Yutta Hey
Designer:
Tanasi Audio
Project Category:
Freestyle Speakers
Project Level:
Intermediate
Project Time:
8-20 Hours
Project Cost:
Under $100
Project Description:
The “Yutta Hey” is a compact (by ¼wave enclosure standards) 2 way MLTL utilizing the Hivi B4N of “Overnight Sensations” fame.
Design Goals:
I wanted a nearfield system that left as little to be desired as possible in terms of the size of the bandwidth of the resulting frequency response of the system. I believe I accomplished this with enclosure size coming in at 11.4L a piece while being tuned to 40Hz. This gives a nice F3 around 38Hz or so out of a pair of 4″ drivers.
Driver Selection:
I chose the Hivi B4N (Parts Express part #297-429) based on familiarity with the driver and my opinion that it is the best budget small application bass driver on the market. This is an opinion I believe many others share with me. I love these little drivers and use them quite often.
Enclosure Design:
I design almost exclusively using ¼ wave theory to utilize different types of horns and transmission lines. So my main tool in doing this is David McBean’s Hornresp simulation software. I chose an MLTL style of enclosure because it offers the smallest footprint of any of the ¼ wave style of enclosures. After many hours simulating different types of geometries I settled on a expanding offset driver with offset port line. Overall line length ended up being about 21″ with the B4n situated slightly before the midpoint of the total length and the port being located about 5″ on center from the floor of the enclosure.
Enclosure Assembly:
I picked a unique profile for my enclosures that mimics the shape of the geometry usually hidden inside of a transmission line. By folding the top ⅓ of the line towards the back of the enclosure and then cutting the sides of the cabinets to the resulting shape I managed to create a unique shape as well as moving the drivers positions to the top of the baffle even though they are at almost the halfway point of the line.
Crossover Design:
Crossover is a simple first order 13.6uf cap on the tweeter and .40mH coil on the B4N.
Conclusion:
Overall I believe this is the best sounding Speaker I have designed to date and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a nice wide bandwidth loudspeaker for a office or small room.
About the Designer:
I’m a 41 year old from the hills of East Tennessee. Who loves music almost as much as loudspeaker design.
Project Parts List:
|
Part # |
Description |
Qty |
|
297-429 |
HiVi B4N 4″ Aluminum Round Frame Midbass |
1 |
which tweeter did you use?
The Dynalab that was on buyout on the PE website. I had about 8 of them lying around for about 3 months and I figured I would use them as this began as a proof of concept build. I have plans for a tweeter upgrade and perhaps a total enclosure rebuild and redesign to a MTM tower with an 8″ sub firing out of the side of each tower. Really wanting to go all Hivi drivers using the Hivi M8N for sub duty and one of the larger Hivi tweeters.
Nice work! Ever consider making an MTM version (x3) with a center too? I guess some hivi subwoofers would complete it then… an all HIVI bronze cone 5.2 system would be next? Oops! Sorry, I like hivi too…
Is the offset idea similar to a folded Voigt pipe, but squeezed into a bookshelf sized version? So much to like here…. Creative!
Yes I have been thinking of a few ideas for an updated and even more capable version of the Yutta-Hey. I like the idea of a MTM style design but it is very hard to simulate with any type of confidence if you want to go with any type of ¼wave enclosure. I almost exclusively design and build this style and with the originals being a MLTL I don’t think I would be able to talk myself into changing them to another style unless it’s another type of ¼wave design. I have been seriously thinking of a TMM floor standing tower version with a side firing Hivi LK8A in the lower half of both towers pulling subwoofer duty. No the it doesn’t have the beautiful copper colored cones that the B4n are blessed with, but the sandwich cone and overall design of the LK8A is in my opinion one sleek and sexy piece of speaker porn itself. Throw two B4N’s in the top of the towers with a Hivi 1.1-A tweeter as the cherry on top and I believe we may have something special on our hands. Really wish I had the spare cash to take advantage of the flash sale going on right now with the LK8A 😔. Oh well good things come to those who wait.
Wow, this thing is pretty cool! Is it similar to a voight pipe with the taper enlarging toward exit? But folded at the 1st harmonics Vmax creating a unique impedance ‘hop’ as a 180 degree turn there. Really cool, and a good driver too!
Yes it is indeed a take on the Voigt pipe with a sprinkling of the BIB enclosure style as well. As far as the folding at the first harmonics velocity maximum that was dumb luck as it turns out. I didn’t set out to accomplish that but in the months since finishing the Yutta-Hey I have been exploring the possibilities of strategically placing folds to pinpoint the different odd order harmonics to harness them and have them sum smoothly to boost overall passband output rather than the usual damping them into submission.