By the way those are certainly NOT a pair of AN8CF drivers. Like Nelson mentions earlier those look like Goldwood 8003's which run about $20 each. And frankly the Goldwood's specs are rather well suited to open baffle. Maybe the designer will add an "upgrade" model with crossover and slot loaded woofers. But I'd say Scottmoose is spot on about who the target audience is for this product.
I don't think this was directed specifically at your comments but the general argument that these are not a good value. Your points are valid, though his priorities seem different than ours. Maybe he did consider large radius edges or driver offset but they didn't meet his overall design goals.
I have yet to see a commercial product that I couldn't improve for a few cents or a little time but that doesn't mean I dismiss everything I see. I just use a little empathy.
I'm sure Dave(planet10) remembers and may still have a pair or two of speakers I was planning to enter into the market. It was a kit with a 3" Aura driver and panels for a 1.2 litre baltic birch box with some crafty joinery. I was planning on releasing them at $99/pr. I made fifty for promotional purposes. Now, two $11 drivers and $10 worth of plywood for $99!! What a rip! ...selling them at that price I would have earned about $20/hr of labour; careful, skilled labour and not including, the headaches, worries, design time, driving around or spending hours with a phone next to my head looking for deals on tooling, supplies and materials so I could sell these at a price that wouldn't start a thread like this.
The Aura ones went off as suroounds to go along with a pair of Fonken Floorstanders. The other pair have been adapted for TB W3-871 and are partially assembled.
The joinery on these was very nice.
dave
I am literally this person, and this is my first post. I've had my first DAC -> tube amp -> headphone chain for a while, and now I am trying to get into hi-fi speakers, but I am a student and poor. It is obvious to me (and this is not the only source confirming it) that I could probably build better than UrbanFidelity for cheaper (and I would enjoy doing it), but I've not had much luck finding a beginner's guide and kit that uses terms I understand, and in the absence of total confidence I am probably just going to buy UrbanFidelity.
If the purpose of this thread is to save people such as me, then what should I do?
For starters you could just copy the Urban fidelity formula, but use a much better driver. Say a Betsy K + a solid wood shelf from Home Despot (get the widest one they sell, i've seen Pine & Eucalyptus). You'll still be shy in the bass, but you'll have lots of change left over to rig up some EQ (or add wings, or other means to better bass)
dave
dave
Aside from our opinion of the sonics of such a design, let's give the Urban Fidelity product some credit for not being outrageously priced for what it is - the customized printing of artist's graphic work on panels of this size could cost easily as much as some of the budget priced OEM drivers we presume to guess might be used.
Get this.
Dayton Audio OmniMic V2 Precision Audio Measurement System 390-792
Get this
MiniDSP 2x4 RevA | miniDSP
Get the Betsy
Wild Burro Audio Labs - Fullrange Speakers - The Betsy & Betsy-K Drivers
Copy their design for now, but offset the driver, using the golden ratio (look it up)
Cut 2 pieces of mdf 3/4 and glue them together, then use a 3/4 roundover bit on the edges (both sides)
That will get you started. Now just be ready to be totally enslaved for the rest of your life with obsessive thoughts on new speaker designs. Kaaaaay?
Thanks a ton for all the help, I think I am maybe one more response from dropping the money and building this instead.
Looks cool, can't afford right now
Stupid question: what value would this get me over my existing DAC?
After planet10's post this became my plan, and the instructions are good, but can you elaborate more on these two suggestions:
So the idea is that the area under where the driver is centered is a golden rectangle? Does the area above it matter or is it just whatever's left of the 4' plywood after the driver is offset?
Kind of confused here as to why I am gluing sheets together and what to round (just the wings, or both sides of every board?). Maybe you can link me to something that explains the idea here?
I'm okay with this!
With good reason, currently in vogue for doing digital EQ (and active XOs)
See diagram.
Some found material from homedepot.com that could be used with a minimum of work. Wider than the Urban one,could be trimmed or just used to get more bass:
A laminated pine board
21/32 x 17 1/4 x 6 Knotty Laminated Pine Panel-493562 at The Home Depot
2 pieces of (not great) plywood
18 mm x 24 in. x 48 ft. Pine Birch Project Panel (2-Pack)-1503006 at The Home Depot
Personally i'd go for the pine, you could just finish them natural (or do a graphc and get a sign shop to print it on vinyl.
I'd never use MDF. You need to laminate two sheets of 5/8" MDF to get about the same stiffness as a piece of 18mm quality birch ply, but you end up with way more energy storage using the MDF.
dave
Attachments
MINES BETTER!!!!!!!
hahaha!
man, my keyboard ran out of batteries
You won"t have to do the golden ratio because you are going to use the mini-dsp. Which is not a DAC, (there is one in there, but it's beside the point)
It's an active crossover with PEQ and more fun stuff.
also it has 4 channels for the future addition (pictured right)
SO THERE DAVE!
hahaha!
man, my keyboard ran out of batteries
You won"t have to do the golden ratio because you are going to use the mini-dsp. Which is not a DAC, (there is one in there, but it's beside the point)
It's an active crossover with PEQ and more fun stuff.
also it has 4 channels for the future addition (pictured right)
SO THERE DAVE!
I love MDF! easy to route, looks great, tastes good too!
he's going to make this bad boy 1.5" thick anyway
Last edited:
I love MDF! easy to route, looks great, tastes good too!
he's going to make this bad boy 1.5" thick anyway
I'll take the 18mm ply or pine over that. We used MDF in over 1st OB and said never again.
dave
miniDSP can't fix that issue, You should offset the driver.
Cheaper & easier to get EQ in software.
Let Legit get his foot into the water. He can go overboard later after he has a better feel for what will satisfy his needs. Solutions similar to miniDSP will get better, cheaper, and more diverse as we move forward in time.
$100 for drivers, $50 for the ready to use panels, say $200-250 ready to listen, (+ bribes if you need to enlist friend's help or tools you figure you can amortize across multiple projects)
dave
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.