First DIY loudspeaker project for LM3886

[kiske1]

Hello!

this post is my first step into the world of diy audio! My favourite listening is hard rock / heavy metal, so I don't know if the speakers and the amp I'm thinking about will be suitable for this...

I was thinking of a LM3886 chipamp, connected to Fostex FE166en drivers.

My first question is: are those components good for hard rock / heavy metal listening?

Second question: In case the above is true, wich enclosure is suggested for the FE166en? I've read that the Fostex factory proposed design is not "state of the art", but I don't want to have something big as th BiB project...

Thank you all in advance!

 

[aptquark]

I dont think you would want a full ranger for that type of music. Especially metal. I would think about a 2 or 3 way. I'll let the geniuses give you the real answer.

 

[kiske1]

Thanks for the answer...
I suppose that a 2/3 way system raises the total cost much...
As this is my first attempt in diy, I'd like to try with something "simpler" and chepaer...

So the final question is:
Has someone listened to some hard rock / metal on a fullranger? If so, does it sound THAT bad?

PS. I've never had a real hifi, so I suspect that the fullrange will still be better than my actual AIWA 15 year old china made stereo system...

 

[aptquark]

yes...I have Audio Nirvana's 8 inch cast frames and use them for all types. classical, jazz, rock...vocals, guitar etc. The problem is that when your source material is not good...it sounds mediocre. Also, metal is very compressed sounding. Not a good match for many speakers. Im not saying that its not doable. I think its a great idea to build a first simple speaker...just get some more opinions here from other members. These guys are older farts here and typically listen to Adele, vocal stuff, classical, guitar...good mids is what they like. And a good full ranger will get you that. I think over all, you will happy with it.

 

[kiske1]

Thank you, very clear...

I'm new here, and I don't know if should be good pratice to crosspost this to the multiway forum, or ask a moderator to move it?

 

[aptquark]

no leave it here...just be patient till you can get a few more opinions...what you could do is post in the multiway forum and just change your question to what would be a good cheap simple build for what your interests are.

 

[Mark.Clappers]

Hi,

I did a build about 2 years ago based on LM3886 (2 per channel, active bi-amp) + DIY bookshelf Seas U18RNX/P (midwoofer) / Scan Speak R2604/833000 (tweeter).

This is not to expensive, and those 2 units are easy to integrate into a 2 way, also with a pasive XO. My personal music taste is somewhat different then yours (most demanding would be Techno) but they did this very well.

Maybe interesting for you to, this design (uses the same woofer): Idunn

 

[lduarte1973]

metal and hard rock is not good to full rangers , unless you plan to had sub(s) to relief the fullrange from deep bass.

why dont you go for something like this :

ALTO II - Visaton 2-way column speaker DIY kit - per pair(5967) - Europe Audio

CLOU - Visaton 2-way column speaker DIY kit - per pair (5961) - Europe Audio

VOX 80 - Visaton 3-way column speaker DIY kit - per pair(5940) - Europe Audio

there are better choices but more expensive

 

[AndrewT]

If you want to limit your budget and use this first speaker build as a learning experience, then it makes sense to use a single driver in a small box. That will let you hear what the single can do with a wide range signal and it will also allow you to hear what effect the box has on the bass.
Design a sealed box with an optional port. The port can be sealed airtight for your first experiments. Then opened for vented box listening. Finally you can tune the vented box alignment by changing the vent length.

After you have played with this for a few months you can then decide what if anything you want to do next.

Start with an 8ohm speaker driver if you intend using chipamps.

 

[kiske1]

Thank you all again for the answers... the links from Iduarte are very interesting... Andrew... You have understood my whole idea... This is my first project in wich I'd like to experiment and learn...

In the meanwhile I've found this in the forum:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/50153-beyma-8ag-n-horn-viech.html

What do you think about it? It is very cheap and it should fit with a single LM3886...

 

[talaerts]

The Viech is cool, cheap and can play damn loud, but it won't have the deep bass you probably crave.

If your budget can be a bit higher, but still reasonable, then the following coaxial project should bring a big smile on your face when rendering metal at concert levels. Your ears will give up before the speaker does:

Strassacker: Speaker - kits - do it yourself

 

[aptquark]

are you going to build the boxes yourself?

what about putting a crossover together?

 

[kiske1]

are you going to build the boxes yourself?

Yes, a friend of mine is a skilled wood worker, and should give me a hand...

 

[kiske1]

The Viech is cool, cheap and can play damn loud, but it won't have the deep bass you probably crave.

If your budget can be a bit higher, but still reasonable, then the following coaxial project should bring a big smile on your face when rendering metal at concert levels. Your ears will give up before the speaker does:

Strassacker: Speaker - kits - do it yourself

Looks good! The Eminence beta10cxl is rated 250W, can this be driven by a single lm3886? Should I go for adual chip design or something totally different?

 

[aptquark]

crossover building?

 

[kiske1]

I have some basic knowledge in electronics and know how to use my solderer.... I think (hope) building the crossover section will not be a problem... If I'll encounter problems, I'm here to learn...

 

[zman01]

I'm a big metal fan (most of the 80s and 90s stuff), and my experience with FR is that heavy metal/thrash/death metal doesn't sound good with FR units, especially the revaling ones. Lot of these recordings are on the thin side, and on FR units that bring out mid-range detail, they tend to sound thin and small. Paper cones with some xmax tend to work better vs metal cones, and bigger cones do metal bigger (music sounds large). Metal music benefits from higher energy in the 80-200 Hz range (maybe actually the range is wider), and I am planning to do a bi-amped FAST (Full Range Mid-Tweet, helper woofers) with XO at 150 Hz. I've played around with bi-amped FAST with XO done through Foobar, and there are definite benefits for metal and techo genres.

 

[lduarte1973]

I'm a big metal fan (most of the 80s and 90s stuff), and my experience with FR is that heavy metal/thrash/death metal doesn't sound good with FR units, especially the revaling ones. Lot of these recordings are on the thin side, and on FR units that bring out mid-range detail, they tend to sound thin and small. Paper cones with some xmax tend to work better vs metal cones, and bigger cones do metal bigger (music sounds large). Metal music benefits from higher energy in the 80-200 Hz range (maybe actually the range is wider).

+1

i think paper woofers and metal dome tweeters sound better for this type of music (specialy 80´s stuff)

 

[kiske1]

Ok, thank you Metal brothers.. could you please point me out to a project using paper woofers and metal dome tweeters that is viable for a beginner with a money cap (components only) at 200€? For the housing, as said before, there's no problems in building it myself at low cost.

 

[lduarte1973]

why dont you bid for used JBL speakers (3 way) like LX400,LX600,LX800 ? same price as diy in ebay.it