Thinking about building my first speakers. Looking for advice opinions etc

[turboman808]

Hi all I just joined. Been poking around a bit trying to learn.

I had an idea for a full range speaker and wanted to see what others though.

I was thinking of using a design like on the frugal horn site. I like the curvy chang. Little flare thrown into it appeals to me.

I was originally looking at the madison sound bk-16 or bk-20 and I like how they added the fostex tweeter to give more high end.

So what I was thinking was I like the idea of combining the curvy change design with fostex f200a 8 inch driver and fostex t900a to give it more top end. With the 8 inch driver I would hope I gain back some of the bass everyone says doesn't exist with a full range speaker.

At this point that is just and idea so I am up to any suggestions and being steered in the right way.

I use my system to watch tv and play music and when I have parties it's basically my all around system. I am using a xiang sheng dac-02a digital analog converter and meixing mingda MC34-ab tube amp. Currently using some polk speakers.

Thanks in advance and as I said I am open to anything and have lots of time to think about it.

[Richard Ellis]

I would tend to think doing Frugel Horn and others of the back loaded horn types would be OK.....assuming your skilled in cabinet making, most of us are not.
Keep in mind full-rangers won't "rock the house". Adding tweeters to full-rangers is really kinda point-less as Full-rangers key attributes are "Point-source", meaning, a single point in space is the origin of all frequencies.....adding tweeters throws all that out the window. Another is a lack of cross-overs of any kind, again tweeters induce phasing errors. Lobing errors also crop up with any other source of sound other than the ONE cone.
Bass "shortage" is to be expected, but not a crippling shortage, again the key is moderate SPL levels.
My choice would be a Tang Band W5-1611SAF 5" driver. At $47 each it is way under some of the other more esoteric types. Pricing can zoom up to obscene levels with weird cone materials & strange magnet assemblies....with debatable performance gains.
A straightforward bass-reflex, acoustic ratio sized enclosure,Use 1" MDF, on a set of stands.....a generous edge radii, Run the baffle-step program on your front baffle dimensions, place the driver in its best location....
This IMHO would be the way to go here.
If you want to build something more exotic you can "retire" it from service by using it as computer speakers...if you can "fit them" in your computer room.

__________________________________________________ __Rick.........

[hm]

Hello,
take a look on my HP,
may be an idea for you,
compair measurements
to other horns,
a new technic my double horns.

[Osvaldo de Banfield]

I strongly suggest try Karlson Speaker. I have 3 of those, 2 15" +4", and third 12" + 4" and are the best I could be done. I´m very satisfied with them.

[Crossblade]

Using a fullrange driver in a speaker enclosure it is not intended for, will most probably result in mediocre bass quality.

If you want the F200 - fine. But make a speaker specially designed for it.

As far as I remember, Bob Brines had a speaker with F200, but I may be wrong....

[chrisb]

Originally Posted by Crossblade

Using a fullrange driver in a speaker enclosure it is not intended for, will most probably result in mediocre bass quality.

If you want the F200 - fine. But make a speaker specially designed for it.

As far as I remember, Bob Brines had a speaker with F200, but I may be wrong....

FTA-2000


Plans $25 - dirt cheap - a couple of sheets of plywood / veneer maybe $300 (unless you go silly exotic on veneers)

Drivers:
F200 ~$500 ea
T900A- ~$470 ea


No doubt could sound wonderful, but certainly not entry level budget for most first timers

[turboman808]

Originally Posted by chrisb

FTA-2000


Plans $25 - dirt cheap - a couple of sheets of plywood / veneer maybe $300 (unless you go silly exotic on veneers)

Drivers:
F200 ~$500 ea
T900A- ~$470 ea


No doubt could sound wonderful, but certainly not entry level budget for most first timers

I kinda like those.

[Bob Brines]

My only concern is the word "party". Single driver speakers using drivers with very limited Xmax are about finesse, not brute force. If you really want party speakers that will do music, then you should look into a 3-4" driver and cross it to a sub at the floor bounce frequency. Then you can ply crazy loud. My music/HT speakers are Alpair 7.3's crossed at 160Hz (even though the speakers are capable of 40Hz) which changes them to power limited rather than excusion limited.

Chris, if you will remember a discussion a while back of where to cross 7.3's in HT, I chose 160Hz because of a room related suck-out. Then one day came the head-slapping realization that the such-out was floor bounce. Once I got the XO above that, the FR became reasonably smooth.

Bob

[chrisb]

Originally Posted by Bob Brines

My only concern is the word "party". Single driver speakers using drivers with very limited Xmax are about finesse, not brute force. If you really want party speakers that will do music, then you should look into a 3-4" driver and cross it to a sub at the floor bounce frequency. Then you can ply crazy loud. My music/HT speakers are Alpair 7.3's crossed at 160Hz (even though the speakers are capable of 40Hz) which changes them to power limited rather than excursion limited.

Chris, if you will remember a discussion a while back of where to cross 7.3's in HT, I chose 160Hz because of a room related suck-out. Then one day came the head-slapping realization that the such-out was floor bounce. Once I got the XO above that, the FR became reasonably smooth.

Bob

Actually my memory fails me on that point - I settled on a lower XO one notch lower than that on the Denon - 120Hz. Set at 160Hz do you find much loss of imaging on lower mid-bass when listening to music, and how many "subs" are you using? When you limit the lower extend of bandwidth on even the smaller Alpair 6s, it's quite impressive how loud they'll play with apparent effortlessness.

[chrisb]

Originally Posted by turboman808

I kinda like those.

revisit the budget