Raving Behemoths

A Loudspeaker Design
Spring 2013
Michigan Technological University
Nathan Hunter

Table of Contents
Functional Description ............................................................................................................................. 5
Figure 1.1......................................................................................................................................... 5
Design Goals............................................................................................................................................ 6
Size and Shape..................................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 2.1......................................................................................................................................... 6
SPL Output .......................................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 2.2......................................................................................................................................... 6
Bandwidth ........................................................................................................................................... 7
Voicing ................................................................................................................................................ 7
Directivity ............................................................................................................................................ 7
Design Priorities .................................................................................................................................. 7
Figure 2.3......................................................................................................................................... 7
Visual Aesthetics.................................................................................................................................. 8
Design Consequences .......................................................................................................................... 8
Driver Selection ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Selenium Pro D220Ti Analysis and Selection ........................................................................................ 9
Figure 4.1......................................................................................................................................... 9
Figure 4.2....................................................................................................................................... 10
Dayton Audio D250P-8 Analysis and Selection ................................................................................... 10
Figure 4.3....................................................................................................................................... 10
Goldwood GM-500PB 1" Horn Selection ............................................................................................ 11
Selenium HC23-25 1 Exponential Horn Selection .............................................................................. 11
Figure 4.4....................................................................................................................................... 11
Woofer Analysis and Selection ........................................................................................................... 11
Figure 4.5....................................................................................................................................... 12
Figure 4.6....................................................................................................................................... 12
Figure 4.7....................................................................................................................................... 13
Technical Details ................................................................................................................................... 14
Baffle Step ......................................................................................................................................... 14
Construction ...................................................................................................................................... 14
Inner Layer Plywood ................................................................................................................... 14
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Outer Layer MDF......................................................................................................................... 16

Driver Cut-Outs (Katz 2013) ........................................................................................................... 19
Additions ........................................................................................................................................... 22
Amplifier, Port and Handle Cut Outs .............................................................................................. 22
Port ............................................................................................................................................... 23
Paint .............................................................................................................................................. 23
Driver Installation Order ................................................................................................................ 23
Testing and Tuning ................................................................................................................................ 24
Driver Performance ........................................................................................................................... 24
Enclosure Optimization...................................................................................................................... 25
Figure 5.1....................................................................................................................................... 25
Vent Calculations ............................................................................................................................... 26
Figure 5.2....................................................................................................................................... 26
Cross-over Decisions.......................................................................................................................... 27
Figure 5.3....................................................................................................................................... 27
Final System Documentation ................................................................................................................. 28
1 Woofer Tests .................................................................................................................................. 28
Frequency Response ...................................................................................................................... 28
Harmonic Distortion ...................................................................................................................... 28
Impulse Response .......................................................................................................................... 29
Step Response ............................................................................................................................... 29
Minimum Phase ............................................................................................................................. 29
2 Woofer Tests .................................................................................................................................. 30
Frequency Response ...................................................................................................................... 30
Harmonic Distortion ...................................................................................................................... 30
Impulse Response .......................................................................................................................... 31
Step Response ............................................................................................................................... 31
Minimum Phase ............................................................................................................................. 31
Tweeter Response ............................................................................................................................. 32
Frequency Response ...................................................................................................................... 32
Harmonic Distortion ...................................................................................................................... 32
Impulse Response .......................................................................................................................... 33
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Step Response ............................................................................................................................... 33

Minimum Phase ............................................................................................................................. 33
Overall Testing Results....................................................................................................................... 34
Frequency Response ...................................................................................................................... 34
Harmonic Distortion ...................................................................................................................... 34
Impulse Response .......................................................................................................................... 35
Step Response ............................................................................................................................... 35
Minimum Phase ............................................................................................................................. 35
L R Difference Plot ...................................................................................................................... 36
Horizontal Off-Axis Response ......................................................................................................... 36
Positive Vertical Off-Axis Response ................................................................................................ 37
Negative Vertical Off-Axis Response .............................................................................................. 37
Waterfall Plot ................................................................................................................................ 38
Testing Complications ........................................................................................................................ 38
Cross-over Schematics ....................................................................................................................... 39
Low Channel Crossover .................................................................................................................. 39
Low Channel Baffle Step ................................................................................................................ 39
Low Channel Bass Boost................................................................................................................. 40
High Channel Crossover ................................................................................................................. 40
High Channel Sensitivity Equalization ............................................................................................. 41
High Channel 10k Boost ................................................................................................................. 41
Finishing Touches .................................................................................................................................. 42
Materials ....................................................................................................................................... 42
Cable creation ................................................................................................................................... 42
As-built Drafting (Newell and Holland 2007) ...................................................................................... 42
Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 52

Functional Description
My speaker design will cater to home entertainment needs. These speakers will be used in a home
theater setting and may be called to play electronic music at small venues. For these considerations, a
wide and equal dispersion is necessary, as well as high SPL and decent bass response. The quality of the
speakers should be such that they make two scenarios give me goose-bumps: the bass rumble to the
movie Inception, and bass drops to some of the DeadMau5 and similar artists songs.
Figure 1.1

Design Goals
Size and Shape
My speakers will need to be large enough to have a good bass response with high SPL values. My goal is
to upgrade the speakers to operate on stands with the addition of future monetary expansion. The exact
shape is not important, though a box or diamond shape will probably be used.
Figure 2.1

SPL Output
Figure 2.1 shows personal listener levels in a situation with moderate stress. The test took place in a
medium sized room, with reflective surfaces. The listener device was positioned at head level at about
half the critical distance from the speakers, roughly 4 meters. The time was 5:00 pm, and I came straight
from a winning broomball game with increased heart rate and adrenaline. At increased stress levels, like
if I had lost, Average SPL levels would increase by 3 to 6 dB.
Figure 2.2
SPL Listening Levels By Song
Now or Never by Popeska
Returning Empty Handed by Underoath
Half Remembered Dream (Inception) by Hanz Zimmer
Confront Battle (Sword Art Online) by Yuki Kajiura

Average SPL
90 dBW
88 dBW
80 dBW
80 dBW

Max SPL
96 dBW
94 dBW
92 dBW
88 dBW

Headroom
6 dB
6 dB
14 dB
~10 dB

Total
96 dB
94 dB
94 dB
90 dB

This puts a minimum required output at 100 dBW at listener location. Crest factor for PA Speakers is
usually between 10 to 15 dB. Distance from speaker to listener requires another 12 dB since most
listeners will probably be between 4 and 8 meters. The ideal venues these speakers will be used for will
have a critical distance starting to level off at -12 dB.
With budgetary realities, the absolute maximum SPL goal I am placing is 120 dB at 1 meter, with no less
than 110 dB as a requirement.

Bandwidth
The Frequencies range I would like is from 40 Hz to roughly 16 kHz. Conducting an experiment using
Logic, I edited two songs with an equalizer slowly cutting away low end until I could notice. At 45 Hz I
began to hear a slight thinning of the low end becoming slightly more noticeable at 50 Hz and
unbearable at 60 Hz. The two songs I tested are Sofi Needs a Ladder by Deadmau5 and Stompbox by The
Qemists.

Voicing
Using two woofers, I would like to boost the bass output making the frequency response purposefully
not flat. These speakers will be mostly for entertaining purposes and therefore good sounding songs and
movies are more important than flat frequency response.

Directivity
I want the speakers to provide fairly equal coverage across a medium sized room or venue. To do this I
plan on using vertically aligned drivers with a Horn tweeter. The speakers will be designed to set up on
stands for when standing head level is optimal (a rave perhaps), and sitting on the floor for when sitting
is required (home theater).

Design Priorities
Figure 2.3

Design Priorities

Size
Dispersion
SPL
Bass response

Visual Aesthetics
The speakers will have two main uses: home theater and small venue dance club. For this purpose they
shouldnt be distracting enough to take visual precedence over watching a movie, but they should be
stylish enough to look sharp sitting on some stands at the side of a room. The primary color will be black
with possibly an accent color pin striping.

Design Consequences
Due to budgetary constraints, sacrifices will have to be made concerning frequency response and size.
The main factors I require are wide and equal dispersion of sound in a relatively high SPL. Reaching this
SPL will require quite a large speaker body, and being sure to have enough bass response to satisfy my
musical tastes will only push that size even larger.
The frequency response wont be flat as required for a set of mixing monitors, but since I plan to use
these for non-critical listening purposes, a non-flat response is actually preferred. This does however
have an impact on transient response.

Driver Selection
My drivers need to fill the requirements of being capable to reproduce higher volumes and maintaining
an even spread across a room. Im looking into a horn for the tweeter for nice dispersion across the
horizontal axis, and two woofers in the 8-12 inch range.

Selenium Pro D220Ti Analysis and Selection

The Selenium D220Ti has a lot to offer on the side of a smooth frequency response down to about 1.3
kHz. Since I plan to voice the speakers anyway, the slight drop just above 2 kHz shouldnt be a problem.
The graph has some serious smoothing going on, however Figure 4.2 shows the response at 5W with a
more accurate level of smoothing.
Figure 4.1

Figure 4.2

Dayton Audio D250P-8 Analysis and Selection

This tweeter shows promise on the side of a detailed frequency response plot; however the response of
the Selenium looks flatter. The Dayton Audio tweeter does extend a decent response down to 1kHz,
with an easy bump to fix with a crossover from 1 to 2 kHz, however the RMS power handling is only 60W
and I feel safer with the Seleniums 120W RMS power handling.
Figure 4.3

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Goldwood GM-500PB 1" Horn Selection

This Horn features a wide dispersion angle and the correct thread type for my tweeter; however the
spec sheet does not specify the dispersion angles.

Selenium HC23-25 1 Exponential Horn Selection

This horn has the benefit on being the same manufacturer as the tweeter I like, however the internal
plates are an interesting feature. Figure 4.4 shows the Polar response curve.
Figure 4.4

Woofer Analysis and Selection

My woofer selection is Dayton Audio PA301-8 12. Figure 4.7 shows the difference in frequency
between 1 or 2 woofers per cabinet. Figure 4.5 has extended bass range, and Figure 4.6 shows extended
shelf.

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Figure 4.5

Figure 4.6

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Figure 4.7

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Technical Details
Baffle Step
The baffle Step Correction frequency is 249 Hz. (f3 = 380/Bwidth in inches) I chose a middle point on the
Baffle due to the Diamond design. The Baffle width I chose is 18.3 inches, or 1.525 feet.

Construction
Inner Layer Plywood

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Outer Layer MDF

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Driver Cut-Outs (Katz 2013)

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Additions
Amplifier, Port and Handle Cut Outs

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Port
Using Scraps from the original cuts make a square tube with internal dimensions of 10 by 10 and a
length of 6. The length can be shaved down later in the tuning process.

Paint
1 Coat Flat Black Primer, rolled on to all surfaces
2 Coats Black Truck Bed Liner Spray

Driver Installation Order

1) Horn/Tweeter Combo
2) Active Digital Amp
3) Upper Woofer
4) Lower Woofer
5) Handles
6) Port

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Testing and Tuning

Driver Performance

Original performance of Woofer hooked up to the PCS 2.4 Amplifier with no filter components.

Original performance with 2 woofers hooked up to the PCS 2.4 Amplifier with no filter components.

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Original performance of tweeter hooked up to the PCS 2.4 Amplifier with no filter components.

Enclosure Optimization
The Diamond Shape speaker will have a better frequency curve to a similar rectangular box, however it
does come with some downsides. The extra box materials make having a certain volume, weigh more.
Calculating a high and low estimate for the weight of the speakers yielded about 120 to 150 lbs.
Figure 5.1

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Vent Calculations
Original calculations shown in figure 5.2 were given for a tuning frequency of 50 Hz.
Figure 5.2

My final decision was to increase the size of the port to a 10 by 10 square port located in the lower
part of the back of the speaker. The length is 5.5

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Cross-over Decisions
For these speakers I have decided to use the Hypex PSC2.400 DSP Active Amplifiers. These will not only
allow for a lot of control in the voicing of the speakers, but also meet my design wish of having active
speakers for ease of operation and portability.
The Crossover frequency will be a 2nd order 1 kHz for the Dayton Audio woofer, and a 1st or 2nd order
crossover at up to 2 kHz for the Selenium Driver
The baffle Step Correction frequency is 249 Hz.
Figure 5.3

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Final System Documentation

1 Woofer Tests
Frequency Response

Harmonic Distortion

28

Impulse Response

Step Response

Minimum Phase

29

2 Woofer Tests
Frequency Response

Harmonic Distortion

30

Impulse Response

Step Response

Minimum Phase

31

Tweeter Response
Frequency Response

Harmonic Distortion

32

Impulse Response

Step Response

Minimum Phase

33

Overall Testing Results

Frequency Response

Harmonic Distortion

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Impulse Response

Step Response

Minimum Phase

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L R Difference Plot

Horizontal Off-Axis Response

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Positive Vertical Off-Axis Response

Negative Vertical Off-Axis Response

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Waterfall Plot

Testing Complications
Testing the speakers proved to be a great complication because of their size. The Radiating Surface of
the drivers is such that getting a good placement of the testing microphone so that it is outside the
radiating surface but close enough to not be affected by early reflections was impossible. No anechoic
chamber was available and therefore the test results may be skewed.

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Cross-over Schematics
Low Channel Crossover

Low Channel Baffle Step

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Low Channel Bass Boost

High Channel Crossover

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High Channel Sensitivity Equalization

High Channel 10k Boost

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Finishing Touches
Materials
1) 2 Sheets of 4 by 8 by Plywood
2) 2 Sheets of 4 by 8 by MDF Board
3) About 80 FL OZ of Wood Glue
4) 2 sections of 26 by 15 Fiberglass Insulation (for internal dampening)
5) 56 Bolts and Nuts (T-Nuts optional)
6) 2 Powercon Connectors (the Amplifiers Do Not come with power cords)
7) 2 Heavy Duty Extension Cables
8) USB Cable
9) Windows Laptop
10) Cable with Stereo 3.5mm plug to 2 XLR plugs

Cable creation
Cut off the Female end of the extension cord. Strip about an inch of the casing, and connect the
Powercon connect to this end.

As-built Drafting (Newell and Holland 2007)

All Drafting will be revised to reflect the change in construction. Revisions to increase the stability and
sound proofing of the seams of the box took place during construction.

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Bibliography
Katz, Bob. Level Practices (Part 2) (Includes the K-System). January 30, 2013.
Moulton, David. Total Recording. Sherman Oaks, California: KIQ Productions, 2000.
Newell, Philip R., and K. R. Holland. Loudspeakers: for music recording and reproduction. Oxford: Focal,
2007.

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