What do you think are the best speakers ever?

[cheesehead]

I'm getting into DIY speaker building in a big way.

My 1st properly-designed project, which I'm finishing as soon as I can get the right kind of carpet isulation for damping the inside (hypoallergenic for the win!), is a single-driver fullrange speaker made from PVC pipe. They're supposed to be great, and I'm inclined to agree - even unfinished, these compete VERY favorably with some $400+ Paradigms. The total cost of construction?

About 45$ including speaker jacks.

So, what do you like? 3-way behemoths that require a small electrical substation? Single-drivers, with their elegant electrical design and hideously complex cabinet designs? Or perhaps planars - complex, prone to failure, and capable of performance unmached by almost anything else?

EDIT:

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
Speakers are subjective; there is no "best".

BTW, where are the plans for this $45 full-range speaker? What are its specs?

It's a length of PVC pipe roughly 1.1 meters long consisting of a 1-meter length of 4" PVC and a right-angle joint. (30$ for 10' of pipe and 2 joints from Home Depot.)

Starting 900mm up the tube, a long, tapered piece of wood (it's a 2x4 cut diagonally, producing two triangles 2" wide x 36" long with the third dimension tapering from 0 to 4 inches.) This reduces the line length to about 65% of the speaker driver's area. I'm stuffing it with some fiberglass insulation (maybe Dacron) and covering the tapered wood bit in carpet underlayment.

The speaker drivers are Radio Shack 40 - 1041's. If you can find any RadioShack "full range" speaker drivers, they should work fine - just modify the length of the tube to match the resonant frequency (FS) of the speaker driver, and get the diameter of the pipe as close to the diameter of the speaker as possible. (Slightly smaller is better than slightly bigger.)

Or, just send me the speaker drivers, and I will send you money.

 

[JSFLY]

Bill clinton was an excellent public speaker.

 

[biggestmuff]

Speakers are subjective; there is no "best".

BTW, where are the plans for this $45 full-range speaker? What are its specs?

 

[biggestmuff]

Originally posted by: JSFLY
Bill clinton was an excellent pubic speaker.

fixed.

 

[EvilYoda]

I want to say Bose so badly, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

 

[Gibsons]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
I want to say Bose so badly, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

I predict a Yoyoyo post very soon now.

 

[Gimli43Orcs]

Bose

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: Gibsons

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
I want to say Bose so badly, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

I predict a Yoyoyo post very soon now.

He knows my background well enough to know that I meant that to be a joke...nvm.

 

[Gibsons]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda

Originally posted by: Gibsons

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
I want to say Bose so badly, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

I predict a Yoyoyo post very soon now.

He knows my background well enough to know that I meant that to be a joke...nvm.

I think everyone who's ever seen a Bose thread knows it's a joke.

 

[Rastus]

The original 1967 Bose 901's still rock.

They may not perform like modern speakers, but the legend is much more valuable. I have a friend who has a set in mint condition and when something goes wrong with them, he sends them to Bose and the get worked on and sent back to him with a thank you (and no bill).

 

[biggestmuff]

Ok, back to the topic. Cheesehead, where are the specs and plans for this full-range speaker?

 

[cheesehead]

Originally posted by: Rastus
The original 1967 Bose 901's still rock.

They may not perform like modern speakers, but the legend is much more valuable. I have a friend who has a set in mint condition and when something goes wrong with them, he sends them to Bose and the get worked on and sent back to him with a thank you (and no bill).

They did, or so I've heard. Modern bose is trash, but the 901's were pretty respectable, if overpriced.

EDIT:

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
Ok, back to the topic. Cheesehead, where are the specs and plans for this full-range speaker?

Check the OP.

They're a custom, homemade design based (loosely) off of Rob Samson's stuff.


http://www.t-linespeakers.org/projects/sampson/index.html

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Single driver fullrange? I'm weary of that

 

[biggestmuff]

Thanks, Cheeshead

 

[cheesehead]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Single driver fullrange? I'm weary of that

What do you mean?

Using a well-made FR driver like the CSS FR125 and a low-frequency subwoofer (Peerless XLS or Dayton), one can put a crossover well out of the way of anything you'd actually hear, and use a crossover slope shallow enough that you would'nt even notice if it were.

Single driver fullrange is only good if you use a hideously complex enclosure, usually horn-loaded.

 

[KRandor]

Best speakers? to do what? where? For how much? There's a big difference between, say, speakers for even a good but basic hi-fi, and those for a real good top-end hi-fi system - let alone PA/monitors... The environment you use them in will also dictate an awful lot too... An old friend of mine used to work in a custom 'hi-fi' 'shop' - (real expensive stuff) - and he'd usually do a custom build based on the specifics/acoustics of the room it was going into... I would have loved one of those (no ******! - i heard one once - it was awesome ) - but I can't afford the couple of hundred-thousand £'s required...

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Single driver fullrange? I'm weary of that

What do you mean?

Using a well-made FR driver like the CSS FR125 and a low-frequency subwoofer (Peerless XLS or Dayton), one can put a crossover well out of the way of anything you'd actually hear, and use a crossover slope shallow enough that you would'nt even notice if it were.

Single driver fullrange is only good if you use a hideously complex enclosure, usually horn-loaded.

Wait, you said single driver and now mentioned using a subwoofer... please do explain what you mean exactly

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

So I'm supposed to come in here in say something?

 

[tweakmm]

Hating Bose is overratted, although their stuff made recently is overpriced crap.

Most of my system is decades old intentionally.
2x Bose 201 series 11s
1x NAD 3020a
1x Sony CD player
+ Excellent room accoustics
=
Audio heaven

Admittedly I have been meaning to replace my speakers with something I built myself. I also want to get a SACD player too.

I can't bring myself to replace the NAD though, that amp sounds simply magical.

 

[cheesehead]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
So I'm supposed to come in here in say something?

Well, yes. After all, if you say Bose=crap, what are you comparing it to? (At one point in time, the Bose Wave radio was a pinnacle of audio engineering - like before 1940, when unamplified, hand-cranked phonographs were all the rage.)

Originally posted by: KRandor
Best speakers? to do what? where? For how much? There's a big difference between, say, speakers for even a good but basic hi-fi, and those for a real good top-end hi-fi system - let alone PA/monitors... The environment you use them in will also dictate an awful lot too... An old friend of mine used to work in a custom 'hi-fi' 'shop' - (real expensive stuff) - and he'd usually do a custom build based on the specifics/acoustics of the room it was going into... I would have loved one of those (no ******! - i heard one once - it was awesome ) - but I can't afford the couple of hundred-thousand £'s required...

For the sake of our collective sanity (or what little we have left), just say whatever you happen to like. It need'nt be the best speaker you've ever heard - just what you think is especially nifty.

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo

Originally posted by: Cheesehead

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Single driver fullrange? I'm weary of that

What do you mean?

Using a well-made FR driver like the CSS FR125 and a low-frequency subwoofer (Peerless XLS or Dayton), one can put a crossover well out of the way of anything you'd actually hear, and use a crossover slope shallow enough that you would'nt even notice if it were.

Single driver fullrange is only good if you use a hideously complex enclosure, usually horn-loaded.

Wait, you said single driver and now mentioned using a subwoofer... please do explain what you mean exactly

A single driver can get you from about 20khz down to 70hz or so. However, for extra-deep bass (deeper than most PC subwoofers go), you need a proper subwoofer. For reasons of cost, I'm using one sub for both speakers.

"Fullrange" is somewhat loose - often, many fullrange speakers are designed to be used with a subwoofer, or sometimes a tweeter.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Just sold off my M&K S-150 system. I loved those speakers...

Best system I ever installed was a B&W Nautilus system. Four Krell FPB-600 amps. Wadia CD player. Krell CAST pre-amp. B&W Nautilus speakers...

$120,000 audio system. It was a religous experience.

 

[AlienCraft]

The best speaker is the one you have.

It might well be BOSE.

One would be well served to ignore nameplates and concentrate on performance.

This drives DIY more than anything , I think.

 

[tweakmm]

Originally posted by: AlienCraft
This drives DIY more than anything , I think.

No, the amazingly incredible markup on retail speakers is what drives the DIY market. Although it is fair to say that the DIY speaker market isn't really driven at all.

 

[cheesehead]

Originally posted by: tweakmm

Originally posted by: AlienCraft
This drives DIY more than anything , I think.

No, the amazingly incredible markup on retail speakers is what drives the DIY market.

You're both right.

Half of DIYers want something specific (and hence spend thousands on crazy line arrays or Lowthers), and half of DIYers want good quality at a good price.

For under 100$ a pair, one can build ZaphAudio's Dayton-based MTMs. I'm told they kick the crap out of commercial speakers costing triple the price.

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: tweakmm

Originally posted by: AlienCraft
This drives DIY more than anything , I think.

No, the amazingly incredible markup on retail speakers is what drives the DIY market.

LOL, RIGGGGhhhht, MOST hoobyists I know will spend far more in tools, materials, and time than a comparable pair would run.
I think DIY is driven by a quest to DO the deed simply for it's own sake. I doubt that anyone gets into DIY thinking they're going to go into business.