Miniature surround system with tiny drivers (< 2inch)

[proxii]

Years ago I saw the Sony DAV-IS10 system and thought it sounded pretty good for what it is; almost invisible speakers.



The speakers used in the sony kit are barely 1.4" big, including the housing.

Now for the fun of it, I'd like to build something myself. Isn't really rocket science but sourcing a unit that might work is HARD!

The unit that seems 'ok' in theory is the Visaton BF 32 8ohm...
It's a 1.3" unit that is cheap ($10 a pop) easy to mount and relatively good looking. Frequency response seems acceptable too.

Visaton BF 32, 8 ohm, mini speaker

Of course the satellites need to be accompanied with a subwoofer. For that I have a diy 15" sealed sub, using a Tempest-X unit.

Anyway, anyone ever attempted something this tiny? Any advise on units?
I was thinking of maybe even producing the housings from carbon fibre and aluminium...

[planet10]

If you can find some give-away Apple eMacs, they each have a pair of reasonable Foster 35mm drivers.

I'm working on collecting 24 of them for a pair of dodecahedrons.

dave

[zman01]

Assuming that this is for using with a television - with such small drivers would the SPL be sufficient over typical viewing distances (at least 6+ feet) away from the TV?

For PC audio, which is near-field I guess that they're more than enough.

[proxii]

@Planet10: Sadly here in the Netherlands they still ask ~$70 for second hand eMacs...
@zman01: Well, that's my question...I'll be using it for movies and it'll be hooked up to a simple Cambridge Audio surround receiver and HD TV.
The Sony system I quoted is for movies since it's a home theatre package with subwoofer and receiver... so it is doable somehow.

[planet10]

I can't even give away working ones here.

dave

[chrisb]

Originally Posted by proxii

@zman01: Well, that's my question...I'll be using it for movies and it'll be hooked up to a simple Cambridge Audio surround receiver and HD TV.
The Sony system I quoted is for movies since it's a home theatre package with subwoofer and receiver... so it is doable somehow.

it might not be a surprise if the satellites crossed over to the "sub" at much higher than the normal frequency range to limit excursion issues

[proxii]

@Dave: you lucky.
@Chris: Oh hell yeah, that sure is the case... like 300-500hz crossover probably! But darn it... I don't have the option readily available to cross at 300 or 500 hz... (200hz tops)

[River757]

If it helps any, I distinctly remember some of the ad copy for this system saying something about how the bass unit - I hesitate to call it a subwoofer - was involved in helping to make sure the full sound spectrum was reproduced properly or something to that effect (it used wording that sounded much more "technical" but it was rather vacuous at the same time). When I went and listened to it, what I heard was parts of male voices for example emanating from the bass unit, so to me that meant it was crossed over really high, no surprise considering the tiny satellites.

[proxii]

Yeah I was just trying to look up the crossover frequency they used and I noticed the subwoofer uses a two-way design... 12cm and 18cm unit. So you are right...

[chris661]

Originally Posted by chrisb

it might not be a surprise if the satellites crossed over to the "sub" at much higher than the normal frequency range to limit excursion issues

Yup.

Having heard one of these, they sound okay for movies, but lack any lower midrange that fills in the likes of bass guitar when the music comes on.

I'd consider stereo woofers to fill in the music sound a little.

Chris