A basic design description from another site

[Consul]

One Robert W., aka "neustation", on the PSW Forums, posted a basic description of a design he uses for studio monitoring, an application I'm very interested in:

http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/ind...37/#msg_218532

For those with slow connections who don't feel like loading up another site, here is a quote of his post, in the hopes that he doesn't mind:

"Robert W. at the ProSoundWeb Forums" says:
Hello,

I use some monitors that I DIY'd.
They are 24L bass reflex cabinets tuned to 53Hz. I used marine grade baltic birch 18mm.
I used Fostex FE167E full range driver with FT17H super tweeter.
I always thought that full range drivers were sucky things that came in shitty car stereos. These really changed my mind about full range drivers.

I made these as an experiment, they exceeded my expectations.

I was looking for something with good midrange,some of the commercial monitors (mackie, genelec, krk) that I have heard seem to lack midrange. The Fostex FE167E have really great mids. I did BSC network (if you don't the high freq will take your head off) and the super tweeter is crossed 1st order at about 15k.

Also the they are high efficiency drivers at around 92db/W after BSC network, so they get pretty loud with a 5 watt class D amp(I use the tripath chip amps).

Out Here,

Robert

As I said in my post following his (if you click on the link above), I popped these parameters into WinISD and it looked pretty good, but of course that's only a small part of the story. Baffle width, box shape, and the like also come into play.

Is there enough here to think critically about this design? If nothing else, he really has my curiosity up. Thank you for your help, all!

[vinylkid58]

I think the 53Hz tuning is a bit low for the FE167 in a 24L BR box. Maybe Robert was trying for a bit more low bass, sacrificing flat fr from 80Hz on up. Bass response in room will be a bit thin, which is probably what you don't want, depending on amplification. If you move the tuning up to 63Hz, you get a much warmer response, with fr falling off at ~80Hz and F3 at 62Hz.
You could probably do without the super tweeter as well, the FE167 is reasonably flat to 15k.

Jeff

[Consul]

Thanks for your reply. I've been banging my head up against the wall, thinking about what it might really take to set up some decent studio monitoring. Resolution is the issue here, so much as I can tell, more than flat frequency response, although I can't see how both of those features are completely unrelated.

I'm thinking about just snagging a pair of CSS FR125s and playing around with some different boxes (including open baffle).

[rfenergy]

Hello,

I am Robert. It is I.


LOLjavascript:smilie('')
Big Grin

I use these for near field monitoring. I tried them tuned to 60Hz and they were good, but I preferred them tuned to 51Hz (~2.30" X 2" port, I made a typo at pro sound web sorry).
I do not feel they are tuned too low. I believe that many use these in cabinets tuned well below 50Hz (like MLTL's, I know it really the cabinet loading, not the same as a BR box).

Tuned to 51HZ they do start rolling off at around 70Hz, they are not boomy at at all.

I think what vinylkid58 is saying is that if you tune lower you get a lower response, but the bass you get will have less volume and the mids to highs will end up louder (non-flat response).

I used a BSC which is balancing out the mid to high frequencies vs the lows so I don't think that they are really suffering from to little lows or too much mid to highs, with the lower tuning.

As far as the FT17H is concerned, I do feel that if you are going to track with monitors that you should use these. The FE167E's have a dip at 15kHz. I use a 0.33uf cap which is coming in around the 15kHz area, no worries, sounds great. I believe with the FT17H's a more accurate assessment of the upper frequencies can be made.

I got rid of my all my factory made monitors after using these for over a year now.

When all is said and done, my mixes are translating well and that is what counts at the end of the day. Musicians and engineers look at the audio game much differently that end users do.

Any questions for design of my cabinets just ask I will share as others here have shared with me, thank you to all on DIY you guys are really great.


Out Here,

Robert W.

[Consul]

Hi, Robert! To tell the truth, I was kinda hoping you would show up here. I didn't want to start asking questions about this at Frances' forum, for fear of hijacking the thread.

Yeah, I've been banging my head up against the wall trying to figure out a way to build some decent monitoring for what I hope will eventually be my little home studio. I can't find anything in the music stores that I like for less than $1000 a pair, and I have to wonder if I can build something for a lot less than that that'll work fine.

I also notice your location in the Detroit area. I happen to live in Port Huron, and I wouldn't mind bringing by some beer in exchange for a chance to check out your DIY solution up close, since you are the first studio owner I've found to actually have a DIY solution.

Thank you for stopping by!

[Consul]

Of course, it only just now occurred to me I could've just PM'd you and asked directly.

This forum needs a headslap emoticon.

[vitalstates]

Hi Darren

You've now met one more.....I went through the same anguish trying to find a good near field solution.......I may have strange ears but I couldn't find a major difference between mackies and tannoys reveals.....except the cost..so I saved mega bucks and settled on reveals, which I now use with a pair of ariel 6cs. The ariels leave me wanting nothing.

Regards

Ed

[Consul]

Actually, I've been taking a serious look at the Ariel 6 design. It would be a bit pricier than I was hoping for, but not too much so. I don't know if my room is big enough to accommodate it, though. Come to think of it, I'm still not sure which room of the house I'll be getting to use just yet.

Thank you all for your help!

[chrisb]

Originally posted by Consul
Actually, I've been taking a serious look at the Ariel 6 design. It would be a bit pricier than I was hoping for, but not too much so. I don't know if my room is big enough to accommodate it, though. Come to think of it, I'm still not sure which room of the house I'll be getting to use just yet.

Thank you all for your help!

well then, you might want to follow Lynn's more recent thinking -- just get ready for a bumpy ride, and check your preconceptions at the door


http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...threadid=98969

[Consul]

I've been following Lynn's most recent thinking, and I'm wondering if the world is ready for omni-directional studio monitors.

Actually, the Ariels look like a pretty complex build, woodworking-wise, which is not something I'm so skilled in as of yet. I'm also lacking some of the bigger tools and the floorspace to put them (basically, I'm "hand-held tools only" and will be for some time). I'll probably still stick with the FE127E + supertweeter in a BR box. That's an inexpensive setup that I can experiment with and tweak.

The music I do is in the vein of progressive rock from the seventies, with some occasional influences from more modern forms, like techno/house and ambient/space music. Even with the occasional thumping bass drum, I doubt I'll need anything "serious" in the bass department.