Hi
I got a pair of 20year old AKAI speakers (10" woofer and 3/4" tweeter set), when I rip if open I only saw one 8uf cap as xover...the sound is terribly bad and all surroundings on the woofer is wore off. Since it is impossible for me to do the box myself I think I might reuse the enclosures to make a new pair (10"woofer and 1" tweeter), the enclosure is about 1.1cu. My questions are: Is is practical to do them? Is there a design for this type of combination out there?
All answers are welcome...thx
I got a pair of 20year old AKAI speakers (10" woofer and 3/4" tweeter set), when I rip if open I only saw one 8uf cap as xover...the sound is terribly bad and all surroundings on the woofer is wore off. Since it is impossible for me to do the box myself I think I might reuse the enclosures to make a new pair (10"woofer and 1" tweeter), the enclosure is about 1.1cu. My questions are: Is is practical to do them? Is there a design for this type of combination out there?
All answers are welcome...thx
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Ok, Let me rephrase it this way: I have a pair of enclosures with front opening for one 10" and one 3/4", it's about 1.16cu. now I am going to buy a new 10" woofer and a new 3/4" tweeter (budgetary line), How can I get a crossover design? I am pretty sure that these kind of combination (10" + 3/4") is pretty rare nowadays....this AKAI had only one 8uf cap on the tweeter side as its crossover, imagine in the good old days...
There should be lots of resources via google that could suit you. I remember Madisound used to do crossovers and I found this link on their site. Looks like as good a place as any to start. http://www.mhsoft.nl/spk_calc.asp#crossover
Zalytron and Madisound have tons of drivers but a 10" generally starts at $50 and goes way up. You might try to find some decent poly cone woofer from MCM. I'm not sure about the aluminum cones but with a surface treatment those are supposed to not be bad either. Given the nature of your project, I would lean toward budget woofers.
The tweeter cutout can be modified so you can use a more standard 1" tweeter.
You might want to assess the box construction. What is the wall thickness? Is there any bracing? You might want to construct some bracing out of wooden dowels as they would be the easist to retrofit.
Zalytron and Madisound have tons of drivers but a 10" generally starts at $50 and goes way up. You might try to find some decent poly cone woofer from MCM. I'm not sure about the aluminum cones but with a surface treatment those are supposed to not be bad either. Given the nature of your project, I would lean toward budget woofers.
The tweeter cutout can be modified so you can use a more standard 1" tweeter.
You might want to assess the box construction. What is the wall thickness? Is there any bracing? You might want to construct some bracing out of wooden dowels as they would be the easist to retrofit.
Thanks,
I surely will check out these sites you pointed out, it will be a great help to me!
The enclosure has no brace inside, only a piece around 10" disk stick to the rare wall behind the tweeter (looks like the 10" cutout from the woofer), and it is made out of 3/4" or 7/8" plywood. I think adding some braces inside is a good idea because it is quite big in volume...
I surely will check out these sites you pointed out, it will be a great help to me!
The enclosure has no brace inside, only a piece around 10" disk stick to the rare wall behind the tweeter (looks like the 10" cutout from the woofer), and it is made out of 3/4" or 7/8" plywood. I think adding some braces inside is a good idea because it is quite big in volume...
My recommendation would be to just glue/fasten a piece of plywood over the front (baffle). Then use some existing 2 way design, maybe even a kit, and cut new mounting holes for the drivers. I would try for a sealed design, covering any vent that was in the enclosure. Otherwise, you'll have to do a whole bunch of work to reverse-design drivers and crossovers for that enclosure, and you'll probably spend more than you thought it would cost.
leadbelly said:
I too would recommend this... one trick i have used is to cover the front & back and then make the side of the cabinet the front.
The cabinets for these are usually way too small (to introduce a nice "bloaty" midbass peak) so a 6.5" 2-way or even a full-range (this would be a good one for the famous Delco 6x9 (often found at garage sales for a couple loons
) A pr of Radio-Shack 40-1197s in a bipole should work not bad either (with a little help on the top).dave
leadbelly said:
Leadbelly,
Sorry I fotgot to mention this is a sealed box. So you suggest that I cover the 10" hole and cut a say 6.5" on top of it for the xover design? Thanks.
planet10 said:
Dave,
This box is around 1.164cu ft (11" x 9.5" x 19.25"), isn't it too large for a 6.5" 2-way? I am a bit confused here, could you please elaborate a bit more? Thanks.
SlouGan said:
Depends entirely on what 6" you use. I did just this with a 2.3 cu ft box that had a 12" stuffed into it. Took a 6" i had salvaged, tricked it up, added some open-back Audax tweeters i had laying around -- used a simple cap XO at about 6k. In the end i had to make the box aperiodic because the 6's Q in the big box was still a bit high (it started out high), and got something surprisingly good (the 6s were originally stuffed into a MUCH smaller box where they didn't work nearly as well). One of these days i'll actually finish them off (my brother is using them and won't let me take them away)
It is hard to have a sealed box that is too big.
dave
SlouGan,
No, I meant cover the whole front with a rectangular piece of wood, and then cut 2 new holes in that for the drivers. If you take the time to pull out those plastic snaps for your grill, you can drill 4 new holes in the new piece of wood, put in those snaps, and reuse the grill.
That is a great trick for covering the front and back, Dave, I had not thought of it. It is just perfect for 2 old duds I have here.
No, I meant cover the whole front with a rectangular piece of wood, and then cut 2 new holes in that for the drivers. If you take the time to pull out those plastic snaps for your grill, you can drill 4 new holes in the new piece of wood, put in those snaps, and reuse the grill.
That is a great trick for covering the front and back, Dave, I had not thought of it. It is just perfect for 2 old duds I have here.
leadbelly said:
I popped over to my bro's and snapped a couple pics. I was able to peel off the old vinyl wrap on these. You will also note the high level of detailing -- the stripped screw that is now just filling the hole on the 6", the high performance natural partical board un-finish, and the budget speaker terminals on the back
These are called J1s (J is for junk), but they will cream many a speaker that people actually spent money to buy.
dave
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hmm, very interesting indeed Dave,
My problem is I don't have any tools to do woodwork, that's why I think of reusing those boxes. The old tweeter is still in good shape (from look) but the woofer surrounding rubber (or form) is totally gone (broke into pieces if touch slightly). A really dumb question: why can't I just go and grab the ~$20 dallor 10" (as ultrachrome mentioned MCM) and replace it? Or maybe I should just wait until I finish reading the Loudspeaker Design Cookbook and then make the decision.
My problem is I don't have any tools to do woodwork, that's why I think of reusing those boxes. The old tweeter is still in good shape (from look) but the woofer surrounding rubber (or form) is totally gone (broke into pieces if touch slightly). A really dumb question: why can't I just go and grab the ~$20 dallor 10" (as ultrachrome mentioned MCM) and replace it? Or maybe I should just wait until I finish reading the Loudspeaker Design Cookbook and then make the decision.
Your project has me thinking about the flea market speakers that I picked up for $2. At the time, the web had just barely begun and there wasn't nearly the DIY support there is today.
I would just go for it. You could learn alot by playing with a less expensive woofer and plugging the specs into the calculators and seeing what happens. You could even cut a port. All you need is a hand drill or even a rotozip.
I want to build a pair of speakers but have really no experience so for experimental purposes, I bought a pair of 8" MCM aluminum woofers. I don't have drivers laying around. I plan to build some different enclosures and compare them: sealed, ported, and transmission line.
The worst you could end up with is a pair of speakers for the garage...or a relative.
I would just go for it. You could learn alot by playing with a less expensive woofer and plugging the specs into the calculators and seeing what happens. You could even cut a port. All you need is a hand drill or even a rotozip.
I want to build a pair of speakers but have really no experience so for experimental purposes, I bought a pair of 8" MCM aluminum woofers. I don't have drivers laying around. I plan to build some different enclosures and compare them: sealed, ported, and transmission line.
The worst you could end up with is a pair of speakers for the garage...or a relative.
Attachments
There's another major reason to consider using something like a 6-1/2" woofer: horizontal dispersion at crossover. Getting a ten and a small dome to mate in such a way that there's no trough-and-horns behavior off axis will be a major challenge. Near impossible. It's tough enough (though doable) with a 6-1/2 incher.
Yeah, when I first got those spks my reaction was wow, that's a big 2-way!
I am going to maybe just buy couple of 10"s from MCM and play with them using 2nd order, since I've never built any speakers before it will be a good learning experience for me. After I get comfortable with it (in the meantime, i will try to finish the Cookbook) I will start building a real 2-way available as a kit out there.
Thanks guys, I think 2 budget 10" is really nothing to lose. If nothing works out, I will use them as my bedside tables
I am going to maybe just buy couple of 10"s from MCM and play with them using 2nd order, since I've never built any speakers before it will be a good learning experience for me. After I get comfortable with it (in the meantime, i will try to finish the Cookbook) I will start building a real 2-way available as a kit out there.
Thanks guys, I think 2 budget 10" is really nothing to lose. If nothing works out, I will use them as my bedside tables
Now I have an idea, I think I am going to get the 10", and also a 3" tangbang w3-871s full range. And messing with the xover. The frequency response for tb is from 110-20k Hz, I know there is a drop off in the 18K area from what I read in a post here, but at least maybe it will take care of the bass side.
Do you guys think this will work? If it does, at what Hz should they be crossed? Or it is really a stupid thought?
Do you guys think this will work? If it does, at what Hz should they be crossed? Or it is really a stupid thought?
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