rockbobmel Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 I was feeling around inside my RF-7s for the foam placement, and while they were running, I felt the sides of the cabinet vibrate with the bass. Shouldn't they be braced more? Can you put some hardwood pieces across the internal sides and glue them in? Would this affect the internal volume much? Would it put too much side pressure and fracture the seams? Thoughts Please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBK Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 You could, but that could also effect the cabinet design - although, done properly, it should have marginal effect. Klipsch does claim these to have internal braces already. Perhaps one of the Klipsch engineers can comment. too bad the cabinet blue prints aren't available..... Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockbobmel Posted December 8, 2005 Author Share Posted December 8, 2005 Mark, I tapped on the sides of the box from top to bottom. It sounds a little more solid up by the top woofer and there may be a cross brace there, but it surely sounds more hollow and resonant everywhere else. I just wonder because there is so much hoopla about having MDF for it's neutral and non-resonant properties and structurally rigid. That internal bracing is so important to deaden the cabinet (B&W for instance). It's the same discussion with bass instrument cabinets. Makes me wonder. I just bought a 2-15 Fender plywood in the paper for $50. One speaker buzzed so I asked on the bass forum: "What do people think about these Celestion 15s that were for sale on ebay?" I got all kinds of replies about T/S parameters and such. It is the typical Engineers approach. The cab cost me $50.! I'm not gonna spend $400. on Kappa Pro drivers. I get the Celestions and put them in. It sounds incredible!! (I play 5 string) Prolly better than my 8-10 Ampeg or Mesa Powerhouse 1000 that are braced like crazy. My point is: How much credence should I put on these engineering approaches. They are prolly very important, but I don't seem to be able to put a handle on it. I hope this makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAS Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 Are you asking if the TS parameters are important when designing a driver enclosure? If so, then.......well that depends. TS parameters are as important to designing an enclosure as designing an engine for a car. Sure, you can put a 2.2 liter Dodge Omni engine in a Ford F150 and possibly make it work. But at what cost? Does it meet the trucks requirements for horsepower? displacement? torque? longevity? 4WD capability? environmentality? Similarly will the enclosure create a response for the driver that is flat? efficient? loud? deep? power capable? It may work. And if you didn't have any pre-conceived notions of how it should work then it may perform great according to your expectations. You may even get lucky (in my younger years I dropped a couple monster subs in a prebuilt enclosure I constructed years before and got so close to the optimal cabinet environment that it was scary). But if you really want it to perform the way it was meant to then you need to design the engine specifically for the car and the enclosure for the driver (or sometimes the other way around depending on your purpose and resources About the RF-7 bracing, I don't think I would mess with the design but it's up to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InFlux Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 The simple answer is: Do you like the way they sound now? The long answer is: When you listen to your speaker, you are experiencing how several factors combine to form sound. You have the characteristics of the drivers, the characteristics of the cross-over, and the mechanical properties of the enclosure. What you hear is how that little system interacts with your electronics and your rooms acoustical properties and your brain. Cabinet vibration represents some level of energy lost through vibration of the cabinet rather than moving air through the ports & with the driver. Short of building a slightly larger box with more bracing (too keep internal box volume and proportions correct - as just mentioned) or short of doubling up the MDF on the outside (the RF7's are heavy enough already) - anything else is probably not worth the effort. You will most likely be better served by focusing on factors you can significantly impact - such as the acoustics of the room and proper system calibration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkBK Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 rockbobmel, Remember the cabinet is essentially a "tuned" box - it's hollow and with the ports will have at least some small resonance when tapped - kind of like a drum - the key is how it was engineered by Klipsch in the first place. You bass guitar cab expereince may sound more pleasant to your ear, but may not match the engineering spec for the cab as originally designed. This touches on different topic as to what the ear perceives as pleasant versus the cabinet specs. As mentioned by others, if it sounds good - just enjoy and don't worry about the bracing. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockbobmel Posted December 8, 2005 Author Share Posted December 8, 2005 Thanks Guys, very informative and direct. The reason I asked was, I have a dip in about 125HZ region that is right in my sweetspot. I ordered some LENRD clones from ebay 8 for $69.00. The Auralex brand is much higher priced. If they do the trick, I may buy more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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