Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site


In the Forum: Horn-Loaded Speakers
In the Thread: Rakeshorns
Post Subject: Long-leggedy beasties...Posted by oxric on: 10/20/2011
fiogf49gjkf0d
From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!

Anon


 Romy the Cat wrote:
 

I personally prefer when I sit in my listening spot and look at the speaker then I would like do NOT see the mechanisms the hold the speakers...
If I see the harness that holds the channels then it gives to me some overly utilitarian feeling.



I agree. Without being a designer, I like forms to be not only functional and elegant but additionally not to clash and this can happen when you have a random hotchpotch of very different geometric elements, as would be the case with the elongated vertical lines and harsh angular structure of the frame and the beautiful circular shapes of the horns.


 Romy the Cat wrote:


Looking at your drawing I am afraid that the left of the right legs will be sticking out of the perimeter of the upperbass horn. There is nothing to be afraid; it might be not a big deal for you. You might also to moderate the length of the legs make them to hide behind the horn. Anyhow, you might think about it now as now it is very cheap to adjust. Again, it is my preferences and criteria and they might mean nothing to you. 



Whilst your preferences are your own, and have little sway on mine, I had specified quite a long time ago that the legs (and castor wheels) should be invisible from the listening position. You spotted quite correctly though that although recessed behind the horns that the legs were splayed at an angle that would make them visible in part. I had a chat with Russ and this is being addressed by reducing the angle. Thanks for noting this as I had not realised this immediately from looking at the pictures as I ought to have done.



 Romy the Cat wrote:


Also, if you keep the horns unfinished then the selection of wood frame is justifiable and it will give whole woody look and feel.



I sort of agree with you but I would have too many varying finishes across the three-four channels. These four channels need to be all finished in the same manner and that means that they must be painted. At the moment, a dark bordeaux red is the colour of choice, to suit the furniture and wall colour of the room and the rich red colour of wine, being as we are, located at the heart of the Alsatian Wine Road. As an added bonus, that dark red colour seems to go quite well with the beautiful grain of the Lignum Vitae timber.

 Romy the Cat wrote:


Also, if you keep the horns unfinished then the selection of wood frame is justifiable and it will give whole woody look and feel. Still I would vote for metal frame. It is cheaper to make (MUCH cheaper!), it is much stronger, it will not bend and wave with time, you can use much more pressure to hold to it and the most important it might be significantly thinner to care the same mass.

Rgs, The Cat


You are right. I would advise anyone going down this route to use a metal frame for the reasons you have mentioned. I however find natural wood very soothing and just keeping a sample of that Lignum Vitae timber atop my very modern Ligne Roset Yo-Yo table provides me with a tactile and sensory experience that bare metal could never replicate. As far as strength is concerned, for the application we have in mind, whilst other woods might have posed difficulties, the janka hardness rating of Lignum Vitae susggests that this is a non-issue

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janka_hardness_test

Of more importance to me are the resonance frequency and sensitivity to environmental vibrations of steel especially in a monopod configuration. With my design, I cannot avoid the problem completely myself as the supporting rig will be made of solid aluminium bars but the frame and rubber castor wheels should provide a fair degree of isolation.Maybe I am worrying about nothing, but as you quite rightly point out, not having any practical experience of such a set-up, I am erring on the side of caution, and probably am in the process of avoiding imaginary evils whilst falling prey of the very real ones that I cannot see for now.

Best regards
Rakesh

Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site