DIY Flat Panel Speaker Love

[Kornbread]

Building another customer set. I am using a new 2mm panel from my friends at Wright Patt AFB, this time in an 11 x 14 size. This panel is extremely light yet very rigid and I was expecting this thinner version to provide even better high end response and volume. You can see that the high end response is great all the way out to the 19k limit of the sweep I ran.

... and you could supply us with some of this unobtanium for how much or at least let us in on what it is ... unless it is a military secret.

[WernerM]

Okay just got the Behringer UFO202 in and calibrated in Holm. Here is the latest measurement...

1" XPS in 16" x 24" with no edge treatments and 1 side 50/50 treated (the exciter side) using a Dayton Audio DAEX25 sound exciter...

First the gated measurement...




Now the 1/24 octave smoothed...

[Unbiasedsound]

I've never ordered the thruster or the ultra due to there poor quality control from what others have mentioned on both forums.....The best bang for the buck exciter with the best all around sound that I have used is the DAEX25FHE-4 although I did not push them too hard....the most resilient and robust exciter Ive used is the DAEX30HESF-4 as I have 6 of them that has the most bass/excursion and power handling as I am even employing one of them as a Subwoofer driven by a 50 watt polk amp with no problems and you can really see the excursion of DAEX30 when used as a sub.....The DAEX25 seems to have a higher frequency response then the DAEX30 but the DAEX30 seems to sound a little more accurate with more bass and higher power handling.....my ultimate goal is to mimic the Bertagnis flag ship model speakers the SM300....that project will utilize the DAEX30 as the bass panel and the DAEX25 as the mid bass panel while utilizing either two 13mm tektonic exciters for the highs and or some sort of dome tweeter and crossover.

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The best bang for the buck exciter with the best all around sound that I have used is the DAEX25FHE-4

That's the same exciter I use and I have been able to get flat high end response out to 20k.

[Unbiasedsound]

The DAEX30HESF-4 is on sale now if anyone is interested in trying it out as its one of the best and most durable of the exciters with a lot of bass and excursion that I have experienced with it.....The exciter I am very curious about is the DAEX25SHF-4 but at $35.00 a piece I am very hesitant to purchase it, has any one tried that exciter yet?

[WernerM]

Haven't tried any but these cheap ones. I installed one of the Dayton PTMini-6 tweeters in with the panel (just temporarily two sided taped it to the panel slightly off center and near the top, put a 4.7uF cap in series with it. I just wanted a quick test of the sound and it has very, very, very good potential with these. I will design a proper crossover later for these, just wanted to do a quick test before my trip this weekend and fill y'all in on my first impressions. Really fills the top end gap. Yes it plays into the upper mid with this cap, but I just wanted a quick test. I am also running that sub with a 2mH coil with it to fill in below. I think I am going to do a full design using these drivers later, and will mock up a design using a more currently available woofer for ease of build options. My close friend is so impressed by just hearing one channel playing that He definitely wants me to build him a set when I get a finalized design. At $12 I think the PTMini-6 is an excellent option for this design. I will still contribute here with experimentations, but I am really going to start a true design once I get back from the weekend.

[Unbiasedsound]

Haven't tried any but these cheap ones. I installed one of the Dayton PTMini-6 tweeters in with the panel (just temporarily two sided taped it to the panel slightly off center and near the top, put a 4.7uF cap in series with it. I just wanted a quick test of the sound and it has very, very, very good potential with these. I will design a proper crossover later for these, just wanted to do a quick test before my trip this weekend and fill y'all in on my first impressions. Really fills the top end gap. Yes it plays into the upper mid with this cap, but I just wanted a quick test. I am also running that sub with a 2mH coil with it to fill in below. I think I am going to do a full design using these drivers later, and will mock up a design using a more currently available woofer for ease of build options. My close friend is so impressed by just hearing one channel playing that He definitely wants me to build him a set when I get a finalized design. At $12 I think the PTMini-6 is an excellent option for this design. I will still contribute here with experimentations, but I am really going to start a true design once I get back from the weekend.

PE. recommends a minimum of 4kzh or higher as cut off point for the Ptmini-6. The PE 5khz high pass 8ohm crossover at around $6.00 is a good deal to use for the tweeter.

[WernerM]

Yeah I'm just using what I have on hand at the moment...

[captainjack115]

Just for the heck of it . I added a Zobel network consisting of a 10 mfd non polarized capacitor in series with a .1 ohm resistor directly across the terminals of a Thruster exciter.
This peaked out the high end acoustically. Results will vary with various amplifiers and may cause instability.

[t3steve]

Any updates or new designs or testing for DML panels hanging on the wall?

[Tin Ear]

The cheap $15/pr exciters are still holding up well for me, those are what I have been measuring, and I have been measuring the panels at 80dB or so and playing them at 85dB... I like my music loud, plus it is the best way to hear resonance in the panel. The SQ of these really is pretty good to me, but I have not had the pleasure of hearing any other exciters for comparison. I'm still experimenting with different panel configurations, layers, etc. Trying to see if I can bring the levels up in the range above 5k. I did do a quick experiment today using the 8" XPS glued to the window film. I attached the window film to a 19.5" x 39.5" picture frame and heated it up to tension it until a flick of it sounded like a drum head. What I found was that the SQ if the XPS was still there and the lows came way up! The only problem is it has more echo to it. But I am thinking of retrying with the film stuck to the front of the frame instead of behind it.

One other note, do NOT use Loctite spray adhesive on the unskinned XPS, it will eat it! Lol found this out today also.

I will report back as I find more things out and will have good measurements again soon... In the mean time, good luck everyone and have fun!

Hi -

Aside from inherent drum skin quality, was there another property to it that attracted you to use?

For example - - Does the Window Film you speak of have Titanium in the ingredient list?

- What changes do you foresee on your user end to potentially elevate this to end-all, be-all?

- Thank You

[bill poster]

First time to read this thread- how does the midrange of these flat panels compare to a good commercial driver?

[bill poster]

So much to read up on!
Questions - how does the tectonics steel spring TEAX32C30-4/B compare to the Dayton ultra? Are spider versions better in some way?
I was thinking to use a painting canvas, with its ready made frame and stretched material. Then apply a very thin but stiff material on the top side and a sheet of thin foam board on the back. not sure if to run the material up to the frame or leave a gap inside. Then maybe a cross member on the back to mount the exciter.
Are thin (but heavy) materials like 3mm corian any good for transmitting sound with these?

[WernerM]

First time to read this thread- how does the midrange of these flat panels compare to a good commercial driver?

Okay let me start by saying that I haven't had the pleasure of hearing any OB designs, but I have listened to Martin Logan electrostatics and my brother has a pair if Maggie's. In comparison to those, I feel you get the same open air quality and detail in the separation of instruments, without the directivity of electrostatics. Listening to the same music I have for years on box speakers the performance sounds live as if you are in the studio. Thus is my experience with flat panel sq, YMMV.

[WernerM]

Hi -

Aside from inherent drum skin quality, was there another property to it that attracted you to use?

For example - - Does the Window Film you speak of have Titanium in the ingredient list?

- What changes do you foresee on your user end to potentially elevate this to end-all, be-all?

- Thank You

The window film I used was made by Frost King and was just clear plastic film that you can get at HD for about $5 per box. It is meant to help insulate windows for winter. I had the idea of trying it to create a membrane like electrostatics and plants. I am always looking for cheap experiments that most anyone can afford. The problem I ran across in the few implementations that I tried with is was the hall effect, or sounding like everything had an echo to it. I haven't experimented as much lately because I am working on a project that uses the panels as a midrange.