Quadratic Diffusers

@hilde45 - I had no idea how much I'd need to learn, and the amount of work involved when I took upon myself to have a go at it. I took logs of cherry wood and split them with a band saw, rant them through a thickness planer and joined them to make 17" boards, 5' long.
If I'd not chosen to make them from solid cherry (the backing board is actually Birch ply board) I am sure it'd gone a lot easier.
Running 60 of the 1/4" boards for dividers, 8 sides, 8 tops and bottoms through the CNC router table was easily the quickest part of the job.
It's what I can do now that I've learned, now that's exciting.

Next will probably be the equipment rack.


@boxer12 - I first want to try them between the speakers on the front wall, just the first two for now. I have a frame with absorption, and I want to keep the bottom of the diffusers up off the floor, so I have free space to run cables etc. 

@rixthetrick 

That's what I've loved about this hobby -- it's lead me to learn things and the payoff is palpable and enjoyable.

I asked on the Acoustic Fields youtube forum about balsa wood for quadratic diffusers -- I mean, why not make it really light, right? His reply was to be careful with soft woods which can degrade over time. My feeling about that advice is that if a balsa (or other soft wood) version can be done very quickly, it's worth the experiment. I wonder if you tried any soft woods?

@hilde45 - I was surprised to learn from a good friend and cabinet maker, that balsa is actually a hard wood (by definition).

This is the very first effort making diffusers, and that being cherry wood only. No idea how that would work out, I am surprised that it would degrade though?

I only used balsa wood as a kid, I’d glue wings on a dowel and shape them for lift. Tear apart a golf ball, which was not easy, unravel the rubber band that was under the skin (are they still made that way, I have no idea?) and make a loom from the rubber and use the local park’s slippery slide as a large slingshot to send it up into the sky. Like boomerangs, every now and then losing them in a tree, at least until the next big storm. Other kids would end up with new (to them) toys. Surprisingly light, the balsa planes could withstand a flogging, they fell a long way after being shot up into the air.

** I used the plans I purchased from Acoustic Fields for my QRD17** With a little modifications in the CNC program, the resulting geometry being the same as the plan, just didos are different.

Thanks rix. I also have one of mine (30" X 40") on the front wall between the speakers. That one is about 3' off the floor. Very happy with the results even though they are not quadratic. For the side walls I'm using a combination of absorption & diffusion. 

@boxer12 - now I'm even more motivated to get them placed for listening, thanks!