Community Think Tank

[Relikar]

Didn't really see any place where we can bounce ideas off each other so I figured I could make a thread dedicated to brewing up crazy ideas and talking about things you want to do someday.

Any ways, I'll start. This is something I've wanted to do for a while now, and I've got it pretty well designed now and It's going to be my next "main" build when Haswell-E launches next summer.

It is, essentially, a desk with a built in Computer, Cooling System, Audio System, and Lighting System. Here's what an hour of fooling around in SketchUp yielded.





Bottom two circles are 18" Sub woofers, top 8 are 6" regular Drivers. Top two rectangular cutiouts are for a custom reservoir, bottom two are for rads. Big one in the centre leg is for the computer hardware. Lighting will be amBX LEDs installed along the inside of the top lip, and behind the monitors (Which will be a surround view setup for obvious reasons. )

So, have at it. Critique me all you want and suggest your own non sense, I want to hear it all

[bungwirez]

what a coincidence. I spent about three hours chatting with my buddy about building computers into home décor - desk, coffee tables, kitchen counters, etc.

So I love this plan. and now I MUST learn to sketchup. cheers Relik

[Relikar]

SketchUp is pretty easy to use once you get comfortable with the very basic tools at your disposal. Like I said, I had this thing on paper in a few hours, starting with no experience.

Although, I did take a CNC Milling class in high school which involved some CAD work, so that helped for sure.

[bungwirez]

ya, I skipped that day to hang out with girls... big mistake.

[Relikar]

Having issues already? lol

[gdesmo]

Love the basic design here, however with the sub woofers sort of facing each other they may have a tendency to cancel each other out a little. Maybe a single cabinet for the two 18's and put them together in an isobaric configuration, ie push-pull with 1 wired out of phase. Can possibly drop the Q of the speakers by one octave for a new dimension of bass. May want to splay the 6's out more as well. How well is the computer going to be shielded against the magnetic fields created by the speakers ? Are you going to bi-amp the system or go triple, didn't mention the tweeters.

[Relikar]

Desmo you just turned my brain to mush, I really didn't understand any of that, but you have a very good point about shielding the computer from the magnetic field. Guess I'll need to do more research!

[bungwirez]

Desmo you just turned my brain to mush!

lol... He tends to do that. but trust the advice is superior.

[scaccima]

Nice concept Relikar! Once you have the design worked out, sell it to Ikea! I can see this desk in every dorm across the country!

[Relikar]

Nice concept Relikar! Once you have the design worked out, sell it to Ikea! I can see this desk in every dorm across the country!

I would, but I'll be making it out of hardwood. Ikea would make it out of cheap particle board.

[gdesmo]

Sorry R ! Will try to explain it a little better, I know I over complicate everything but I get obsessed easily. Anyway when you point 2 woofers towards each other like that the sound waves produced work against each other and tend to cancel each other out. Also sub-woofer are low frequency so the waves produced are of a long wavelength which can be optimized by pointing them towards the furthest corner to try and get as long a wavelength as possible. When I spoke about an isobaric configuration it is a design that puts them back to back and wired out of phase, result is that when one woofer is going out the other is going in. When done in a chamber as small as possible it effectively creates one sub-woofer with increased potential to lower frequencies. Was asking about amplifier configuration when mentioning bi-amps, did not know how you are planning to power the subs and mids. Do you have an amplifier with separate adjustable outputs for subs and mids or are you going to use a couple amps with an electronic crossover ? Can do the shielding with some sheet metal and run a cable to ground for protection. These are just thoughts and ideas to consider and or look into. Will be an interesting build for sure !

[Neo182]

I very much like the concept Relik. This is somewhat what i've tried to achieve with my own office desk. I lack the skill to do any woodwork or modding really , but i am interested in learning and seeing how this evolves if it ever takes off.

[Relikar]

Well I understood what you mean up until you talked about powering it My original plan was to wire it up how you would a car (Would speakers designed for vehicles work in this situation?), and just get an inverter to plug into the wall. (Or are they already 120 and get inverted from 12v?) Either way, My knowledge about audio is very VERY small, so I have a feeling if I do do this, I'll need a lot of help.

Oh and Neo, it'll be like a year before I get into this. I need to start assembling a wood working shop one of these days, maybe build a small garage out in the backyard.

[stephen]

If your serious about this you should reduce those subs to more like 8's

Any decent 18 would destory that thing or any of the watercooling parts

Recently just put two 12 rockford fosgate p3d4 and having hard time keeping things from rattling loose almost got everthing reinforced

[MRDcanadian]

Desmo you just turned my brain to mush, I really didn't understand any of that, but you have a very good point about shielding the computer from the magnetic field. Guess I'll need to do more research!

well i maybe able follow Gdesmo on that type of stuff. So Sound travel in waves in theories, now imagine 2 water wave of the same power and speed in the ocean, what would happen if they meet each other face to face? they would be stop each other on contact and that would be the end of both waves. Now you do not want that in a sound system like gdesmo is saying. I personally think since they are not directly facing each other i wouldn't be that bad. usually when 2 subs are in one room they are at each their opposite corner of the room. Technic is used to equalize the bass sound wherever you stand in the room. 1 good sub sir can give you a massage (like my spouse explains) and watt or peak watt isn't everything . i would be more worried about the compartment that will act as a box for them as that is some serious stuff to have it perfectly right and get the best sound out of your speaker and subs.