Dipolar rear surround speaker

[Owen Bartley]

Construction has finally begun on my dipolar RSS. I am building the one from the Loudspeaker Design Cookbook in the provided system designs, and it will be the only rear surround in my 6.1 setup.

Merry Christmas (eve)! I got started this evening and made some dust, cutting out all the panels for this project. It was a bit of a pain to get the angled front baffle measured properly and cut to fit, but it turned out pretty well in the end. My father was good enough to help me out and it was nice to have an extra pair of hands, not to mention a lot more experience in the woodshop.

We started cutting the easy panels, and then decided to use the trusty pocket hole jig to assemble the top, bottom, and back in order to measure, mark, and test fit the angled baffle pieces. Once we got it all together I realized I goofed in my calculations and made the box a bit deeper than it was supposed to be, but a little extra internal volume can't be too bad a thing, and it gives me more room to mount the crossovers.

Next phase will be cutting all the required holes and assembling the crossovers. A note about that: I have NO idea how to actually physically hook up the crossovers! By looking at the diagram (attached), I think I'll be able to figure it out, but I'll probably post pics before final assembly. What type of wire should I be using for connections with this? Stranded or solid? What gauge?

I'll get to the next bit after Boxing Day I think, since I'd like to have this puppy up and running in the new year. Hope everyone has a great holiday, and I'll be back with updates soon!

p.s. These were taken with a camera phone since my regular digital had no batteries. I'll do better next round.

[Sonnie]

Very interesting... nice work too...

[F1 fan]

Looking good so far Owen Using the pocket srews was a great idea.

As far as wire you don't need anything fancy ,either solid core or multistrand is fine as long as it is at least 18guage. I usually use inexpensive 16 guage oxogen free speaker wire to hook up drivers to the crossover and input connectors.
If you have any questions about crossover wiring let us know.

[Owen Bartley]

Made a little progress today and got the crossovers mocked up... but here is where I need some serious help.

1) Do inductors have an "in" and an "out"? I guess in other words, are they directional, or does it not matter how I have them hooked up?

2) I'm hoping that someone can tell me from the pics attached how exactly to connect these things. I have the layout ok, but I have no clue how to make the actual connections. (OK I have some clue but I'd rather do it right the first time). If someone could MS Paint me some lines showing where to connect the wires, input cup, and speakers on the 3rd diagram showing both crossovers I would be very grateful.

I have attached pics showing the front and back of each crossover, as well as one with the front of both crossovers together (they're a bit dark, but should be viewable). You can refer to the schematic and layout diagrams up in the first post at the top of the page.

[F1 fan]

All your components are non polarized including the inductors so they can be hooked up either way.Just be sure that you remove some of the coating at each end of the coils or you won't be able to solder them.Scrape it off with a knife or use sandpaper.I dont think I have Ms paint so I can't draw you lines but if just connect each component as in the schematic you should be OK .I will take another close look at the pics.

[F1 fan]

Ok I guess I do have Ms paint now I just have figure out how to use it.

[F1 fan]

Sorry its a bit sloppy but it might help.

[Owen Bartley]

Fred, that's awesome, thank you! I'll get soldering tomorrow.

[F1 fan]

Your welcome.

[Sonnie]

Excellent illustration Fred...