Sean, you should get in contact with the transmission line guru, himself, Bud Fried. Although he is an irrascible type, and might spend all his energy dwelling on the top rather than front baffle, to me, it would be worth the effort.
The critical things about transmission line loading are the dimensions of the pipe(both length and diameter), damping the pipe(the most underappreciated, underrated, least understood facet of TL), and the exit of the tunnel. I have yet to tackle a TL project, but have always been interested from the periphery.
When a great deal came up on a pair of Frieds, I jumped on them. And, I hope to purchase another pair in the future. I am quite happy with the pair I own, although the speaker does not excel in any area outside of mid/high frequency response in my mind. The bass of my pair, a line tunnel, not a formal transmission line, is good but does not compare to my Coincident Troubass subwoofers, they are night and day.
Supposedly, the finest effort of Bud's in terms of TL design was his "coffin" sub(sorry, but I now cannot remember the model designation - D10 maybe - it'll come to me...). This was an old design, and I believe he offers the plans to those interested. In the more recent years of his company's existence, he did not produce ANYTHING on the scale of the coffin, though many seem to hold the Valhalla in high regard.
I would just be interested in anything he could throw my way. One of these days, I too, should contact him, and learn as much as I possibly can from one of the icons of loudspeaker design.
GOOD LUCK!
The critical things about transmission line loading are the dimensions of the pipe(both length and diameter), damping the pipe(the most underappreciated, underrated, least understood facet of TL), and the exit of the tunnel. I have yet to tackle a TL project, but have always been interested from the periphery.
When a great deal came up on a pair of Frieds, I jumped on them. And, I hope to purchase another pair in the future. I am quite happy with the pair I own, although the speaker does not excel in any area outside of mid/high frequency response in my mind. The bass of my pair, a line tunnel, not a formal transmission line, is good but does not compare to my Coincident Troubass subwoofers, they are night and day.
Supposedly, the finest effort of Bud's in terms of TL design was his "coffin" sub(sorry, but I now cannot remember the model designation - D10 maybe - it'll come to me...). This was an old design, and I believe he offers the plans to those interested. In the more recent years of his company's existence, he did not produce ANYTHING on the scale of the coffin, though many seem to hold the Valhalla in high regard.
I would just be interested in anything he could throw my way. One of these days, I too, should contact him, and learn as much as I possibly can from one of the icons of loudspeaker design.
GOOD LUCK!