Next Project: Arc 40 CBT Array

[Navy Guy]

Thanks Javad, how true that is, loading the drivers was the most exciting day of the build. They were a lot of work and seemed to have taken forever but I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. Are they perfect, Nope, but maybe how they sound will make up for some of the flaws in the cabinet work. I really look forward to sharing these with you guys this summer and barring a blizzard in July, they'll be there along with a couple of others projects.

What other project are you bringing? I'm assuming the esoteric and rs speaker? Anything else?

[rickcraig]

You know Kevin,

it doesn't seem like something anyone is working towards, but I keep thinking about Rory's comment back in the hotel the evening after last year's MWAF... Regarding the smaller arrays that you built the cabinet for....

The jist of it was...

it would be interesting if you could just "shade" the directional output of the woofers while leaving the low (non-directional) frequency output un-attenuated. In other words, get the full bass effect from the upper drivers while toning down what needed to be toned down for it to work as a shaded array.

I thought it was a genius idea at the time and I still do... though I have no idea how difficult that would be to pull off... even with DSP and all those tricks.

I just wonder what all your woofers could do if they were all working 100% in the lower registers! With the small array in the hotel room, you could see visibly that the upper drivers were not moving as much as the lower ones. Maybe with your larger array it wouldn't be so pronounced?

At any rate, they look crazy good and I'm wondering if I'll hear them in Southern, New Jersey when you fire them up!

TomZ

Hey Tom - I do remember Rory mentioning that. I had quite a bit of EQ to extend the bass so the little 2" driver at the bottom of the array was being taxed pretty hard. A high pass filter would help reduce the excursion and when I get a chance I will go back and revisit the design. As far as doing what Rory suggested it would be fairly complicated to implement plus it may even work against some of the positive things achieved by a CBT design.

[rickcraig]

With 20 5'' woofers, this is equivalent to having 5 10" woofers of the same Xmax, or about 2 normal Xmax 10'' woofers. Since this is powered by a miniDSP, you can easily apply a Linkwitz Transform to extend the bass considerably, and they should give plenty of bass (~105dB) before running out of excursion.

Rory's idea is easily doable on the miniDSP, but requires some work to do well. The main problem is the need to steeply ramp up the low frequency to match the lower woofers without affecting the lower midrange, and a way to dial back the bass without reducing the midrange when the volume level starts to approach the woofer's limits. The latter is not really an issue if you don't listen very loud, but this speaker just begs to be cranked.

Yes, I think he'll be surprised on the bass capability of the array

I have a design with ten ND105's per side and with bass EQ turned some heads at shows with people looking for a subwoofer. The LT is just a single pole filter so if you want more headroom a simple 2nd order boost circuit works very well.

[Kevin K.]

What other project are you bringing? I'm assuming the esoteric and rs speaker? Anything else?

Yes, the Esoteric and RS will be one of them and then there's Kole's speakers, "The Black Widows"

[Sydney]

Since these are going on the road - how will they be protected?

[Kevin K.]

Since these are going on the road - how will they be protected?

I was thinking of wrapping them in 2" mattress foam. It is going to be a nerve racking drive and if somebody decides to slam on the brakes in front of me I'll have two torpedoes flying towards the front of the vehicle. I'll leave plenty of room between me and the next vehicle to give me more time to stop just in case.

[Millstonemike]

I was thinking of wrapping them in 2" mattress foam. It is going to be a nerve racking drive and if somebody decides to slam on the brakes in front of me I'll have two torpedoes flying towards the front of the vehicle. I'll leave plenty of room between me and the next vehicle to give me more time to stop just in case.

When loading a heavy object I always put it as far forward as I can (e.g., against back of seat, front of trailer, etc.). Then it can't get a "running start" during emergency braking. Easy on the acceleratioin and it will never move.

[badman]

I have to say, those look awful. The inconsistent hole depth really shows when closely examining the driver mountings.

It's 4/1 right? No? Well then... ahem.... very cool

[jhollander]

I was thinking of wrapping them in 2" mattress foam. It is going to be a nerve racking drive and if somebody decides to slam on the brakes in front of me I'll have two torpedoes flying towards the front of the vehicle. I'll leave plenty of room between me and the next vehicle to give me more time to stop just in case.

Could do like Bill S and the line hopper and build custom cradles, matching veneer of course...

[Sydney]

I was thinking of wrapping them in 2" mattress foam. It is going to be a nerve racking drive and if somebody decides to slam on the brakes in front of me I'll have two torpedoes flying towards the front of the vehicle. I'll leave plenty of room between me and the next vehicle to give me more time to stop just in case.

I think you can appreciate why musicians spend hundreds on hard shell cases ( some with wheels ) to safely transport valued instruments that may cost thousands

[JavadS]

Kevin regarding videos, I've found the average iPhone recording does quite well, especially if you play the video through some good speakers as well, you can really get a good idea of the sound signature, impact and clarity of the speaker w/o setting up any microphones, etc. The 6.5 was good, the 7 is even better, see some of my Youtube vids if you haven't already. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM7...tn5mtL2heHb0cw

Javad

[Kevin K.]

I have to say, those look awful. The inconsistent hole depth really shows when closely examining the driver mountings.

It's 4/1 right? No? Well then... ahem.... very cool

The 4/1 question is going right over my head?? But I believe you are saying you like em, thanks.

[Kevin K.]

Could do like Bill S and the line hopper and build custom cradles, matching veneer of course...

I haven't seen what Bill did but I did see his "Line hoppers" at the show. Any pics of the cradles he built anywhere?

I think you can appreciate why musicians spend hundreds on hard shell cases ( some with wheels ) to safely transport valued instruments that may cost thousands

I can and I may build some kind of case or cradle after seeing your comments and John's, you guys are making me nervous about transporting these things now.

[Kevin K.]

Kevin regarding videos, I've found the average iPhone recording does quite well, especially if you play the video through some good speakers as well, you can really get a good idea of the sound signature, impact and clarity of the speaker w/o setting up any microphones, etc. The 6.5 was good, the 7 is even better, see some of my Youtube vids if you haven't already. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM7...tn5mtL2heHb0cw

Javad

Thanks Javad. My son's Christmas present was the IPhone 6 Plus, have noticed his takes better pictures and videos then my LG flex, much better.

[Mike220]

Ridiculous build and thread. BRAVO! Im interested on your grain filling tips. I used some water based stuff before that was clear with so-so results. It filled grain and matched color but is a hair hazey. It was a white container with blue labels aqua coat i think.

I'll have a pricey build coming up i want to get fancy with i will probably bug you with questions and stuff on how you did the design/cad stuff for this concept to turn it into a reality.