That sound thingy post,,,, Direct Mode Loudspeaker build

First off, I must admit, I have a very limited amount of recording gear these days.   With that in mind, I know you won’t get the full gist of what this system is capable of, and for that, my apologies.   As said in an earlier post, your end system is going to be the deciding factor in how that sounds TO YOU,,,,,

Onward.    materials and prep

Here, you can see the ‘finish’ I put on the area where the Exciters are to be placed.   Its a simple ‘shellac’ of superglue spread thin and allowed to cure (you can use a heat gun to accelerate that process, but if so, do it out of doors as the fumes are highly toxic,,,,)

Placement is the 2/5th, 3/5ths rule of thumb, I was going to try something different but decided otherwise at the last minute.

MOUNTING the units to the wall.  I have a mess of store hardware that is used to hang blister packs and what not in resell outlets.   I made a bracket to hold the steel arms and mounted four of those in place on the target wall.   For the speaker itself, an eyebolt for the bungee to slip through.

I was going to use the Luan as I bought it, but my place just doesn’t want to harbor a pair of 2’x4′ sheets, and I was forced to cut down to 24″X42″.   That is close to that golden ratio I mentioned in other posts.   Works though, and the sheets hang cleanly on the target wall.

The Exciters.

Hard wired (soldered) speaker wire to them, in series to make 80watts@2ohms per panel.    

Mounted this to a 600watt system: 100w/channel with 400watt subwoofer.

Test music was the same as in earlier post, but the REAL MAGIC happened when I put on THESE,,,,,

10 minutes later, cuz from across hollar is coming over to see whats up,,,,   When i listen to THOSE songs, everyone in a half mile does too,,,,

As he had no idea I was up to something ‘completely different’, he was rather taken aback that “ALL THAT SOUND IS COMING OUT OF A SHEET OF LUAN?!?!?!” (he had to yell it, since I hadn’t dialed back the gain any,,,,)

TIME FOR THE AUDITION,,,,

Note, due to copyright issues, I was unable to load up ANYTHING longer than 60 seconds,,,,   Is what it is; I FEEL, that the point is made in those quick 50 sum-odd seconds,,,,

((yes, for those that noted it: thats a 30# cylinder of propane in front of my heater.   The big boys outside ran out last night and I have not gone to refill them YET.  The 30#’er is my ‘backup’ for such situations.))

Most definitely a sound sound system.   Proper placement is critical of course, but the setup I have in my little place is perfect for this deaf ol’ sound dood.   Near feild, this thing will rip your head off and drive that kick drum right up your ass.    High hats and cymbal rides CUT through the mix and can be heard CLEARLY while all the rest of the music is blasting a line of travel through anything in front of the panel.   The transition between sub and full range panel is seamless and can be ‘felt’ in Rush’s  Tom Sawyer

Far feild, I have not a clue, but that wasn’t the intention of my build.   I would say, with the 165degree spread of the sound, near field is the best bet for this design; but, the fact that my Cousin came over because he could hear it, and he lives several hundred yards away with trees between us,,,(and that could be due to the fact that my porch door was standing wide open and pointing straight at his place,,,,Shotgunning the sound in his direction.)

Guess I should mention what ‘proper placement’ is, eh?   I have the speakers hanging by bungee from the wall with the top being 6″ spaced off the wall, the eyebolts give an extra 1″  and that allows the panel to hang at around 5 degrees off horizontal (downward).   That puts the sound right about mid-body at 10′ in my house.  Room filling is my intention and this setup did just that.  The panel must be free floating or you will get buzzes and other strange noises.   Matching the wieght of the panel with the power output, FOR ME, was pure guesswork.   but I am not getting any strange pops or distortion for lack of weight, and the panels are light enough that the exciter aren’t muffled off.

There it is,,,, Maybe y’all will be building your own soon.  If you do, enjoy the sounds.

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