New member with no technical background

[winterfell]

Greetings people - About 7 years ago I posted a question on Talkbass and received a nice reply from Bill F. Slow forward to now and I find myself interested in this site. I know nothing really about crossovers and tweeter arrrays. However, I am intrigued with the notion of carefully building excellent speaker enclosures for a variety of applications. For starters, I am unsure about what speaker design is best for my PA needs. Secondly, I have a 1970's vintage 15" speaker identified as a Gauss. I wonder if one of the BFM enclosures might make this a sweet sounding bass cabinet? Thanks for any and all responses.

[DJPhatman]

Well, first off, welcome to the forum!

For starters, I am unsure about what speaker design is best for my PA needs.

What do you plan to use the PA for? Be as detailed as possible.

Secondly, I have a 1970's vintage 15" speaker identified as a Gauss. I wonder if one of the BFM enclosures might make this a sweet sounding bass cabinet?

Without proper Thiele/Small parameters, there is no way to tell. But, Bill's plans are laid out for even the most novice person to successfully build a cabinet, including a list of recommended drivers and required T/S parameters.

[Grant Bunter]

Well, first off, welcome to the forum!

For starters, I am unsure about what speaker design is best for my PA needs.

What do you plan to use the PA for? Be as detailed as possible.

Yes indeed,
Welcome to the forum

Details should include, but not limited to;
Inside/Outside
Room sizes and or audience counts.
Available pack space.
Genres played. +/- Live Vs recorded music...

[winterfell]

Well, first off, welcome to the forum!

For starters, I am unsure about what speaker design is best for my PA needs.

What do you plan to use the PA for? Be as detailed as possible.

Secondly, I have a 1970's vintage 15" speaker identified as a Gauss. I wonder if one of the BFM enclosures might make this a sweet sounding bass cabinet?

Without proper Thiele/Small parameters, there is no way to tell. But, Bill's plans are laid out for even the most novice person to successfully build a cabinet, including a list of recommended drivers and required T/S parameters.

The PA will get mostly studio usage (20' x 20' space) and also drive the sound system in my 30 x 40 'shop'. Light weight would be nice. Group Musicians are keyboards, 1-2 guitars, 1-2 vocals, electric or upright bass. Small venues including the occassional outdoor patio gig playing music from Grateful Dead to Weather Report. Hope that helps?

As far as the Gauss goes, the speaker(Fender) was an orange basketed 15" apparently made by an ex-JBL employee. This was the conclusion by Bill and a fellow from the UK. They both agreed this speaker 'did its business' very efficiently. Don't know what t/s parameters mean or whether that can be determined. Would this be a possibilty for a folded horn cab? However, I have no interest of throwing good money after bad and have no problem purchasing modern driver.

Thanks !

[Grant Bunter]

Don't know what t/s parameters mean or whether that can be determined.

TS parameters changed speaker cabinet design.
Here's an explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiele/Small

Here's one way to determine TS parameters:
http://www.webervst.com/spkrcalc/para.htm

Without TS parameters, it not possible to give you any suggestions for cabs here designed by Bill, as these parameters are essential...