Big sound from little speakers?

[theAnonymous1]

I need suggestions on how to get BIG sound from little speakers. When I say "big sound" I mean a nice overall flat response with some decent bottom end (decent for a small speaker anyway). I'm not talking about getting high SPL from small speakers, just good sound.

I plan to build a small "boombox" that will mostly be used indoors in a small quiet environment, so I don't mind sacrificing SPL for larger sound.

Also, when I say small I mean small. I would like to keep the driver to 4" max with as small an enclosure as I can get away with.

What are my options? Tiny passive radiators? A small sealed box with active LT?

Driver choices (probably a TB driver)?

[gainphile]

With such constraint I would be looking at a sealed design, measure it then equalise using lowpass shelving.

Perhaps a fullranger like fostex or CSS fr125s.

Problem is the ears cannot be fooled, it wants to hear big soundstage from big speakers

[tinitus]

big sound depends on good driver integration with clean and smooth dynamic, airy and "liquid" midrange...did I forget something

[otto88]

> a fullranger like fostex or CSS fr125s

Yes, or for more budget, the Jordan JX92 (if that’s still current)

[poynton]

I have had a pair of these small speakers (actually badged AKAI) for many years - 25 or so.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-PAIR-R...em220278438304

They have an excellent soundstage and surprisingly good bass for such a small cabinet. and they do go loud.

Don't confuse with the later version with the chipboard cabinet.



Andy

[kristleifur]

Have you considered using a bipole config?

http://diyaudioprojects.com/Speakers.../FE127E_SB.htm

It may be beneficial ... stronger bass w/ some enclosure size tradeoff, AFAIK.

[theAnonymous1]

Originally posted by gainphile
Problem is the ears cannot be fooled, it wants to hear big soundstage from big speakers.

They can be fooled, sort of. I was thinking about using MaxxBass, but the only available consumer MaxxBass hardware I can find is a little too big.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/cat_i...rocessors.html

Maybe the circuit out of one of those cheap portable speaker systems can be used. Something like this........

http://cgi.ebay.com/Altec-Lansing-in...QQcmdZViewItem

Originally posted by poynton
I have had a pair of these small speakers (actually badged AKAI) for many years - 25 or so.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-PAIR-R...em220278438304

They have an excellent soundstage and surprisingly good bass for such a small cabinet. and they do go loud.

Don't confuse with the later version with the chipboard cabinet.



Andy

Those are a little bigger than what I had in mind.

Originally posted by kristleifur
Have you considered using a bipole config?

http://diyaudioprojects.com/Speakers.../FE127E_SB.htm

It may be beneficial ... stronger bass w/ some enclosure size tradeoff, AFAIK.

That FE127E sealed bipole is huge!

[kristleifur]

Originally posted by theAnonymous1
That FE127E sealed bipole is huge!

That particular bipole is huge - I only meant to introduce the concept.

[DRNB]

I'd go for bass reflex with full 6db BSC.

[theAnonymous1]

Originally posted by kristleifur
I only meant to introduce the concept.

Yes, thank you. This seems like it might be a good choice. The additional driver would take care of baffle step and I could use a LT circuit to compensate for the small enclosure.

I would like to use a TB driver from parts-express, I just don't know which one to pick....

W4-1052SD
W4-657SH
W4-616S
W4-656SC

I'm sure these two are nice, but four of them would cost a bit much....

W4-1320SC
W4-1337SA

The amplifier is going to be class-d, so I can tweak the output filter to adjust for the high frequency roll-off of any of the above drivers.