Speaker choice: go 15"!

[MSS]

I just finished building a 1 x 15" speaker cabinet for my A1a, loaded with an Eminence Red Coat guitar speaker.

This thing rocks! It is designed with a British sounding cone and is much smoother on the highs and beefier on the lows than my 12" Eminence Legend. It also resolved most of the nasal "honking" in the upper mids.

I wrestled with closed, opened or bass reflex style of box and then came up with a great compromise:

I was leary of locating a reflex vent on the small the front baffle which could weaken it's structural integrity or causing the speaker loading to be uneven. (My previous box had a weak baffle and an annoying little buzz at high volumes...)

Then it dawned on me that the best port location is in back. The typical rectangular openings struck me as potentially disturbing the even loading on the back of the cone, so the circular port idea came to light... I centered the port directly behind the speaker.

I used a 6" removable portal cover from a boating store, much like you would see on a kayak or sailboat. It is air-tight so I can opt for a closed box sound or remove the cover for an open box sound. The difference in sound is remarkable.

The box is still quite small: 22"x 19" and light. I used pine for the sides to soften the sound and 3/4 ply on front and back for strength. It is rock solid and now handles the A1a without a semblance of being overdriven or buzzing. Some Tolex and a few bits & pieces later, it was all done.

I will post pictures within a day or so, stay tuned: MSS_SP115

MSS

[MSS]

I guess it is easier to send the picture as an attachment... Hope it works.

The speaker appears to be almost blocking the port due to the lack of depth perception in the picture, but there is actually about 3 - 4" between the speaker magnetand the back of the box.

Front pic coming soon...

MSS

[MSS]

oops: !) sorry about the size of the previous pic ... Here is the front pic.

MSS

[snide]

MSS,

Very smart ideas here and first class work! I would love to hear some clips featuring your amp and cab.

Eric

[erigm]

That looks like a really nice cab! I should try to build one like that. Yeah, if you could get us some sound clips that would be awesome.

[MSS]

It will take a while for sound clips as I need to start tuning the initial A1a build. I wanted to complete the speaker box so I can have a decent starting point to work from.

As suspected, I will need less treble cut and bass boost now that the new box accomodates the tone better. I will try to record something as a comparison, before the new changes (output tranny and various other sound mod switches).

At the same time I will remove the A1a chassis from it's current "CrateWreck" rebuild combo unit and build it a head cab that matches the speaker box.

Here is a pic of the current "CrateWreck". I will close up the front with a new 3/4" baffle that should stop the rattles and add a closed back with a sound portal, to help the 12" Legend sound as it should.

MSS