Home » Sponsored » Pi Speakers » Speaker placement and wavefront launch, revisited
Speaker placement and wavefront launch, revisited [message #81025] Thu, 22 January 2015 09:45 Go to next message
George Swanson is currently offline  George Swanson
Messages: 4
Registered: January 2015
Esquire
Hi Wayne,

I'm finally able to access the forum! I sent you an email about Four Pi loudpeakers but I've been having issues with my personal email, sooo...

I'd like a copy of the plans but I also asked about designing a corner bass reflex (or Jensen style corner Onken) cabinet for the JBL driver so I can try corner loaded constant directivity horns without going the whole hog and building the Seven Pi corner horns. Would one need to redesign the crossover in order to do that?

Also, I'm interested in purchasing a set of waveguides. Do you also sell the B&C compression drivers and woofers?

Thanks,

George
Re: Speaker placement and wavefront launch, revisited [message #81027 is a reply to message #81025] Thu, 22 January 2015 10:53 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18786
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

I got your email and replied. But if you didn't see it, I'll post the jist of my reply here.

The best way to do what you're saying is to build the seven π cornerhorns, as shown in the plans. They are designed to be true constant directivity cornerhorns, and they have specific features that make them better suited for corner placement. For one thing, the sound sources are acoustically close to the apex of the corner, so there is no self-interference. And for another thing, the crossover is optimized for the application.

The problem with putting a DI-matched two-way speaker in a corner is that the midwoofer is only acoustically close at low frequencies. At higher frequencies, from midrange up, the midwoofer is acoustically distant but is not directional enough to reduce reflections. So the nearest boundaries give self-interference from reflections.

Flanking subs help mitigate this problem, but they're really designed to deal with the self-interference notches that occur at the upper end of the modal region, just below the Schroeder frequency. Above that, the sound field is statistical and reflections are "blended" with direct sound, but still, early reflections are never desirable.

And that's what we have with a speaker mounted close to the wall but not flush with it, e.g. acoustically distant. Seems like the worse case is between 1/4λ to 1/2λ and around 2λ or 3λ. Any further and the statistical blending works well. And of course, closer than 1/4λ is acoustically close, basically the same as in-wall mounted, having no reflection. It's the in-between range that muddies the sound.
Re: Speaker placement and wavefront launch, revisited [message #81028 is a reply to message #81027] Thu, 22 January 2015 15:52 Go to previous messageGo to next message
George Swanson is currently offline  George Swanson
Messages: 4
Registered: January 2015
Esquire
I never received it so thanks twice for the response! There's something screwy about my comcast account and I need to get it sorted.

The link is very interesting. I'll tell you about my room and you can tell me if the Seven Pi speakers would work. The room is 12 feet by 21 feet and the speakers would be on the short wall. They are good corners and the listening position would be at the far end of the room from the speakers. The far end of the room is actually an opening into a much larger room with a vaulted ceiling.

Are you up and running with mid horn flat packs yet? I'd understand if not due to the move and other things going on in your life right now.

Are you a dealer for all the components of the kits (drivers, etc.)?

Thanks,

George
Re: Speaker placement and wavefront launch, revisited [message #81029 is a reply to message #81028] Fri, 23 January 2015 10:47 Go to previous message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18786
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

I tend to prefer constant directivity cornerhorns in rooms like that, with them placed in corners at opposite ends of the short wall. The best listening area is just beyond where the speakers' axes cross. See the link below for more information.

We have a new source for midhorns now. I have some of them already. So I'll be adding them back into the shopping cart very soon.

We are a dealer for all components that we don't manufacture directly. But we do not sell partial kits. We do sell crossovers and waveguides individually though for those that want to source their own drivers. This is sometimes atractive for overseas customers, who can get the drivers locally and save shipping costs.
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