2sparrowlegs

[2sparrowlegs]

If you could draw your inner mindset... this would be mine! #lostinthought #abstract_art #geometricart #shitstorm #redblueandgreen #artandsoul #randomaccessmemories #orderinchaos https://www.instagram.com/p/BpKt2yNgoGW/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=v57v3sd8vv0y

[2sparrowlegs]

NEW DESIGN

This was a omnidirectional tesla looking speaker I built, though there is not relationship to the mechanics of a tesla plasma speaker, it worked. 

However, I used the “it worked” & “was” due to the fact I dropped it! 

This is the first glimpse of my Sparrowlegs Speaker Design Tesla prototype, and I have been hiding it from my Facebook Page as well as various groups on the web - Avoiding the question of how it works!!!

[2sparrowlegs]

Email is not dead!

I never explained the story of how I laid my hands on a free miniDSP 2x4HD and a UMIK mic… Well it was quite simple really. I emailed them and asked for one.

OK I admit it wasn’t that simple, but it’s not far from the truth. I’ll explain.

Though I’m barely able to sting a sentence together, be it due to dyslexia, crap education in England in the late 80′s/early 90′s or I just don’t notice my mistakes. This hasn’t stopped me emailing random people or organisation asking for help, advise or sponsorship. 

I try to be as honest as possible, stating who I am, what I’m after and most importantly, what it is I want from them. The latter usually required some form of leverage if you are after something, IE give and take.

I’ve been sending random emails out every morning for nearly two years now, though they’re rarely fruitful, on occasions you hit jackpot. My success have included making friends with the “godfather of stencil art”, miniDSP sponsoring me some vital equipment for testing my pet speaker project and a Tête à Tête with a leading loud-speaker manufacture CEO.

No matter what the media want to shove down your throat about how bad the world is, or ignoring the fact that most social media platforms look to be nothing more than data harvesting portals; receiving a response from an email you’ve sent does restore faith in humanity.

miniDSP sponsored me equipment they produce for free, however prior to the initial email I sent, I did build something which was a little out of the ordinary; my omnidirectional speaker. I knew this was a head turner with posting on Facebook and noticing the number of views as well as the engagement rate! 

This was my “leverage” and on this occasion I think both parties got something in equal measures - Feeling they have helped one another! 

[2sparrowlegs]

What is an Omni-Directional Speaker & why is Sparrowlegs doing DIY builds?

Omnidirectional speakers use a method of dispersing sound energy in a 360 degree spray, allowing the sound energy to be uniform with its environment.

Unlike a conventional cone driver the reflections from the sidewalls will be identical to the signal that’s reaching you directly.

However their are many forms of omnidirectional setups, But my interested is the truest one of all. One which uses a spherical diaphragm that radiates sound vertically. By its design compared with the standard speaker, it changes the vectors of the frequency wave launch by 90 degrees.

The voice-coil is mounted at the bottom and when a signal is applied, it bends the segments, producing omnidirectional sound. 

Why I am building them? Because it’s addictive! Making a speaker enclosure is not making a speaker, rather, it is matching a speaker drive to an enclosure to hopefully produce a harmonious union of the two. Though this is a complex matter, there is nothing quiet like saying I built that - “FROM SCRATCH!”

I will admit, there are many flaws with this design, namely being inefficient, but all is forgiven, having sound radiating in 360 degree is a truly wonderful experience! 

[2sparrowlegs]

My custom homemade Omni-Directional speaker - Working! This is what Sparrowlegs Speaker Design has been up to in the recent months.

I’m Titling it - Industrial style changing the shape of home audio reproduction.

Anyone want one?

[2sparrowlegs]

DIY custom made HiFi Audio Speakers - Omni-Directional - Sparrowlegs Speaker Design.

“Industrial style changing the shape of home audio reproduction.”    

[2sparrowlegs]

Spiral speaker enclosure to Omni-Directional driver - Why?

For those who have never seen my work or my FB timeline - www.facebook.com/SparrowLegsSpeakerDesign/, initially I wanted to build the best audio speakers on a budget. Starting off the first construction was a sealed spiral speaker enclosure. Logarithmic, similar in shape to Bower & Wilkins “Nautilus” - Design by Laurence Dickie.

Why a spiral? Three reasons:

 To test my cabinet making skills

The cabinet becomes a sealed infinite baffle in design, IE it absorbs the speaker drivers rear waves

It looks cool - “Your ears have eyes!”

Moving on to Omni-Directional speakers, this transition evolved simply due to the potential problems an enclosure can produce. Get rid of the enclosure and there’s one less link in the chain. 

Open baffle speaker design has no enclosure, but this doesn’t fit in with SparrowLegsSpeakerDesign’s mantra - “ anything with a sharp edge wasn’t conducive to sound reproduction”. 

Omni-Directional speakers was the alternative. (Especially with the tools and materials available).

[2sparrowlegs]

Sparrow Legs Renovations explains how to cut roofing rafters and use the right tools.

[2sparrowlegs]

Why bing a smart ass is a pain in the backside!

It's all well and good earning your keep in exchange for accommodation, but we all do need beer money!

I have been lucky enough to find work here in Central Brittany. Another bathroom renovation/new build which seems to be the theme of late.

Ten day in and the first challenge arrived -

Add to the mix:

Wet room pre-formed shower tray. (1000mm x1600mm)

150mm x 600mm Tile

Main floor to be tiled in the herringbone pattern.

Result:

Smart ass builder who suggested to continue the theme into the shower floor area!

All in all I am pleased with the result so far... But Brain, no more smart ideas!

[2sparrowlegs]

It's been many years since I was in school, (Yes, my skin lies, I understand you wouldn't believe that I'm a day over 16!).

Anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to do a bit of refresh reading, regarding sound and the physics associated. 

I now feel 16, looking to do anything but read this....

[2sparrowlegs]

Sparrow Legs Speaker Design

[2sparrowlegs]

Letter to Martin King.

For  those of you know are interested in custom speakers/audio equipment. Martin King is the Man to know.

It was nice to receive a message from him asking what's going on with my speaker design.

This was my response - 

Hi Martin, thank you for your note. As you are aware, I have not been on the forums recently. This has been due to my personal life getting in the way, having a young family, and a wife who wants us to find a new home so that the girls had somewhere nice to live in their childhood.

As such I have relocated to a new area of France and in the process of looking for a home purchase, thus this is why I have gone silence on the Internet.

As you can imagine when looking for someone to buy I also have to look somewhere to work. Looking for work in a new region, in a foreign country takes up a lot of time as well.

In the New Year I am looking to restart the speaker project as by then we should have purchased new home and settled in to the new routine.

With regards to speak project this became very interesting at the latter stages before I had to shelve it. I had started to use solid work to simulate the fluid dynamics within the chamber of the speaker cabinets.

As much as I should follow standards regarding building custom speakers, this doesn't match my personality. I would rather make something different, thinking outside the box (no pun intended), experiment and learn from my mistakes as this will help me understand the dynamics and construction.

With solid Works I was investigating in the speaker design from a fluid dynamics point of view instead of relying on QT's parameters. What I became very interested in was airflow and the effects of creating Chambers which changes the tone of the sound produced.

Because my original design was a logarithmic spiral, this essentially gave me a platform to which I could play with and create one or more throat like chambers within the spiral to change the resonance as the air flows by.

I have also been playing with the idea of creating an air vents within different chambers along with logarithmic spiral.

I know this seems like madness but I have been a firm believer that when people tell you your doing it all wrong, actually you are doing it right!. Nevertheless in spring I will restart marking the speaker Cabinet to have a comparison again the simulated model. The first prototype I am planning to have a way of interchanging chambers at different sections of the logarithmic spiral. Also, this will be pushing it, I would like to be able to mount a speaker drivers within different sections of the logarithmic spiral to note the changes in sounds.

In due course I will send you some images of my plan design. This may not be something you're interested in but let me know either way.

I wish you a very happy Christmas and I look forward to resuming our correspondence in the New Year.

Kind regards James.

[2sparrowlegs]

I haven't really had the time to continue with this project, which has been a shame. But his doesn't mean that I have forgotten about it!

[2sparrowlegs]

From a fan. “Apple now supports windows.” http://ift.tt/1aGg8IZ

[2sparrowlegs]

George Clarke Amazing spaces really annoys me!

George Clarke Amazing spaces really annoys me! I can appreciate the program from a design aspect, but what gets me goat it the suggestion that as we become out priced from our cities, that we should down size to a living space of 36m3. (At 50K... choked on my champagne!)

Personally, I feel that maybe the idea of communal living could be a better alternative, offering a larger space for families, at a more affordable cost???

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/george-clarkes-amazing-spaces

[2sparrowlegs]

25 posts!