Help me finish my polystyrene cab build

[agedhorse]

I apologize for sounding ignorant, and I'm not trying to sound negative, But is this a little bit of the why does a man climb a mountain syndrome?

I love it when people do things that are out of the box, but usually I can see why they're trying to do it. Is there a reason you're trying to do it this way?

Good luck?

It's so much more fun watching somebody else climb the mountain than climbing it yourself.

 

[Nev375]

It's so much more fun watching somebody else climb the mountain than climbing it yourself.

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

I typically use 1/2" plywood for my DIY speakers. I've had great luck with just basic drywall screws for the speaker, and small washers. I realize it's not "professional" but I get decent uniform compression of the gasket and the screws have stayed put for years. It's easy to sneak them out and replace them without crossing the threads if you just get them started with your fingers.

For my speakers, I tend to dispense with all of the trimmings of tour-worthy gear, because the cost of that stuff adds up, and I'm just not banging my speakers around a lot.

If you don't plan on moving it fine.

I'd probably glue 1/8 hardwood ply to the outside with some corners, paint it black.

This is amusing!

 

[Remyd]

Sub’d for a creative idea - I wanna hear it!

 

[neal sanger]

it's already a pretty rambling thread.

View attachment 3278240

FOR FUN

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

This of course begs the question... What is the best tonefoam?

Isnt foam tone short and thumpy?

 

[Downunderwonder]

I expect the panel flex would make the box appear to behave like a larger volume with the same port.

 

[agedhorse]

I expect the panel flex would make the box appear to behave like a larger volume with the same port.

Except that it both absorbs and transmits energy through the material.

 

[JoeWPgh]

Except that it both absorbs and transmits energy through the material.

I don't think that foam is as absorbent as many think. It's a closed cell, so air cannot pass through it or dissipate, the way it does with a sponge type foam, or a fiberglass matting.

 

[agedhorse]

I don't think that foam is as absorbent as many think. It's a closed cell, so air cannot pass through it or dissipate, the way it does with a sponge type foam, or a fiberglass matting.

It's not the air passing through, it's the energy that compresses and expands the air in the closed cells.

 

[trevcda]

First- please make sure there's video rolling on its maiden run! Eminent success or catastrophic failure, it's going to be amazing either way!

I presume the driving force behind this is to create a lighter cabinet. So what's the current weight of it? How much more with baffle and driver?

 

[BogeyBass]

Just wrap it in paper mache made with wood glue. That will stiffen it up

Idk lol
I'll assume alot of possible panel flexing
Bracing would definitely help.

Any possible loses could be modeled with higher leakeage numbers.

In advanced parameters in winisd you can change QL
Some feel sealed boxes can have QL of 20 to 30
And with ported boxes can have a QL of 10 to 20
I always felt those numbers were a little high. But there's no perfect way of predicting them. Without having a model with a high QL of say 15 and then actually measure the impedance curve in real life and lower QL in the model to match real world measurements.

Alot of guys or modeler programs will model with QL of 14. I always agured it's too high for ported boxes.

Some early Small papers I was reading state in real practice a QL of 7 to 10 in practice with ported boxes.

I think winisd actually uses smalls lower number of 7 which is fairly realistic. You could assume with heavy braced thick wood cabinets. 7 to 12 is realistic. with foam can assume possible 3 to 7.

 

[neal sanger]

Except that it both absorbs and transmits energy through the material.

I was hoping that it would radiate some mid range tone around the room (as per the tech ingredients video with panels of the same foam) effectively turning the cab into a six sided trandsucer. Of course I will have no idea until it's finished. I'm pretty sickat the moment, so I won't be finishing it until the weekend at the earliest and even then, it will take probably at least two weeks for the last glue dry to finish. Thanks to everybody pitching in, I now have a solid idea how I'll finish it (baffle/wood/foam panel design).

 

[neal sanger]

I gotta say, this is an awesome forum. I only know one person in real life who is as into speaker design as I am. Feels like I've found a bunch friends.

 

[seamonkey]

Skinned foam core is very strong, and rigid. It's "self" bracing in a way and doesn't do much flexing.

When you buy it skinned and want to join it to other panels you dig out the foam along the edge to fit a piece if wood that you glue in. Then screw glue the wood together.
For a speaker hole you could do a ring of plywood or mdf. Make one panel hole wide enough that you can fit the ring in, then glue another piece of skin on top to hold the ring in.

 

[TheReceder]

for fun

Thanks for the honest, and what I view as the best answer. Good Luck

If it blows up... gets hit by a meteor, or contributes to world peace... we will be the first to know... right?

 

[zac2944]

Foam? Fiberglass? It will never work! Lol.

 

[R Baer]

We build stuff out of foam all the time in the movie industry. When it's something that needs to be tough and be strong as heck, we have it sprayed in Line-X truck bed liner. Won't be cheap though.

 

[Fat Freddy]

Isnt foam tone short and thumpy?

Or....Is Tony Short Thumpy and Foamy?.....

 

[superiorpine]

Be well Neal, and persevere!

I took a class in college titled "Madness, Insight and Creativity." The differences between each is culturally determined. In one culture a Shaman, in another, on the autistic spectrum.

In other words, no coloring outside the lines means no progress. Convention isn't always right.

We have every confidence you will make it work, and we will still be in awe when you do!

One of the most entertaining threads I have read on TB.