Recomendation needed, small cheap full range.

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Looking make a very portable speaker setup for ipod type sources.

Im looking to use a amp32 and a somthing around a 4ah 12v SLA for power.

As for speakers, i have no idea. Im thinking full range is the way to go for this project.

Id like to not have to go larger than 3"
They should be as cheap as possible
Very small enclosure or free air would be nice.

Great sound is not high on my list of priorities, but it would be nice if they sounded decent.

If full range does not sound like a good way to do this i am open to 3" drivers and small neo tweets such as the little cheap daytons.

Thanks.
 
Visaton FRS8 - £5 GB

Bass not huge, but it's as good as I've heard for a 3" driver.

Can use up it's Xmax quite quickly, so a small, sealed box would be good.

I've had these running out of throw at 7W (playing 40hz thuds though...) in open baffle

Took 50W peaks to run them out of throw in a tiny sealed box.

What kind of music are you looking to play?
 
they are going to play all kinds of music. i am taking some photo classes and time in the studio goes by much quicker if there is some music playing. Everything from beatles to drum and bass (not expecting much bass though)

i really wanted to build somthing that is better than buying one of those ipod dock speaker setups. they are ususally overpriced and underperform.

i dont expect much low end out of them, i am expecting to sacrafice sound quality to make this thing as small as possible. When you said a tiny sealed box, how small are we talking about?
 
frugal-phile™
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Most of my 3" experience is with the Fostex FF85. The uFonken was designed for just this kind of application, but likely won't fit within your needs to be cheap criterion (FE83 & FE87 are probablly the same calibre but need a bigger box). The concave cone Aura NS3 is the next one i'd choose, but it seems to have become unobtainium ... they have a new whizzer cone job that looks interesting (and they are on special). Another well received cheapy (i've not heard them) are the HiFi B3 (round and square frame). Zaph did a box with them.

dave
 
Recently bought Fostex 3" FE87E, cheap from Ebay Australia for AUD$23 each, no longer available.

Sounds good. You are aware this kind of speaker on a small cabinet does not give you sufficient bass, so you need to augment them with a subwoofer.

Very clean sound, excellent clarity better than most commercial speakers on the market.

cheers.
 
MashBill said:
Google "Makizou M-8BH".

For better advice from us, you might want to define what "cheap" means to you.

Bill


I was sort of thrown by how portable this combo has to be.

My easy answer on this if no amp32 has been purchased or built is
just get one of the combos at Parts Express with a Sonic Impact or Swans (the round t-amp one) of amp and speakers.

As to small speaks, the Zaph project is out there but I don't know how or if anyone has replicated the build of his smallest one.

Or the miniFonken.

All these beg the question of portability though. Years back, peeps have tried to put together custom boom boxes with upscale components. I never heard much about it after that.
 
frugal-phile™
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valleyman said:
I'd suggest you also look at efficiency as one of your criteria. More efficiency means less power from the amp and so longer battery life. I'd discount the HiVi driver for that reason

It is a trade-off. Bass, size, efficiency. To get 1 another one has to give. The most efficient 3s are the Fostex FE83/87 but in a small cab you'll struggle for 150 Hz. In a much bigger box they'll get to 100 Hz or less.

dave
 
I mentioned it earlier, but i am not expecting bass out of this setup and i do expect to have very little midbass as well.

I am looking to do this super cheap, price range for the drivers is around the price of the B3S, so about $10 a driver.

The fostex drivers seem great, but i doubt it would be worth it as i would ruin the potential of these speakers by putting them in an enclosure that is not optimal for them. I also wouldent want to for that extra preformance that i wont be using, although that sensativity would be nice to have.

Just started looking at those peerless 83 series and i do like the smaller size, but i feel that the B3S is my best option at this point.
 
Nice to know I recommended something which fits the criteria

Time for a party, methinks...

I can get loud enough to fill a small (fairly) room with one of those visaton drivers, driven with a 7W amp, loud enough to hear it through people talking etc.

also, they do a FRS 4, with 4 ohm resistance.
 
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