And that's it! Now, do this same procedure with the other speaker, except you turn everything 90 degrees. This means the pushrod juts up from the right side of the voice coil instead of the top, and the pivot rod should run vertically instead of horizontally. In this picture, you can see both completed speakers. Note the position of the pivot rods, pushrods, and mirrors.
Take a close look at the left hand speaker (the horizontal deflector). We had to wrap a bunch of duct tape around the pivot rod under the mirror to help support it. When these things run, they vibrate very quickly, and the mirror tries to slide down the pivot rod. That results in the mirror chattering loudly and adding a lot of unwanted vibrational wiggling to the beam. The duct tape lets the mirror rest on something and relieves this problem.
We had enough of our coathanger left over to make a cheezy little holder for the laser pointer!
It's easiest to set things up if you aim each piece in order, one at a time. Wrap duct tape over the laser pointer's switch to keep it on, and put it in the holder. Aim the beam in the opposite direction of the wall you want to use.
Updated aiming instructions:
Position the horizontal deflector at roughly a 45 degree angle to the laser, so that the beam hits a spot on the mirror directly over the pivot rod.
Position the vertical deflector right next to the horizontal, but at a 90 degree angle to it. Move the vertical deflector around until the beam reflecting from the horizontal deflector falls on the vertical's mirror directly over it's pivot rod. You may need to have the vertical deflactor sitting higher than the horizonatl for this to work, depending on your exact speakers.
The laser dot will appear somewhere on your target wall. Without sound playing, the spot marks the center of the pattern space. Fiddle with the speaker positions until that spot is where you want it.
Hook the speakers up to your stereo's amplifier and play some music! The volume of the music sets the size of the display.
Next Page: Needed Improvements
| Intro | How it Works | Prepping the Speakers | Coathanger Mangling | Preparing the Mirror | Preparing the Pivot Rod | Final Assembly | Setup and Operation | Needed Improvements |