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Random observations: * I heard the Thigpen Rotary Subwoofer when Thigpen premiered it at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in 2005. Something that's not obvious fr
by johnvanommen 3y ago
Random observations:
* I heard the Thigpen Rotary Subwoofer when Thigpen premiered it at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in 2005. Something that's not obvious from most of the published pics is that the rotary subwoofer was using an entire hotel room to serve as an enclosure. IE, you're not going to easily get loud bass at 10Hz without an enclosure, and the Thigpen sub used an entire room.
* Tom Danley is a national treasure and designed something similar at Sound Physics Labs, about 22 years ago. Tom also licensed the technology to Phoenix Gold for use in their "Cyclone" car subwoofer. I've only met Tom once, but as I understand it, he abandoned the technology because subwoofers from companies like Faital, 18 Sound, MTX and Eminence offered comparable performance with improved reliability. Basically the subs he made for Sound Physics Labs were crazy, but reliability was an issue, especially since they used a lot of custom parts.
If anyone is curious about these designs, let me know, I love this stuff.
- iancmceachern 3y agoI am extremely curious. I've been wanting to make one for years. My contact info is in my profile if you care to share more.
- rplst8 3y agoTom also builds military grade subwoofers. He had a hand the design of the BassTech 7 servo drive subs as well. Their not being made anymore as I think they went out of business 20 years ago or so. All the reports I've read about those indicated that those subs were a pinnacle of rock concert audio technology and were devastatingly loud, lol. Once BassTech folded, he worked with an online forum known as the Live Audio Board (LAB) to open source the design and replace the servo based driver with a conventional voice coil and cone driver. The resultant design became known as the LAB Sub. A friend of mine built 12 of these beasts ~ 45x45x22 inches and let me tell you, they were amazing performers, that you could build yourself for around $500 (at the time). Mr. Danley truly is a treasure to audio engineering and loudspeaker design.
- anonu 3y ago> military grade subwoofers Never thought I'd see these words together.
- rob74 3y agoSubwoofers designed to drive enemy forces insane by using infrasound?
- demondemidi 3y agoIs that a polite way of saying “made up”?
- vGPU 3y agoNo, it isn’t. He’s done multiple projects including one for NASA.
- euroderf 3y agoMaybe it just means they have a wide operating temperature range ?
- olliej 3y agoIs that like military grade encryption? :D
- FuriouslyAdrift 3y agoFor subs, I go Rythmik, now. Great value for the money. Danley is awesome and I would kill to have synergy hornes for my apartment (if they'd fit)
- scns 3y agohttps://www.rythmikaudio.com/DirectServo.html https://www.rythmikaudio.com/DirectServo.html Seems like they do the same in their subs what Backes & Müller and Silbersand do for every speaker. Cinema for the ears, if you ask me. Even at volumes below speech, you can hear EVERYTHING! Even low bass, from a closed enclosure!
- rthomas6 3y ago> Something that's not obvious from most of the published pics is that the rotary subwoofer was using an entire hotel room to serve as an enclosure. IE, you're not going to easily get loud bass at 10Hz without an enclosure, and the Thigpen sub used an entire room. This is called "infinite baffle." Basically just a wall that provides isolation from the other side of it. It is merely a type of speaker enclosure. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudspeaker_enclosure https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudspeaker_enclosure Normal subwoofers can also be used with infinite baffle. You can use an attic, basement, or crawlspace to create it.