PVC theremin diamond speaker project

Thomas, you're going to hate me for asking this, but is there any way you can design your speaker to hide the cheap, hardware store metal strapping that crisscrosses the baffle? Those visible metal construction straps give an "unfinished" look to what would otherwise be an imaginative and colorful piece of functional art.

The overall effect of the unit would be far more pleasing if the strapping were hidden. I realize that it is the metal straps that are holding the thing together but I think the look of the unit would be greatly improved if they ran BEHIND your cone instead of in front of it.

You might consider bolting the straps to the metal rim of your speaker, and having four separate pieces rather than two. Then you could cover the strapping with a single mylar holographic card and your speaker would appear to "float", unobstructed, in the middle of it.

I think it might be a more effective design for the stage. That galvanized strapping is not meant to be on display. It's for shipping containers, attaching drain pipes to the basement ceiling, and keeping the air conditioner from crashing into the street below!

It is possible that the straps don't bother you, but YOU are not the person who has to look at them! I can promise you that even if you do not personally find the visible strapping to be "tacky", haphazard and a little unsophisticated, there are going to be plenty of people who will.

Your idea is too good to have such an obvious, in-your-face flaw in it. Especially one that could be so easily fixed.

"Now let us never speak of this again." Marge Simpson

LOL

Jeff, Thanks again for the info. I certainly don't mind the extra info. When it comes to speakers, I'm as clueless as a PC newb. :)

Coalport, no, I don't hate you at all. LOL :) The steel straps are for structural integrity, as I was not sure how much loading the PVC frame would take without deforming. They can't run behind the cone for that reason. However, I'm considering removing the soundboard, and placing it in front of the strap, and then placing the speaker back on. The remaining strap that crosses the speaker, and runs from the frame to the soundboard will be covered with a thin wood veneer to further hide them. I'm also looking at other ways to suspend the diamond soundboard in the frame for esthetical reasons, but only if they contribute to structural integrity.

The corners of the frame are to be covered with sculpted wood corner ornaments that use the basic geometric art deco form. I'm thinking alternating walnut, and tiger maple. There will be a large version of these for the Y connector at the bottom of the diamond.

Right now, though, everything is just concept prototyping, and stress testing, so it's not quite finnished just yest. I've also got to build a small wooden box about 5 or 6 inches high for the base to elevate the speaker to it's final position. I'm considering just using a cheap amp as a suitable interim base, and moving it's speaker to the diamond.

Thomas,

Why not take the load off the PVC frame altogether. Simply place the speaker directly on the top of your vertical pole, and let the pole take the load. Then you could design a very light weight baffle consisting only of the PVC tubing and the mylar holograph.

If necessary, your vertical PVC pole could have a totally invisible one & and a quarter inch iron reinforcing pipe inside it. That would add to the overall weight of the stand, but it will not deform, it will not break, and it will be stable.

One of the worries with top heavy speaker stands is that they can be easily knocked over with only a slight push. You must make sure that your base is sufficiently heavy to ensure that this kind of accident cannot happen.

Coalport, the deformation concern was not for the mast, but for the frame it's self.

At any rate, my concerns appear to have been unfounded. Turns out the frame is holding up nicely on it's own with the recommendations you mentioned earlier. The plexi is also serving to add to the structural integrity, and the strapping was trimmed so it's nolonger an issue.

I thought I'd take care of that get-ahead task while waiting for the replacement speaker.

It does look a lot better without the strapping going in front of the baffle. But as mentioned, that was just for testing purposes. I was also taking advantage of all those holes in the straps to check the positioning of the baffle, relative to the frame.

I'll certainly give your idea of placing the load of the speaker directly on the mast, rather than in the frame if I build another PVC speaker project. I still need a little veneer to cover the few inches that remain of each of the four straps which now connects the baffle to the frame.

Thanks for your concerns. :)

If I might offer a suggestion, or maybe this is what you were saying after all ...

Put the metal straps behind the baffle, but in front of the speaker. Sonically there's no difference because those straps would be blocking off the same part of the speaker, but it would look better and have the same strength.

Don

One last comment ... I like soundboard #1 better than #2. It looks more classy to me.

Don