DIY Hawthorne 10" rear surrounds

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Bob in St. Louis

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DIY Hawthorne 10" rear surrounds
« on: 28 Aug 2007, 09:12 pm »
After suffering with low Db (88) boxed speakers for my HT rooms rear channels, I've finally got some good sounds back there. :rock:

The drivers are 10" Hawthorne Audio Coaxials mounted in AN UGLY test baffle.
So far so good. I'm hearing movie rear channel content I've not heard before. So I'm excited at what the future holds. I've gotten some good suggestions on a different design that I'll be building soon. More pics of those to come as they get built.

Here's a few photos so far:

Inside of the right rear baffle;


Front of the right rear seen mounted;


Rear wall with both mounted;
« Last Edit: 4 Sep 2007, 05:28 pm by Bob in St. Louis »

DanTheMan

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Re: DIY rear surrounds
« Reply #1 on: 28 Aug 2007, 10:56 pm »
Those really aren't that bad Bob.  I wish you hadn't used OSB, but they're only temporary.  I bet if you just exteded the legs it would open up the sound more.  Of course that could just make them into something to hit your heard on :duh:.  Regardless, I bet they crush what you had going back there.

gooberdude

Re: DIY rear surrounds
« Reply #2 on: 29 Aug 2007, 01:19 am »
I'd consider adding some absorptive material to the inside of the box...just thin felt.  If any of the rear waves bounce off the wall and back at the driver, it might help to diffuse them a bit more.   adding some to the wall might be worth experimenting with too.

OB and felt...is there a better combo???





Bob in St. Louis

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Re: DIY rear surrounds
« Reply #3 on: 29 Aug 2007, 03:25 pm »
Dan, thanks for the kick in the 'nads  :wink: I can always trust a friend for honesty.  :lol:
Yes, I'm not proud of the fact I used OSB, but it was all I had 'in stock' at the time. Knowing that these were a temporary "base line", or reference point if you will, I wasn't going to go full out with nice wood. I stumbled on some very nice wood that'll be my second attempt.
I've learned two things with this experiment:
#1 These drivers DO indeed crush my old one's. By a large margin!
#2 My second attempt will be more open baffle and less of a "very large ported" box design.
You're correct that much further from the wall and I'll be cracking my head on it, but I'll just have to learn to deal with it. Visitors won't need to worry about it, it's only a 'danger' when you're headed to the PC.

Matt, "Q"/"Goo" gave me some nice felt that I'll use in my second attempt. (Thanks dude!) so have no fear Matt, I'll be using some soon.  :wink:

Bob

mcgsxr

Re: DIY rear surrounds
« Reply #4 on: 29 Aug 2007, 04:55 pm »
One idea would be to use threaded rod to hold the baffle off the wall, with minimal sidewave interaction.

I am sure the felt on the wall, and perhaps baffle too, will help.

Nice kick at the can, I love seeing new stuff done!

Bob in St. Louis

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Re: DIY rear surrounds
« Reply #5 on: 29 Aug 2007, 05:33 pm »
Interesting point about the rod Mark, might help with adjustability too.

I think I'll be ripping off a design that Darrel H. has for rear surround baffles.
I'm also taking the liberty of ripping off his photos to show you.  :lol:
The intention would be to use speaker fabric to cover the lower open section (and hide the crossover).





Bob

gooberdude

Re: DIY rear surrounds
« Reply #6 on: 29 Aug 2007, 06:26 pm »
It looks like the side wings of Darrell's design could be trimmed down or routed out a bit to allow the backwave to spread out on the sides.


that's an appealing design and should still beg friends to ask " what the? "

DanTheMan

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Re: DIY rear surrounds
« Reply #7 on: 29 Aug 2007, 08:42 pm »
I didn't mean to kick you in the nads Bob.  But you knew what I was saying anyway :D  I'm just interested in how this plays out.  Someday this info will be very useful to me.  A room full of Caox OB speakers makes me well up a bit :cry:  Too bad you couldn't take a panoramic shot of it all. :wink:

Bob in St. Louis

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Re: DIY rear surrounds
« Reply #8 on: 29 Aug 2007, 08:57 pm »
True Matt, In addition to the large open front hole, I "might" open up the sides by placing some removeable panels. They'd be shaped much like the oval hole in my existing 'rig', but be velcro'd on. If I can figure out how to do that and make it look decent, I might just give it a shot.

Dan, If you've ever been to "Realtor.com" and happened to run across an ad for a house that has a "3D panoramic view", I'd love to do that. i don't know how they do it, but it appears to be a camcorder mounted on a tripod and slowly rotates 360 degrees. The real neat part is that you can zoom in/out and pan up/down.
Either that, or 'stitch' a bunch of photos together to give a 360.

Bob

DanTheMan

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Re: DIY rear surrounds
« Reply #9 on: 30 Aug 2007, 03:25 am »
Quote
i don't know how they do it, but it appears to be a camcorder mounted on a tripod and slowly rotates 360 degrees.

Kodak does make a line oc little slim cameras that can do it.  Pretty cool stuff.

Bob in St. Louis

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Re: DIY rear surrounds
« Reply #10 on: 4 Sep 2007, 05:27 pm »
Those baffles are GONE.....
Life's getting better. Part II is complete, with the exception of the lower grill covers.
I didn't make holes in the sides after all. We'll see what these sound like.

Here's some photo's and story:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=44871.new#new

Bob