Old Listener
Senior Member
I have had speakers with ally enclosures for 20 years.
My Waveform Mach 17 speakers have mid range and tweeters in cast aluminium eggs. I've had them almost 20 years.
I have had speakers with ally enclosures for 20 years.
But tis a fact that "stereo" has been a waste of money, space, and time for 99% of the population. Even back in the hey-day of HiFi when the first thing everyone got after the TV (maybe even before a TV) was a component rig, not 1 in 100 set them up to image. One speaker get placed over in a corner while the other was next to the listening chair for a coffee table. It was only the nerds like us that read the HiFi magazines like Audio and Stereo Review that even knew the WHY of stereo, all the rest knew was how cool it was for the drums to come out of one speaker and guitar the other..
Ahh.
Mine are complex, with flat 10mm plate, tapped blind holes and "O" ring grooves, held together with loads of machine cap screws through drilled metal batons and with tension bars tensioning on the internal walls with turnbuckles. I think the baseplate may be brass too, for some reason.
Pre free availability of NC machines this was probably the best way to make them in small batches.
Nowadays and for bigger volume production it would be lunacy!
But tis a fact that "stereo" has been a waste of money, space, and time for 99% of the population. Even back in the hey-day of HiFi when the first thing everyone got after the TV (maybe even before a TV) was a component rig, not 1 in 100 set them up to image. One speaker get placed over in a corner while the other was next to the listening chair for a coffee table. It was only the nerds like us that read the HiFi magazines like Audio and Stereo Review that even knew the WHY of stereo, all the rest knew was how cool it was for the drums to come out of one speaker and guitar the other..
Or, even if the speakers were set up in a side by side fashion, the listening position would be orthogonal to the speakers.
The modern "no stereo" equivalent is the sound bar, placed under the flat screen TV.
Sure, it usually has multiple drivers, but they're all so close together there is no real separation.
My Waveform Mach 17 speakers have mid range and tweeters in cast aluminium eggs. I've had them almost 20 years.
About 3 years ago a friend and me made some enclosure out of aluminum. We CNC'd the baffle, curved the sidewalls (this was the most difficult part), and welded everything together. No screws at all. We used 1/2" and 1/4" plate for the enclosure. We also used a product called Mascoat to eat the vibration of the aluminum.
I actually beg to differ. I have heard several such 'soundbars' and they do have some fair separation. They don't sound great, and they don't have world class separation. But they are real stereo. You will often hear stereo effect as if the speakers were twice as far apart as the soundbar is wide.
Don't leave us hanging man. So how did they perform once they were finished?
Or, even if the speakers were set up in a side by side fashion, the listening position would be orthogonal to the speakers.
The modern "no stereo" equivalent is the sound bar, placed under the flat screen TV.
Sure, it usually has multiple drivers, but they're all so close together there is no real separation.
I actually beg to differ. I have heard several such 'soundbars' and they do have some fair separation. They don't sound great, and they don't have world class separation. But they are real stereo. You will often hear stereo effect as if the speakers were twice as far apart as the soundbar is wide.
Klipsch The Three has been a pretty big hit in the media. Even Chris at CA did a full review and gave it a rave, even for it's SQ!?Oh, and I have some friends who just bought one of these for their living room (not bedroom or kitchen) and love it:
It's turnkey hipster ready, with USB, Wifi, Bluetooth, and PHONO inputs.
I expected to hate it, but it sounded better than I expected at moderate volumes (as long as it wasn't bass heavy). And for the price it was pretty damn good.
It wasn't hi-fi, but much better than Bose.
Interesting to know how well mascoat works. Bolted junctions, if correctly tightened, have lots of damping, welded almost none and over-tightened bolts much less than correctly installed ones.About 3 years ago a friend and me made some enclosure out of aluminum. We CNC'd the baffle, curved the sidewalls (this was the most difficult part), and welded everything together. No screws at all. We used 1/2" and 1/4" plate for the enclosure. We also used a product called Mascoat to eat the vibration of the aluminum.
Interesting to know how well mascoat works. Bolted junctions, if correctly tightened, have lots of damping, welded almost none and over-tightened bolts much less than correctly installed ones.
There was a fad a few years ago to reef up bolts on speakers almost to failure (and past it by accident on plenty I have seen) to "increase rigidity". Over tightening bolts has zero effect on rigidity, just reduces damping in the joint - I guess its proponents liked the effect of higher amplitude in their resonances
Mascoat is pretty amazing stuff. I've heard it deaden a bell. Liberal amounts were applied to the entire interior enclosure, then allowed to cure and off gas for two weeks. I would love to get my enclosure tested and see how it performs. Thankfully, I didn't have buy the Mascoat. It's crazy expensive. My friend who fabricated them, works for a custom aluminum boat manufacturer and we were able to obtain some free of charge.We hoped curving the sidewalls would help with rigidity, internal reflections and push any resonances higher in the spectrum.
Here is a nice video of MascoatDB
I do have measurements of my speakers, but they not professional in any way.