Modifying store bought speakers? Y/N?

[MarkR]

Long post (main question is at bottom)
Okay here's the deal. I got a friend who is tight on cash (new baby) and wants to piece together a decent modest HT system. He has a PS3 and Xbox 360 already so hes good to go on sources. He is also picking up a used Denon 3806 receiver so hes off to a better start than I was years ago. That's the good news.
So I told him about the Diy thing and he's interested for sure but the problem is money. I would like to see him with speakers that can go below 80Hz on there own. He will set them to small so its more just to insure they are protected from low bass content.
I suggested the TriTrix L,R,CC and TriTrix MT designs but they are over his budget. 300.00 for the front three and 120.00 for the rears plus mdf and finish probably looking at 500-600.00. Plus 200-250 for the sub.
Don't bash me over this but here goes, I was thinking about these I found them for 85.00 a pair shipped. Or these 120.00 a pair shipped.
For the fronts.
This for the Center Channel 80.00 shipped.
And a pair of these for surrounds 50.00 a pr.

So were looking at 250 - 300 depending on whether he goes 5ch or the full 7ch. The sub will be Diy.

The main question is is there any benefit to adding say a first order filter @ around 80Hz to help protect the speakers?

Main concern is the CC and surrounds they only spec down to 80 and 85Hz. And he is young so he may get carried away with the volume. Just want to make sure he has a good start and a system that will last until he can afford to upgrade.

P.s. has anyone had any experience with this Sub? Looks good for the money, I haven't modeled it in unibox yet though.

[Ron E]

I have somewhat similar Sony speakers and they are perfectly fine for home theater - much better than what you typically get in a HTIB. They don't go much below 80Hz, really, though. I have a pair of SSM-B100H which are very similar to the SSB-1000 and they measure fairly flat, but the difference between the pair at around 3kHz is a fair amount, one is flat and the other has a big dip. These have a woofer that runs free and a 1.5uF electrolytic on the tweeter. You can see a measurement of the worse of the two speakers at www.audiomn.org under the loudspeaker design contest.
http://www.audiomn.org/2008diyloudsp...esignchallenge

My opinion, Use the SSB-1000's all around and put the money you save towards a DIY subwoofer and inexpensive plate amp. These speakers are not high end or high resolution - they are rather muddy at high volumes - I have not got around to trying a "real" crossover on them yet.

On the same page you can see the results of our loudspeaker challenge where we used a $9.00 woofer and a $7.50 tweeter. These beat the Sony's _very_ handily. My Birch ply MTM's had about $60 in drivers (shipped) and $60 in crossover parts for the pair. Plywood cost me $35. So around $160 plus my time in making them.

[Moondog55]

Those small bookshelves are better than my HT speakers, the onlt thing I would add is to consider buying 3 pair of the cheaper, I have found that using a standard speaker vertivally sounds much more defined, and as RonE says spend the money saved on a better DIY sub
It may be possible to improve the stock speaker with a little polyfill at very little cost

[planet10]

As Ron pointed out a diy speaker that can wup any of those you pointed to won't cost a whole lot. Any of the Pioneer B20 builds for instance.

Of the ones you did point at, the smaller 2-ways have the best chance sonics-wize... with the tweeter shown, it is basically an augmented FR, and given the quality of box construction these things typically are, the small box has a better chance of not getting in the way. (i'd expect something based on the Pioneer A11 (not sure of the number, the popular 4.5") to outperform them.

I'd also suggest forgetting about 5.1 or 7.1 and starting at 2.1, 4.1 at a max.

dave

[MarkR]

Thanks for the replies!

I'd also suggest forgetting about 5.1 or 7.1 and starting at 2.1, 4.1 at a max.

He's pretty set on at least 5.1.

they are rather muddy at high volumes

This is my concern with the sony speakers. It has been my experience that manufacturer tries to get the speakers to produce more bass than the driver actually can.
That is why I was wondering about adding a 1st order filter to help clean up the mud.

My opinion, Use the SSB-1000's all around and put the money you save towards a DIY subwoofer and inexpensive plate amp.

I have thought of this just haven't ran it past him yet. I have a budget of around 0250.00 for the sub.
I modeled that mcm sub and it doesn't look to bad. I'll see if I can post a screen of unibox after work.

Thanks again guys.

[gtforme00]

That MCM sub has some odd parameters. If you plug in their published parameters, you get a calculated sensitivity of over 90dB (unreasonable for a large excursion sub like this one). Their claimed sensitivity of 86dB is reasonable, but it doesn't match their parameters.

None of this makes the sub unusable, and I still think that it is a great value, but don't make any box plans until you have the subwoofer in hand and are able to measure the parameters yourself.

-David

[Ron E]

FWIW, when I listened to the full Sony Line, the smallest ones and the center were the only ones that were neutral. The others had a bit more "sparkle and boom", but were not neutrally balanced, more like they were designed to impress at first listen..... Not sure if that is true with the latest models.

[MarkR]

FWIW, when I listened to the full Sony Line, the smallest ones and the center were the only ones that were neutral. The others had a bit more "sparkle and boom", but were not neutrally balanced, more like they were designed to impress at first listen..... Not sure if that is true with the latest models.

Thanks for the listening impression. I myself haven't heard them yet but I plan trying to over the holiday shutdown at work.

That MCM sub has some odd parameters. If you plug in their published parameters, you get a calculated sensitivity of over 90dB (unreasonable for a large excursion sub like this one). Their claimed sensitivity of 86dB is reasonable, but it doesn't match their parameters.

I did model it with unibox but I didn't pay attention to the sensitivity. What program did you use?

[gtforme00]

I've modeled them with several programs, but the parameters can be checked against the fundamental thiele-small equations.

They are still a great deal, but don't cut any wood till you measure them.

-David

[Andersonix]

I see tolerable old speakers cheap on craigslist every time I look.