I saw the Hackaday post on JGJMatt's Ribbon speaker and knew I had to make one. But I like to put my own twist on projects.
Speaker specs so far.
12.5x60 riffled tinfoil ribbon.
60x10x5 Neodymium bar magnets.
Compact rear horn (needs testing.
2mm diameter Copper bars to protect the ribbon.
Design is mostly done and just needs testing and tweaking. I'll also need to build an amplifier for it. I was thinking of using a 6j1 pentode amplifier.
Well what's a log without some minor failures. It would seem I once again tried to get to fancy and not follow the old KISS rule (Keep it simple stupid)..
The area marked by a red circle is supposed to be a passthrough that allows a wire to go from one side of the speaker to the other so both wires have a common exit point from the speaker.
There are two problems with this, three? The printer that I'm using is an expensive hunk of crap.. don't get me wrong it prints rather well, but its closed source locked out and you don't have the option to allow support material ware you want it.. only ware it wants it. So even though this part spent 16 hours in a bath designed to remove the support material, its not all gone.
Two the hole is only 1.5mm in diameter, so its a little on the small side to begin with, I could just as easily created a raceway for the wire to sit in, ultimately that's what I will end up doing. This is one of those "oh that's a great idea" in theory, only to realize nope.. that's not going to work.
However the parts seem to align well.
I'll either modify the existing horn I have or print another with the proper raceway for the wire. Hoping to have some time this weekend to put the core together.
I'm trying to figure out how best to present the speaker next to its amp. Since I went with copper for the guards on the face I kind of want to incorporate that with the stand as well but not quite sure how I'm going to execute it yet.
I came up with an idea for a quick stand, then quickly realized it would not work the way I intended, the idea was to have the two clasps of the stand connect to the speaker horn, however I forgot to take into consideration that the speaker would just slide down as the clasps are holding the speaker by the horns slots... fixed that with a small support under the speaker, so no positional adjustments.
I'm not married to the design, I thought I would post it anyway and see if anyone had any suggestions. Mind you this speaker is intended to be 3d printed and wont be as shiny as the render -_-. But we can see what we can do to spruce it up a bit.
Copper tape and Neodymium bar magnets are here. Just need to print out the core and the horn for test fitting. Also need to order the 2mm diameter copper wire for the guards as well.
Then on to the amplifier design. I am still debating if I should integrate the 6j1 pentode amplifier into the speaker ( would be an interesting look ) or if i should make it its own separate box.
This is going to look fabulous, can't wait for the finished product. Also relevant: https://hackaday.com/2021/03/18/wooden-you-love-to-build-a-ribbon-microphone/
ooo, that looks nice. Yes I'm going to try an take my time with this one. I want it to look good. If I could make the Core and the Horn out of wood that would be pretty sweet but I think they are just complex enough that it would be a pain. Although I guess I could make an alternative horn and alter the Core a bit to be compatible with wooden construction.
This is going to look fabulous, can't wait for the finished product. Also relevant: https://hackaday.com/2021/03/18/wooden-you-love-to-build-a-ribbon-microphone/