HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

I’m thinking 355mm mdpe gas pipe. Wall thickness of approximately 20mm. Capped off at the bottom with 25mm plywood. A plywood insert at the top with a cut out for the bass driver. I haven’t decided on the length of the tube yet. A hole cut in the front for the tweeter and one in the side for the midrange.

To make things simpler it could just be a 2 way using the 8 inch and a tweeter. Should be fairly heavy as it is but a cylinder could be lined with lead to add mass...

I also like the idea of these as an upward and downward firing 3 way. 700mm long tube, partitioned off half of its length. 6.5/8 incher upfiring and 12 incher mounted on the bottom firing downwards. Tweeter in the front of the top chamber. This design would need custom built stands...

Could you make 3 legs for each speaker that screw or bolt onto the outside of the pipe? Easy to experiment with hight then... I remember my Dad made a pair of speakers (when I was a kid) from chimney pots with an upward facing driver in each one. He always said they sounded good, looked weird in the sitting-room though!

Yeah there are a couple of ways of mounting the legs, it should be pretty straight forward. I can’t see why these shouldn’t sound good but I guess it’s a case of suck it and see!

You won't know til you try

As with all things the best way is to do it yourself and find out (and learn something along the way) rather than take the word of some one else as fact. It is the journey which is important / exciting as well as the end result.

Absolutely! Half the fun is in trying ideas out! I’ve emailed a couple of pipe manufacturers to see what the costs involved are. I’m struggling to find anywhere online with that diameter pipe in stock. I will persevere!

I’ve ordered a 1m length of 355mm HDPE with a 22.1mm wall thickness. This should be plenty for 2 speakers. I just need to decide on the length for each speaker. I will be using the 8 inch and a tweeter as I have the ability to compare these directly to the Cube 1. I will probably be lining them with lead for some added mass. That’s it for now until I collect the pipe early next week. I will update once I’ve collected it.

Lead is soft.
. It will therefore attenuate certain frequencies. Ie. It will act as a damper

How are you going to cut out the holes for the other driver(s) in the curved sides of the tube ? Are you sure it will work ?

If it was me i would be cutting a smaller diameter section of pipe that could go on the front of the large pipe with the open end at 90 degrees. That additional bit of pipe would need to be cut with curves to follow the outside of the larger pipe. Not sure that will make any sense but to me.