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I'm Feeling lucky
Exciter hastily scotch taped to random piece of cardboard.
Needed some suspension. Saw bubble wrap in a nearby box.
Panel fit here perfectly with bubblewrap suspension. Just dumb luck.
Various pieces of metal lying around to try to make a "whizzer plate" for high enhancement.
This one sounded the best. Actually worked to enhance the highs when I held it against the panel. Will try gluing it on once I get more finished panels so I can A-B test it.
This is my testing amp, running from my Mac through my mixing board. Sound really improved when I dialed in the sub. Small panel=poor lows. Not really a problem in the application I am building these for though...
Testing the "whizzer plate". Playing "The Wall" from Kansas (A piece I really enjoy and am very familiar with). At the end, the last note is very high and held for a long duration. I was able to place and remove the "whizzer plate" a couple of times... as soon as it touched the panel, the note got bolder and overtones appeared. I MAY be onto something. Once I glue one on, I'll have a better test, because I'll be able to check the directivity. If you can only hear it in the sweet spot, then it's a fail. Working on other panels (nicely cut and shellacked) as we speak.
Here is the "whizzer plate" in comparison to the panel.
The panel on the left is actually a precut cake board, straight out of the box, gloss finish on one side, corners already cut in a radius. The one on the right has the inside shellacked. Note the shellac and tools above.
Here is an edge view. This is known as a 1/2 sheet cake size and is about 19"X14". Full sheet cake sizes (twice as large) are also available.
Putting shellac into the corrugations. This gizmo is designed to refill ink cartridges.
Use a tray to catch and reclaim shellac, and to avoid a mess. I can't remember who suggested this in the thread... but it is a great idea.
I've done a few rows... you can see the progress, and also tell where you might not have used enough.
Far panel now has corrugations done, near panel has first coat of shellac on the shiny side. Work fast, this stuff dries quickly! You can see on the far panel a few spots I will need to touch up!
Note the curl in the previous shot. This is how you get rid of it. The first panel did it too. Let it dry thoroughly before adding more shellac.
Distraction!
Exciters mounted to frame. It is so long because I will need it that way for testing, but once the concept is proved I will cut them down to final size. They will mount from the slanted ceiling, and I must deal with each one separately in order to get them the proper distance on each side to make them level.
Straight on view.
Side view.
Mounted exciter, soldered leads.
A look at making the plexi circles attached to the exciters. One is already "roughed up".
Exciter with plexi circle attached. Note the shims to allow me to weight the panel when I glue it on. They are to keep the exciter from being damaged by the weight.
Very light coat of spray paint allowed me to see where I had laid out my Monacor #1 position point. I scraped the paint off of the contact area prior to gluing.
Exciter, panel and adhesive.
Panel is glued! Made sure it was square prior to weighting it down. Shims working as advertised.
This is the back.
Front.
Full frontal view. The panel is playing some Genisis (Selling England By The Pound).
Close up showing plexi circle and glue joint.
Single finish nail to support panel's weight.
Closer look at the panel. You can see bubble wrap poking out at the top... will replace that with a triangular chunk of foam for the final build plus one at the bottom, and do the faux woodgrain on the front of the panel. In addition, I will radius the framing wood and apply a finish once I cut it to size and attach the mounting platform.
Faux woodgrain on the front of the panel.
Here is what I used... small vial is brown colorant begged from the local store's paint department. The other goodie is what I used to pump the shellac into the corrugations. Seems it has another use!
Frame board, corners rounded, sanded and painted to match the back of the panels.
Electric carving knife. The only good way to cut upholstery foam. Medium density foam is what I used.
Foam spacers glued to the panel. These are just to stabilize the angle of the panel in the vertical axis.
Painting the back of the panel. Can is a mask for the exciter contact area.
Remove the can and there is a perfect unpainted contact area to attach the exciter.
Finished product, except for the mount... slanted ceiling will take some measuring to get the angle right, plus we'll test this first before I go through the trouble of mounting them permanently.
Side view showing foam stabilizers.
The back side. Nice clean look, hopefully aesthetically blending with the white ceiling.
Both panels now finished, hung in the garage to simulate the actual placement. I'll fasten these to mic stands with booms for the testing and fiddle with the placement until we get it right. Tested them in the garage with a mic hooked up... they are very resistant to causing feedback. I had to try really hard by fully opening up the sensitivity of the mic and then trying to force feedback. I could only manage a slight ring.
This is the amp I'll be driving them with. From PE, 20 watts, OK for 4 ohms, about $30 USD.
My "Desk".
Another shot of the two panels temporarily mounted in my "studio". Next photos will be real world testing. In the garage, I listened to everything from ABBA to Zappa. OK, I didn't get clear to Zappa. But still hit an extremely wide range.
Mock up installation for testing. Also testing new mic placement. Everybody loved the sound from the panels. One of the vocalists told me that this is the first time ever that he could hear the backing track "clearly". Even so, we had to jury rig the hookup... didn't have the right cables. Used a single line level (pro audio) signal with a simple split into the amp. We'll pick up even better sound with more headroom when we get the proper cabling. Even those that thought these panels would be unsightly were impressed. The best thing? EVERYBODY, even those far off axis could hear.
Another angle.
What the choir sees. The decision making parties are now going to discuss this, that is, the choir director, the choir members, the sound guy and the pastor. We'll see! I feel pretty confident that I'll be making the final modifications to the frames for install soon. Can't wait to get it installed!