Speaker Design Competition

http://www.midwestaudiofest.com/speakerdesigncompetition.php

The 2015 Annual Speaker Design Competition was located in

Springboro Ohio during the Midwest Audiofest hosted by Dayton
Audio & Parts Express!

Watch 2015 Highlights (https://www.youtube.com

/playlist?list=PLduaHatf8xAH76Fqzcp0V7TYnxWJQj2Zw)

2015 Speaker Design Competition Winners

Open Drivers Under $200
1st Place: Thomas Z - The Classic Tension Headaches

Open Drivers Under $200

Open Drivers Over $200

1st Place: Ben S - Nephila

Open Drivers Over $200

Dayton Audio
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1st Place: Paul K - Clarino

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Speaker Design Competition

http://www.midwestaudiofest.com/speakerdesigncompetition.php

Description
A curvy, yet angular... but totally aggressive take on a medium-sized tower speaker. Or... a speaker a Klingon would be
proud to have in his house.
My goal was to further explore the basic structure and proportions of one of my former speaker projects, 'The Cellos.' I
wanted to push myself further as far as what I was able to do with curves/angles as well as balance and execution. I
wanted to try to do this for under $200 to stay in the $200 and under category. Also, I wanted to develop my rst own
3- way crossover for this project.
This speaker build was challenging... at times too challenging. I look forward to tackling something a little easier for my
next big project.

2nd Place: John H - Latus1

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3rd Place: Troy M - Scavengers

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Speaker Design Competition

http://www.midwestaudiofest.com/speakerdesigncompetition.php

Description
HiVi F6/Airborne RT-5002 vented tower. Outboard xover. F6 used with the larger AMT.

2nd Place: Eric W - The Ventures

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3rd Place: Dan N - The Segue's

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Speaker Design Competition

http://www.midwestaudiofest.com/speakerdesigncompetition.php

Description
The Clarino speaker system is a 2-way, oor-standing MMT using Dayton Audio Esoteric drivers in a mass-loaded
transmission-line cabinet (ML-TL) with a crossover designed by Dan Neubecker.
A decent sensitivity in the 87-88 dB SPL range was the primary reason for using an MMT driver arrangement with its
paralleled mid-woofers in a 2-way, rather than a 2.5-way design. While an MTM would have provided the same
sensitivity with paralleled mid-woofers, the cabinet height needed to raise the tweeter to a typical ear height was not
desirable. The second goal was to achieve an F3 in the 30- to 35-Hz range. Last, I wanted the cabinet to not be so
heavy or unwieldy that I couldnt safely and easily move and carry it by myself (Im an old, skinny guy).
Clarino is the original name for a trumpet before the trumpet became what we know it as, and at this point I guess its
time to trumpet the performance of the Clarino speakers. The bass reproduced by the pair of ES180s in this design is
well dened and plenty deep enough for my musical tastes. In the last year or so Je Bagby developed two MMT
designs, the Testarossa and Soltice. I've always been a bit concerned about driver integration in a 2-way MMT due to
the dierent CTC distances from the two mid-woofers to the tweeter, but my concerns were dispelled after I heard the
Tesstrossas at InDIYana 2014. Thanks to Dan's crossover design driver integration in the Clarinos is just ne and the
most impressive part of their performance is their imaging ability, particularly noticeable on small-ensemble music with
strong right, left and center images. Too, large ensemble music, like from a symphony orchestra, is reproduced with
very good depth and height (if it's in the source).

Dayton Audio
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Speaker Design Competition

2nd Place: Bill S - Linehopper

http://www.midwestaudiofest.com/speakerdesigncompetition.php

3rd Place: Dan P - The Boxers

Open Unlimited
1st Place: Charlie B - Venus 2000

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Speaker Design Competition

http://www.midwestaudiofest.com/speakerdesigncompetition.php

Description

Tony Gee Proteus Wilson Audio Cub design; a cool project with added custom stands and extra cabinet volume. Driver
selection consisting of Dual Seas mid bass and Vifa ring tweeter.

Open Unlimited

2nd Place: Jim G - Wide Open Sonics

3rd Place: Jason S - Billy10CX

See all 2015 registered participants (registered_participants_speaker_design_competition.php)

Music selections used in judging:

#

Artist

Title

Category

James Taylor

Copperline

Dayton Audio

Jennifer Warnes

The Hunter

Dayton Audio

Jocelyn Pook

Caesar's Rome

Dayton Audio

Tower of Power

Diggin On James Brown

Open Unlimited

Lenny Kravitz

If You Can't Say No

Open Unlimited

Bebel Gilberto

So Nice (Summer Samba)

Open Unlimited

Gordon Goodwins Big Phat Band

Sing Sang Sung

Open Drivers Over $200

New Beginning

Open Drivers Over $200

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Tracy Chapman

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Speaker Design Competition

http://www.midwestaudiofest.com/speakerdesigncompetition.php

Artist

Title

Category

Diana Krall

Peel Me A Grape

Open Drivers Over $200

10

Louis Armstrong

What A Wonderful World

Open Drivers Under $200

11

Linda Ronstadt

What's New

Open Drivers Under $200

12

Brian Setzer

Mack The Knife

Open Drivers Under $200

Competition Categories
There were 3 winners for each category.

Dayton Audio
Speaker project must use all Dayton Audio drivers in the project design. Any dollar amount
or size is welcome.

Open Drivers (any brand, any type, no restrictions) Under $200

Projects less than $200 per pair to build ($ limit for drivers only). Speaker project can include
any brand drivers.

Open Drivers (any brand, any type, no restrictions) Over $200

Projects greater than $200 per pair to build ($ limit for drivers only). Speaker project can
include any brand drivers.

Open Unlimited
Open Unlimited includes Speaker Projects that are active or cannot be categorized in the
other 3 areas.
If the speaker design has been entered in the Open Unlimited category, the same design
without active components cannot be entered into any other category.

Competition Criteria
The judges used the following criteria to determine the winners of the Speaker Competition
contest:
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Craftsmanship (visual)

2. Originality / Design (visual)

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3. Tonal
Balance
(audio)
Speaker
Design
Competition

http://www.midwestaudiofest.com/speakerdesigncompetition.php

4. Clarity (audio)
5. Imaging (audio)
The speakers under test are driven with music signal fed from a professional-grade Red
Book CD player (TASCAM CD-01U Pro) through a 2-channel amplier (QSC Audio GX3),
with no upstream signal processing, crossovers, or equalization. The CD players internal
DAC and digital-domain volume control are used. Designs featuring additional channels of
amplication, active crossovers, equalization, or other processing (including DSP) are
restricted to our Unlimited Category. For systems in the Unlimited category, the available
outputs from the source are balanced/unbalanced analog, optical Toslink, and AES/EBU
digital outputs.
There will be 3 one-minute snippets of music listened to by the judges. These music
selections are played per entry, each one minute in length, and these selections are the
same for all speakers in a category, but dierent sets of tracks are selected for each
category, with the selections for the categories having higher priced and more complex
speakers being more challenging and possibly revealing of sonic aws. Before each speaker
plays, the level is set using pink noise, with SPL monitored via our calibrated OmniMic
system, so that all speakers play at the same level.
Each speaker will be evaluated and rated by the judges, then tabulated and results entered
into a spreadsheet. These votes will be added with the project submitter votes to achieve
winners in the categories listed above. From this sheet, total point winners will be selected
in the categories listed above.
Judging sheets will be sent by mail to the designer's home address following the event. In
the event of a tie within a class, judging will move to a head to head format with the ultimate
winner selected by a show of hands.

Please Note:
Commercial entries or entities are prohibited: Individuals or entities that sell nished
speakers (part time, full time, or any time) are excluded from registration. Should it be
determined that you are in the commercial sales of nished speakers your entry will be
removed. Please contact us should you require further explanation or clarication.
Contest committee members will have nal say whether a project is excluded or not from
competition.

Competition Judges

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Having
in the
Speaker
Designroots
Competition
DIY hobby himself,
Jerry McNutt holds
a BS in Electrical
Engineering from
Auburn University.
As most young
DIY'ers experience,
studying took a
backseat as he
found himself more
often in the garage
building cabinets
and systems rather
than the Auburn
Library. He built his
rst speaker
project, a DIY
Subwoofer, from an
article in a
magazine back in
1984 using a 12"
McGee Radio driver
that was
manufactured by
Eminence. He
considers this time
of speaker building
as preparing him for
a career in the
audio industry.
Professionally, he's
been involved in
creating OEM
drivers for Ford,
Honda, and
Chrysler. For over
eighteen years,
Jerry has been
working at worldrenowned
Eminence Speaker
LLC located in
scenic Eminence,
Kentucky. Jerry
began as a Design
Engineer at
Eminence Speaker
and now is their
Product Design
Manager.
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Peter Noerbaek of
PBN Audio, based
in San Diego,
California, has
developed and
manufactured
several innovative
loudspeaker,
turntable and
amp/pre-amp lines
for the international
audiophile market.
He received a
degree in Electrical
Engineering in
1983, and served a
rigorous internship
as an electrical
apprentice in one of
the most
competitive
engineering
environments in the
world. His career
started as an
on-board
electrician, and he
quickly advanced to
an Atlantic shipping
line managing entire
electrical systems
for large cargo
ships. Back on dry
land, he worked for
a company
installing concrete
batch plants
worldwide, being
promoted in 1988
to US Service
Manager. PBN
Audio was
launched in 1992 as
a distribution
company for the
Danish
manufacturer
F3/Lyd Audiovector
Loudspeakers. One
year later Peter
introduced his rst
Montana
Loudspeakers,
followed by his

Vance Dickason
http://www.midwestaudiofest.com/speakerdesigncompetition.php
founded Speaker
Research
Associates (SRA),
which published the
rst and second
editions of the
Loudspeaker
Design Cookbook.
Vance then joined
forces with Audio
Amateur Inc. and
became editor of
Voice Coil, and
contributing editor
to Speaker Builder
Magazine (Now
AudioXpress).
Vance also wrote
Loudspeaker
Recipes. Vance has
had articles and
reviews published
in Audio, Sound
and Video
Contractor, EQ, and
Auto Sound and
Security magazines.
Vance has served
as the Test &
Measurement
Chairman for Audio
Engineering Society
Conventions and
Conferences. Vance
received the AES
Citation Award in
1995 for his
contribution to
audio education. He
was also presented
the Beryllium Driver
Award from ALMA.
Vance has lectured
on LEAP/LMS CAD
system design and
provided corporate
seminars on this
subject for Harman
International (JBL,
Innity, Revel),
Samsung,
Kenwood, and
Klipsch. Some

18/08/2015 18:06

Olympia
of ne
Speaker
Design line
Competition
electrical
components
(originally named
Sierra). More
recently he has
established a
direct-to-consumer
company, Liberty
Audio. He
continues to
advance the
engineering and
design of high-end
audio, and has
received numerous
accolades from
respected
publications
worldwide.

customers that
employed his test
and measurement
services or had
designs created for
the marketplace
include Atlantic
Technology,
Kenwood, Stillwater
Designs, Signet,
M&K, Epson,
Audax, Samsung,
Niles, Microsoft,
Artison, Triad
Speakers, Terra
Labs, HIVI
Research/Swans
Speakers, and
Parasound.

http://www.midwestaudiofest.com/speakerdesigncompetition.php

Competition Prizes
1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each category went home as
prize-wielding champions!
1st Place in each category received: $250 PE Bucks, a trophy, and a one-year subscription
to audioXPRESS magazine provided by Audio Amateur
2nd Place in each category received: $100 PE Bucks
3rd Place in each category received: $50 PE Bucks

Please Note
Speakers registered in the competition may be selected as the featured DIY project in an
upcoming Parts Express Sales Flyer.
Parts Express and Dayton Audio cannot be responsible for lost or stolen speakers however,
every measure will be taken to protect your speakers from damage or theft.
Entries will be returned to the owner by providing the speaker project's tag entry ticket.

Warehouse Tent Sale (warehousetentsale.php) | Speaker Design Competition (speakerdesigncompetition.php) |

MECA Auto Sound Challenge (autosoundchallenge.php) | Audio Swap Meet (audioswapmeet.php)
Registration (register.php) | Schedule (schedule.php) | Directions (directions.php)
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Feel free to reach out to us at sta@midwestaudiofest.com (mailto:sta@midwestaudiofest.com) with any questions

Speaker Design Competition

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