15" BPH Build (TMAL's Emperor Horn)

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   Evening. Just thought I'd put up a few pics of what I've been working on the last few months.
I'd been looking at upgrading my system to two-way bass for a while and had come up with a 15" BPH deisgn using a PD154, rear-loaded, similar to the ES18. I sent the design over to Tim Malone (TMAL) for CNC cutting only to find out he'd already designed his own 15" BPH with a similar response and a much tidier design!
After some discussion it was also agreed that the 18-Sound 15LW2400 was a better match for the design, giving a smoother response and the slightly lower sensitivity of the driver more than made-up for by its xmax and power handling. 
Anyhow, with thanks to Tim for the design and the CNC work, here's a few shots of the build.
More can be found on my Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/tremorsound

Starting with the internal bracing:

All internal panels fitted and checking the driver positioning:

Get stuffed.

Ready for painting:

I forgot to take pictures during painting...

Finished assembly. Time for a quick test in the garage.

During sound-check for a gig on NYE:

Stack is Hogs, BPH and reflex tops. The tops struggle to keep up and are probably going to be my project for 2013. Initially designed for sitting directly over subs, the PD154 in them is wasted now that I have the kicks.

Edited by tomr_29 - 21 January 2013 at 11:04pm

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tomr_29 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Young Croc Joined: 23 February 2009 Location: West Midlands Status: Offline Points: 539	Post Options Post Reply Quote tomr_29 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: 15" BPH Build (TMAL's Emperor Horn) Posted: 02 January 2013 at 7:19pm
	Evening. Just thought I'd put up a few pics of what I've been working on the last few months. I'd been looking at upgrading my system to two-way bass for a while and had come up with a 15" BPH deisgn using a PD154, rear-loaded, similar to the ES18. I sent the design over to Tim Malone (TMAL) for CNC cutting only to find out he'd already designed his own 15" BPH with a similar response and a much tidier design! After some discussion it was also agreed that the 18-Sound 15LW2400 was a better match for the design, giving a smoother response and the slightly lower sensitivity of the driver more than made-up for by its xmax and power handling. Anyhow, with thanks to Tim for the design and the CNC work, here's a few shots of the build. More can be found on my Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/tremorsound Starting with the internal bracing: All internal panels fitted and checking the driver positioning: Get stuffed. Ready for painting: I forgot to take pictures during painting... Finished assembly. Time for a quick test in the garage. During sound-check for a gig on NYE: Stack is Hogs, BPH and reflex tops. The tops struggle to keep up and are probably going to be my project for 2013. Initially designed for sitting directly over subs, the PD154 in them is wasted now that I have the kicks. Edited by tomr_29 - 21 January 2013 at 11:04pm
	Proper capitalisation is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse. www.facebook.com/tremoracoustics

Teunos Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 23 November 2008 Location: The Netherlands Status: Offline Points: 1832	Post Options Post Reply Quote Teunos Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 January 2013 at 8:13am
	Lovely build, real quality!, but why the strange tail in the front chamber?
	Best regards, Teun.

tomr_29 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Young Croc Joined: 23 February 2009 Location: West Midlands Status: Offline Points: 539	Post Options Post Reply Quote tomr_29 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 January 2013 at 11:51am
	The 'dog-leg' in the sealed chamber increases its volume without restricting the total length of the horn and allows the panels forming the horn to braced from both sides making the box incredibly rigid. The short panel sticking out over the edge of the driver is there to even-out the loading on the cone. Having the panels cut out via CNC has meant a more complex design is not so much of an issue to build. I can't really give any better information because this box was designed by TMAL who has considerably more experience than myself in cabinet design. He may be able to give you more concise answers.
	Proper capitalisation is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse. www.facebook.com/tremoracoustics

TMAL Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Registered User Joined: 23 June 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 342	Post Options Post Reply Quote TMAL Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 January 2013 at 12:47pm
	Hi Tom, Glad you like them. You covered the design principle quite accurately. The only thing that I will add is that the "Dog leg" section of the rear chamber should also absorb/dampen higher frequency resonance very effectively in the same way as the B&W Nautilus' "snail shell" chamber does. Unlike the Nautilus this will only be effective from around 90-100Hz up due to its shorter length. Edited by TMAL - 03 January 2013 at 12:47pm
	Flat pack & fully assembled Speaker cabinet design and CNC manufacturing. www.speaker-cabinets.co.uk

cravings Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 30 January 2007 Location: Ireland Status: Offline Points: 7507	Post Options Post Reply Quote cravings Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 04 January 2013 at 7:47pm
	look properly tough alright i think i'm going to look at bracing the horn section of my old turbo bphs this year. i'd previously thought it unnecessary... but 6 years ago or so when i started trying to put a better system together, they were my strong point / my starting point... now i feel like they're the weak point. they feel rattly. so yeah.. those one's you guys have built / designed.. they look serious. like it.

TMAL Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Registered User Joined: 23 June 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 342	Post Options Post Reply Quote TMAL Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 04 January 2013 at 11:27pm
	One thing that many people really over look is the importance of effective bracing. In our tests it has shown to often be a large percentage of overall THD in high powered bass cabinets. We are currently working on having systems for both accelerometer based resonant mapping and FEA based resonant mapping. With these in place we will really be able to tune the a cabinets resonant qualities. One thing that should be mentioned about these cabinets is that they were designed to stack directly on an upright Hog Scoop Edited by TMAL - 04 January 2013 at 11:29pm
	Flat pack & fully assembled Speaker cabinet design and CNC manufacturing. www.speaker-cabinets.co.uk

all bass Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 11 October 2012 Location: the Netherlands Status: Offline Points: 1845	Post Options Post Reply Quote all bass Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 January 2013 at 12:47am
	Great looking cabs! Do you have any measurements to these? How do they perform compared to HD15's?

TMAL Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Registered User Joined: 23 June 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 342	Post Options Post Reply Quote TMAL Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 January 2013 at 11:17pm
	Hi All Bass, I'm glad you like the Emperor horns (hopefully Tom will alter the title to reflect it propper name). I don't have any measurments at the moment only the sims . But the flare rate and loading is fairly Moderate and only a modification to other designs we have designed and tested / have good experience with so I am fairly certain it will be pretty close to the sims (although probably go a little lower). I will dig out the plots tomorrow and put them up. I am about to provide Tom with some software that he would be able to do this and get things tuned correctly within his system. So hopefully soon measurments will be there. In general though they will go lower and higher than the HD15, they will not suffer from power compression in the same manner as the HD15, this is due to the rear loading of the driver allowing the magnet to cool. This should also reduce driver failures over the life time of the cabinet as well. Distortion levels should be down due to the more even loading on the cone along with a far more effectively braced cabinet not adding as much resonance / colouration (along with wasting less energy). Efficiency is much the same as the HD but power handling is better so overal output will be higher (quite noticably when you factor in power compression). Obviously the trade of for this extra performance is an increase in cabinets size (there's always a trade off!), but they are still a relatively compact cabinet. Hope that helps.
	Flat pack & fully assembled Speaker cabinet design and CNC manufacturing. www.speaker-cabinets.co.uk

TMAL Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Registered User Joined: 23 June 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 342	Post Options Post Reply Quote TMAL Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 January 2013 at 11:19pm
	Cheers For altering the thread title Tom
	Flat pack & fully assembled Speaker cabinet design and CNC manufacturing. www.speaker-cabinets.co.uk

discosucks Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 06 November 2009 Status: Offline Points: 1546	Post Options Post Reply Quote discosucks Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 January 2013 at 11:48pm
	The way the driver faces always confuses me in designs like this haha . Edited by discosucks - 21 January 2013 at 11:50pm

tomr_29 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Young Croc Joined: 23 February 2009 Location: West Midlands Status: Offline Points: 539	Post Options Post Reply Quote tomr_29 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 January 2013 at 11:50pm
	They're a bit larger than the HD15 but play lower and flatter. I think the sensitivity is a little lower due to the choice of driver but the aim was for a flatter response through the entire operating band and the more powerful driver more than makes up for it. Loaded with a PD 1550 they'd have a lot more kick, but at the expense of a more peaky response and higher roll-off. I cross them from 1851-loaded Hogs at 72Hz and they certainly do the business! I'll try and get measurements at some point, not sure when that'll be though. Edited by tomr_29 - 21 January 2013 at 11:53pm
	Proper capitalisation is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse. www.facebook.com/tremoracoustics

T-Bone Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Registered User Joined: 27 December 2005 Location: Tampa, FL USA Status: Offline Points: 297	Post Options Post Reply Quote T-Bone Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 25 January 2013 at 9:28pm
	Any other 15" neo driver or regular driver that will work nice without PD not available here in the US? Curious FaitalPro 15" neo woofer? Thanks!
	BASS, how low can you go!