a couple of 3" questions

[Sh1mmy]

Hey fellas, would like to pick ya brains a bit.

Not too long ago, a mate gave me a couple of 3" FR drivers (in plastic enclosures), they arn't brand name and i have next to no specs on them, but have been told they sounded alright-ish
What specs i do have of them is what was on the label:

I have used them for a bit, with an amp from a multimedia set of speakers that are not used, and they did sound alright-ish, and i did hear a couple of things that I cannot with my stereo, so i figure they cant be too bad.
However they did seem rather shouty, but im guessing the plastic enclosures (they are thin and not that strong) could have something to do with it?

Diamond audio
output power: 5W/ch (THD @1%)
Speaker type: 3.0" (75mm) magnetic shielded
Freq. Resp.: 100hz - 18khz

there are no TS parameters, so I doubt any of that would be helpful.

So my main question is...
I was looking at using the 3" Zaph design or the micro Fonken. I realize these are designed for those drivers, but was wondering if it would be alright to experiment a bit and use these drivers in them?

I have some 12mm and 18mm MDF that I'd like to use also.

I am planning on building a set of Fonkens, but at a later date (was gonna do it sooner, but things came up). So I'm not expecting any miracles, if it would be possible/alright to do.

Cheers.

PS: to play it safe, I don't actually know that much about speakers etc, I'm kinda new to the Hi-Fi area

[mrybczyn]

Experimenting is fine;go for it, see if you like the sound. One cheap and fast way to experiment with the sound is to try open baffle (abbreviated as OB round here, do a search) , with just some cardboard for starters...

I've read that some of the www.frugel-horn.com designs are supposed to be very forgiving of non-standard speakers...

If you're investing a lot of time in an enclosure, you may want to build the right one for the speakers. You can measure the t/s parameters yourself : http://sound.westhost.com/tsp.htm


Cheers,
Mitch

[hm]

Hello,

or try something like this:

[Fast1one]

I think a horn is the last thing he should consider without any concrete parameters...

Open Baffle is by far the easiest experiment one can undertake, and sometimes the most pleasant depending on personal preference. I would give that a try first.

If it doesn't work out, you can give aperiodic a try.

http://diyaudioprojects.com/Technical/Aperiodic/

You can use a simple multimeter and test tones to measure the impedance and find the peak. Then add more resistive material to the vent until the peak is almost gone...or do it by ear...

[Sh1mmy]

Originally posted by mrybczyn
Experimenting is fine;go for it, see if you like the sound. One cheap and fast way to experiment with the sound is to try open baffle (abbreviated as OB round here, do a search) , with just some cardboard for starters...

I've read that some of the www.frugel-horn.com designs are supposed to be very forgiving of non-standard speakers...

If you're investing a lot of time in an enclosure, you may want to build the right one for the speakers. You can measure the t/s parameters yourself : http://sound.westhost.com/tsp.htm


Cheers,
Mitch

I tried the OB today with some cardboard and it seems (to me at the moment) better than they did in their original plastic enclosures.
In a way I'm kinda impressed in some ways with them... it just seems that they arnt good in some areas, in some genres, but in others they seem pretty good.
However they still seem a bit shouty, and a bit confused (if thats the right word) in some areas, but not as bad as they were in the plastic enclosures.

I think a horn may be a bit beyond me at the moment, as i don't really have that much room.

I may try and have a go at getting the T/S parameters one day, thanks for the link though.

Originally posted by Fast1one
I think a horn is the last thing he should consider without any concrete parameters...

Open Baffle is by far the easiest experiment one can undertake, and sometimes the most pleasant depending on personal preference. I would give that a try first.

If it doesn't work out, you can give aperiodic a try.

http://diyaudioprojects.com/Technical/Aperiodic/

You can use a simple multimeter and test tones to measure the impedance and find the peak. Then add more resistive material to the vent until the peak is almost gone...or do it by ear...

As I said above, the OB did sound better to me, but I was only about 1-1.5m away from them in a corner and in comparaison to before, I am pleased with them so far.

Thanks for the tips too.


Thanks for the replies, appreciate it.

PS: I have a mate who has 4x 8" FR drivers, he is a bit intrigued with the TL design, and i offered to ask on here if anyone knew of any TL designs for 8" drivers, using either 2 drivers per speaker or single.

Would appreciate help on that also.

[Sh1mmy]

Was just thinking about it some more and was wondering if an MTM TL would be alright for those 4x 8" drivers?

[sreten]

Originally posted by Sh1mmy

So my main question is...
I was looking at using the 3" Zaph design ...... I realize these are ]
designed for those drivers, but was wondering if it would be alright
to experiment a bit and use these drivers in them?

I have some 12mm and 18mm MDF that I'd like to use also.

Cheers.

PS: to play it safe, I don't actually know that much about speakers etc, I'm kinda new to the Hi-Fi area

Hi,

The B3S drivers in Zaphs design are so cheap its simply not worth
wasting your (it will be considerable) time with cheap alternatives.
the Filter for the B3S only works with the B3S.

A Fonken may look like it works, but a 3" has no business attempting
bass unless its a computer nearfield, un this case the Aura NS3 is better.

You need an AV amplifier for the B3S SDS and an active subwoofer.

/sreten.

[Sh1mmy]

Originally posted by sreten



Hi,

The B3S drivers in Zaphs design are so cheap its simply not worth
wasting your (it will be considerable) time with cheap alternatives.
the Filter for the B3S only works with the B3S.

A Fonken may look like it works, but a 3" has no business attempting
bass unless its a computer nearfield, un this case the Aura NS3 is better.

You need an AV amplifier for the B3S SDS and an active subwoofer.

/sreten.

Thanks for the reply.

half the reason to do something with these 3" i have is partly just something to do, and to work out what i would need to do the fonkens id like to do later.

The main thing they (the 3") would be used for would be nearfield for a computer.

also, I would prefer to use the 3" i already have (although i know next to nothing about them), as i would like to keep it as cheap as possible, use them, and im not after really good sound.

Thanks again.