Hi from New Mexico

[Minyeko]

This is a wonderful place on the web. I don't really have any peers of the DIY audio type where I live and am looking forward to meeting some here.

[SY]

Welcome to the forum. It is indeed an amazing resource.

What part of the state are you in?

[theAnonymous1]

Welcome to the forums Minyeko.

This is indeed a wonderful place, as is "The land of enchantment". Socorro is where I entered this life; I have not been there in many years.

[Cal Weldon]

Hello and welcome to the forums

[justblair]

Welcome good to see you

[c2cthomas]

Welcome to the forums at diyAudio!

My Aunt was a Prof. at UNM - Grandpa and Grandma both lived and died in Albuquerque and I lived there as a kid. Anyone checked out Roswell lately?

[Minyeko]

I got my degree at UNM and have lived in Albuquerque for nearly 20 years.

I found myself at DIYAudio after a failed attempt at building a set of bookshelf sized 2-ways. It's my first and only audio project.

Is there anyone out there that happens to know about speakers?

[c2cthomas]

Originally posted by Minyeko
I got my degree at UNM and have lived in Albuquerque for nearly 20 years.

I found myself at DIYAudio after a failed attempt at building a set of bookshelf sized 2-ways. It's my first and only audio project.

Is there anyone out there that happens to know about speakers?

Some of the best speaker designers often visit diyAudio - as well as many accomplished DIY speaker builders - so I'm sure that you will be able to get some help here. You might want to spend some time over in the loudspeaker forum looking at some of the ideas there. Zaph Audio has some nice designs http://www.zaphaudio.com/ and Dave (Planet10) is always around just about every day http://www.planet10-hifi.com/

What are your needs as far as speakers go? Size - type of music - budget - etc.?

[Minyeko]

I'm hoping to end with >.5 ft^3, ported, passive stereo speakers. I'd like the speakers to be capable of filling a 400 sqft room at 100db with unstrained sound. I'd like to spend under $300. My musical taste varies from 'Clutch' to Beethoven, so I don't think I'd benefit from designing around a specific type of music.

I still have some hope for my 'failed' project. I spent >$300 in an attempt to build the Encore detailed at parts express, but I think the tweeters might be damaged. I've posted the measured response and info about the project in the Loudspeaker forum. Hopefully someone will have helpful ideas about what ahs gone wrong. I, personally, am at a loss.

[c2cthomas]

Hi Minyeko - I read your post over on the thread "Help with my first disastrous speaker build" - and for sure it looks as if something is wrong - or perhaps it is better stated that "things aren't right". There was some very good advice suggested to you from some of the best speaker designers and builders around as to what could be the source of your problem(s) but I'll toss in my thoughts as well. Ya gotta find a way to check out the components used in the construction of the speaker system. 1st - Test the speakers by themselves by feeding them a signal from a music source (CD player - phono - radio - signal generator, etc.) - don't forget that the tweeter you are using is a 4 ohm type so it will need a 4 ohm resistor wired in series with it to match the output impedance of most amplifiers - plus you would want to put a capacitor in series to eliminate the lower frequencies from reaching the tweeter (not a good thing). Be careful about shorting things out - that for sure will give you some real problems! The tweeters should sound the same when compared to each other - as should the woofers. After confirming that the speakers are OK patch in the crossovers - but if you can, take them out of the speaker enclosure (you might have glued them in and they might or might not want to come out in one piece) - so that you can troubleshoot them if needed. If the x-overs are OK mount the speakers onto the baffles - but don't mount the baffles to the speaker box - run 'em open and check the sound - just find a way to "prop" them up while they are running - this will give you a clue as to if the speaker enclosure itself is the problem (or part of it). Watch out for that SPL meter! Those devices can be very naughty if not used exactly right (which is harder than most people think) - or if they are of the "budget" variety - in which case you get what you paid for.

I don't know what type of space you have in which to place your speakers - but one of the best ways to eliminate the "box" sound is to eliminate the "box" - and go Open Baffle!!!!! But that does take a bit of floor space. Easy and affordable to construct tho! See Martins and Panomaniac's threads for some good ideas about OB's.