WAY off topic: Building your own speakers

[DiamondFire13]

Hey all,

I know that this is WAY off of normal topics, but I know that there are many people here interested in electronics, audio etc. I am very interested in High end audio, and I am curently an electrical engineer at Valparaiso University. I am interested in building my very own pair of speakers, I want to spend about $1,000 total, building it all from scratch, maybe not the cross overs, but probably. I was wondering if any of you know of any good sites with plans. I was thinking of just doing a 3-way system, I really apreciate accuracy, so I dont mind spending big bucks on my drivers, and would build the boxes myself.

Thanks for any advice in this terribly off topic subject (but interesting),
Paul

 

[tontod]

I graduated from Georgia Tech and built some speakers for this professor. Go to his webpage here. Scroll down and there should be some links to 2 way and 3 way speaker plans. He has directions on how to build your own box. Hope that helps.

 

[DiamondFire13]

Oh yeah, I would be very intereted in any Dipole designs.

Paul Hilgeman

 

[TheOverlord]

bump for an interesting, and differnt type thread

 

[Fumiup]

I had bought a book at Radio Shack on building speakers a long time ago.

I found this site, maybe it'll help


http://www.hi-fi.com/speaker/

 

[DiamondFire13]

Thanks alot guys,

I havent really getten ahold of anyone, but I was actually thinking of doing it all on my own. I might just blow a few bucks, get some HQ drivers and crossovers and see what happens.

The links are great, keep em coming, I am looking for somthing pretty high end, definitely a 3-way design that can do lows probably with a 10" woofer, possibly dipole tweeters and some good mids.

Paul

 

[jamarno]

Look for 'Audio Amateur' or 'Speaker Builder,' two magazines from a publisher in Peterborough, NH. Speaker Builder has put out a book of its most popular plans.

I've built some of the amps designed by that Georgia Tech professor, and they're not only very good but also very stable and very rugged, almost impossible to damage by shorting or by applying a funny load, unlike Ampzilla.

 

[glen]

A sub-satellite system will be a superior design to 2 full range speakers. The reason is destructive interference in the sub bass, 5 to 100hz region, otherwise known as double slit interference.

Even if you use the finest and most expensive drivers, like Focal and Dynaudio, it is just about impossible to make them sound as good as most descent mid priced speakers, like PSBs for example.

Even if you spend $5,000 on a sub like Velodyne or Sunfire, or what ever, you CAN NOT touch what $200 bucks, cheap drivers (I mean really cheap like radio shack), and 12 cubic feet of space will do.

In summary:
By an active cross-over.
Buy your Satellites. Try PSB Alphas.
Build your sub.

 

[glen]

BTW, a 10" sub will be fine for a car, but you will need at least 5 times the surface area to sound the same in a house. Commit yourself to using at least a couple of 15" or an 18".

 

[DiamondFire13]

so you dont think that it is possible to build a pretty good shelf/stand speaker, I was looking at either Morel or Audax for 2x 6-1/2" mid/bass and a 1" tweeter, in a 1 cubic foot box. I have heard the Audax drivers before, and they sounded damn good, I forget the exact number. I was looking at Dynaudio too. I heard a speaker system with Dynaudio mids/tweeters, unfortunately I dont remember exactly if I liked it or not.

The sub I am definitely going to build, I can save a alot of money that way.

I really like the accuracy of 10"'s though. Why would you suggest a 12 or 15, i hate the way bass sounds in cars, and almost any person that is into audio will tell you the same. I dont want anything of the sort. I was actually thinking about a sub with good class A/B amp, around 150 watts or so, and dual 8" or 10" subs in a horizontally opposed box.

I will be buying/building the shelf speakers first (if thats what I decide on)

Thanks again,
Paul

 

[BigLance]

I am VERY into Car audio

www.pcisys.net/~tji

And have been a member at www.elitecaraudio.com for a long time. Its a great place to learn about the world of audio. I would like to make a suggestion for the subwoofer(s). A lower cost solution can be found at www.adire.com There Shiva's and Tempest drivers make excellent choices for both SPL (Sound pressure level) and SQ (Sound quality). Check em out !

Good Luck and have fun.....

 

[maddmax]

Get the loudspeaker design cookbook by Vance Dickason. Check the forums at www.madisound.com. Get their catalog for good prices on good components. Check out the North Creek Music Systems by George Short. Madisound has real helpful links too. Madisound is the anandtech of the speaker world. I suggest using ScanSpeak drivers with a crossover designed by Madisound using LEAP(Loudspeaker Enclosure Analysis Program) American made woofers give the best bass for the buck IMHO.

 

[outlamd]

15's or 18's are good for sustained deep bass like in Rap or Techno, but for most other music genres the are simply to slow. I've found a good solution is to go with dual 10's (or 12's if you prefer). With dual 10's I can move as much air as an 18, but retain the accuracy and speed most music requires. Drivers are easy to come by and are the least of your concerns when building speakers. Materials and structure are the two biggest concerns I've seen. Don't scrimp on your materials, and built it so a bomb could go off in it without destroying it ;-)

 

[glen]

<< so you dont think that it is possible to build a pretty good shelf/stand speaker >>


Right, we did a blind listenign test of speakers, and a set of PSB Alphas blew away the competition which consisted of really expensive systems built by folks who have been reading Speaker builder, and The Loudspeaker Design Cookbook for years. The best do it yourselfer really can not compete with the anechoic chambers and labratory equiptment. It is hard to beat a pair of PSB Alphas, and they only cost $250 for a pair.

 

[DiamondFire13]

Cool,

I will definitely look into them,
Thanks,

Paul Hilgeman

 

[glen]

<< 15's or 18's are good for sustained deep bass like in Rap or Techno, but for most other music genres the are simply to slow >>


This is probably the most widely held belief in audio, but it is not true.
If you want to most accurate bass possible get a pair of 18&quot;s in a huge enclosure.
FWIW, I do not like boomy bass, or rap music. I listen to stuff like Paul Simon, Beatles, Led Zepplin, Mozart, Handel, Bach, Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie, etc....

 

[Packet]

Not exactly the same thing,
but a few years ago I built an amplifier from a book/kit. Nothing incredible, it was 50w total with only one output.. but had I opted for more expensive parts I could have change that dramaticly. Kinda makes me wanna dig it up and see if I could change it around to run my Boston 4point through it for more power.... hmm....

 

[Viperoni]

Do what Bose does in their higher end speakers (not those stupid cube things): Multiple drivers

A speaker box with 4, 4inch drivers stacked on top of each other, or those 6inchers you mentioned woudl be LOUD and clear.
Put tweeters at the ends and you'll get even sweeter sound.

For the ultimate sub box for both ultimate punch and clarity:
8 8inchers. I know it'll take a lot of space, but they'll have a lot more punch than a 15incher.

Oh, and make sure you have a LOT of power, that's what's lacking in many computer soudn systems.

 

[StrangeRanger]

Diamondfire, you're forgetting about one thing when you consider buying some of glenn's prebuilt speakers. while yours may not be as absolutely perfect as a store/catalog bought pair, they will be damn close if you follow directions, take your time and DO NOT SKIMP or cut corners. And the most important part is that you will learn a sh!t load and have fun building them. almost the most important part of speaker design is the enclosre itself. you could have the best drivers, power coming out your wazoo and if you enclosure is not calculated/built right, it will still sound like crap. i'm at work so i can't take the time to get a bunch of links for you, but i have built a few very nice sounding speaker sets myself. just do a search on the web and you'll have more info on plans, parts and designs then you will know what to do with. my advice is to do a lot of reading BEFORE you build. that serves 2 purposes: 1.)to see if you really wanna do all the work and 2.) you must have a clue before you begin. you can not simply follow steps in a book. you must have an idea as to why you are doing certain things you do. i say go for it, the best part for me was learning and i love wood working..
j

 

[glen]

StrangeRanger, has a good point. Building your own speakers can be fun and educational. I still say get the fun and education building the subs, and buy satelites. I have talks to LOTS of the guys who have articles in Speaker Builder... Even the experienced builders rarely can compete with well made pre built speakers.

 

[DiamondFire13]

Thats a good plan guys.

I think I will do that. I will probably build a dual side firing ported sub with a 150 watt amp. I'll let you all know how it goes, I wont start working untill this summer though.

Thanks alot, keep more ideas/links coming.

Paul

 

[maddmax]

Glen, I think many experienced builders can compete with prebuilt systems. If you follow proven designs by the likes of Mike Dzurko(Audio Concepts), Joe D'Appolito(speaker guru) and George Short of North Creek an amateur that is good at following instructions can build systems that rival if not surpass factory sets. I combined cabinets, drivers and crossover parts from Madisound with one of their LEAP designed crossovers in an MTM sat/sub setup that sounds superb. Didn't say it was easy but attention to detail, not having to meet a price point and sweat equity go a long way in this business. Did I mention experience? I did tweak the crossover a little. The Radeon stole funds from my other hobby of 25 years. Yes, I am a speaker building addict. I confess!

 

[Workin']

I've never heard a set of good-sounding homebuilts. Not once. Even ones I've built myself. Of course I've heard some dreadful-sounding factory jobs, too. But for the most part if you want good sound leave it to the pros. But then again building your own is a kick. Everyone should do it at least once.

 

[bigjon]

Drivers are inexpensive at Parts Express.

Advanced Loudspeaker Design is a MUST-HAVE book ($8 at Radio Shack).

I second the motion that anything larger than 12&quot; is probably too big for typical home theater or non-rap music (is that a redundancy? ). 10&quot; subs are idea IMHO because they have much more punch (they're faster) and they sound cleaner. In general for home theater use they will kick your butt

If a more complicated design doesn't scare you, I built an a fourth-order bandpass enclosure for two 10&quot; subs in Isobarik (stacked push-pull) configuration. Fourth Order means the subs are inside the enslosure, and one side of the woofer is sealed and the other side is ported into the room. It sounds incredible (I use it in my home theater). The low bass extension blows away my friend's Radio Shack 12&quot; powered sub, and I power it with one channel of a 100W per channel amplifier. Fourth-order designs yield a sub that emits a narrow band of frequencies EXTREMELY efficiently. Since I designed this sub for home theater use I used a low tuning frequency (around 30Hz).

Remember the most important rule of speaker-building is to HAVE FUN!

<edit> Don't skimp on wood. Use at least 3/4&quot; MDF (medium density fiberboard) for subs. </edit>

 

[maddmax]

I didn't say it was easy. Lots of homework when a project is started. No doubt it's possible.