Off Hours | Ryan Knox of AD-TX
It probably wouldn’t surprise you to learn that audio isn't just a day job for most of our consultants but falls more in the category of personal passion.
Ryan Knox has had drivers sitting around to test a theory with a prototype, but with two children at home under the age of four, the time involved for prototyping several boxes to see what sounded best didn't fit well into day-to-day life. Ryan needed a way to rapid prototype his concepts in a manner that could safely involve his son and daughter. As it turns out, a cardboard arts and crafts project worked into the weekend activities nicely. (As Ryan says, try building this speaker any other way from start to finish in less than three hours while entertaining two kids under four.)
Some of our team suggested, it would have been exceptionally eco-friendly had Ryan used the shipping box for the drivers in the design. Ryan said he considered it, but the box still had another set of speakers in it that would have needed a new home. Currently, the cardboard compact subbass is "installed" in Ryan's pickup, and the sound is stunningly good. For a driver + $7 in materials it rivals professional gear (though admittedly not as pretty.) Of course, this isn't just any DIY project. There is no small amount of physics involved in getting the sound that these produce and if it looks simple from the outside, you should see the cardboard configuration inside.
