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Spring/summer plans
As I finish up the two designs that are currently on the docket (MCM 3-way and 2-way using German drivers for a fellow member), I have been giving thought to my spring/summer DIY plans.
Initially, I was going to modify a pair of old Realistic tower speakers to serve as a sort of extended response Cabrini. Essentially adding the 10" GRS subwoofer to anchor the bottom end, but to be honest - not sure how much interest there is in another design of this nature. That lack of interest is on my end, as well as the general lack of interest in the community at large. That may just be a false impression, however - it is no secret that a small handful of people have a near monopoly on designs that generate interest. My various GRS based designs were my attempt at finding a niche in the community, and perhaps they were received as such, but... Time to move on and move away from attempting to break into that small circle of populist designers and focus more on me and what I want out of things. That is the whole motivation behind the MCM 3-way. Sure, it is cool to use new drivers and be among the first to publish work around them, but truth be told - the community by and large will not show a lot of interest in that design outside of curiosity. I lack the ability to bring it to a lot of DIY events, and I lack the reputation for people to build them without having heard them in large enough numbers for excitement to build around the design and the drivers used in the design. So, I build for myself - these are going to be shopped around to local studios to gauge interest (where I actually have somewhat of a reputation already) and will then be parked in my little home office
So, those beautiful walnut veneered cabinets will be re-purposed to a different end. The Radio Shack 40-1024 poly woofer, the Radio Shack 40-1279 midrange/tweeter and the Radio Shack ribbon tweeter (a Pioneer model). Should be another interesting design and I am positive it will sound just great.
I also want to do something else with some of my Radio Shack 40-1011 6-1/2" poly woofers. They are my favorite driver of all time, not strictly for sentimental purposes - they can also sound good. I am going to somewhat duplicate, driver-wise anyways, one of my first DIY adventures. In the early 90's, my cousin and I spent a lot of time together cruising around in his 1980 Ford Mustang (4 cyl, automatic) and in the back, we had built small boxes and installed a 6-1/2" poly woofer, a cone mid, and a cone tweeter - all from Radio Shack. Someone broke in and stole them, and we were heartbroken at the time. I have always wanted to do a standmount 3-way with those very drivers, and as luck would have it I now possess those driver in NOS condition - plus the Radio Shack 3-way crossovers we used. I will likely design a real crossover for this, of course, but it will be interesting to see how they measure using the crossover from back then
As I am coming to realize, I have come full circle in the speaker design side of things. I have never done an insanely expensive active system using $2000 worth of drivers - but I remain unconvinced that is something I would enjoy anyways. I spend time planning, budgeting, cherry picking drivers... and I lose interest. I am starting to suspect my DIY journey may not necessarily be coming to an end, but I am pretty certain this summer might be the end of the road for awhile, at least as far as building speakers is concerned.
I find myself drawn more and more to the thought of becoming more involved in making music, not reproducing it. I have actually pushed back, due to some certain personal circumstances, being pulled into the local music scene that last few years but I find myself thinking about it all the time. Amanda and I are discussing a certain project, not sure if we will put together a permanent band around the concept, but... I heard a country cover of a Springsteen tune the other night, and it was incredible how well the Boss's message, melody, and lyrics translated into a country song and that sparked a serious conversation between Amanda and I about what kind of project we want to do. I have a singing voice that works well in country, and she has a singing voice that, well, just plain works well regardless of what she is singing. I know a guitar player or three, drummers, bass players, keyboard players, people who own studios... I have written quite a few songs that I would like to see recorded someday.
So, I think, as I wind down on building speakers I am going to work towards making music. The last 25 years has been pretty fun, and I like to think I have acquired enough of a skill-set in audio to move forward on the next leg of my journey. In the spirit of DIY, we will be doing this as non-commercial as possible, maybe a donate button at some point to offset any studio costs. Maybe we will even play a gig or two, who knows? I am excited to move from designing and building speakers into this next stage.
That all being said, I ain't going anywhere. I will still be a part of MAC, I will still attend events, plan events, and show speakers. I might just use some of my own music for demos
Initially, I was going to modify a pair of old Realistic tower speakers to serve as a sort of extended response Cabrini. Essentially adding the 10" GRS subwoofer to anchor the bottom end, but to be honest - not sure how much interest there is in another design of this nature. That lack of interest is on my end, as well as the general lack of interest in the community at large. That may just be a false impression, however - it is no secret that a small handful of people have a near monopoly on designs that generate interest. My various GRS based designs were my attempt at finding a niche in the community, and perhaps they were received as such, but... Time to move on and move away from attempting to break into that small circle of populist designers and focus more on me and what I want out of things. That is the whole motivation behind the MCM 3-way. Sure, it is cool to use new drivers and be among the first to publish work around them, but truth be told - the community by and large will not show a lot of interest in that design outside of curiosity. I lack the ability to bring it to a lot of DIY events, and I lack the reputation for people to build them without having heard them in large enough numbers for excitement to build around the design and the drivers used in the design. So, I build for myself - these are going to be shopped around to local studios to gauge interest (where I actually have somewhat of a reputation already) and will then be parked in my little home office
So, those beautiful walnut veneered cabinets will be re-purposed to a different end. The Radio Shack 40-1024 poly woofer, the Radio Shack 40-1279 midrange/tweeter and the Radio Shack ribbon tweeter (a Pioneer model). Should be another interesting design and I am positive it will sound just great.
I also want to do something else with some of my Radio Shack 40-1011 6-1/2" poly woofers. They are my favorite driver of all time, not strictly for sentimental purposes - they can also sound good. I am going to somewhat duplicate, driver-wise anyways, one of my first DIY adventures. In the early 90's, my cousin and I spent a lot of time together cruising around in his 1980 Ford Mustang (4 cyl, automatic) and in the back, we had built small boxes and installed a 6-1/2" poly woofer, a cone mid, and a cone tweeter - all from Radio Shack. Someone broke in and stole them, and we were heartbroken at the time. I have always wanted to do a standmount 3-way with those very drivers, and as luck would have it I now possess those driver in NOS condition - plus the Radio Shack 3-way crossovers we used. I will likely design a real crossover for this, of course, but it will be interesting to see how they measure using the crossover from back then
As I am coming to realize, I have come full circle in the speaker design side of things. I have never done an insanely expensive active system using $2000 worth of drivers - but I remain unconvinced that is something I would enjoy anyways. I spend time planning, budgeting, cherry picking drivers... and I lose interest. I am starting to suspect my DIY journey may not necessarily be coming to an end, but I am pretty certain this summer might be the end of the road for awhile, at least as far as building speakers is concerned.
I find myself drawn more and more to the thought of becoming more involved in making music, not reproducing it. I have actually pushed back, due to some certain personal circumstances, being pulled into the local music scene that last few years but I find myself thinking about it all the time. Amanda and I are discussing a certain project, not sure if we will put together a permanent band around the concept, but... I heard a country cover of a Springsteen tune the other night, and it was incredible how well the Boss's message, melody, and lyrics translated into a country song and that sparked a serious conversation between Amanda and I about what kind of project we want to do. I have a singing voice that works well in country, and she has a singing voice that, well, just plain works well regardless of what she is singing. I know a guitar player or three, drummers, bass players, keyboard players, people who own studios... I have written quite a few songs that I would like to see recorded someday.
So, I think, as I wind down on building speakers I am going to work towards making music. The last 25 years has been pretty fun, and I like to think I have acquired enough of a skill-set in audio to move forward on the next leg of my journey. In the spirit of DIY, we will be doing this as non-commercial as possible, maybe a donate button at some point to offset any studio costs. Maybe we will even play a gig or two, who knows? I am excited to move from designing and building speakers into this next stage.
That all being said, I ain't going anywhere. I will still be a part of MAC, I will still attend events, plan events, and show speakers. I might just use some of my own music for demos
I have a signature.
Comments
Setup/teardown of the PA takes about 15 minutes. Brave new world. 20 years ago, setup/teardown of the PA was definitely a different story. Been there, done that, not going back.
However, not sure if we will be playing out very often - if we do, we will be trying to do benefits where you can walk in, play for 1/2 hour on someone else's setup, and get back to drinking.
Is the cat5 function a A&H thing or can you do that with any digital console? I run a Soundcraft Si 3 at church. It sure would be nice to eliminate all the cabling from the back of house to the stage.