You will undoubtedly know it: “Busy, busy, busy.” Visit here, renovations there, vacation this, and, oh yes, going to work in between. But the bow can't always be highly strung. That is why most people are looking for relaxation in the pursuit of a hobby. One goes scuba diving in Aruba, another volunteers at a home for the elderly and someone else again picks up a soldering iron. No, this is not another story about the fabulous products in our Store. I'm keen to elicit reactions and give you ideas.

To get the ball rolling, I will reveal what project has been running around in my head for a while: As an audio enthusiast I enjoy when it is a little louder than what is customary for a lounge environment. I have in mind PA installations. “What is hifi in that,” I hear you think. But you will be surprised! The progress of the technology of this subject has not been stationary and quality-wise some modern designs are certainly not second best to many high-end lounge models.

In short, my intention is to design a so-called Synergy horn speaker. This patented concept (can be freely used for personal applications) describes a multi-path horn speaker that functions as a point source. I assure you: you will need to hear this. This is very difficult to describe in words, the terms “spacial position and dissolved power” occur to me, almost as if you are wearing headphones, it appears as if the sound image hovers in front of you, irrespective how far you are from the speaker.

This is not the first time that I attempt such a design, see the photo. This is is a very modest design for a horn with a high WAF-factor and has been used in my lounge very satisfactorily for some time now. But I'm of course not the first or only one to attempt such a thing, there are therefore plenty of videos to be found on YouTube (headphones recommended) which will let you see/hear what is so special about this point source/Synergy-horn.

I'm already getting very excited about it. A few promising simulations of the speakers are already finished on the computer and the drivers for this are also already on hand. I will attempt to publish the results in our magazine in due course. Alternatively there are always our Labs pages and audio-related forums! Now I only need to find the time to build a (couple of) prototype(s).

Your turn! What project ideas are in your head?