Suggestions for curved cabinet, front ported or sealed for music

[dadstv]

Hi everyone, new to this forum but already extremely impressed with the builds!

I'm looking to build a pair of speakers for my small office (10'x10') that will be strictly for music. I'd like to do a curved cabinet stand mounted bookshelf or floorstanders - not deeper than about 14". Looking for suggestions on proven/documented speaker and crossover designs.

Budget: ~ $400 for speaker components not including cabinet materials

Goals:
- FR down to low 40's, unless I would be better off doing a matching sub or pair of subs as the base of the stands, which brings up the question of how I power them all and cross them over...

- Front ported or sealed, they will be placed close to a wall about 6' apart

- Curved cabinets - I have a decent amount of woodworking skills and tools, and would like to adapt a squared cabinet design maintaining the same volume. Just thought I'd mention since I will probably do a build log.

- Proven design - I would like to assemble my own crossovers which I think I can manage with some research, but want a design thats already done (first time around I'm not interested in measuring/experimenting much with the electronics, the curved cabinets will be enough of a challenge for now...). I'll keep the overall volume and baffle layout the same, and just modify for a curved side design.

Build's I like so far (want something similar from a size/aesthetic standpoint):
RBR Curved Cabinet Build
Modula MT Curved BuildNatalie P builds

I don't see where you can get either the Modula MT or RBR kits anymore, if these are still available somewhere the might just work?

Also off topic, but looking for source/amp suggestions (I might do something like an Emotiva 2-channel amp or something used?? I'll post separately in the right section if I don't get any suggestions here..). I guess it is kind of on topic as its related to the sensitivity of whatever speakers I end up building.

I've done a little browsing around but nothing stood out except those builds I linked, which I can't seem to find. Any suggestions appreciated!

Thanks!
Jason

[lunchmoney]

You can make any boring rectangular cabinet into a curved-sides cabinet, and long as you maintain the same internal volume and baffle dimensions. You'll just improve how the cabinet behaves.

[dadstv]

You can make any boring rectangular cabinet into a curved-sides cabinet, and long as you maintain the same internal volume and baffle dimensions. You'll just improve how the cabinet behaves.

Great, thats my hope. Any suggestions on front ported or sealed designs for <$400 that will get to low 40's in a slim tower or stand mount?

[lunchmoney]

Curt Campbell's Mavericks for about $350.

Haven't heard them, but I'd bet they're great. Curt's the man. He designed the Statements, Tritrix, Aviatrix, and others.

http://speakerdesignworks.com/Maverick_1.html

That's what comes to mind, I'll post others when I get a chance.

[dadstv]

Curt Campbell's Mavericks for about $350.

Haven't heard them, but I'd bet they're great. Curt's the man. He designed the Statements, Tritrix, Aviatrix, and others.

http://speakerdesignworks.com/Maverick_1.html

That's what comes to mind, I'll post others when I get a chance.

Thanks for the suggestion. That speaker appears to have a rear opening for the woofer TL, which won't work for me as I have to put these close to a wall.

I've read a ton about Curt and Jim's designs on several forums and they look awesome.

Actually, the Avia Trix looks like it might work in my setup, but the front ported MTM MLTL says that it's optimized for center channel usage, and I'm not sure if that will translate well into a 2 channel music only system? Any thoughts or should I reach out to those guys directly?

[lunchmoney]

How close to the wall do they have to be? Unless they're practically touching the wall, they don't necessarily need to be front-ported.

You also might be able to downward-port.

Very often you can change where the port is on any given design.

[dadstv]

How close to the wall do they have to be? Unless they're practically touching the wall, they don't necessarily need to be front-ported.

You also might be able to downward-port.

Very often you can change where the port is on any given design.

Unfortunately, they will need to be practically touching a wall. I'd like to keep the total depth from the wall to the front of the baffle to less than 16", so a 12" deep cabinet would have less than 4" behind it. The shallower the better really, thats why I was thinking front ported or sealed, but I'd still like a resonable FR, maybe -3db at 40hz. I know this is not ideal, its a limitation of my space

[lunchmoney]

These are a bit over your budget, but otherwise might fit the bill.

Front ported, only 12" deep.

JDB3's

http://rjbaudio.com/JDB3/jdb3.html

[Undefinition]

The Swope MTM was meant to be up against the wall. You do not have to do a slot port if you don't want to.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=33961&page=1&pp=35

[lunchmoney]

Thanks for the suggestion. That speaker appears to have a rear opening for the woofer TL, which won't work for me as I have to put these close to a wall.

I'd bet Curt would happily give you an option to use a front facing port on the baffle. Tons of room for it below the woofer. Many of his designs have options for either ported or TL, I'm sure he could work it out for you. They'd probably end up being a bit smaller as well (ported should have a smaller internal volume than TL, I would think).

I'd bet the Mavericks would be tough to beat for under $400. They'll perform much better as full range speakers than other options mentioned so far.

[blue934]

i believe the Peerless 830884 woofer used in the Mav's is NLA. check before getting too involved in that design. if you can find it, it's a great 8".

ddavid

[Curt C]

Thanks for the suggestion. That speaker appears to have a rear opening for the woofer TL, which won't work for me as I have to put these close to a wall.

I've read a ton about Curt and Jim's designs on several forums and they look awesome.

Actually, the Avia Trix looks like it might work in my setup, but the front ported MTM MLTL says that it's optimized for center channel usage, and I'm not sure if that will translate well into a 2 channel music only system? Any thoughts or should I reach out to those guys directly?

I'll let you in on a little known secret, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else... -I design and voice all my speakers in 2 channel stereo. :B

When I say a design is optimized for CC use it doesn't mean it has been compromised in any way for 2 channel music listening. -It just means that the vertical polar response (when used in the vertical orientation) more closely resembles a point source than some other MTM designs which shouldn't be used as a cc due to their off axis lobing issues.

The issue with near wall applications is not so much the port orientation, but the fact that the 'normal' baffle step compensation would need to be almost completely removed, necessitating a complete rework of the crossover design. This would be true for any design unless that design was specific for near or on wall applications.

For a near wall solution, I’d suggest the AviaTrix MTM in either sealed or the MLTL variation. There is documentation on my site for adjusting the crossover for less baffle step. The near wall configuration has bass extension to satisfy your criteria with either enclosure type.

C

FWIW: The Peerless 830869 HDS woofer appears to be a plug and play replacement for the NLA 830884 used in the Mavericks. Looks / models just like the Exclusive but without the phase plug.

[dadstv]

I'll let you in on a little known secret, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else... -I design and voice all my speakers in 2 channel stereo. :B

When I say a design is optimized for CC use it doesn't mean it has been compromised in any way for 2 channel music listening. -It just means that the vertical polar response (when used in the vertical orientation) more closely resembles a point source than some other MTM designs which shouldn't be used as a cc due to their off axis lobing issues.

The issue with near wall applications is not so much the port orientation, but the fact that the 'normal' baffle step compensation would need to be almost completely removed, necessitating a complete rework of the crossover design. This would be true for any design unless that design was specific for near or on wall applications.

For a near wall solution, I’d suggest the AviaTrix MTM in either sealed or the MLTL variation. There is documentation on my site for adjusting the crossover for less baffle step. The near wall configuration has bass extension to satisfy your criteria with either enclosure type.

C

FWIW: The Peerless 830869 HDS woofer appears to be a plug and play replacement for the NLA 830884 used in the Mavericks. Looks / models just like the Exclusive but without the phase plug.

Curt, awesome, thank you for the clarification and info. I checked out your site in more detail and the near wall mltl configuration looks like it fits the bill for my first time build pretty well.

One question, sorry if its a rookie one, will curving the sides of the cabinet change the effect of the MLTL if I'm careful to maintain the same volume?

Jason

[blue934]

Curt, thanks for the tip on the 830869 HDS. i have several designs filed away hoping someday they would reintroduce that woofer.

david

[Curt C]

Glad I could be of some assistance gentleman…

Curving the cab will have no detrimental effect on the MLTL. The internal height is important to keep consistent, as are the driver and port positions on the baffle.

The 830884 was a very nice driver. With the Tymphany breakup who knows what happened. Their ‘Peerless Gold’ line on their website still lists the 6.5” 830883, (from the old Exclusive line) and the 830869, but the 830884 is notably absent.

C