Beginner looking for help on how to wire a 2.1 portable Speaker

[biggeesmall]

Hello, I am just getting my feet wet in audio electronics and have a simple question that I have not been able to find exactly. I have two 3" full range speakers, a 6" woofer and getting a two channel amp (tripath 2020 or 2024). I wanted to make a portable device something like the attached photo. But don't know how I should wire up the 3 speakers to a two channel amp? Would two speakers in parallel for one channel and the other for the woofer be correct? It would be a small portable device for indoors and wouldn't have true two channel stereo anyway. Not sure if wiring in whats called tri-mode is right because I think the amps have to be bridgeable. Any direction would be helpful. Thanks!

[Saturnus]

Which exact speaker do you have?

[biggeesmall]

Hello!
The drivers I already have in house are:

1 x Aurasound NS6-255-4A 6" Paper Cone Woofer 4 ohm
2 x Hi-Vi C3N-III 3" Paper Cone Full Range
I'm guessing this is probably not the best combo however.

[dangus]

2.1 (or 1.1 if mono) properly requires an active crossover. It would be simpler to just use a pair of 5" or 6" speakers in 2.0. Madisound still has the Aurasound on sale for $11.50, if you want to make up a pair.

Add tweeters if budget or scrounging ability allow; they can probably be hooked up with a minimal passive crossover, like just a capacitor in series.

[Saturnus]

If you couple the 2 3"ers in parallel (and thereby in mono). They match the woofer in sensitivity. Then change the input cap on the channel the 3"ers, so that it filters pretty, say 15nF for around 180Hz. And either make a pllxo for the "sub" channel, or just a large coil.

[biggeesmall]

Originally Posted by dangus

2.1 (or 1.1 if mono) properly requires an active crossover. It would be simpler to just use a pair of 5" or 6" speakers in 2.0. Madisound still has the Aurasound on sale for $11.50, if you want to make up a pair.

Add tweeters if budget or scrounging ability allow; they can probably be hooked up with a minimal passive crossover, like just a capacitor in series.

Dangus, I think I misspoke when I said 2.1 your right thats not what i'm doing here! I think I will purchase a few more for a simple first project like this.

[biggeesmall]

Originally Posted by Saturnus

If you couple the 2 3"ers in parallel (and thereby in mono). They match the woofer in sensitivity. Then change the input cap on the channel the 3"ers, so that it filters pretty, say 15nF for around 180Hz. And either make a pllxo for the "sub" channel, or just a large coil.

Hello, so if i'm understanding this correctly in one channel I could wire the two 3" drivers in parallel using a 15uf Capacitor for 180hz crossover point and wire the sub with the other channel using a coil to filter out the highs. (the pllxo is way above my knowledge level right now) Im reading about high pass and low pass passive filters so im at the bottom of the learning curve right now.

[Saturnus]

Originally Posted by biggeesmall

Hello, so if i'm understanding this correctly in one channel I could wire the two 3" drivers in parallel using a 15uf Capacitor for 180hz crossover point and wire the sub with the other channel using a coil to filter out the highs. (the pllxo is way above my knowledge level right now) Im reading about high pass and low pass passive filters so im at the bottom of the learning curve right now.

15nF as in nanoFarads. But that may be above your ability too. It involves changing the input capacitor on the amp itself. You may find that is above your ability and you need to make a passive filter instead.

[biggeesmall]

Originally Posted by Saturnus

15nF as in nanoFarads. But that may be above your ability too. It involves changing the input capacitor on the amp itself. You may find that is above your ability and you need to make a passive filter instead.

Ahh Yeah I think I should stick to a passive crossover this first time around. thanks for your help and input you answered my question and got me on the right path!

I will leave with one parting question that sort of pertains to this. Using my speakers as an example, if you were to only use a high pass crossover for the full range speakers (lets assume 12db filter) is there any major harm in letting the woofer reproduce its full response width assuming your cutoff frequency is lets say 5000hz and the high end of the woofer frequency range is 6000? Thanks and have a great day!

[enigmaticEntity.]

The woofer may have a cone break up peak in its response, which would not sound nice. Also, the output from your FR's below 6000Hz would mix with the woofer's and create a broad increase in output from around 200Hz to 6000Hz (Assuming FR's high passed at 200Hz) You could try a simple coil + cap on the woofer at about 200Hz, this would help reduce the woofer's response into un-desireable frequencies.