[Kevin Haskins]

I'd like to get some feedback from people considering cosmetic design of speaker cabinets.   I have some general ideas but figured I'd show some early CAD work to make sure I'm headed in the right direction.

There are going to be three models, a monitor, tower and LCR monitor.    They will all three have a family resemblance, using the same overall profile but being different lengths and obviously having different driver layouts.

I'd like to get some feedback about what kind of finishes people prefer.   I was going to do a Piano Black & one wood finish out of the gate so any input in that direction is helpful also.   

This cabinet is about 9.5" wide, 17" tall, 14" deep.   The tower would have the same profile, just be 38-40" tall and the LRC would probably be around 28-30" long.   

[EDS_]

Kevin I admire your work.  And I am looking forward to auditioning your floor-stander - when it's ready.  Do you think it will have the new tweeter?

Piano black is great for a good number of folks.

Regarding wood finishes, I prefer in this order - sapele, all complex maples, oak and then cherry. 


ETA - is that opening at the top a bass port?

[Kevin Haskins]

Kevin I admire your work.  And I am looking forward to auditioning your floor-stander - when it's ready.  Do you think it will have the new tweeter?

Piano black is great for a good number of folks.

Regarding wood finishes, I prefer in this order - sapele, all complex maples, oak and then cherry. 


ETA - is that opening at the top a bass port?

Thanks!  I've put a lot of thought into the design and my CAD skills are marginal so it takes me too much time to model things.   That is just part of being a Jack of all Trades and running a business.   

Yea... the top is the port.   I was looking for a creative way to keep it on the front but I didn't have space for it on the baffle so it ended up as part of the top.    Area wise it is 25% larger than the current port I use on the Kepler so it should be completely noise free.   

And yes... this will use the new Exodus tweeter and a 6.5" midwoofer.   It should have bass response into the low 30s in-room.   The LCR about the same.   The tower will have a -3dB of around 25Hz in-room.

I'm going to have a fairly limited selection of finishes.   I was thinking Piano Black but to be honest I'm leaning more towards a BMW Metalic gray that is very dark and looks pretty sexy.   Everyone has black and like black, the metalic gray would fit almost any interior scheme.     In terms of wood I was thinking of a dark walnut.   

[MaxCast]

Will the baffle be wood or a black something?
I'd vote for wood for the wood finish one.

[jr1414]

I vote for Piano Black instead of the metallic gray. I know there are some great finishes out there, but piano black is classic and will always be accepted.  Introducing a metallic color may be greatly admired by some, and frowned upon by others.  For a production run, I'd stay black.

Here's an idea though.  How about a piano black cabinet with a wood baffle.  I'd love to see a Sapele or waterfall bubinga, but that's just my preference.

[EDS_]

Kevin I admire your work.  And I am looking forward to auditioning your floor-stander - when it's ready.  Do you think it will have the new tweeter?

Piano black is great for a good number of folks.

Regarding wood finishes, I prefer in this order - sapele, all complex maples, oak and then cherry. 


ETA - is that opening at the top a bass port?

Thanks!  I've put a lot of thought into the design and my CAD skills are marginal so it takes me too much time to model things.   That is just part of being a Jack of all Trades and running a business.   

Yea... the top is the port.   I was looking for a creative way to keep it on the front but I didn't have space for it on the baffle so it ended up as part of the top.    Area wise it is 25% larger than the current port I use on the Kepler so it should be completely noise free.   

And yes... this will use the new Exodus tweeter and a 6.5" midwoofer.   It should have bass response into the upper 20s or low 30s in-room.    The tower will use an 8" woofer and will have a -3dB of around 25Hz in-room.

I'm going to have a fairly limited selection of finishes.   I was thinking Piano Black but to be honest I'm leaning more towards a BMW Metalic gray that is very dark and looks pretty sexy.   Everyone has black and like black, the metalic gray would fit almost any interior scheme.     In terms of wood I was thinking of a dark walnut.   

Dark walnut is a winner.  I think you are blazing a trail for yourself and your company, I'm impressed.

[mcgsxr]

I like the top mounted port - reminds me of the old Battlestar Galactica cylons!  A red LED in there...

As for colour choices, the grey would be classy, and likely fit well into modern decors, but I think the gloss black is a classic that would also fit well.  Wood choices will always go better with more traditional decors.

Make mine a kit, and I will do the flat black myself!

Are the driver's video shielded?

[JoshK]

The overall shape of the cabinet reminds me of Wilson-Benesch, but the overall looks don't.  It looks like the cabinets are a bit complex to make.  I am assuming you are having them CNC made? 

Have you considered faceted baffles?  Just a thought given the extent your going to.  Piano black is popular and light woods tend to be popular although I like dark woods. 

[dyohn]

Very Nice work, Kevin.  I wish I knew how to jockey 3D CAD software...

A top-mount port should work well in a bookshelf design... especially if you TL load it.  Hmmm...    You might (and I say *might*) get some "lobing error" phase cancellation issues if it is too far away from the woofer, depending on the tuning frequency.  But a small bookshelf TL might sound sweet.

[Kevin Haskins]

Will the baffle be wood or a black something?
I'd vote for wood for the wood finish one.

First, thanks for all the feedback guys!    The more the better.   

The baffle currently would be painted MDF.   If you do veneer on the front baffle you have to keep it fairly flat due to the difficulty of veneering the complex shapes.    Since this is just a rendering, you can do things that are not exactly manufacturable (I'm not sure that is a word).    The top would need to be MDF also even though it is rendered in wood.   We could use solid wood for just the top, but you would have to have a break somewhere between the main body of the enclosure and the top.   I'll CAD that detail in as I go.

[Kevin Haskins]

I like the top mounted port - reminds me of the old Battlestar Galactica cylons!  A red LED in there...

As for colour choices, the grey would be classy, and likely fit well into modern decors, but I think the gloss black is a classic that would also fit well.  Wood choices will always go better with more traditional decors.

Make mine a kit, and I will do the flat black myself!

Are the driver's video shielded?

Ok... I agree with everyone on this.   Piano black is a "proven" quantity.   I have to suppress my desire to be different.   

Yes... all drivers are video shielded although I'm not sure anyone still uses CRTs.   

[Kevin Haskins]

The overall shape of the cabinet reminds me of Wilson-Benesch, but the overall looks don't.  It looks like the cabinets are a bit complex to make.  I am assuming you are having them CNC made? 

Have you considered faceted baffles?  Just a thought given the extent your going to.  Piano black is popular and light woods tend to be popular although I like dark woods. 

The body is your typical curved wall cabinet.   They do them on a mold which requires some tooling cost but once it is paid for, they don't cost really much more than a straight wall cabinet.    The profile is something I just created from scratch but it is not much different than most of the curved wall cabinets on the market.   I choose to keep a flat portion on the back because if you either go to a complete oval or taper it to the rear, you end up with a lot of wasted material and cabinet space and it provides no benefit to the acoustic design.   It complicates shipping too.   The flat rear also helps with simple things like binding post mounting, ports if you want them back there and in this case, if I need a longer port length than the top of the cabinet I can run it down the back with a simple addition of an internal brace.   I'm a practical guy so I try to make practical design choices. 

The top is really the only difficult item so far.   It would have to be CNC cut in MDF or solid wood.   Solid wood gets expensive and there is some difficulty in matching it to the body of the cabinet with an entirely different sheet of veneer.   Wood has so many natural variations that I can forsee difficulty in matching the two.   For that reason, the top will probably have to be painted MDF that is CNC cut then glued to the flat cabinet top.   The other choice is to do a mold and make it from plastic which screams cheap.   It is more cost effective when you are doing tens of thousands but that isn't the case here.    I'll pay for the CNC time and do it out of MDF.     

[Kevin Haskins]

Very Nice work, Kevin.  I wish I knew how to jockey 3D CAD software...

A top-mount port should work well in a bookshelf design... especially if you TL load it.  Hmmm...    You might (and I say *might*) get some "lobing error" phase cancellation issues if it is too far away from the woofer, depending on the tuning frequency.  But a small bookshelf TL might sound sweet.

Tuning frequency is down around 42Hz and the distance is somewhere around 8", I think we will be fine.   I could always flip the drivers and have the midbass on top.    You get more of vertical null pointing down and less of one pointing up.   That is a Paul Barton fetish.

You sure like TLs don't you David?     

[BobM]

That top port looks a little tricky. It will certainly need to be of thicker material, otherwise it would chip and crack. Perhaps if you made it of a pre-formed plastic type insert? Don't know, but I bet people will be using it as a handle to pick up the speaker if you keep it on top like that, so it's got to be strong.

Bob

[mcullinan]

It looks like an old Knights helmet. Kind of cool!
What if the port were wider and flatter running almost the length of the baffle. That would flow with the design nicer.
Mike

[sts9fan]

Looks good to me.  I think you have a good eye.  Some new speakers have shown up here and I just don't get what they were thinking.  As for finishes I like light woods and black.  Dark woods to me just look ond and frumpy.  With a nice modern design I think a dark wood would ruin it.  Now a light wood with a clear anondized Al baffle would be sweet!

[Kevin Haskins]

That top port looks a little tricky. It will certainly need to be of thicker material, otherwise it would chip and crack. Perhaps if you made it of a pre-formed plastic type insert? Don't know, but I bet people will be using it as a handle to pick up the speaker if you keep it on top like that, so it's got to be strong.

Bob

Good point, we can easily adjust the port profile, making the top section thicker. 

[Russell Dawkins]

I think there are too many complex surface shapes and transitions around the top/baffle junction.
The top surface should make one smooth curve down towards the front, with this curve transitioning to the same radius as the sides of the baffle before reaching the front. This would have the dual function of dissuading the use as a support for potted plants.
I think the bottom of the baffle should have minimal rounding - it looks awkward looking down as in the top picture.
The top port is a great idea, but the edge needs not to be an edge - it'll break too easily. This design would make easy a port refinement that usually is too awkward to implement - a variable length. If the opening were not straight across but had a V shape (that is, further from the front in the center, or like an arrow pointing aft) the tuning would be slightly smeared across a frequency range which might be to advantage, but at least makes good copy! If done right, this would make it more difficult to use it as a  handle.

[Kevin Haskins]

I think there are too many complex surface shapes and transitions around the top/baffle junction.
The top surface should make one smooth curve down towards the front, with this curve transitioning to the same radius as the sides of the baffle before reaching the front. This would have the dual function of dissuading the use as a support for potted plants.
I think the bottom of the baffle should have minimal rounding - it looks awkward looking down as in the top picture.
The top port is a great idea, but the edge needs not to be an edge - it'll break too easily. This design would make easy a port refinement that usually is too awkward to implement - a variable length. If the opening were not straight across but had a V shape (that is, further from the front in the center, or like an arrow pointing aft) the tuning would be slightly smeared across a frequency range which might be to advantage, but at least makes good copy! If done right, this would make it more difficult to use it as a  handle.

I agree that some of the surface shapes in the top need to be changed.   What you can do in CAD is one thing, what you can actually do with the CNC (or should do) is another.   

Actually, there are a couple cool things we are going to do with the port that minimizes out of bandwidth noise but I'll leave that for the marketing copy.   It makes a measured difference but I'm not sure it is an audible one.   

I'm a busy beaver tomorrow.   I have two amps to build but I'll update the drawings over the weekend with some of these suggestions.   I also have the center channel done and I'll polish off the tower.   

I appreciate the feedback guys!

[Voodoo Rufus]

I like it. It's creative, but I hope the kick-up in the rear isn't too high.