Floor standing speaker project wanted!

[Johnnz]

Hi all,
Just signed up to this forum and am quite excited about starting a project to build a pair of floor standing, two way, budget priced, tried and tested diy-build speakers. Before reading a few of the permanent threads in this forum I hadn't realised the difficultys presented in matching drivers to crossovers, and my electronic knowledge isn't quite up to the level required to navigate this problem by myself.

So, as was suggested elsewhere here, I should like to begin my first project by copying the dimensions, drivers and crossover design of someone else that has already had success and build my knowledge and proficiency this way. I have looked through HumbleHomemade Hifi's website and Zaph Audio and want to tackle a project similar to one like those. I particularly like the look of the Optimo loudspeaker by Humblehomemade Hifi. To me this speaker looks good, fits my design requirements, and doesn't seem overly technical in construction. However, the links to the drivers websites dont work.

With the above info, can anyone out there please suggest other speakers of similar style that I might consider building? I used to work in a Hifi shop and spent many hours listening to music through speakers including Sonus Faber, B&W, Mission, Royd, Polk, DynAudio, etc. It's been nearly ten years since I relaxed in front of a decent system, but I remember the transparency and detail presented by such quality systems as we sold. I am not a bass junky so dont mind compromising loudness and excessive bass for clarity and detail.

Sorry for the ramble, would really like to hear of any more designs that might suit. Thanks.

[dublin78]

What is your budget?

The Optimo is not cheap, but there is an alternative tweeter solution available that utilises a Vifa ring radiator that are far cheaper.

I am just completing my Optimos (using R2904/70000 tweeter).

[Landroval]

The Optimo uses quite expensive drivers, but of course compared to commercial speakers of equal quality, the total cost of the project is relatively cheap..

Troels Gravesen has plenty of nice designs:
TJL2W: http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/TJL_2W.htm
Scoperta: http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/W15LY001_HDS.htm

Also at HTGuide forums there's some nice designs:
http://www.htguide.com/forum/forumdisplay.php4?f=39
E.g. the MTM 2-way NatalieP and Modula MTM (and MT)

[sreten]

Hi,

The Optimo is a TL with very expensive drivers.

There is no reason why most 2-ways cannot be put into a TL.
Or a MLTL for that matter.

For some reason though the TL/MLTL fans concentrate on full range.

The Seas Thor cabinet design is fairly simple for a TL.
However it appears it is too small for two 6.5" drivers, but good for one.

http://www.seas.no/images/stories/di...t/thor_cab.pdf

A lot of 6.5"/1" designs would moreorless work in something similar.

Here you have to balance budget and value for money.

/sreten.

[Dave Bullet]

For us Kiwis, unfortunately the best place to ship drivers from is the USA. Shipping has gone up quite a bit. If you went with an MT design like the Optimo - you will probably spend USD$100 on shipping alone. Don't forget customs duty and GST which the former from memory is about 15%, so 27.5% taxes. To make it worse, the shipping is included in the total when determining when GST / duty kicks in - which I think is still NZD$700. We really get hammered importing stuff.

www.speakerbug.com.au has a good range of reasonably priced Jantzen crossover parts. Although - it's probably best you order all at once from the likes of a USA distributor.

Check out www.madisound.com I've used them 3 / 4 times, always reliable and no damage in transit.

Cheers,
David.

[Johnnz]

Thanks for the replies. Dont have enough time this morning to look at the sites suggested in detail, but last night I did some more searching and found this website detailing the construction of some MTM TL speakers. This particular speaker uses very cheap drivers, but after searching on Google, it seems everyone that has made a pair is very satisfied with their results. Does anyone here have any experience or can comment on these speakers?

Anyway, at the moment I am leaning toward those speakers, but will look at the links you have all posted when I come home from work tonight before commiting to a design.

Thanks again.

[soundengine355]

Ekta Grand.

Thats on my list to build this year, along with the Zaph ZD5's and some amplifiers.

[sreten]

Originally posted by Johnnz
this website detailing the construction of some MTM TL speakers.

Hi,

Quote regarding the Dayton 6" drivers (from Zaphaudio.com) :

"Comments:
This woofer does not perform very well, with horrible tall order
harmonic distortion right smack in the midrange. The response
curve between 1 and 2kHz is pretty rough also. Bass response is
deep for a reasonable size enclosure, but there's not a whole lot of
reason to pick this driver over some of the other under $20 woofers.
Tested December 2006."


In other words you can do better for not much more.

Take a look at MJK's : http://www.quarter-wave.com/TLs/Alignment_Tables.pdf

The type of TL you are considering is to control the bass response
rather than extend it, these sort of alignments are more predictable
and less risky, and can be modelled from tables.

A better MTM is http://www.zaphaudio.com/BAMTM.html

MTM only go louder, not deeper than MT's, and are twice the volume.

for MT's you are spoilt for choice :

A good budget speaker : http://www.geocities.com/woove99/Spk...RS180_2way.htm

TLing this or Zaphs should not be much of a problem.

/sreten.

[Johnnz]

Took a look at the other designs suggested and seems that the dB616TL is still by far the cheapest (and possibly best value for me - especially given extra taxes that kick in on imports over about NZ$400). I am wondering though whether there is any advantage to use shielded drivers since I have an LCD tv not CRT? Non shielded is lighter therefore even cheaper to ship here.
I know that something this cheap is not likely to be incredibly good sounding but the price to result relationship promises to be pretty decent and should be a good learning curve.
I'll post again when I make a final decision...

[Johnnz]

Hi Sreten,
Thanks for the tips. I am very tempted to purchase better drivers than the ones recommended for the dB616TL speakers. If I could make an MT TL speaker from this link you provided I think I would be a lot happier to build my speakers. Not only are these drivers rated even better, but they look better too

So, for the time I will be putting in to building I should like to use better quality drivers for sure.

The thing is that I am very keen to make a TL enclosure (floor standing) and I am not sure how to go about designing such an enclosure for the drivers and crossover in the above link. Indeed, can I even use the same crossover design if I am going to change the enclosure to be TL?? I am quite baffled (no pun intended ) by the 41 pages found in the last link you gave me. I am not incapable of learning though but need a bit of guidance to get me on my way.

Hope that you or others can help me redesign the project in the link to suit my requirements. Thanks