zaph's Hi-Vi B3S single driver modded?

[Scott_fx]

Hey guys,

I'm purchasing my first house very shortly and want to make some budget HT speakers. so far the zaph's single drivers plus subwoofer is the most attractive option for my budget.

now onto the question. I was wondering if i would run into any problems if i used a modified 4" pvc pipe with the single driver on the face

kind of like this:
http://www.partsexpress.com/projects.../Kuze3201.html

but not a line array.


would this work if i had the same internal volume as zaph's design and dampened the walls of the pipe?


Thanks,

Scott

[Kensai]

Baffle step rolloff will start a bit higher.

Kensai

[type]

The PVC pipe could be a fun experiment but i think you'll have better results by sticking with Zaph's tried and true design. I'm running a pair of them in my 12x12 living room (Brooklyn, NY) and they really do a nice job. I think you'd be very happy with 5 of them for your home theater. You'll have a perfectly timbre matched front soundstage and surrounds, which is the best type of setup. Just add a good subwoofer - one that's musical not just loud. Good luck & enjoy!

[Scott_fx]

thanks for the reply. i think you are right. zaph is the expert, not me. I just wanted a thin tall speaker for the fronts. maybe i'll just make a tall thin wooden cabinet that is basically just a taller version of the original. I would block off the bottom from the top so the top part was exactly to zaph's spec.

as far as subs. I have a bunch laying around my house. my options are:

four elemental design's eu-700 6.5" subs in a dual ported boxes (two per side)
mono 12" jl audio 12w7 that i'd have to figure out if i could integrate them wiht the sats since there is such a high x-over point.
or sell the 12w7 and get a pair of tc-sounds 12" tc-9 subs (great sq sub). one near each front speaker.

do one of those stand out as being the better for overall soundquality?

's

[type]

I'm not familiar with either of those subs. Try them and see how well they blend. If you like them, great. As far as a floorstanding speaker using the B3S, you could try building the Cyburg's Needle that was designed for the w3-871s. The B3S would probably work in that cabinet too but I haven't tried it. I actually have both the B3S and the 871s and like the Hi-Vi better. Another option for you is to build the Zaph design and just use speaker stands. Really, unless a cabinet is optimized for a specific driver, it won't be performing to it's full potential.

[Scott_fx]

thanks, i'll check out those plans.

as far as the tall speakers; the cabinet will be the same size as zaph's specs but think of the additoin piece totally sealed off from the speaker cabinet. the overall look will be one tall speaker but in actuality it's just a stand integrated into the speaker cabinet.

[Scott_fx]

i checked out that link, thanks. i may just build those needles for my bedroom and stick with zaph's design for the HT. thanks a ton for that link