please help me ditch my Sony boombox!!

[bizza]

Hi this is my first post!!

Last week I bought a sony cd/mp3 player with ipod support. AS you can probably figure out, it sucks.

So, i'd like to build a pair of speakers with very good quality.

What I want:
1. Semi portable: these will be used mainly in a small dorm room, however i'd like to be able to move them occassional for pool parties and such.
2. Good audio quality. At least better than my Sony boombox.
3. Should get loud enough to fill a large room or pool party.
4. Nice bass. The sony boombox has a pathetic "Mega Bass".
5. Detailed midrange.

What I have:
1. An ipod.
2. Some wood.
3. Two Dayton RS180-4ohm drivers that a friend gave to me to get started.

What I need:
1. No clue!! Please help me out here!! Designs, advices, tutorials, any input is welcome!!

[Nanook]

Take the boom box back from whence it came.

Buy an iPod dock (for charging and audio out, and perhaps, a remote!).

get some tweeters to match the Daytons you friend gave you to get started and a crossover.(from www.partsexpress.com , check there DIY projects for some inspiration)

build some small boxes.

Buya Sonic T-amp (if not handy-on sale @ partsexpress for $25), or A 41Hz.com kit6Basic. Buy an elcheapo lap top comp power supply. Buy some RCA's , and binding posts, etc.

now you have an amp, a pair of decent speakers and a iPod dock.

done...

[Saturnus]

Check the link in my sig, and see if that's not exactly what you're looking for.

[bizza]

Thanks for the reply Nanook.

1. I already returned the boombox.

2. An ipod dock.... will any of these do:
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MA045G-i...559511&sr=1-18
http://www.amazon.com/Kensington-333...559586&sr=1-51
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-F8Z065-...559609&sr=1-83

Are there cheaper alternatives for docking stations??

3. Matching tweeters... hmmm no clue what to do here. Will these do?
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=275-130

4. Crossovers... again no clue which one to choose here. From my very limited caraudio knowledge I picked these ones. Will they work?
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=260-140

5. Box building... I can do that. Any specific size, plan or recommendation? Is there any chance to go infinity baffle or is that out of the question?

6. I was looking at the recommended T-amp. I noticed that it is good for running with batteries. However, I'll always have a power source when using these speakers, so there is no need for a battery powered amp. Also, it has somewhat low rms ratings???
Any other recommendations?

Again, I appreciated everyones help and patience helping me with this project. I have searched and read a lot, and I'm willing to continue to read, learn & research before starting my project. Thanks, Andres.

[bizza]

WOW Saturnus, that is a great project!! Good luck on your next build!

However, I dont need my boombox to be battery portable. I wouldnt like to have to deal with batteries, solar panels, added weight & complication, etc.
Also, although I'm sure that your 360 degree sounds fantastic, its not what Im looking for. I would like to keep all the speakers facing the same side if possible.

I do have a couple of questions for you, Saturnus:
1. Which ipod connector did you use, does it charge the ipod?
2. How much does the Boominator weight?

Cheers, Andres.

[Nanook]

ok, a docking station $19 with a cradle, remote, in car and home charging capabilities

Sonance tweeter from Apex Jr , $10/pr. Not sure of the efficiency.But if the response graph is accurate, then apparently smoother than the Dayton one you linked to

A more suitable crossover $32/pr on special

the Sonic Impact amp , $25 on special

the binding posts, $10 for 2 speakers' worth (4 pcs)

Ok, and now to answer some questions:

The Sonic Impact is pretty much a giant killer in terms of sound quality. There are enough posts on diyAudio about this and modifying it. For perhaps another 10-20 bucks. Check out panomaniac's site

Do a search and convince yourself, about the Sonic Impact on the web about it.

The drivers will need a .5 ft^3 enclosure w/2.68" X 8" vent, tuned to 39.6Hz. with 15 watts into 4 Ohms, the SI will drive these to 100dB easily, enought to get kicked outta most dorms

If others have suggestions then great, but this is my recommend. The design for the drivers is done, and so am I

[sreten]

Hmmm..........

FWIW the Dayton RS180 is one of the last drivers in the world you
would want to use a "stock" crossover with and the result of what
is outlined above will sound fairly dreadful.

The daytons are very good drivers but they are strictly not suitable
for hotch-potch crossover designs that simply do not work properly.

Simulation Results: Dayton RS180 / Seas 27TBFC 2-way Bookshelf

Shows the sort of notch circuit you need on metal cone drivers ......

You could do a lot worse than scaling this crossover for 4 ohms,
but also note cheap tweeters are out, they do not go low enough.

http://www.zaphaudio.com/ZBM4.html

Is a good example of a cost effective cheap design.

/sreten.

edit : http://www.partsexpress.com/projects...TOKEN=15468895
may give you some ideas ......

[happy.gringo]

I think you will need more power for a pool party. I have two RS180s in ported boxes powered by a 70 watt subwoofer plate amp. They are used as helper woofers up to about 180hz where my fullrange speakers take over. In a medium size room, the 70 watts produces loud sound, but just enough to make Tool/Metallica type music sound effective. I have a Panasonic SA-XR55 receiver that pushes the main speakers with 100 watts, which gets too loud only when it runs out of power.
I also have a T-amp, but it really only satisfies when I sit one meter away from the speakers, plus the bass rolls off, which would be noticable with the speakers that you have.

The RS180s sound great, but because they are metal, you will have to use quite a few components in the crossover. Here are a few designs. If I were you, I would pick one and copy it. Then you will know that you will get great sound:

http://www.lonesaguaro.com/speakers/...7/Cryolite.htm

http://forums.somethingawful.com/sho...4&pagenumber=1

These might be the best design, but the parts cost will be fairly high:

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=13154

and some pictures of that design:

http://speakerbuilder.blogspot.com/2...r_archive.html

[bizza]

For helping me getting started on a list of things that I need.

However, I still don't know what to think about a 6rms amp?? -- How will this compare to a receiver that puts out 50+ rms per channel??

[Saturnus]

Originally posted by bizza
WOW Saturnus, that is a great project!! Good luck on your next build!

However, I dont need my boombox to be battery portable. I wouldnt like to have to deal with batteries, solar panels, added weight & complication, etc.
Also, although I'm sure that your 360 degree sounds fantastic, its not what Im looking for. I would like to keep all the speakers facing the same side if possible.

I do have a couple of questions for you, Saturnus:
1. Which ipod connector did you use, does it charge the ipod?
2. How much does the Boominator weight?

Cheers, Andres.

Actually I don't use an iPod but a Zen Micro. Same thing though. The Boominator is fed with a headphone output from any device, and it's got a car USB power supply which can feed and charge most MP3 players on the market. It's a standard cigarette lighter power adapter though so any car adapter can be used, if a device requires a special power supply.

It weighs 26 kilos with batteries, and 21 kilos without. The charger I'm using will function as a 14 volt power supply if no battery is attached, and if you don't need solar cells, don't buy them. The Boominator will work fine without them.

There are several reasons why there's speakers on both sides. Getting 360 sound was not a design consideration as such but was a useful benefit. You see, it's designed for outdoor or very large room use, and to countereffect the bass drop I could have mounted the woofers on the same side but I would then have had to filter one of them over 500Hz. Mounting the speaker on opposite sides means the filtering is done for free acousticly. Also when you mount two speakers magnet to magnet, you focus the magnetic flux in the airgap get a little higher sensitivity for free, and at the same time cancelling stray magnetic fields. The third reason is cabinet strength, even though I only use 12mm ply there's almost no vibrations, eventhough only the top, bottom, and ends are braced with a center brace that also holds the speaker magnets in place.

All in all, don't ditch the dualside design before you've tried it, since it's especially developed for a purpose such as yours. If you're absolute positive you won't ever need 360 sound, then don't install tweeters on one side.