petehowell
Well Known Member
I spend a fair amount of time at the hangar and have been craving a bigger sound than my phone for music and podcasts. I could have bought a stereo, but how "experimental" is that? I could probably build speakers, right? So I hit the Google and I did just that! I'm no audiophile, and hangars are not ideal listening rooms, but these E-AB speakers fill a big hangar with sound on a small budget and are really fun to make!
The hangar models I made are called Cornu Horns. They take a cheap little full range driver and make it sound big and full thru, you know, physics! Here they are mounted below the Mezz windows. Continue reading if you want to see how they are made.........
They are constructed of 20" x 30" foamcore board ($2-$3 a sheet) that you can get at the office or craft store, and cheap 3.5 in drivers that can be ordered over the web ($9 each). You just have to cut the board and fabricate. I use a cheap bluetooth chip amp ($15) off the web to power them in the hangar.
You start out with two 20"x 20" pieces of foam board. Then you print out the internal spirals and transfer the layout to the board using the high-tech "poke the pin thru the paper" technique.
Boom! Spirals marked!
Next you cut strips of foamboard to make the internal structure. I used 3" wide strips. You score and crush one side of the strip to allow it to conform to the spirals - Hot glue is used to tack the strip down with 30 second hand clamping.
You "caulk" the edges airtight with good old Elmer's.
Work your way around the spiral, carefully leaving yourself room to tack and caulk the strips. You can make longer strips by butt-gluing the 3" wide strips together.
Before long - you are finished with the strips! You can see the expanding horn shapes that make the big sound..........
Now glue the other 20x20 slab of foam on top of the strips - use lots of glue here to get that air tight seal! "Borrow" Andi's kitchen stuff to use as gravity clamps. I prefer the pizza stones and blender, wine optional.
Cut the driver hole, add a bit of pillow stuffing, and use aircraft quality wiring tools from Stein to complete all connections......
Test the speakers and clean kitchen before Andi wakes up and catches you!!
Fun project, minimal cost, big sound. The design and techniques are from some great guys over at the diyaudio.com forum. They seem to have a very similar vibe to VAF.
If anyone is interested in more info or links to supplies hit me up. I was able to get everything locally but the drivers and BT amp - those can be easily ordered off the web.
Rock on!
The hangar models I made are called Cornu Horns. They take a cheap little full range driver and make it sound big and full thru, you know, physics! Here they are mounted below the Mezz windows. Continue reading if you want to see how they are made.........
They are constructed of 20" x 30" foamcore board ($2-$3 a sheet) that you can get at the office or craft store, and cheap 3.5 in drivers that can be ordered over the web ($9 each). You just have to cut the board and fabricate. I use a cheap bluetooth chip amp ($15) off the web to power them in the hangar.
You start out with two 20"x 20" pieces of foam board. Then you print out the internal spirals and transfer the layout to the board using the high-tech "poke the pin thru the paper" technique.
Boom! Spirals marked!
Next you cut strips of foamboard to make the internal structure. I used 3" wide strips. You score and crush one side of the strip to allow it to conform to the spirals - Hot glue is used to tack the strip down with 30 second hand clamping.
You "caulk" the edges airtight with good old Elmer's.
Work your way around the spiral, carefully leaving yourself room to tack and caulk the strips. You can make longer strips by butt-gluing the 3" wide strips together.
Before long - you are finished with the strips! You can see the expanding horn shapes that make the big sound..........
Now glue the other 20x20 slab of foam on top of the strips - use lots of glue here to get that air tight seal! "Borrow" Andi's kitchen stuff to use as gravity clamps. I prefer the pizza stones and blender, wine optional.
Cut the driver hole, add a bit of pillow stuffing, and use aircraft quality wiring tools from Stein to complete all connections......
Test the speakers and clean kitchen before Andi wakes up and catches you!!
Fun project, minimal cost, big sound. The design and techniques are from some great guys over at the diyaudio.com forum. They seem to have a very similar vibe to VAF.
If anyone is interested in more info or links to supplies hit me up. I was able to get everything locally but the drivers and BT amp - those can be easily ordered off the web.
Rock on!