# Ambitious HOSS DIY Speaker Project Completed



## dlneubec (Oct 9, 2006)

Hi, 

I think this is my first post here, though I've been lurking for awhile. I just completed my most ambitious DIY speaker design and finishing project. The finish took about 6-8 weeks to do. It is a combination of piano black (or as near as I could get it with spray cans and no buffing) and Santos Rosewood veneer over mdf, with a high gloss poly finish, using "Old Master's" poly. Many coats and weeks later this is what I ended up with. It actually exceeded my expectations. This is the HOSS (hybrid omnidirectional speaker system).


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

*Re: cabinet/enclosure finishes*

We have a winner. That is definitely the weirdest DIY speaker I have ever seen. And it is gorgeous!!!  

Great job on the finishing.

If you have any measurements or building pics/notes, please share them.

Oh, and welcome to the Shack!


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## dlneubec (Oct 9, 2006)

*Re: cabinet/enclosure finishes*

Here is some more info on the HOSS projeect. The drivers are all Dayton Reference Series drivers, including the RSS265HF 10” sub, two RS150-4’s and an RS28AS-4 for tweeter. I wanted to make it more acceptable aesthetically than my first omni project and at the same time address a couple of possible sources of weakness in that design. 

The project includes two RS150-4's in series, one up and one down firing as in my first omni design. The RS150 allows for a narrower baffle and smaller boxes than my first omni which used two 7” RS180-8. These are in sealed boxes about 1/3 the size of the RS180's, can be crossed a couple hundred hertz higher, which pushes the RS28AS a little less at its low end. The baffles are rectangular, rather than square and offset the RS150's toward the front of the baffle. As a result of the forward placement of the RS150-4, the tweeter baffle is also not inset as much as it was on my first omni design, which help reduce diffraction effects from the up and down firing driver baffle edges and increases the vertical dispersion some.

The RSS265HF is in a separate, tapered enclosure. I wanted to keep it small to improve aesthetics, yet my goal was to have good low end output with an F3 around 30hz so that with room gain it would play solidly well into the 20’s. I’ve always been interested in TL’s and decided to take that approach with this bass bin. The RSS265HF was chosen because of it's low distortion, great price, relatively small enbclosure volume requirements and ability to be crossed higher than some other choices. Paul Kittinger helped me with the tapered TL modelling (using Martin King's software), which ended up at about 71” in length, 20:1 taper, in 31 net liters, for an F3 of around 29hz, F6 around 24hz and F10 of 19hz. The slot output terminus to the TL is in the back. The RSS265 should be omni for nearly all of its effective range, since it is crossed over at about 180hz. It is placed 14” along the TL, about 20% from the end. 

It has a passive crossover design on the MTM section. For now I’m using 240w PE plate amps, that have a variable crossover of up to 180hz with a 24db/octave low pass slope to low pass the RSS265. I eventually want to handle this with a separate amp and active crossover. The passive crossover for the MTM section includes a high pass to the RS150-4’s at 180hz and then a crossover to the front firing RS28 at about 1580hz, all with approximately 4th order acoustic slopes. There is a zobel inlcuded on the midwoofer net. 

All drivers are physically positioned to be time aligned on a radius from a 37" ear height, with a 12' distance to the listening position in order to make a good phase match easier to achieve.

I’m very, very pleased with how it sounds. It is the best speaker I’ve built or owned so far. The low end is very deep and clean and does not seem to excite room modes to the same degree as my previous sealed 12” stereo sub bins. The driver integration is excellent, IMO, and the presentation is very smooth. I worked very hard to bet the RS-150’s and RS28 to match phase as closely as possible through their pass band. The vertical and horizontal off axis performance is excellent and the soundstage is very wide and deep. I believe that the transition from omnidirectional low and midranges to direct firing tweeter has the benefits of the large omni soundstage, yet provides excellent imaging.

Attached are some as-built frequency response measurements on and off the horizontal and vertical axis as well as individual TL terminus, driver and reverse null measurements. Also included is the passive crossover for the MTM section, measurements and design were done in SoundEasy.

Dan N.


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## Ricci (May 23, 2007)

*Re: cabinet/enclosure finishes*

Man I still love the look and design of these. :T

Are they as good as you'd hoped? Is there anything that you wish you had done differently?

?What part of Indiana are you in? I've got friends and family that are Hoosiers. Lived there myself in New Albany for many years.


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## Scuba Diver (Sep 28, 2007)

*Re: cabinet/enclosure finishes*



dlneubec said:


> Hi,
> 
> I think this is my first post here, though I've been lurking for awhile. I just completed my most ambitious DIY speaker design and finishing project. The finish took about 6-8 weeks to do. It is a combination of piano black (or as near as I could get it with spray cans and no buffing) and Santos Rosewood veneer over mdf, with a high gloss poly finish, using "Old Master's" poly. Many coats and weeks later this is what I ended up with. It actually exceeded my expectations. This is the HOSS (hybrid omnidirectional speaker system).


I posted these in the weird and unusual. Those are great.


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## dlneubec (Oct 9, 2006)

*Re: cabinet/enclosure finishes*



Ricci said:


> Man I still love the look and design of these. :T
> 
> Are they as good as you'd hoped? Is there anything that you wish you had done differently?
> 
> ?What part of Indiana are you in? I've got friends and family that are Hoosiers. Lived there myself in New Albany for many years.


Hi Ricci,

Thanks! There is not anything I would change. They sound fantastic, IMO. The only way I know to improve them would be to use higher end mids, like scanspeak 4" or 5", which might allow you to cross higher to perhaps a ribbon tweeter. A ribbon might be an imp[rovment because ot the limited vertical dispersion, which could be a plus with this design, since it would have the potential to reduce the impact of diffraction from the front edges of the baffles for the up and down firing midwoofers.

I live in Bloomington.


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## dlneubec (Oct 9, 2006)

*Re: cabinet/enclosure finishes*



Scuba Diver said:


> I posted these in the weird and unusual. Those are great.


Ok I'll bite, what's the "wierd and unusual"?:scratchhead:


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Hi Dan and welcome to the Shack!

You were derailing the other thread and off topic so I moved your post and related post to a new thread here. You deserve your own thread anyway.

Nice work... :T


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## pappaj (Aug 9, 2007)

Those look awesome excellent job on the finish.:T:T:clap::T:T


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