A few questions about Audio-performance-metrics

[murphyslabrat]

I am wanting to experiment with a home-made speaker-setup, and I am a little unsure where to begin. My question is this: what do I to look for in terms of specs. Are there any hard-and-fast metrics to look for, and what values mean what in terms of performance.

I see stuff like S.P.L., ohms, and distortion level. I have a vague idea of what they are referring to, but I don't know what levels mean what in terms of performance. I know S.P.L. should be high, and distortion should be low....but what levels are acceptable, and what is worth paying through the nose for?

 

[PurdueRy]

Of course its not that simple. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to read a book on speaker building such as "The loudspeaker design cookbook". This will give you an understanding of some of the considerations that need to be made.

Also, perhaps the first thing you would want to decide, is if the design you want to make is going to be ported or not, and whether it will be a large or small speaker.

 

[Howard]

actually the first thing to decide is which speaker plan he wants to follow

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Howard
actually the first thing to decide is which speaker plan he wants to follow

You don't HAVE to follow a speaker plan if your willing to invest the time and money into how to appropriately design a speaker...that's what I did.

 

[Howard]

the chances of getting something that doesn't suck are about 100 to 1 compared to striking out on your own

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Howard
the chances of getting something that doesn't suck are about 100 to 1 compared to striking out on your own

Again, if you say so. But I did just fine. Granted I spent a long time on them and made all the necessary measurements. But from the start I knew that I wanted to have the challenge of doing it myself rather than copying another design.

The final measurements don't lie, they turned out just fine.

 

[cheesehead]

Vance Dickason's Loudspeaker Design Cookbook is nice.
http://www.amazon.com/Loudspea...Dickason/dp/1882580109

That said, you really need some speaker design software (SoundEasy is nice....but expensive), a calibrated measurement mic and pre-amp, a Wallin jig, and a bottle of motrin.

Designing speakers is very, very difficult. Go build from someone else's design. I can recommend one of many if you're stumped.

 

[marincounty]

Look at madisound and parts express for info and speakers, crossover parts, etc..

Madisound also has a great discussion board about speakerbuilding.
But I have to warn you, speakerbuilding is not a hobby, it's a disease.

 

[cheesehead]

Much better than Madisound is Parts Express' Tech Talk.

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/index.php

diyaudio.com has a good forum, too.