[Jonathon Janusz]

Thanks for jumping in, Ric!  Details of the sonics aside, you have a very nice looking design in the one on your website.  All dressed up in production finish, I think you've got one that will very strongly tempt the traditional-look speaker crowd.    I didn't see the detail listed on your site, though - open backed NEO3 or sealed?

Regarding the dimensions of the servo woofer baffles.  Theoretically, if the h-frame is just a folded version of a larger flat baffle from a performance standpoint, one could achieve similar output/frequency extension from a flat baffle as the h-frame provides at a baffle of roughly what size?  Right now I'm imagining a Super-V built with all three drivers on a shared trapezoidal baffle (WAF friendly save for overall size?) with a base of something like 24" width tapering up to just enough to hold the coax on top?  Sure, it would be a pretty big speaker to try to fit in a room at two feet across at the bottom, but realistically smaller than many reference calibre large panel/planar speakers, I'd think pretty easy to build comparatively, and I think the math works out for roughly the "flat" baffle dimensions (face plus wings) the coax has in the reference plans. . .?

[bdp24]

Jonathon---What would the advantage of a flat baffle over an H or W frame be? As Danny has said before, one reason he uses an H frame instead of a W for the Super V is because the H has less resonant side walls than the W (because of the construction of each). Well, both are far less resonant than a flat baffle. If it's for the sake of an easy build, both the H and the W are pretty easy to make (if I can do it, I don't know who couldn't!).

[Jonathon Janusz]

Possibly aesthetics for those who are turned off from the look of the rear facing woofer?  Ability to sell/ship as an even more simple to assemble flat pack?  Maybe zero (lower?) hypothetical resonance issues by eliminating the sides of the woofer baffle completely?  Three holes and two cuts in a board instead of glue/screws/clamps? 

Just thinking out loud after reading about Ric's designs.

[bdp24]

Oh, if it's cavity resonance you're taking about, then yeah, a flat baffle would eliminate that completely. I was talking about the resonance of a flat baffle itself (with no bracing by definition) versus the resonance of the side panels of an H or W cabinet (especially an H, with the side panels divided in half by the baffle, and in half again by the shelf between the two drivers). A flat baffle is very resonant, and a greater potential source of coloration than cavity resonance IMO.   

[Mark Korda]

BDP,I learned a long time ago from Audio by VanAlStine's Frank VanAlStine,Audio Basics,which he has on his site for free,that the best gasket material is Plastisine,or modeling clay,the stuff that never hardens used in Kindergartens and art classes.You got to roll it out like a window glazier does,work it with your hands and fingers and make your own gasket.One of Franks workers,Wayner warned me about using Mortite,the stringed clay like window caulking material that northerners in drafty old houses use to temporairily fill cracks in the winter to save heat.It drys out.Modeling clay doesn't.Once you set your woofer in place you wonder if you even need screws,but of course you do just to hold it in place.My thinking is the less tightened down the screws are,the less energy will be transfered to the front baffle,the clay absorbing the vibrations,not the baffle.But you should still use the screws firmly and not over tighten.Just a thought...take care....Mark Korda

[Jonathon Janusz]

Point well taken, bdp.   Just underscores that all of this stuff really boils down to balancing a set of compromises, even if those are very subtle (or not) in the end.

From experience, the rubber gasket on Danny's servo drivers seals very well on its own.  I had two commercially built subs, and two dual driver units I had built for me, none of which had any troubles with the seal on the drivers.  Honestly, I had more noise from air escaping from the control cutouts on the amps than anything (in sealed boxes, of course).  If I were to do the sealed box thing all over again, I would prefer to have the amps enclosed completely in their own air space, just to easily solve the problem.

Being more brutally honest, most of my DIY adventures in building things (doesn't seem to matter what, really) have never gone well enough for my probably overly self critical standards since leaving wood shop in high school.  I don't even have the tools or resources to manage a single flat baffle, let alone a complete build. . . I saw PDR's recent build and have huge respect for a man who can pull off that quality of work with a couple afternoons in the corner of the living room with little more than hand tools and a coffee table to work on. 

[PDR]

 Thanks for the kind words......

[bdp24]

Seeing PDR's work is a humbling experience isn't it Jonathon?! I wouldn't even know where to begin to do that kind of build. I have to settle for concentrating on making mine sound good, and look as un-bad as possible. I used to have access to a complete wood shop and the abilities of a pro furniture-maker friend (he made my stands for stacking Quads---three sheets of 3/4" MDF for each pair!), but no more, damnit!

[bdp24]

Thanks Mark. Yeah, I remember when Frank first suggested Plasticene, back in the 80's. I found it at a hobby shop, and smeared it all over the cardboard tube that serves as a transmission-line for the KEF B-110 midrange driver in the ESS Transtatic I. I still have the speakers, and the Plasticene is still soft!