Sunday, July 24, 2016

PVC Pipe Dreams updated design (audio)

My PVC Voigt pipe speakers were in heavy use during the last 2 years. My study allows for housing those slim monsters.

Anyway, I found 2 problems with them:

  1. too tall
  2. very directional
So, very easily, since those things are all pipes, I slightly changed the design. Have a look!

modified PVC Voigt pipe design
To reduce the length, I changed the position of the speaker in the T-piece and added an elbow to bend the resonator parallel to the the horn. The above image shows the 2 different designs I posted earlier.

Also, I inverted the orientation of the full range drivers. There are some advantages:
  • the drivers breathe directly into the resonator (similar to the folded TQWT)
  • the direct audio of the driver is less directional
  • the drivers are better protected
As a first observation I would like to mention that treble and bass seem prominently present in the horn, while the mids are emitted by the driver directly.
As a consequence, that could mean that the horn should be above the driver, since the stereo field is determined by high frequencies.
The next step would be to put a wooden box around the T-piece driver part of the design. This way, the contraption can be held upright and all the ugly part would be hidden away nicely.

If it all seems rubbish what I write about PVC plumbing, give it a try yourself. All parts are readily available in your local hardware store. 

Concerning the inverted speakers, I am not yet sure myself. However, for the time being they appear to create a pleasant listening experience.