Concrete 1801s with grills - straw polling

David Ellis · « **on:** 29 Apr 2006, 12:14 pm »

Gents,

Would any of your wives allow you to put plain black 1801s in your living room? These would have grills too.

While I wait... wait... wait... for woofers from TC sounds, I am considering some experimentation. Concrete has very good properties, and I have a couple of friends who are willing to help me obtain the very best concrete brew. The only downside is the cabinets would be fairly heavy.

The cost of such a speaker would probably be @$1200/pr completed.

There are also some concrete dye's & stains. I could experiment with this too.

Dave

TomW16 · « **Reply #1 on:** 29 Apr 2006, 03:54 pm »

Concrete 1801s, mmmmm, interesting but I am not sure that I can visualize how concrete would blend with the living room decor

I would think that shipping would increase substantially for a concrete speaker so that will have to be weighed (pun intended) against any sonic benefit. My gut tells me that your cabinets are already very well braced so any sonic benefit will be minimal and would not be worth the increased shipping cost.

Just my 2 cents.

Let us know if you build a prototype.

Tom

David Ellis · « **Reply #2 on:** 29 Apr 2006, 04:15 pm »

The color could be plain grey, but I don't think this would be very desirable for most folks. Black paint would be very easy.

Another possibility is black-dyed oak veneer. Strangely, folks seem to enjoy this look. Yet another more interesting possiblity is concrete etching ala http://www.concretenetwork.com/mdawson/concretizen.htm . I have never performed the latter, but this doesn't appear very difficult. Either of these alternatives would be an up-charge.

The primary objective for the concret cabinet is something fast and easy to build. I have experienced a supply problem for the past @5 years. Folks generally don't like to wait 1 year for a completed pair of 1801s. After the prototype mold is finished, building subsequent cabinets should be quicker/easier. The secondary objective is a cabinet with more mass that might actually sound better.

The shipping cost for the concrete cabinets would probably rise by @ $30-50 per pair.

Dave

Hogg · « **Reply #3 on:** 29 Apr 2006, 04:19 pm »

Here's a mfg in the UK building concrete speakers.

http://www.faradaysound.co.uk/

Jim

David Ellis · « **Reply #4 on:** 29 Apr 2006, 04:32 pm »

Yep,

I have already read their material.

Also, there is an older speaker called the Ruana Tyr that sounds MUCH better than the sum of electronic components used. I can only attribute this quality to the concrete cabinet and it's excessive mass.

Dave

timbley · « **Reply #5 on:** 29 Apr 2006, 07:17 pm »

I've been interested in concrete for a while, and will be very interested in your results.
I have DIY concrete subwoofers and midwoofer cabinets in my uncompleted system right now. Despite my very amature efforts (3 of the 4 boxes ended up cracking) the sound seems quite good. Most people like the look of them too, even though they're just rough, unfinished concrete. These cabinets are way, way heavy!
The concrete can be textured and colored, so I'm sure it could be made to look great and fit any decore. If I had a place to do it I'd experiment more with this myself.
This is exciting stuff!

HChi · « **Reply #6 on:** 2 May 2006, 01:47 am »

I think concrete cabinets would be great if they are prohibitive heavy and won't cracked in the long term. If they can be etched in the fashsion as the picture and offer in different colors, I think it will have good WAF.

IanS · « **Reply #7 on:** 10 May 2006, 02:58 am »

I think the WAF of concrete cabinets wouldn't be that bad and the SQ could be excellent. I'd be up for a set of cabinets if the sound was better. I could always veneer over them if my wife hated them

Stained concrete can have a very cool look. I'm not sure what looks best, but I've seen some very neat countertops and floors recently which were stained concrete.

Boogaloo · « **Reply #8 on:** 11 May 2006, 10:40 pm »

I think the use of lightweight concrete would be a feasible alternative to traditional cabinet construction. Some of the properties of lightweight concrete are discussed on this web page: http://www.zyn.com/flcfw/fwtproj/Lightwe1.html

David Ellis · « **Reply #9 on:** 12 May 2006, 10:01 pm »

This appears very intriguing. I have knocked (with my knuckles) on some porus concrete and it's indeed very dead sounding. Hmm, I wonder if it could be air tight (i.e. sealed).

I also must admit that using starch in a loudspeaker cabinet has absolutely no marketing appeal. Hmmm, I think this is just my style

. I enjoy trying things to spite common methodologies.

Dave