My MWAF 2014 entry: Plan-Tanic

[4thtry]

This was my entry for the "open unlimited" category. Didn't place in the contest, but if anyone is interested, I will post complete construction details & pictures. I've been working on these, on & off, for about 3 1/2 years. They have gone through several iterations (failures) along the way. They seemed to be sounding pretty good to my ears, so I brought them to the show.

Congratulations to all the winners and contestants at the show. Lots of great sounding speakers. Enjoyed talking with fellow builders about all their unique & interesting designs. Took tons of pictures. Look forward to attending again next year.

Bill S.

[bullittstang]

Re: My MWAF 2014 entry: Plan-Tanic

I would be interested in reading about them, they look very nice and I'm sure they sounded great too! I watched the live streaming and there was some competition in the unlimited class.
What kind of finish is that? Is it all painted, or is the trim real wood? Nice job!

[PWR RYD]

Re: My MWAF 2014 entry: Plan-Tanic

Sorry for the thread jack... but who were the winners this year?

[thekorvers]

Re: My MWAF 2014 entry: Plan-Tanic

This was my entry for the "open unlimited" category. Didn't place in the contest, but if anyone is interested, I will post complete construction details & pictures. I've been working on these, on & off, for about 3 1/2 years. They have gone through several iterations (failures) along the way. They seemed to be sounding pretty good to my ears, so I brought them to the show.

I am, and probably most of us, are always interested in new builds and construction details. I sometimes pick up neat ideas from them.

[ani_101]

Re: My MWAF 2014 entry: Plan-Tanic

Me too - am interested - Are those planers or electro-statics - can't make out form the images. any case - really nice mirror finish

[dynamo]

Re: My MWAF 2014 entry: Plan-Tanic

[QUOTE=4thtry;2003020]...Took tons of pictures...QUOTE]

Feel free to post them ;)

Nice build! I've been very interested in non-traditional builds lately, such as planars, amt's, ribbons, etc.. I bet they sound great, nice work!

[ani_101]

Re: My MWAF 2014 entry: Plan-Tanic

ok, i see now that they are planers... the front shot from 6th pics made it clear.

http://s1151.photobucket.com/user/6thplanet/slideshow/MWAF%202014

[kenny_k]

Re: My MWAF 2014 entry: Plan-Tanic

(kenny_k raising his hand) Bill, I'm interested in knowing more.

[Difvision]

Re: My MWAF 2014 entry: Plan-Tanic

Bill really interested in the transform that you used, and think that many many many in the forums might also. Large sounding sub in a smaller box... everyone wants that!


BTW, Have been reading online that MiniDSP site, but seems that the smallest setup is for a pair of speakers, not a sole sub. I am continuing to read. Also found something in new AVRs called Audyssey XT equalization... seems that might do the trick also, but not sure yet... maybe an upgrade to the AVR would make the Mini DSP not necessary?

[Difvision]

Re: My MWAF 2014 entry: Plan-Tanic

Bill really interested in the transform that you used, and think that many many many in the forums might also. Large sounding sub in a smaller box... everyone wants that!


BTW, Have been reading online that MiniDSP site, but seems that the smallest setup is for a pair of speakers, not a sole sub. I am continuing to read. Also found something in new AVRs called Audyssey XT equalization... seems that might do the trick also, but not sure yet... maybe an upgrade to the AVR would make the Mini DSP not necessary?

This was my entry for the "open unlimited" category. Didn't place in the contest, but if anyone is interested, I will post complete construction details & pictures. I've been working on these, on & off, for about 3 1/2 years. They have gone through several iterations (failures) along the way. They seemed to be sounding pretty good to my ears, so I brought them to the show.

Congratulations to all the winners and contestants at the show. Lots of great sounding speakers. Enjoyed talking with fellow builders about all their unique & interesting designs. Took tons of pictures. Look forward to attending again next year.

Bill S.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]48467[/ATTACH]

[kenny_k]

Re: My MWAF 2014 entry: Plan-Tanic

Got a little highjack going on Difvision.

[4thtry]

Re: My MWAF 2014 entry: Plan-Tanic

Thanks, everyone, for your interest in and kind comments about my speakers. I will post details & several pictures over the next few days.

bullittstang: It is all 3/4" MDF, painted with black shadow lines to hid the seams. I applied approximately 7-10 coats of automotive high build primer to create a good base and then 2 coats of oil based high gloss enamel. The burgundy color was achieved by mixing a rattle can cap full of high gloss black with one quart of ruby red. Everything was sprayed on at roughly 30psi using my Dad's old antique
"Model 7" spray gun.

ani_101: Those are the B&G RD40 planar transducers.

Difvision: I will post info on my experiences building the transform circuit. I used the OmniMic near field measurement technique to adjust my component values. You should start a new thread in the tech talk section on "what to do with my new 18" door prize." Congrats, by the way, on winning that prize and on your 2nd place finish. Your speakers had excellent tonal balance, clarity, & imaging.

Bill S.

[4thtry]

Re: My MWAF 2014 entry: Plan-Tanic

Drivers are the B&G RD40 planar transducer and the Dayton Audio 12" Titanic MK III:



After unpacking, I built two 3/4" MDF baffles for the RD-40s. It was necessary to rout two large recesses at the inside top & bottom of the baffle so that the driver could be mounted flush.



I then mounted the baffle to a 12"x12" base with 2 steel supporting brackets so that I could hook them up to an amplifier and begin to make OmniMic measurements.



When installing the RD40s on the baffle, I initially bolted them directly to the back of the 3/4" thick baffle. But when I did this, the drivers were not flush with the front of the baffle. To correct this, I inserted several washers between the MDF and driver flange at each mounting hole.



Continued tomorrow . . .

[4thtry]

Re: My MWAF 2014 entry: Plan-Tanic

Sorry for the thread jack... but who were the winners this year?

Craig,

Open unlimited:

1st place: Shawn_K with his "Notes" speakers, which were a 3-way active loudspeaker.

2nd place: N.C. with his "Rendition" speakers, which were a 2 way tower system with detached bass modules.

3rd place: dlneubec with his "Proximity" speakers, which were an 8 driver/speaker, active/passive hybrid.

Hope this helps,

Bill

[4thtry]

Re: My MWAF 2014 entry: Plan-Tanic

An initial crossover of approximately 200Hz @ 12db/octave was cobbled together on two homemade breadboards so that I could begin testing without damaging the RD-40s.



When I tested them on an open 6.5" wide baffle, they were reasonably flat from about 1K to 17K. Below 1K, however, they began to roll off slowly and were down 6dB by 500Hz and 12 dB by 250Hz. Obviously, if I wanted to use a crossover lower than 1K, I needed to make a change. I could try to equalize the driver electronically to compensate for front to back cancellation. But I didn't like that idea because that would have involved a significant increase in power being fed to the planar in the 200 to 500Hz range. Another idea would be to increase the width of the baffle from 6.5" to about 18 inches. But when I tried that idea with temporary baffle extensions, I did not like the way it sounded.

So I decided to build a small enclosure 42.5" high by 6.5" wide by 8" deep. In the enclosure, frequency response was reasonably flat from 200 to 17000Hz. Here are a few pics of the boxes that I built. I gave them several coats of high build automotive primer and 1/16"x1/16" shadow lines to hide the glue joints:



Stay tuned. More to follow . . .