What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Got Hangar Tunes???

petehowell

Well Known Member
I spend a fair amount of time at the hangar and have been craving a bigger sound than my phone for music and podcasts. I could have bought a stereo, but how "experimental" is that? I could probably build speakers, right? So I hit the Google and I did just that! I'm no audiophile, and hangars are not ideal listening rooms, but these E-AB speakers fill a big hangar with sound on a small budget and are really fun to make!

The hangar models I made are called Cornu Horns. They take a cheap little full range driver and make it sound big and full thru, you know, physics! Here they are mounted below the Mezz windows. Continue reading if you want to see how they are made.........
ACtC-3dqHTQduElZLRhvN_189yxHbbReqStnmYhGuSXZ2E1orczSAMtbjNs2nms_Uz70PdkMOVYH2TaMmbG_1f1mpD9dLDP4Z_-rkT9BG9zpeC2auZvuTHF6321hHQ7f0yaN1x08tJDur7wm1Nxyqb2T6jQSow=w1200-h1171


They are constructed of 20" x 30" foamcore board ($2-$3 a sheet) that you can get at the office or craft store, and cheap 3.5 in drivers that can be ordered over the web ($9 each). You just have to cut the board and fabricate. I use a cheap bluetooth chip amp ($15) off the web to power them in the hangar.

You start out with two 20"x 20" pieces of foam board. Then you print out the internal spirals and transfer the layout to the board using the high-tech "poke the pin thru the paper" technique.

ACtC-3dHAWFJHZ_1g32F91Mntx5frxR-z-2rBt2B6grw26yZVOmRzbYxI5AWxrEqrFD6s7PEX8J8eYL9cZqoxIM0YwVbTk2J2hkVfZP3ErZbJTkBqoJO4L6FQEiiGN6wGSWflMMWn07-7vfyGWfdu-X3keXlUQ=w1200-h1171


Boom! Spirals marked!
ACtC-3cNqLgbl1wCFm-PZVzxZN4_t4blSWTw9DgHFUe_lOCo7yWrtvNlMFEYD-Bu5Yz07n6x3K-1DkGaGMloVzKFeZhE0OKVsPHT0ZSornwBmo606C69NzUMwh2tUhDwJO9zAYw546gJIbtQewWdQTpwOHDsIw=w1200-h1171


Next you cut strips of foamboard to make the internal structure. I used 3" wide strips. You score and crush one side of the strip to allow it to conform to the spirals - Hot glue is used to tack the strip down with 30 second hand clamping.
ACtC-3fEFSvt0G-FCJpPdPc0faO4Q-sSSUQ9C0VnJaoZfwL8-y_laEWP4rlnIOcxXBXywO-KbzYxwSMMHFwRGB4U1PO4kcC_6x1a6M6nD3fr1QLOom8brtggbaZPSmd91x460s3rKr3Kv8KqZqp4U_oeLWXQYA=w1200-h1171


You "caulk" the edges airtight with good old Elmer's.

ACtC-3fCHt5GRhpG3KtiYNJTEXB8zBUfMVpOz8rURxldxXJvG_o09aeoKNWxPnM-oFs7UDChN2k4yEptvcCI-T7rekupy5w7DL9VTJM5uY_RoATV4h3wVSQpzBbnRTix3wiOSaF6nR6aYNXFWNbdUJ09Sq5c1w=w800-h1171


Work your way around the spiral, carefully leaving yourself room to tack and caulk the strips. You can make longer strips by butt-gluing the 3" wide strips together.
ACtC-3f6-u_XXlNaS9yMn9eWz2MWdChWzvQES-I9zK9Pj7XsHyMsJIM-f-M_QcRPFAHI0Be9BscbB3V87OkVZHtAhWOihor-fliPVl-jWFhVqo81e0ghSPosILOfRkatURH89T5Ex8EWYFSrjfk44SvDpmuvTQ=w1200-h1171


Before long - you are finished with the strips! You can see the expanding horn shapes that make the big sound..........
ACtC-3e2CC3ab8mUH3wk9vEIX1OiU1Uf102q13Qz3uapgTfLwjqb5vrFUCz_J2MDcKL1aVdc8Wwzmm3OcjTDTz8ZfrBLc_AIWakcyJYM-BmUtYEfBXyENNhrYIyb5UzrhfvzsWX2nf5wUAb8CKw9kyruC9gjqg=w1200-h1171


Now glue the other 20x20 slab of foam on top of the strips - use lots of glue here to get that air tight seal! "Borrow" Andi's kitchen stuff to use as gravity clamps. I prefer the pizza stones and blender, wine optional.
ACtC-3e29p0wtHYOPzgLQC3Emhz3Kj7nBReqBxe8r_MYG3RLIE3SA9ehvVDy1OlgEuOMzbJld4jmgaYni7MsQDi1VNJ3u9-Zy5xGLuyi-cbC2WV19qFzKcR-q_AZZlmYQBPRvdSsE5iYYZvdff9hSYlaaa4GDA=w1200-h1171


Cut the driver hole, add a bit of pillow stuffing, and use aircraft quality wiring tools from Stein to complete all connections......
ACtC-3etnrIupoK9dLcS5j0JLyRNzIo-KI8c51OZpfw5EJrA9mJqTjF7EOWmeQ9ODit1macgQjwllqJdKEuDY2AOJZE-ZeXPCw8D5zRyb5Q5uSonDJaLWIgfGl2qx4sZVUG_-BB4uE6OAUKrf2YSE6jWWteYGQ=w1200-h1171


Test the speakers and clean kitchen before Andi wakes up and catches you!!
ACtC-3ctLsuEB4ROaOkV7Sq0c405EANiqmq0MWFa20Qbc7uQ4au_u3esYkEl1ueWJBiUQpAZasZZ-zRJQb_b-jDgfhhe18o3TGTrExHyRxlEn1_xicrKZmLYhs2P07jF72sjA3nsfLACJmp4DK853mq_uiBXzg=w1200-h1171


Fun project, minimal cost, big sound. The design and techniques are from some great guys over at the diyaudio.com forum. They seem to have a very similar vibe to VAF.

If anyone is interested in more info or links to supplies hit me up. I was able to get everything locally but the drivers and BT amp - those can be easily ordered off the web.

Rock on!
 
Interesting design and got a relatively good review.

I have a tuner and nice FM antenna at the hangar wanting for speakers. Maybe some Realistic 4" drivers in the bin might just fill the bill.
 
Interesting idea! I have an old '80s boom box in my hangar right now; it has an aux input, so I just plug in my phone. Back in the day I had updated the speakers in it (blew the originals out at some point), it wouldn't be too hard to remove them and build a housing like this for them.

Of course, maybe I should finish this airplane first, before taking on more side projects!
 
Audio

Cal and X from this thread were the inspiration! I have built the transmission line and 0.4x Karlsonators as well. All sound pretty good!

Stop it! :D
I love audio stuff. I spent a whole Summer ripping 350+CDs to FLAC files. Love my music. This will be a project down the road. My main room is 7.2 with a mix of Bose and Pioneer speakers so the project will be for another space. Maybe my shop. Pretty exciting. Im also a woodworker so I'm thinking of building a set out of wood.
Thanks for the thread.
 
I would love to see a response curve, and a harmonic distortion plot.

I don't know much about using a folded horn as a rear baffle, but I do know that folded horns on the output side of the driver (Klipsch horns) are very efficient but produce substantial distortion.

Not that that would be unacceptable for hangar tunes.
 
When it was time to toss the rear projection tv (years ago) I gutted the unit and ended up with just the base with the amp and speakers.... plug phone into aux and the tunes fly out.
 
Glad to see I'm not the only one who requires good speakers in the hangar, I've got 4 Paradigm Titans, one in each corner, hooked up to a Yamaha receiver and dvd player. Depending on the mood and what I'm working on you'll either hear a movie or music, everything from Johnny Cash to Alice Cooper to the Academy of St. Martin in the Field, Mr. Roberts to Silence of the Lambs to Katt Williams disc. The wood floor really gives a nice warm feel to the music.


When people are around I behave, when I'm alone after hours... Different story.
 
Hangar Tunes

A project with my son two years ago...

PAs driven by a 500 watt Crown amp, subs driven by two 800 watt Crown amps.

View attachment 857
 

Attachments

  • Speakers.JPG
    Speakers.JPG
    82 KB · Views: 207
Last edited:
Is there any benefit to running the wires out through the cones, either spiraled inside one or "over the walls" to one side, during assembly? Or did you just pop them through the back wall of the speaker when you put the speaker through the front?
 
Speaking of which, any ideas about how to get a good FM signal in a metal hangar? Condo, so I can't drill onto the roof for an antenna.

TIA
 
Back
Top