[puck]

i want to build some speakers and would like to know if any of you have any advice on good designs (especially ones that you have tried) and tweeks. i would like to stay away from kits. also, recomendations for books or other forums that are good for this topic would be welcome. basically any info would be very helpfull.

i have never build speakers before but am a fairly accomplished wood worker so i have the skills just not the know-how.

thanks,
puck

 

[Nisbeth]

You could start at DIYAudio but there are tons of stuff out there. Try google

/U.

 

[earthling]

Quote:

Originally posted by puck i want to build some speakers and would like to know if any of you have any advice on good designs (especially ones that you have tried) and tweeks. i would like to stay away from kits. also, recomendations for books or other forums that are good for this topic would be welcome. basically any info would be very helpfull. i have never build speakers before but am a fairly accomplished wood worker so i have the skills just not the know-how. thanks, puck

I have been in and out of speaker building over the years (currently out) and I have been planning for a project for the summer. This is the info I have put together along with some basic advice.

Some advice:

Get a good foundational understanding of acoustics. A great speaker can sound really bad in a bad room and you should strive to match the system you are building to the room that it will eventually be in.

A great book for this is:

The master handbook of acoustics
by F. Alton Everest



Start with a small kit or at least a schematic design. Many kits area also available as plans. Half or more than half of building a speaker is the cabinet. Actually, like 80% of the speaker is the cabinet from a work/craftmanship point of view so you are ahead there.

The most instantly gratifying speaker to build as a first timer is a subwoofer. The great thing about subwoofers is that it is one item that can improve almost any speaker system. I started with subwoofers, went to car audio subwoofers until I sort of peaked out in subwoofer interest when I packed 4 10" JL audio subs (hybrid isobaric) and 3000 watts into the back of my M3.

Most people think of subs as being just a bunch of bloated low frequency audio but a really good sub is a very musically involving addition to any system and once you have one you won't know how you lived without it. If you get a chance, listen to some of the REL subs for calibration on what a real sub should sound like.

A great second project is mini-monitors of some sort. You can build a small set of speakers which will allow you to get a real sense of what high end speaker sound reproduction is like. You can build a set of speakers for ~1000.00 which will compete with commercial speakers costs many, many thousands. Of course you can also build a kit for a couple of hundred which will blow away any borg store system.

There are several speaker magzines, Speaker Builder in particular

Here are some kits that are pretty straightforward.

http://www.speakercity.com/mtm_kits.shtml (parts and kits)
http://www.audax.com/doit/index.shtml (manufacturer)
http://www.madisound.com/ (parts and kits)

Of those kits I have heard (but not built) the kevelator from speakercity. A very accomplished speaker, amazing actually for the money.

http://www.linearteam.dk/ (software)

Advanced Speaker kit from a woodworking point of view. (tough for an average joe, easy for someone with woodworking skills and tools)
http://www.aloha-audio.com/Ariel.html
http://home.tiscali.nl/~t708955/cunos.htm (an ariel page with pics)

The ariel speaker kits have probably the largest following and you will find the most online support for them.

There are also quite a number of plans available for Line source speakers and even electrostatics but I would recommend staying away from them until you get a real feel for cabinet/crossover interaction.

File under Lots-o-DIY links
http://audionova.nu/innehall/audionova_DIY.htm

Visit some local hi-fi stores to calibrate yourself on the sound of certain brands of speakers. Especially pay attention to imaging, and voicing that particular manufactures have integrated into their designs.

Listen to Martin Logan/Magnapan to get a sense of how fast a speaker can sound from midrange up through treble. Also you will experience what 'beamy' means.

Listen to some good MTM or d'appolito arrays (dunlavy in particular) to get some idea of how precise imaging can be.

Listen to some good bipolar designs if you want to hear multi-dimensional sound.

Knowing what sound you are after will help you decide what speaker to build.

 

[erix]

Thanx!

ok,
erix

 

[2 channel]

Try these, they get very good reviews!

Or... Ask Nick Dangerous about the Oris Project

2

 

[wildmonkeysects]

I would suggest keeping it simple for starters: a two way system with good drivers.

There is a basic version of the Ariel with a single part crossover...one cap for the tweeter, and that's it, which can be upgraded as desired.

Also look into series crossovers...a bit tweakier, but with good, matched drivers, can contain a considerable amount of mojo.

 

[Dr_Skoobie]

There are definitely some good kit designs available from the major DIY speaker parts retailers (Madisound, Meniscus, Speaker City, Zalytron, GR Research, Sound Clearing House).

However, there are some even better designs available from individuals who are professionals/semi-professionals.

Figure out your budget, needs, and start exploring your tastes.

I would recommend heading over to the Madisound audio discussion board as the best single spot for DIY speaker builders. Tell folks what you're looking for and ask for advice.

There are some killer designs available from folks like Wayne J, John Kreskov, Dave Ellis, Danny Ritchie (GR Research), Geoffrey Dillon (Dillon Acoustics), Mike McCall (Shamrock Audio), Dennis Murphy, Rick Craig (Selah Audio), Dan Wiggins (Adire Audio), and George Short (North Creek Music Systems).

No doubt I forgot a few, but that list will give you no shortage of great options-- and a good fit for lots of different systems.

These are a cut above the in-house designs of the retailers I mentioned above-- imo, even Zalytron, where Joe D'Appolito does many of the kits.

Lastly, while I can understand not wanting to build a "kit," unless you want to spend time, effort, and resources obtaining the proper information and testing equipment to roll your own, I'd STRONGLY advise using someone else's crossover design. You'll be much happier, much faster.

Good luck and have fun!

dr_s

 

[puck]

thanks for all the links and info. i think that there is enough here to keep me busy looking at stuff for quite a while.

when i said that i don't want a kit, i meant that i didn't want precut cabinets and that sort of thing. i pretty much just want to find someone's design that seems to fit what i'm looking for and then build it from scratch.

i'm not planning to start building anything until the end of summer but i wanted to start researching now so thanks again for the info.

puck

 

[Sovkiller]

Check also www.madisound.com , www.partsexpress.com , www.speakercity.com, www.zalytron.com they not only have the info, they even have some nice kits for sell, with recent production drivers, that offer a very good sound for the money, and they sell all the parts even the cabinets, and you can upgrade all you want based on the catalogs, they have a very large catalogs, with all the more respected brands in DIY speakers world....data, curves of performance, crossover tables and reco's etc...

 

[skippy]

i'll give the thumbs up for zalytron. the first speaker i built was from a zalytron kit, in my speaker building class in high school. i still use those speakers, they're pretty damn good.

 

[Sovkiller]

The best kits are in fact from madisound, but they are a little bit expensive, but he drivers are superb....

 

[da_burl]

I've built several DIY speakers over the years, starting with the Olsher Dahlia back in the early 80's. I have used Madisound pretty extensively, they are very good and easy to work with. You can use their kits, or get plans and build the boxes yourself.
Prior to that, I got started with a local company here in Dallas, and a good company in San Francisco, both of which have "gone under" I believe.
My current home theater setup is Madisound a/v speakers, with Vifa woofers and tweeters, actually I only have an official Madisound center channel, the rest are clones with their components and crossovers and my own boxes.
Here is another resource for you:
S;eakerbuilder.net

I have been considering trying my hand at it again, using the Dayton soft dome tweeter from Parts Express. On the speakerbuilder page and directly at Parts Express, something similar to THIS , you can find several designs based on this, and these might fit your needs better, since its not a complete kit with pre-made boxes.
Back in the day, mdf was not as popular as it is now, now you can get 4x8 sheets at Home Depot, in 3/4 and 1" thickness. They will even cut it for you on their badass pipe/sheet saw for 50 cents a cut, I think. MDF may not look great on its own, but it is denser than plywood, so it has less resonance and vibration. Some enthusiasts glue two 1" sheets together. Internal bracing will cut down on resonances, and reduce the area of each section that could possibly vibrate.
Then, just allow a little extra volume for bracing and internal components, calculate the box size, glue and screw with butt joints, and go for it! Cut the holes with jigsaw, or if you have a router, you can get circle cutting jigs, and make dado or miter cuts to make the boxes look a little better. Cover the outside with laminate or veneer. Again, a router make this a beautiful thing.
A lot of the success of the final product depends on the crossover, so spend some time understanding this, it can range from one inductor and one capacitor, or even just one capacitor, to a very complex circuit with zobels, different slopes for each driver, etc. That is the fun part, you can tweak it to your heart's desire once you have the basic boxes and components put together.
Have fun

da_burl

 

[jororaitchev]

I'll show you some of my stuff and because you're " ...... but am a fairly accomplished wood worker so i have the skills just not the know-how."
You may decide to take advantage of.
Sincerely,
Joro

 

[jororaitchev]

I'll show you some of my stuff and because you're " ...... but am a fairly accomplished wood worker so i have the skills just not the know-how."
You may decide to take advantage of.
Sincerely,
Joro

Follow themes in "DIY Speakers"

 

[MikeW]

DIY Sound Group SEOS stuff is alot of fun. I've got 1099's in my HT for LCR and a pair of Volt 10's. Couldent be happier.