First topic started here so I hope I’m doing this right! I had a conversation at Iowa this year with a couple guys about how many of the speakers present - mine included - were essentially rectangular boxes. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I love my rectangles as much as the next guy and if you’re ripping out several designs a year it makes sense to go with something a bit easier to manufacture. However, it got me thinking about doing something a little different.
Goals:
- Make something not a rectangle.
- Use parts I already have wherever possible to minimize expense.
- Complete the project for IowaDIY 2026.
- Go nuts.
My original idea stemmed from the shape of a flower, using either a tweeter in a large waveguide or a coaxial in the center surrounded by around six smallish woofers. I had planned on going the Anarchy route again but using the 558, but then discovered the Tang Band W5-1138SMF modeled a bit better on the low end. I kept looking to see what was out there and remembered the eight Dayton RC180s I grabbed on super sale last year.
That’s when this little project took a turn.
According to VituixCAD, the RC180 models really quite well when open back (or in a closed box with basically infinite volume). Of course, it has terrible efficiency so we’d need a lot of them to bring up the sensitivity to something reasonable. In this case, nine per side.
I couldn’t let this idea go so I started planning out what I have and what I’d need. Coaxials? Check, I have several pairs - but I’m a bit set on the Tang Band W6-2313. Woofers? I’d need 10 more RC180s (or at least one more for a test baffle)…and they just went off sale (crap) but I’m sure they’ll be that price again come Black Friday. The flower baffle could be heavy, something like 40 pounds, and we don’t want it tipping over. We’ll need a base that is heavy…and maybe does something too. Checking…oh, how about using a pair of Peerless STW-350s I have sitting in storage collecting dust? They certainly meet the weight requirement, and don’t require much volume to work well. They seem to work in a downfiring alignment too, which would lower the center of gravity as much as possible.
So I sent out some renders to a few folks to get some input. That’s when the project took another turn when a friend challenged me to make this thing ‘literally’ turn.
I drew up what I’d need and initially decided that was too silly. There are already some known downsides of this design, why implement something else that would introduce noise, if nothing else? Well I couldn’t let that go either and I ordered some parts for evaluation. DC motor, AC-DC speed controller, bearings, driveshaft, and a slip ring. That’s all in my garage right now waiting to be assembled to see how much noise is generated - both audible noise (from the motor) and electrical noise (induced by the motor and through the slip ring).
That last parts arrived yesterday so I’ll hopefully get to that this week. In the meantime, I completed new renders and started reaching out to some contacts with CNCs - absolutely required for the baffle to ensure it is reasonably balanced. Even at low RPM I don’t want to stress any of the components too much.
Renders below, looking for input on this project. Pretty sure I’m doing it regardless because it just seems like a lot of fun to figure out. That said, I would like to make this sound as good as possible, so I’m hoping the brain trust here will have some thoughts!
