TLAH Pro - CNC Build
Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:55 am
I've decided to build a pair of TLAH pros, each cabinet comprised of a multi-element single mouth piezo horn along with 8 Eminence Alpha 8a drivers. I've seen a few TLAH build logs out there, some with 6 pro audio drivers per cabinet and others with 8+ woofers per cabinet but without using pro audio drivers. I have yet to see an official build of the TLAH pro using the recommended quantity and model drivers in the plans.... so my curiosity has gotten the best of me and I'm giving it a go.
After some shipping snafu, UPS arrived yesterday with a package from the Eminence factory. Thanks to Leland Crooks (http://www.speakerhardware.com/ and Greg Plouvier (http://www.magnumcaseworks.com/), I was able to get just what I needed at a price and service level Parts Express can't match.
I was hoping the purple hue I had seen in pictures of the alpha 8a was due to poor photography, but not the case. I guess I'll be more in touch with my feminine side throughought this build:
This build is so simple I could probably complete it with a rusty hack saw and a broken tape measure; however, I'll be doing the cutting with a CNC router. Far from necessary but where I'll be the one running it I don't have to pay someone else to do it... and I won't complain about the extra precision. On a side note, I'm in the process of building a CNC router to assist in all my DIY projects. The difficultly level of building one of these is a lot less complex than one would think.
Here's my layout, with a few extras of certain pieces to use up some space on the 4x8 sheets:
So, on to the questions. I think I'll highlight my questions in red throughout this thread so they stand apart from the log. As per the plans, "some mid-basses don’t take well to front mounting, and will benefit from a quarter rounded hole when rear mounted." How do I know before finishing my baffle whether the alpha 8a would work better for rear or front mounting? If I wind up doing them front mounted, is there any reason flush (or semi-flush) mounting would cause any problems? I can't say that I completely understand baffle-step compensation yet. I think I'll flush mount the piezo array also, for aesthetics unless someone else recommends otherwise. Here's a side-view of the alpha 8a:
I'm thinking of doing the multi-element single mouth piezo horn using 16 total piezos per cab, which gives a finished length of ~61" for the horn. Would it be beneficial to install a switch that would remove 8 tweeters (4 from each end) from the array in order to give better vertical dispersion in situations where I need it? I'm also considering installing an L-pad so I can attenuate the tweeters if necessary without having to use EQ.
I appreciate the wealth of knowledge here on this forum, contributed by Bill and all of the members here. I'm looking forward to some good feedback along the way.
After some shipping snafu, UPS arrived yesterday with a package from the Eminence factory. Thanks to Leland Crooks (http://www.speakerhardware.com/ and Greg Plouvier (http://www.magnumcaseworks.com/), I was able to get just what I needed at a price and service level Parts Express can't match.
I was hoping the purple hue I had seen in pictures of the alpha 8a was due to poor photography, but not the case. I guess I'll be more in touch with my feminine side throughought this build:
This build is so simple I could probably complete it with a rusty hack saw and a broken tape measure; however, I'll be doing the cutting with a CNC router. Far from necessary but where I'll be the one running it I don't have to pay someone else to do it... and I won't complain about the extra precision. On a side note, I'm in the process of building a CNC router to assist in all my DIY projects. The difficultly level of building one of these is a lot less complex than one would think.
Here's my layout, with a few extras of certain pieces to use up some space on the 4x8 sheets:
So, on to the questions. I think I'll highlight my questions in red throughout this thread so they stand apart from the log. As per the plans, "some mid-basses don’t take well to front mounting, and will benefit from a quarter rounded hole when rear mounted." How do I know before finishing my baffle whether the alpha 8a would work better for rear or front mounting? If I wind up doing them front mounted, is there any reason flush (or semi-flush) mounting would cause any problems? I can't say that I completely understand baffle-step compensation yet. I think I'll flush mount the piezo array also, for aesthetics unless someone else recommends otherwise. Here's a side-view of the alpha 8a:
I'm thinking of doing the multi-element single mouth piezo horn using 16 total piezos per cab, which gives a finished length of ~61" for the horn. Would it be beneficial to install a switch that would remove 8 tweeters (4 from each end) from the array in order to give better vertical dispersion in situations where I need it? I'm also considering installing an L-pad so I can attenuate the tweeters if necessary without having to use EQ.
I appreciate the wealth of knowledge here on this forum, contributed by Bill and all of the members here. I'm looking forward to some good feedback along the way.
