Looking for feedback on a cabinet design...

[dane_peterson]

Hey guys,
I got some big-time inspiration from nothing other than a dream few nights back. Had to get the pen to paper, and ultimately decided it was time to try Sketch-Up. How much fun is this? Seriously!

Attached is an image of my mock-up for a TriTrix sealed cabinet (center/monitor). Being a novice, I wanted to get some expert opinions on any issues this cabinet would present before I dump a bunch of time and money into it.

If no major concerns exist, I'm going to give this pair a go. And if they sound good, I'll apply the concept to a few different setups--eventually leading up to the Statements.

[cjd]

It looks sharp.

The biggest challenge is that these designs don't like significant changes to the baffle, especially driver layout and box width. In order to get the volume in that shape, You'll need to build rather wider than designed, and that may introduce some excess output in a region we're particularly sensitive to.

I'm not sure it can be easily applied to most existing designs.

[dane_peterson]

It looks sharp.

The biggest challenge is that these designs don't like significant changes to the baffle, especially driver layout and box width. In order to get the volume in that shape, You'll need to build rather wider than designed, and that may introduce some excess output in a region we're particularly sensitive to.

I'm not sure it can be easily applied to most existing designs.

Thanks for the reply.

I can likely keep a baffle within about 10-15% of original dimensions. Raw volume as-is: .41ft3 (11.6 liters) on the center, and .42ft3 (11.9 liters) on the L/R. This design would require very little bracing (optimistically...) so the internal volume would be close to the optimal 10 liters. And this is with whole number cuts... I could certainly fine-tune it slightly if necessary.

I tried to keep most specs in mind, but I'll be the first to admit I don't know squat when it comes to appropriately voicing and designing a system. Much respect to those that do it for the benefit of the rest of us. If this design is not possible--well at least I had a fun day off of drawing.

[cjd]

Well, the "easy" way to make up volume is to add height.

10% is probably OK - adding a roundover or chamfer to a wider baffle may help smooth the way as well. The bigger concern is the rearranged drivers on the vertical layout.

C

[BeerParty]

CJD is right, you need to keep the driver spacing and location on the baffle (offset or centered) the same as the original design.

[BeerParty]

If you have not built a curved cabinet before, Passing Interest has a couple of curved cabinet builds (an Anarchy/Dayton TM build and the Howitzers build) that show different techniques. Very much worth a read.

[dane_peterson]

If I keep the driver spacing exactly the same as original design, would a slightly different baffle size be less of an issue?
I understand that in MTM designs, you want the drivers as close together as possible to minimize comb filtering...

[BeerParty]

If I keep the driver spacing exactly the same as original design, would a slightly different baffle size be less of an issue?

You will need to keep the driver spacing and location the same, changes (like offsetting the tweeter) will require changes to the crossover.

The general rule of thumb is that changes to the baffle size can be made as long as they are not greater than 10% from the original design. For example, when I built the AviaTrix I widened the baffle because I wanted a larger round-over on the edge. But the width increase added less than 10% to the total width of the baffle.

[dane_peterson]

How does this look? With a chamfer on the sides? Driver distance & offset is to spec.

[cjd]

10.75" is well beyond a change in baffle width that will introduce an audible change.

[dane_peterson]

Yeah, that is quite a bit wider huh... :\

How does a chamfer affect the perceived width? Is it where the chamfer starts? Somewhere in between?

[BeerParty]

Sorry, I don't know how much the chamfer affects the perceived width - way above my pay grade.

We are probably over-thinking this. I suggest you build the cabinet with the wide baffle and try it. If you don't like the sound you can build a new cabinet with a standard width baffle.

[BobEllis]

My experience with roundovers is the baffle step centers at pretty close to adding a roundover radius to the flat width. So 10" wide cabinet with 1" radius on each side acts like a 9" wide baffle. I'd expect a chamfer to behave similarly, perhaps adding a bit less to the effective width.