and a new recommended software section.

http://sites.google.com/site/amateuraudio/home

Still just getting started...

[evilskillit]

Looking good and coming right along. I know right now you're just trying to get stuff up, however some measurements, specs or at least color commentary on what the stuff sounds like and how you feel about it will be looked forward to. ;)

[brianpowers27]

The website is looking nice. zIf you submit yourself as a diy resource in this link, I will link you. I always appreciate the link.

http://sites.google.com/site/brianpowers27speakers/diy-resources/links-to-diy-faq-resources

[diy speaker guy]

Looking good and coming right along. I know right now you're just trying to get stuff up, however some measurements, specs or at least color commentary on what the stuff sounds like and how you feel about it will be looked forward to. ;)

Thanks very much, this is exactly the type of feedback I am looking for.

The last couple of projects pages I put up were older projects and back then I had no measurement capability. Both of those older projectsare currently missing their drivers so measurements will probably not happen too soon on those. I will add a bit of limited subjective comments as per your suggestion but I don't want to get carried away with opinions.

All the forthcoming pages showcasing newer projects will have measurements and commentary like the first couple of more complete looking project pages I put up.

I'm still adding technical details as well, it's very much a flexible work in progress.

[diy speaker guy]

The website is looking nice. zIf you submit yourself as a diy resource in this link, I will link you. I always appreciate the link.

http://sites.google.com/site/brianpowers27speakers/diy-resources/links-to-diy-faq-resources

Thanks so much for the offer, I desperately want that link too. Google still doesn't know about me and won't even start looking for me until somebody links to my site.

Just give me a couple of days to fix a couple of things up first so it's ready to be released. Right now the only people that know it exists are forum people.

[diy speaker guy]

The website is 1 week old today. The recommended software section is almost complete now, just a bit of text and a couple of pics missing. I also added my tapped horn project using a tang band w6-1139si here - http://sites.google.com/site/amateuraudio/projects-1/tapped-horn.

I've got 3 more projects to add immediately but I'll have to take a few days off now due to an impending death in the family.

[diy speaker guy]

Back at it...

Added a couple more projects and a page on basic OB design here - http://sites.google.com/site/amateuraudio/theory/ob-design?pageMoved=Theory

New pages probably won't be as frequent anymore. I don't think I'll be able to do any more measurements until spring.

[diy speaker guy]

The website is looking nice. zIf you submit yourself as a diy resource in this link, I will link you. I always appreciate the link.

http://sites.google.com/site/brianpowers27speakers/diy-resources/links-to-diy-faq-resources


Hi Brian, I was wondering if you received my submission or if I should resubmit. I've been checking to see if I'm listed and haven't noticed it yet. I'm ready for google to find the site now so the general public can see it so the link would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[diy speaker guy]

I haven't added much for a couple of weeks, but recently I added a project page for a dual Tang Band W6-1139SI ported box - and an outline of the challenges that driver imposes in that alignment. (Our second design for that driver so far)

http://sites.google.com/site/amateuraudio/projects-1/small-ported-sub

And a theory page with a quick and simple explanation of the devastating effects of port compression and power compression. With large pictures, as always.

http://sites.google.com/site/amateuraudio/theory/compression

Comments always welcome. Hints on getting found by google would be especially appreciated.

[diy speaker guy]

Just in case anyone is interested, google finally indexed my site. It took over 6 weeks. They didn't index the whole site - just a few pages actually - but it's a whole lot better than nothing.

I created most of the site in the first 2 weeks and gradually slowed down and stopped adding content as I became discouraged at the lack of search engine support. After all, why bother if no one is going to see it?

So I'll be back at it again soon with new content. There's a whole lot more theory coming, and a couple new projects (very soon but not yet). First, the Madisound RB2 kit (sealed box) and then a Mini Onken (onken style ported box with CSS FR125 4 inch fullrange drivers). There's also 2 very interesting larger OB projects coming down the pipe. I've got all the parts and the designs are done, I just need to get a new router and build them.

As always, comments are welcome.

[gowa]

Looking mighty fine.

[rogoll]

Site is looking nice...very professional appearance.

[diy speaker guy]

Thanks guys, but I can't take too much credit for the appearance. The host (google sites) just makes it so easy. The interface is quite similar to creating a word document. I just chose a theme (template) and that takes care of the overall appearance and layout, which I have editted very little. It still looked decidedly unprofessional though, until I added the banner pic at the top. That really spiced it up, but it's still the "test" banner and it will get updated at some point.

Based on price (free) and ease of use, in conjunction with the powerful complimentary tools available (google webmaster tools and google analytics) I think everyone should have their own website(s) - a few people here already do use the google service. I'll be pretty angry if they decide to stop the hosting service like yahoo did recently but I'm not too worried about that yet.