Print Page | Close Window

THAM 15 - Touring Version! (and matching top)

Printed From: Speakerplans.com
Category: Plans
Forum Name: New Projects Forum
Forum Description: Forum for new speakerplans projects, in memory of Tony Wilkes, 1953 - 2014
URL: https://forum.speakerplans.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=55056
Printed Date: 29 March 2024 at 5:40am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.06 - https://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: THAM 15 - Touring Version! (and matching top)
Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Subject: THAM 15 - Touring Version! (and matching top)
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 12:39am
Hey all

This project has been in the works for a while now, being planned and the false started a couple of times!  :-)  But now in the last week or so I’ve got to make some proper sawdust and it’s on the way to actually coming alive its time to get some pics up.

So below I present my touring version of the THAM 15 Wink



Now, before I go any further I have to give a huge thanks to Tony Wilkes. As well as supplying all of the drivers at great prices for me (its fully BMS loaded) he has been a great sounding board for discussing ideas, has supplied laser cut and powder coated metal for the rear connection panels and for the connection panels of the amp racks and CNC’d lots of jigs and templates which have been a massive help with the routing. So this is just as much a product of his hard work as it is mine!

It actually started off as a very different project.  I was in the middle of planning a much bigger system with 18” horn subs and hornloaded MT-112/122 style tops. However, while it was being planned and designed and I saved up for the drivers, I wanted to use up some other bits and bobs I had and make some small cabs.

A while ago Tony had been kind enough to supply me with some 15” drivers (15N830) at really short notice to fit into some bandpass cabs I had that were blown and couldn’t get a recone for. They went into the bandpass to get through a few gigs but I had always planned to make a Tham15 cab for them cos although the bandpass was surprisingly musical for its ilk, the THAM would be an improvement. I also had four 4550 comps from a separate project that didn’t happen, and thought that doing two THAMS a side plus two double 10” tops (as wide as I could go and still stack the two on top of the sub) with the 4550’s a side would give a nice wee system for smaller band work.

However as always these things take on a life of their own and grow and grow.....LOL

So if i’m ALWAYS gonna use both cabs per side on top, why not just make it one big cab with the four 10”s together, then I could look at some fancy push pull stuff. But I’ll then need just one big comp on a big horn per side rather than two (forgetting that the whole reason for this was to use the comps I had). But now if it’s one big cab I don’t need to worry about width so why not use double 12 instead, with much better sensitivity and power handling. If I use really good 12” I could probably even match it up with three THAM’s per side. But then with the 12” one above the other the stacks will be just a bit too tall for their intended job of small to mid live gigs, so they’ll have to be horizontal in some sort of V-config.......

LOL on and on I went somehow justifying it to mself every time the level (and price!) went up, and played about with plans until I decided I was building three THAMS a side with a powerful top that has two 1000w BMS 12N802’s in it as well as the 4592 coax comp on a very controlled Beyma  TD400N horn.  In a way the tops are very similar to Tannoy VQ top cabs (except for using two 1K drivers instead of two 500w obviously) but they got there all of their own accord it was never planned that way :-)

Then it came to handles. I had always planned to use the three stacked on their sides to stack to the correct height, and was always gonna extend the sides to have a full face grill rather than just over the small mouth area. Wheel base was always gonna fit in against the grill for transport, so it meant that the obvious place for the main handles was on the small ends, what would be the top and bottom when sitting in its original designed confifguration.

However after playing with various designs of both handles cut into the sub with back boxes and metal handles inserted into the face, I couldn’t find anything that didn’t leave me feeling like I was taking away a bit too much of the horn path, especially on the side that the driver fires into.

So my only other option was to then build out the way and extend the box. After playing with several ideas I took my inspiration from the kind of flying frame that you see on some line array cabs, where the metal frame acts both as the flying support and also a large bar handle. Little more playing with various design bits and I ended up with what you see above.

Then set up to play, the main bar handle is vertical and when the wheelbase is set into the grill and the cab is flipped forward 90 degrees onto the wheels this obviously becomes horizontal. But the advantage is that the rim that runs all the way around the actual bar handle also acts as a handle in itself, and so the cab can be picked up solidly in any orientation. In the centre of the top face, you can also see an extra small handle cut into the sub face along with the guides for the feet when stacking (and a matching handle on the underside) and these give an extra place to grab should you happen to be picking it up from a funny angle.

The subs have runners underneath that sit into the channels on the top of the one below, and the tops will have four rubber feet that will sit into the circular indents.









The tops will also have the wheelbase fitted in the same way and so best place for their handles was also the ends. I wanted to keep a matching design to make them a set, so they have main carry handles on the top and bottom (which become the two ends when on the wheels) and also have more traditional handles on each side to grab while being stacked and set up/taken down.





They will  have a single piece of fly track set into the top at the front (the single round indent) that can have a metal hoop clipped into, and this gives a place for a ratchet strap to run though if they’re used somewhere windy or unstable and need to be tied down. They’re set right at the front so the ratchet strap then runs over the flat bits at the front of the sides (rather than the trap parts where it would naturally try and pull itself back). And the runners of the subs are positioned just far enough back so that the ratchet strap can run down and under the sub below without getting in the way of the runners sliding into their mating grooves.





As they will always be used with the subs, they didn’t have to play especially low and so the rear chamber for the 12” is pretty small and they’re tuned relatively high, with four rear ports which should get cold air right to the magnets. They play flat to about 80 or 75 and then drop off a cliff, but this is more than enough to play with as they’ll be crossed over somewhere between 100 and 120 (depending on how it all sounds together when I start to tune them) and so they play well within X-max right up at their full 2K per cab. The 802 is a great driver which seems to be a good balance between a super light coned , low x-max 12” for a horn (such as the BMS 810) and a beefy but heavy high xmax heavy 12” that is more for low-mid and bass in two way full range cabs, so should be extremely quick and punchy but still have some balls when needed!




So yeah it’s all finally coming together. Wood is cut and i’m about 80% of the way through the routing  (pretty much every single joint is rebated so there’s a LOT of it!) so I’m hoping that as long as the weather holds out and I can get out in the garden for a couple of days and get them done they should be at least fully glued and screwed together by the end of the week, and i’ll have made a start on the filling/sanding/prepping for painting.





Replies:
Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 12:57am
three subs stacked on top of each other........



Three subs with the top, stacked as they'll be used.....






Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 1:02am
wood cut for all the subs......



and the tops.......



and today's work of screwing all the internal handle boxes together for painting black....





Posted By: VentureSound
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 1:05am
Looks like a great project- make sure you keep us updated with pictures along the way.

I think you will love the 4592 comp- I got eight off Tony and am chuffed to bits, they sound lovely. Its such a powerful driver as well, it'll just be ticking over above those two 12s so you'll have plenty of head room shoul you ever need it!


Posted By: MarjanM
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 1:36am
That looks very good. One suggestion dough. The handle on the tops will fill with water if used in rain. Make some side holes or something to prevent this

-------------
Marjan Milosevic
MM-Acoustics
www.mm-acoustics.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/MM-Acoustics/608901282527713


Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 1:40am
Originally posted by MarjanM MarjanM wrote:

That looks very good. One suggestion dough. The handle on the tops will fill with water if used in rain. Make some side holes or something to prevent this


haha very good point will put a couple of little side holes in Smile  And here was me thinking i'd thought of everything! Tongue


k


Posted By: james folkes
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 1:49am
i think you will be justly pleased when you come to spark it up, that's a fantastic set of loudspeakers you're building. first rate components, sensible design choices, nice construction detailing. top project!

james.


-------------
mardy hippy.


Posted By: Heathrow_B_line
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 10:03am
the handles seem like a bit of a waste of space

-------------
Produce a killer sound. Take no prisoners.


Posted By: mykey-
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 11:28am
always something great to say HBL

I think it's great, if you can get away with using 15mm even better


-------------
BbbBBRAAAAPppBBBBbgushhhhhhhhssshhhhhGrAbRAAAAAAPPPPPp = Dubstep


Posted By: Heathrow_B_line
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 11:50am
Originally posted by mykey- mykey- wrote:


I think it's great, if you can get away with using 15mm even better
 
with all those rebates and grooves?
 
good thing you leave the building to te youngsters these days
 
lol


-------------
Produce a killer sound. Take no prisoners.


Posted By: Tony Wilkes
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 12:42pm
Kev,

Really looking forward to hearing the complete system. Hope the weather is set fine for you.

Tony



-------------
www.forteaudio.eu - BMS - db-Mark Processors - Lexon (SAE)


Posted By: tomschute
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 12:53pm
i think you're gonna end up with a hell of an efficient system. And I know someone who your going to tip over the edge with this as it's just what he's been thinking of.

They also look pure evil - really look forward to seeing it happen and would love to hear it.

Good luck with the build. Your gonna have a sore chest after all that routing!


-------------
Out to lunch... stableaudio@hotmail.co.uk
www.stableaudio.co.uk
Speaker Building Services


Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 4:07pm
hey

got a PM frome one someone asking about the designs, and particuluarly with the top which isn't based on an available design like the THAM,  and whether I would provide plans/plots/details etc.

Thought I'd reply here so everyone could see, to say that yeah I'd like to get it build first so I can check the plans are right and I haven't made any silly errors with sizes or calculations of angles etc etc, but once all that's done and they're up and running will be happy to stick full plans, plots, cut sheets and what ever else on here for everyone to use.

There may also even be CNC'd flat packs available, although that all needs to be worked out there where a few hichups when I tried to get this first set CNC's and I ended up having to go back to doing it all by hand!  Tongue  (lol no-one's fault, just a series of unfortunate events! Tongue)


k


Posted By: jollygt78
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 7:18pm
what power amps are you using to run the THAM15s?  how are you wiring them?


Posted By: login4
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 7:45pm
ah ha, well spotted Tom, ye this system is pretty much exactly what iv been planning, 

well done iv been thinking allot about this set up and i know its going to sound amazing,

great project Clap 




-------------
CELTIC SUBSONIC SOUND SYSTEMS


Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 26 July 2011 at 8:45pm
Originally posted by jollygt78 jollygt78 wrote:

what power amps are you using to run the THAM15s?  how are you wiring them?



Each sub driver takes 1.2K,  they'll just be wired in parallel and hooked up 3 per side giving 2.66 ohms.  To start off with they'll be on a vortex 6, although when I get some pennies i'll move up. Maybe an Infinite 8, maybe a FFA10K  (and can dream about a Lab PLM 20K although i know realistically that wont happen for a LONG time :P)


k


Posted By: Danny A
Date Posted: 27 July 2011 at 12:11am
I can't wait to see more of this build. I love the 3 way top boxes Clap


Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 27 July 2011 at 9:46am
some more pics......


my little routing set up for straight lines. 


Tony W CNC'd some routing guides for me (and I can't emphasise enough how much help he's been with this project! Smile ), both straight ones like above and some special ones for various handles etc, all of which had a large channel 30mm wide routed most of the way through them.

My router has an attachable 30mm guide that slides right into these, and then the first time i ran the router through it I cut through the remaining wood at the bottom of the channel and that gave me a line that exactly matched the router bit for lining things up to.

The straight one above worked especially well as once clamped down it essentially worked as a kind of CNC gantry almost. It stayed clamped down and I just moved the work piece around underneath it lining it up to the guide. I think in the 8 hours or so I was working on these yesterday I only un-clamped and moved the guide once. Smile

Next is the one for cutting baffle holes etc...


and a baffle.....



And various other bits of routing. Obviously all of it needs tidied up a little and the little round corners chiselled straight.

Base for a top.... (still to get the "all the way through" holes cut, which'll be today)



And the centre piece between the 12" and comp/horn...


More pieces from the top, some sidewall bits.....




and one of the bases for a sub...






Posted By: lickweed
Date Posted: 27 July 2011 at 10:26am
Looks very good,hope to hear it one dayClap

-------------
http://www.liquidsound.co.uk/


Posted By: tomschute
Date Posted: 27 July 2011 at 6:10pm
someone buy that man a CNC machine!

Did you consider out sourcing the cutting to a CNC service? Good job you got a nice router!

I suppose the satisfaction of it all slotting together will be immense after all the hours graft. Plus you get to look at it for a good few years before getting board!

Clap




-------------
Out to lunch... stableaudio@hotmail.co.uk
www.stableaudio.co.uk
Speaker Building Services


Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 27 July 2011 at 7:15pm
hey

yeah the original plan was to get them CNC'd, hence why the routing was so extensive.

Through various bits of bad luck it all fell through at the last minute, and I ended up going back to having to do it by hand as I had a few gigs that I had wanted to try and get them finished for and didn't have time to find someone new to do it and then go through all the plans and writing the g-code etc all again.

Unfortunately a various bits of work and other things came up and i didn't actually get them finished for the intended gigs.and i have a couple of weeks where i'm fairly free now and can save the money by doing it by hand.

Defo but if I do it again, or when i get round in the future to doing my big all hornloaded system, it'll be CNC all they way.  (lol actually thinking about looking into some of these DIY CNC router sites that are about and see how cost effective it is to make one myself and then have it for future projects and also be able to do custom work for other people! Smile)

k


Posted By: tomschute
Date Posted: 27 July 2011 at 7:40pm
well if it frees up funds to put back into the system then makes total sense. 

-------------
Out to lunch... stableaudio@hotmail.co.uk
www.stableaudio.co.uk
Speaker Building Services


Posted By: slaith
Date Posted: 28 July 2011 at 12:22am
Hello.

Just thought that i might add something here.

I have built the first pair of THM15MKII, the ones that Anders showed some pictures of when we did some testing this last winter.

We did some more testing a little while ago, as I got my T.AMP Proline 3000.
Thought I'd give them some real power, since my thought is also to run them 2,66ohm 3 a side.

What I found when we ran pink noise through the driver, with the filter on HP 48dB@40Hz and LP 24dB@120Hz.
Was that up until cirka 32volts RMS it was fine, after that it just ran out of voice coil.
Calculated it added upp to 190W@5,30ohm which is the lowest impedance in the box.
The driver I use is the B&C15PS76, the TBX has more XMAX and more powerhandling.
So it would probably take some more power.

But I always thought that i would be able to give it alot more power, although it sounded good anyhow.
115dB @ 8meters, 2boxes centered with mouthes together.
But I think i have to build more boxes, because the voice stopped modulating when i moved ca 1 meter from the boxes. Evil Smile

But as for your build effort, i must say it look really nice.

The system will be about 2 meters high i suppose?
3 THAM15:s is 150cm, and then the top. but isn't the comp driver gonna go straight into peoples ears?
Or is the idea to put the whole thing on a podium?
I think maybe 2 more subs for venues with higher roofs maybe, one amp per stack.

Just interested in your thoughts on this.

Best regards
Patrik J


Posted By: martinsson
Date Posted: 30 July 2011 at 10:37am
It almost makes me nervous to see this amount of dedication and effort being put into the building a THAM15 based design, and even if some say it is a sin I can't help but feeling a bit proud, misplaced as it may be, I really hope you will find it worth your effort, great rig design ! love them tops of yours ! thanks for sharing :)


-------------
Swedish Pro-fi diy-nerd - http://www.martinsson.cc/blog/" rel="nofollow - http://www.martinsson.cc/blog/


Posted By: nomis
Date Posted: 30 July 2011 at 12:05pm
no sin from genuine pride.thanks for the design!

-------------
all that glitters is not gold


Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 31 July 2011 at 9:48pm
hey all

Busy busy couple of days with various gigs and stuff, just finished a wee power nap to help recover although looking forward VERY much to a proper sleep tonight!  Tongue

Will be back to the build tomorrow if the weather gets better (although unfortunatly its a bit wet now and I suspect it'll carry over till tomorrow Confused) but just to answer a few points since I was last on.

Stack comes in something like 2.3m all in, top is just short of 80cm tall.  While the HF obviously isn't right up at the very top of the 2.3m its a few cm down, its still up high enough that for the type of gigs this system will be used for   (live music in anything from 100 person wee halls and pubs up to maybe 300 or 400 people or so) it should be just high enough to be getting over most people's heads (lol dont know may people 7 feet tall myself! Tongue)

I could have went slightly taller but then would have started to run into possible trouble with ceiling heights in some of the smallest venues.

For stuff bigger than this or where there is a lot of throw involved have access to a big nexo alpha system at VERY reasonable prices (Tongue) which is good to cover up to 1000 people or so and then after that I can get decent hire and crew prices for as much MICA as I could ever use!

And Martinsson don't be silly, nothing wrong at all with being proud of your work! 

k




Posted By: 4AC
Date Posted: 20 August 2011 at 9:14pm
update please?

-------------
uǝɿɿɐʌǝ6ɯo sı ʇsʞǝʇ ǝzǝp


Posted By: wafflesomd
Date Posted: 21 August 2011 at 3:49pm
Yes an update is wanted.  Really nice design.  

Currently building eight regular tham15's.  Putting them below some dynacord fx12 copies.  

Posting pics soon ; )


Posted By: idzard
Date Posted: 21 August 2011 at 4:55pm
This is a very nice stack!
Waiting for the CNC packages! Clap


Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 25 August 2011 at 9:21pm
hey

lol yeah sorry guys, been really busy with various work, held back by some crappy weather, and a hundred other distractions!

They're ticking along though and will post some proper updates soon :-)

k


Posted By: lukelucas93
Date Posted: 01 September 2011 at 11:05pm
Looking forward to see these updates !

-------------
Noodles, Cabs and Booze - Student life


Posted By: t.geessounds
Date Posted: 02 September 2011 at 3:22am
sorry for hijack this post but can the celestion frontline 2 work in the than 15???


Posted By: 38HzQ2
Date Posted: 02 September 2011 at 9:54am
sim it. all the info is there on martinsson's site.


Posted By: davey t
Date Posted: 02 September 2011 at 11:49am
How do you find the efficiency of the THAM15? I've been searching for info on this but can't find any. I tried a similar TH folding for an 18" a few years back and gave it up because it didn't give any efficiency gain over a simmilar sized reflex. Mind you I was using a driver with a low 95db efficiency to start off with. 

-------------
Minirig portable soundsystem movement


Posted By: MarjanM
Date Posted: 02 September 2011 at 12:10pm
Davey, TH does not offer a huge gain but you get lower extension over a BR box. No 15 inch can go under 40Hz with much spl in a BR box. Not many of them anyway.

-------------
Marjan Milosevic
MM-Acoustics
www.mm-acoustics.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/MM-Acoustics/608901282527713


Posted By: Tony Wilkes
Date Posted: 02 September 2011 at 1:39pm
As Marjan has said you get the gain at the bottom end. I reckon that at the low end my Tham's were producing around 5db more than the same driver in a compact reflex box (15N830v2 in 80L tuned 42hz).

We also did some tests on an 18" driver (18N850v2) in a 140 reflex tuned to 32hz and then in my version of a 18" tapped horn. Again the gain was about 5db in the 35-60hz region.

Strangely enough we also (4 listeners) thought that the tapped was punchier with more slam, this was a big surprise.

Tony


-------------
www.forteaudio.eu - BMS - db-Mark Processors - Lexon (SAE)


Posted By: jordaniel
Date Posted: 11 September 2011 at 9:14am
Hi there have you managed to get any more work done on this rig looking forward to seeing some updates !Smile


Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 11 September 2011 at 9:31am
hey

Unfortunately I've been hampered by two things, firstly a new day job that has involved a lot of planning and paperwork to get up and running and organised, and secondly the shitty scottish weather meaning that the few days that I have been free i've not been able to get out into my driveway and actually do anything Unhappy

However, the paperwork and organising is mostly done now so things should be much smoother on that front, and have also managed to borrow some indoor building space at a relatives big steelwork/workshop for a bit. So will transfer a load of stuff over there next weekend and then the following weekend when I have a long weekend off will hammer into it and hopefully get at least the subs finished and ready to paint and load up.

k


Posted By: lukelucas93
Date Posted: 30 September 2011 at 10:06am
Hi is there anymore updates this was an awesome design desperate to see more !

-------------
Noodles, Cabs and Booze - Student life


Posted By: tehnicar007
Date Posted: 11 October 2011 at 2:02pm
Originally posted by lukelucas93 lukelucas93 wrote:

Hi is there anymore updates this was an awesome design desperate to see more !


+1  Tongue


Posted By: biotec
Date Posted: 11 October 2011 at 2:12pm
Give the guy a break FFS! He's not building them for your amusement!

-------------
me so horny, me love you long throw.


Posted By: burningbush
Date Posted: 11 October 2011 at 3:04pm
LOL

-------------
music is the message


Posted By: loonie
Date Posted: 12 October 2011 at 11:08am
Can anyone point me in the direction of some plots/plans for this box?

-------------
Team DB


Posted By: wafflesomd
Date Posted: 13 October 2011 at 8:18am
http://www.martinsson.cc/blog/index.php?entry=entry090721-180410" rel="nofollow - http://www.martinsson.cc/blog/index.php?entry=entry090721-180410


Posted By: Edd Jordan
Date Posted: 13 October 2011 at 1:14pm
Hope you get some more time on this soon love the attention to detail gone into this. Clap

-------------
I do a sideline in ply wood wheels.


Posted By: dubwize
Date Posted: 11 November 2011 at 3:31am


Posted By: SamV
Date Posted: 11 November 2011 at 4:57am
Blimey Kev you still not finished? :p


Posted By: dubwize
Date Posted: 25 November 2011 at 4:10pm
any more update on this, just finished a pair....


Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 25 November 2011 at 5:36pm
hey

Apologies again everyone.

LOL life has taken a few twists and turns lately and have ended up beginning the process of buying a new house over the last month or two. As this house has been empty for 6 years it needed a lot of work and we have already started a pile of the renovations and fixing, which has taken up all my time of late so the speakers have been sadly neglected.  Its looking like this will be continuing into the beginning of the new year.

But rest assured once this is out the way and i have some free time again i fully intend to crack on with these and will make sure i keep the pics and updates going when i do Smile

k


Posted By: lgosdset
Date Posted: 25 November 2011 at 8:08pm
you complete bastard.


Posted By: lgosdset
Date Posted: 25 November 2011 at 8:09pm
forgot the scarcasm tags [scarc][/scarc]


Posted By: Wrek0ne
Date Posted: 26 November 2011 at 3:25pm
LOLLOLLOLLOLLOL
Originally posted by lgosdset lgosdset wrote:

forgot the scarcasm tags [scarc][/scarc]


-------------
Poll this!


Posted By: Abe The Babe
Date Posted: 07 December 2011 at 3:37pm
Originally posted by lgosdset lgosdset wrote:

you complete bastard.

hahaha


Posted By: max.im
Date Posted: 10 May 2012 at 9:35pm
please send drawing. pcad.lib@gmail.com


Posted By: Teunos
Date Posted: 10 May 2012 at 9:48pm
Dream onLOL


-------------
Best regards,
Teun.


Posted By: tehnicar007
Date Posted: 31 May 2012 at 10:31am
anything new ??  Smile


Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 31 May 2012 at 12:45pm
Well, I have a long weekend off this weekend with the jubilee and the plan is actually this weekend to get a whole pile of work done on these. However this is weather dependant and after our superb run of good weather while I've been stuck in my day job its much duller and cloudier, with a fair smattering of rain, over yesterday and today so i'm just hoping i don't get rained out.

In terms of the plans, obviously the THAM15 plan is already available. The top I have designed is just a basic double 12 reflex top really, but with the two drivers in a V. Once i've built it to actually check it works ok and as it should I'll be happy to release that too its not like its any ground breaking technology lol.

k



Posted By: martinsson
Date Posted: 01 June 2012 at 5:52am
Quote the plan is actually this weekend to get a whole pile of work done on these.
Let´s hope for some nice weather, and remember that with only a few exeptions nothing can be done better in a shorter amount of time, even though I guess we are all eager to see this very intresting build take of in all it's splendor.
 
Best of luck !


-------------
Swedish Pro-fi diy-nerd - http://www.martinsson.cc/blog/" rel="nofollow - http://www.martinsson.cc/blog/


Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 06 June 2012 at 9:34pm
hey all

lol just a quick pic to show that these haven't been forgotten, had a few days off over the jubilee weekend and managed to get a solid run at them for about two and a half days, so moved them on quite a bit.

The subs now are essentially built, all they need is the top lid panel screwed on and they're ready for filling/sanding/prepping/painting.





Come the beginning of next month will have another solid block of time off and after a few tests and prototypes of the 12" mid section just to satisfy my own curiosity and check something (which I'll document all on here) the tops will be built and they should be complete, painted and ready to rock by mid july latest Smile

Haha just need to save up 5 grand or so now to get the amps to go with them to really make them sing :-P

k







Posted By: MAXWELL
Date Posted: 06 June 2012 at 10:10pm
good work we wait more photos!!!


Posted By: colint
Date Posted: 06 June 2012 at 10:27pm
First time I've seen this thread and I must say it look's amazing! lovely work well done so far!Clap 

-------------
Never criticise another man until you've walked a mile in his shoes. Once you have, call him what you like, you're a mile away and you've got his shoes!


Posted By: Edd Jordan
Date Posted: 06 June 2012 at 10:49pm
Excellent thort this had been moth balled. looking great.
 


-------------
I do a sideline in ply wood wheels.


Posted By: kevin tyler
Date Posted: 07 June 2012 at 6:33pm
well done

Smile


Posted By: Joe Grime
Date Posted: 08 June 2012 at 10:11am
Have a look at the cone correction discussions on diy audio. May be a worthwhile improvement.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/subwoofers/190635-th-18-flat-35hz-xoc1s-design-58.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/subwoofers/190635-th-18-flat-35hz-xoc1s-design-58.html
 
Edit ref post #572


Posted By: Tony Wilkes
Date Posted: 08 June 2012 at 10:53am
Originally posted by Joe Grime Joe Grime wrote:

Have a look at the cone correction discussions on diy audio. May be a worthwhile improvement.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/subwoofers/190635-th-18-flat-35hz-xoc1s-design-58.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/subwoofers/190635-th-18-flat-35hz-xoc1s-design-58.html
 
Edit ref post #572


Bear in mind that if you try this mod that you have to be careful with drivers as it does increase the stress on the cone.

Tony.

p.s. Have a look at the handle position in my own TH12 :) and the later THAM15's I have done.


-------------
www.forteaudio.eu - BMS - db-Mark Processors - Lexon (SAE)


Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 27 July 2012 at 6:25pm
just a quick update

After bloody weeks of rain, the sun has finally came out!!!  Smile   I was away travelling with some family the last few days, but finally got another build day today and got the lids on the subs, completing them!

Assuming the rain stays off, will fill the screw holes tomorrow morning and then the afternoon will be spent testing the various mid sections that will make up the top cab and make a decision on what one I'll use (see other thread).


more pics and stuff soon Smile

k


Posted By: martinsson
Date Posted: 17 August 2012 at 3:11pm
If you listen carefully Kevin, you might just hear some faint screams from the far northeast cheering you on and cursing the rain :) these might very well be some of the coolest THAMM15's yet on the planet *no pressure* :)

I hope that they met with your expectations and that no pictures including chainsaws and fire are comming my way :)

All the best and good luck, thanks for sharing your project, it means alot to me.


-------------
Swedish Pro-fi diy-nerd - http://www.martinsson.cc/blog/" rel="nofollow - http://www.martinsson.cc/blog/


Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 17 August 2012 at 4:17pm
hey

haha thank you. Yeah these are progressing well, even though I haven't got any pics up.   The THAM15's are all built and screwholes filled, and the new tops (basically slightly modified SMT's) are away getting CNC'd just now.

Once they're back and screwed together the whole lot will get sanded and painted.

There's also a smaller system getting CNC'd just now as well that has 12" tapped horns and double 8" tops, all with the same style handle design so the whole lot will look part of a set.


(then following that some 12" coax wedges, kind of similar to a microwedge but again with the same handle design, something that's been in my head for a few years now Smile)


k


Posted By: supremesoundz
Date Posted: 17 August 2012 at 4:22pm
love to see the pics of these Thumbs Up. In the process of finishing a pair of Tham15s, still deciding on handle placement. 


Posted By: MagicJohansson
Date Posted: 06 September 2012 at 9:46am

Deleting double post Angry



Posted By: MagicJohansson
Date Posted: 06 September 2012 at 9:49am

Originally posted by supremesoundz supremesoundz wrote:

love to see the pics of these Thumbs Up. In the process of finishing a pair of Tham15s, still deciding on handle placement. 

Not bragging or anything but this placement has been working very well for us










Posted By: kevin tyler
Date Posted: 06 September 2012 at 10:31am
good jobSmile


Posted By: Max_SPL
Date Posted: 09 September 2012 at 7:35am
Hi Kevin

Fantastic build, love the quality of the work and attention to detail, nice to see some one treating wood with respect

Looking forward to seeing the finished pics

Cheers Shaun


Posted By: tehnicar007
Date Posted: 17 June 2013 at 2:08pm
bump...


Posted By: Adam_Iron_Horse
Date Posted: 17 June 2013 at 5:28pm
Hey kevin, when these are finished and you have them out in glasgow give us a shout well interested to hear and see these!


Posted By: 4AC
Date Posted: 26 July 2013 at 1:52pm
Still very interested in these... Smile


-------------
uǝɿɿɐʌǝ6ɯo sı ʇsʞǝʇ ǝzǝp


Posted By: tehnicar007
Date Posted: 23 October 2013 at 10:46am
Originally posted by 4AC 4AC wrote:

Still very interested in these... Smile

Thumbs Up


Posted By: craig582
Date Posted: 10 November 2013 at 6:48pm
any update? very intrigued to see what it looks and sounds like once done :)



Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 10 November 2013 at 6:58pm
hey

these are still in the works Smile

I was renovating a new house for myself for a while, and then unfortunately had some close family pass away earlier this year and so while I've still been doing lots of gigs and music work with the gear I had, speaker building and in particular this new system has been on the back burner.

It's annoyingly close too! The subs have all been built for a while, and I worked with Tim from secrets of sound on getting him to CNC the tops which ended up being fairly different from what I originally posted. They're kind of Stapier's SMT design on steroids now: as I am using the BMS coax driver for the top end, I didn't need the double 12" section to play very high to meet it, so keeping the baffle the same size and position, I extended the waveguide/horn a little going forward from it, and I extended backwards a little enlarging the rear chamber a bit to hopefully push the range down and get maybe 10 or 20Hz more usable low end out of them, maybe a db or 2 more of sensitivity as well. Will know for definite once I get the drivers in and get them measured Smile

Again they're all built and finished and really the whole lot just needs a big final sanding and then painted. However with the winter months coming and the temperature being so low, unless some kind fellow around my way can offer me a warmed indoor painting booth I'll now need to hold off until into next year when the weather is a little warmer again so the paint will go on properly.

k






Posted By: Gfoster
Date Posted: 05 March 2014 at 8:56pm
Hi, I know this is bringing an old build back, but any news with it and pictures?


Posted By: volcano
Date Posted: 30 July 2014 at 1:09pm
Thumbs Up


Posted By: Shortrope
Date Posted: 30 July 2014 at 1:36pm
Yeah...love to hear more about those Tops!!

-------------
My Tinnitus is coming along nicely!!


Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 06 November 2014 at 11:44am
hey all

Adding to the rather cheery mood on the forum with the scoop post not going off the rails, and Rog being back and the success of the new Void stuff at the Culture clash, just a wee sneak preview of my own things....

After a LONG time on the back burner as I've been ridiculously busy, over the past few weeks I've been able to get my head back into finishing this system.

Should be finished the painting by the end of next week hopefully, and between now and Christmas will load them up and get grills and things all sorted for them, and be able to FINALLY make some noise with them and test them.

You can also see there is the tops from a smaller system there as well, which is a double 8" +1" and 12" tapped horn subs to go with them.

Watch this space......
















Posted By: all bass
Date Posted: 06 November 2014 at 11:48am
Been following this thread for 3 years now. Good to see some progress!

Can't wait to see the complete thing.

-------------
https://www.instagram.com/my_modular_journey/


Posted By: THECANDLEMAN
Date Posted: 06 November 2014 at 12:16pm
any time your gonna take it out or test it Id love to hear them



-------------
Motion Systems - Void Airmotion, Airten & Stasys 218 With Powersoft DSP


Posted By: martinsson
Date Posted: 06 November 2014 at 12:39pm

Remember - nothing can be done better in a shorter amount of time (braintransplant excluded maybe) thanks for sharing the progress, these cliffhangers are killing me though :)

In some ways this build thread is like a great soapopera, 3 years running and it just keeps getting better and better.
 
Although in this case the chance that the background main charachter's long lost dead half grandfather/cousin shows up at a boardmeeting as a younger version of the cloned twin cuplrit's motherinlaw's stepsister to claim the burned down wineyard/oilemporium is somewhat reduced.

I'm off to shave the popcorns and resume the viewing, this is going to be great!


-------------
Swedish Pro-fi diy-nerd - http://www.martinsson.cc/blog/" rel="nofollow - http://www.martinsson.cc/blog/


Posted By: Mark James
Date Posted: 10 November 2014 at 7:43pm
Originally posted by martinsson martinsson wrote:

Remember - nothing can be done better in a shorter amount of time (braintransplant excluded maybe) thanks for sharing the progress, these cliffhangers are killing me though :)

In some ways this build thread is like a great soapopera, 3 years running and it just keeps getting better and better.
 
Although in this case the chance that the background main charachter's long lost dead half grandfather/cousin shows up at a boardmeeting as a younger version of the cloned twin cuplrit's motherinlaw's stepsister to claim the burned down wineyard/oilemporium is somewhat reduced.

I'm off to shave the popcorns and resume the viewing, this is going to be great!

ClapLOLBig smile well done that was funny as something very funny and also thanks again for your input into the world of tapped horn knowledge its very much apreciated by people like me Star




-------------
me so horny me love you long throw
horn loaded for her pleasure


Posted By: 4AC
Date Posted: 03 February 2015 at 1:18pm
Any updates? Smile

Just being curious...


-------------
uǝɿɿɐʌǝ6ɯo sı ʇsʞǝʇ ǝzǝp


Posted By: luthier
Date Posted: 03 February 2015 at 8:34pm
Also interested ?


Posted By: kevin tyler
Date Posted: 03 February 2015 at 9:07pm
What's going to be ready first

These cabs or the berry x16 ahem 18 ahem x12, ahem x touch.



Posted By: kevinmcdonough
Date Posted: 04 February 2015 at 7:23pm
hey

As it happens yes, there's been a little progress and I was just getting ready to make a post here when you guys beat me to it!   In fact, they've been spotted out in the wild! (the subs at least)....



Not the best picture I know, it was all a little last minute!



While I'm happy to report these have made actual noise (and great noise at that) its also with a touch of a heavy heart that I make this post.  Right from the start this system was worked on a huge amount by Tony Wilkes as well as myself. From loads of emails back and fourth discussing different design ideas, him supplying all the drivers, to almost CNCing all the wood as well until a shoulder injury stopped him being able to lug sheets of ply around he was desperate to hear this fully running once it was all done, and it'll always be a touch disappointing to me that he never got to.


Anyway, so I've been working on these over christmas and january, few hours here and there whenever I've had time, but haven't been in any particular rush and between my day job and sound work at the weekends haven't had masses of time to put towards it.

However at the last minute a friend called and explained he had a retirement party for his father in law and had 3 bands playing, said father in law being the keys player of two. The PA they had hired had let them down at the last minute and could I help.

Normally this'd be no problem, I have a friendly sound company I do a lot of work for and we borrow stuff from each other all the time, they're fine with me grabbing PA off them for odd gigs and things when I need it. But by chance they had a whole pile of stuff on and pretty much everything they had was out, 7 gigs in one night ranging from a few small burns supper nights to 3 full on 2K+ gigs, all they had was one box of MB4 wedges and the matching amp rack.

The THAM15 based subs were closest to being finished, I'd dry fitted a few drivers to make sure it all went OK, connection panels were installed and all they really needed was the grills and they were about done (which Markie supplied with his usual speed and great service! Appreciated mate). 

Tops needed a little more tweeking and also really needed the dedicated controller and amp rack that will be on its way soon so they weren't really an option, but promised my friend that I could manage the subs and amp to power them, the monitors from my friends, my Pro 1 desk and all the wires/accesories/mics etc, all they had to do was source a couple of tops from one of the bands and we'd be all good. They also say that they'll bring two more powered wedges as one of the bands needs 6 mixes.

Set up on the day and the powered wedges that the band bring are two of the peavy boxes you can see in the picture, pretty old and beaten up and not great quality but its only for them to hear themselves so not massivly fussed. However the tops they bring, while being Logic, are also pretty small and weedy and not ideal, so we make a change and two of the much better MB4 wedges become the tops, and the logic speakers replace them as wedges.

With no chance to test the subs properly, other than a very quick plug in at the lock up that morning to make sure noise was coming out, I just guessed at the crossover settings based on what other people have spoken about on here.  24db highpass at 37Hz and a fairly wide 3db boost at 42Hz just to bring up the bottom end a touch (which I ended up reducing to 1db as they didn't need it for this application), then low passed at 102Hz over to the 15" MB4s.

Straight out of the box the whole thing sounded fantastic and other than the settings already programmed into the wedges-come-tops there was no other processing or EQ needed to get a great sound.

With no pole mount the tops were obviously a little low and not positioned great, and the whole thing was a bit rushed, for example most of that mess of cables was run by well wishing members of the bands I'm normally much more of a nazi about it being all neat and straight etc (this was during the day at soundcheck, they were tidied a bit more for the actual gig at night lol!)  but all in all was a great surprise first test.

While sound level wasn't silly loud and nothing was being pushed particularly so as not to cause too many problems with the bar below the hall (who already called up to complain during soundcheck about the noise! Wink) the few times towards the end where I did give the kick drum a push just to see what would happen I got a great, satisfying little thump.

However while it wasn't an ideal set up at all it more than done the job for the night, and all I got was complements from both the band and audience on how good everything sounded.


Over this month will get the tops loaded and also put together the other smaller brother to the system, subs based somewhere between the THAM12 and Tony's FTH12 (with the same handle styling as these ones) and double 8" tops to go with them, and then start to get some proper pictures and a chance to measure and set it all up properly.


Will keep everyone posted WinkSmile


k


























Posted By: burningbush
Date Posted: 05 February 2015 at 1:34pm
Nice one Kevin, thanks for posting it has been an interesting thread.  Not all of us are doing 30K+ dance music gigs.


-------------
music is the message


Posted By: Smifis
Date Posted: 28 July 2015 at 12:35am
Hey is there any update on this?

It looks amazing, I might have a build some myself


Posted By: bass*en*mass
Date Posted: 14 September 2015 at 6:40pm
hmm, tapped Horn vs. ported FLH - whats the pros and cons at the end?





Posted By: _djk_
Date Posted: 14 September 2015 at 11:36pm
The ported FLH will have more cone excursion in the bottom octave, but better HF bandwidth.
 
Look at the Keystone from Art Welter for something better.


-------------
djk


Posted By: bass*en*mass
Date Posted: 15 September 2015 at 9:48am
looking for a universal bass cab 45-150, highly efficient, ideally to suit 15pzb40s i have in Limmer215 horns now. Singles should be handable alone so 45kg loaded max, roughly 60x60x60cm.

Options so far:
BPH - with all its downsides for my taste
FLH - best transient response, hard to reach desired f3 within small package
ported FLH - seems a good compromise
tapped horn - not sure it sounds "tight" enough for my liking


Posted By: all bass
Date Posted: 15 September 2015 at 12:14pm
Originally posted by bass*en*mass bass*en*mass wrote:

looking for a universal bass cab 45-150, highly efficient, ideally to suit 15pzb40s i have in Limmer215 horns now. Singles should be handable alone so 45kg loaded max, roughly 60x60x60cm.

Options so far:
BPH - with all its downsides for my taste
FLH - best transient response, hard to reach desired f3 within small package
ported FLH - seems a good compromise
tapped horn - not sure it sounds "tight" enough for my liking
Does it need to be a horn? Have you considered PPSL bass reflex. You could do something with barn doors, making the ppsl cavity the first section of the horn, if you need the extra SPL.


-------------
https://www.instagram.com/my_modular_journey/


Posted By: bass*en*mass
Date Posted: 15 September 2015 at 12:30pm
Not sure PPSL would suit the needs soundwise, propably too hifi?
+ its quite big, heavy, no directivity - good for small systems but not really ideal for free scalability imo.. rather have 16 small`ish singles for different tasks than 8 doubles ;)

Whats peoples opinions on small tapped horns like the Tham, compared to similar sized cabs of different techniques?


Posted By: bcs
Date Posted: 15 September 2015 at 3:10pm
Some people on here thinks its a waste of time building more than 4 tham15 but i think its a fantastic cab in terms of size/portability and sound quality. i personally have 8 that i use from just 1 to all 8 if needed and it works for me. much more efficient to a bass reflex of similar size

Yes, it does need a premium driver to get the best out of it as alot of people here think its a dissadvantage from a price point but show me a decent brand of cabs that uses cheap speakers and then i will accept it as a dissadvantage. Im sure the likes of ASS, MM Acoustics , Tony Wilkes even Bee's cabs on here uses premium drivers.  

Mike


Posted By: MarjanM
Date Posted: 15 September 2015 at 5:16pm
If you aim for premium performance, then no other way then using premium components.
Now about the Tham15. It will have advantage over a reflex cab using the same driver, and it will go bit lower then a ported horn. The driver in question is far from premium but since i have heard how Kapp15LF2 works in the Tham i think your driver will do good.
So for me that is a good choice.


-------------
Marjan Milosevic
MM-Acoustics
www.mm-acoustics.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/MM-Acoustics/608901282527713



Print Page | Close Window

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.06 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Copyright ©2001-2023 Web Wiz Ltd. - https://www.webwiz.net