Hello,
Recently I completed a 100WRMS per channel amplifier using parallel of two LM3886 for each channel. At the moment playing with some cheap speakers. I started the project with very little expertise in audio electronics, although I am an electronics hobbyist for a long time. Now I need some hi-end speakers
for the above amplifier. I have almost no idea about speakers, building one is a distant dream (this was also the case when I thought of building the amplifier, but thanks to diyaudio.com I could do this). I am searching the net for speakers, there are several with very good reviews (like Wharfedale Diamond 9 series etc), but the price tag is a bit too much for me. If there is no better (price wise) option without compromising on the quality, I may have to go for this.
Can someone help me? I need two-way speakers. I may consider building one, if it does not take too much time.
Best regards
Roushon
Recently I completed a 100WRMS per channel amplifier using parallel of two LM3886 for each channel. At the moment playing with some cheap speakers. I started the project with very little expertise in audio electronics, although I am an electronics hobbyist for a long time. Now I need some hi-end speakers
for the above amplifier. I have almost no idea about speakers, building one is a distant dream (this was also the case when I thought of building the amplifier, but thanks to diyaudio.com I could do this). I am searching the net for speakers, there are several with very good reviews (like Wharfedale Diamond 9 series etc), but the price tag is a bit too much for me. If there is no better (price wise) option without compromising on the quality, I may have to go for this.
Can someone help me? I need two-way speakers. I may consider building one, if it does not take too much time.
Best regards
Roushon
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well , hello ! You said you were looking for speakers , indeed you were searching for enclosures ,alltogether .
Why don't you keep your old ones if the desperate fate wants your new amp to be faulty and fry them ?
You can buy whatever brand you like ,but first of all is better to listen before.
WYPIWYG...
Of course the diy route may bring you to more money-sucking than you would
expect when you buy a pair of used bookshelves or whatever.
There are a lot of projects in this forum and around the net ; I would suggest starting with a big OB ,which isn't difficult at all ,just a big hole and a little one on a baffle.
Then if you aren't satisfied with the results , you can carry those huge 12"
to another project...
Why don't you keep your old ones if the desperate fate wants your new amp to be faulty and fry them ?
You can buy whatever brand you like ,but first of all is better to listen before.
WYPIWYG...
Of course the diy route may bring you to more money-sucking than you would
expect when you buy a pair of used bookshelves or whatever.
There are a lot of projects in this forum and around the net ; I would suggest starting with a big OB ,which isn't difficult at all ,just a big hole and a little one on a baffle.
Then if you aren't satisfied with the results , you can carry those huge 12"
to another project...
well , hello ! You said you were looking for speakers , indeed you were searching for enclosures ,alltogether .
Why don't you keep your old ones if the desperate fate wants your new amp to be faulty and fry them ?
You can buy whatever brand you like ,but first of all is better to listen before.
WYPIWYG...
Of course the diy route may bring you to more money-sucking than you would
expect when you buy a pair of used bookshelves or whatever.
There are a lot of projects in this forum and around the net ; I would suggest starting with a big OB ,which isn't difficult at all ,just a big hole and a little one on a baffle.
Then if you aren't satisfied with the results , you can carry those huge 12"
to another project...
Hi,
Thanks for the cautions and for the suggestions. The amplifier is
safe I think (with dc servo), it has 0.8mV offset on both channel.
But one never knows, even new branded amps are frying
speakers, such incidents I read in this forum before. Yes, I
must be careful.
I will look at the speaker project you mentioned.
Regards
Roushon.
Thanks for moving the thread to the appropriate forum
which I was also thinking of but did not know how to do it.
I also found another thread in this forum answering some of
my questions.
Regards
Roushon.
Wharfedale Diamond 9.2 was my target to purchase. Here in India the cost is
about Rs 17000/-. Conversion to USDollar and Euro would be approximately 350 and
280 respectively. So my budget is around that value.
Regards
Roushon
Thanks Pico for pointing out that thread. Last night I found it while searching the forum.
Regards
Roushon
Hi
I built the Isis Mk11 from this website: DIY speakers
These should be in your budget.
They were built for a secondary system in my holiday house. Whilst they are not as refined as my hi-end stuff at home, they often amaze me with their lovely sound. Amazing value. They should be fine with your chip amps if you have the space for them.
The propblem with DIY designs is that you cannot try them before you build. You can ask opinions, but ultimately we all like different things.
Good luck.
Also Zaph has some good designs that are well though of at low cost: Zaph|Audio
You can buy complete Zaph DIY kits from Madisound which saves some money and alot of shopping around: Madisound Store
I built the Isis Mk11 from this website: DIY speakers
These should be in your budget.
They were built for a secondary system in my holiday house. Whilst they are not as refined as my hi-end stuff at home, they often amaze me with their lovely sound. Amazing value. They should be fine with your chip amps if you have the space for them.
The propblem with DIY designs is that you cannot try them before you build. You can ask opinions, but ultimately we all like different things.
Good luck.
Also Zaph has some good designs that are well though of at low cost: Zaph|Audio
You can buy complete Zaph DIY kits from Madisound which saves some money and alot of shopping around: Madisound Store
An alternative, to get you started, would be a pair of Mission 760i speakers. They're cheap (made in the 1990s), but sound really really good. When you get them, the capacitors in the cross-over will need replacing (they will have dried up), but they'll sound good before you do that. When you're buying second hand, look for circles of dust on the fabric cover. If there's any circles of dust, don't buy it, as they have been driven hard for some time, so the drivers won't be in good condition. They're £20 here (maybe $30), and, as I said, they sound fantastic.
Chris
Chris
Thanks
Michael and Chris, thank you very much for the valuable suggestions. The
DIY projects looks very tempting to build and will take up one
of them in near future. I would like to know the language in the
first site. Is it German? I know some amount of German, but it seems
to be some other language. I am asking as I need to get it translated
by Google translator or something.
Regarding Mission 760i I am not sure if it is available in India. I searched
the net with no result from India. But I am confident there are similar options
here.
Actually I spent a lot of time and took lot of care to build the chip amp,
it has speaker delay on, dc protection (dc-servo), slow power on etc. So
at the moment would like to listen for sometime then take up the speaker
project.
As a whole I understand that I should try (or fry) some cheap speaker
first then go ahead.
Best regards
Roushon
Michael and Chris, thank you very much for the valuable suggestions. The
DIY projects looks very tempting to build and will take up one
of them in near future. I would like to know the language in the
first site. Is it German? I know some amount of German, but it seems
to be some other language. I am asking as I need to get it translated
by Google translator or something.
Regarding Mission 760i I am not sure if it is available in India. I searched
the net with no result from India. But I am confident there are similar options
here.
Actually I spent a lot of time and took lot of care to build the chip amp,
it has speaker delay on, dc protection (dc-servo), slow power on etc. So
at the moment would like to listen for sometime then take up the speaker
project.
As a whole I understand that I should try (or fry) some cheap speaker
first then go ahead.
Best regards
Roushon
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Wharfedale sfb3
I came across the following open baffle design by Wharfedale from the 50's. I have
got all the informations except the position of the drivers on the baffle. It is a sand
filled baffle of size about 35inchs x 30inches. There is a tweeter at the top. The two
drivers are full range and 12inches and 10inches in size connected in parallel and there
is a 4mfd cap in series to the tweeter. That is it. Does anyone know the position of the
drivers on the baffle? I can get an approximation from the picture. But I need a definite one.
Thanks and regards
Roushon
I came across the following open baffle design by Wharfedale from the 50's. I have
got all the informations except the position of the drivers on the baffle. It is a sand
filled baffle of size about 35inchs x 30inches. There is a tweeter at the top. The two
drivers are full range and 12inches and 10inches in size connected in parallel and there
is a 4mfd cap in series to the tweeter. That is it. Does anyone know the position of the
drivers on the baffle? I can get an approximation from the picture. But I need a definite one.
Thanks and regards
Roushon
Attachments
Hello Roushon
don't rush ! Picking up a design from the fifties ,unless you are an
incurable romantic ,puts all the efforts made later in shade..
Or do you trust only engineers with a long white beard ?
I've read trough some threads that in India it is difficult to get some decent drivers ,although in here may be difficult to find some good incense sticks
That Wafer design is old.Only if you had the same exact drivers it would work ,I could not imagine how. Today's design move to a narrow baffle , and speakers placed vertically ,one above the other,to achieve some spatial reconstruction ,which is essential .
OB may seem simple ,but it is not . If you have the speaker in your hands ,it is the first and best way to hear how it plays music ,just because it sets some parameters like radiation on a 180° surface . So ,it may be a starting point or
a final goal.
The beard is growing ....
BTW those speakers' basket is really nice , giving nearly zero resistance to cone's movement. But I don't know if cone excursion would be able to cope with today's products ,specially with heavy bass electronic music
don't rush ! Picking up a design from the fifties ,unless you are an
incurable romantic ,puts all the efforts made later in shade..
Or do you trust only engineers with a long white beard ?
I've read trough some threads that in India it is difficult to get some decent drivers ,although in here may be difficult to find some good incense sticks
That Wafer design is old.Only if you had the same exact drivers it would work ,I could not imagine how. Today's design move to a narrow baffle , and speakers placed vertically ,one above the other,to achieve some spatial reconstruction ,which is essential .
OB may seem simple ,but it is not . If you have the speaker in your hands ,it is the first and best way to hear how it plays music ,just because it sets some parameters like radiation on a 180° surface . So ,it may be a starting point or
a final goal.
The beard is growing ....
BTW those speakers' basket is really nice , giving nearly zero resistance to cone's movement. But I don't know if cone excursion would be able to cope with today's products ,specially with heavy bass electronic music
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Since you did not mention a particular budget, I guess you will get speakers from a few hundreds to thousands. I have paired Naim with Focal speakers and also Quads both need enough room to sound great. But once you got the placements right, it is absolutely melodious.
If the budget allows, I'll go for the complete audio note setup, just gonna
skip the Level Zero stuff.
If the budget allows, I'll go for the complete audio note setup, just gonna
skip the Level Zero stuff.
Hello Roushon
don't rush ! Picking up a design from the fifties ,unless you are an
incurable romantic ,puts all the efforts made later in shade..
Or do you trust only engineers with a long white beard ?
I've read trough some threads that in India it is difficult to get some decent drivers ,although in here may be difficult to find some good incense sticks
That Wafer design is old.Only if you had the same exact drivers it would work ,I could not imagine how. Today's design move to a narrow baffle , and speakers placed vertically ,one above the other,to achieve some spatial reconstruction ,which is essential .
OB may seem simple ,but it is not . If you have the speaker in your hands ,it is the first and best way to hear how it plays music ,just because it sets some parameters like radiation on a 180° surface . So ,it may be a starting point or
a final goal.
The beard is growing ....
Hi Pico, again you came in my rescue. Importing good drivers is not difficult
for me. I know I have to pay a heavy price for it. Or may be you send me
some drivers and I send you some incense sticks.
I learned that vertically longer OB are no good. By now I have seen
at least 20 OB design online and find that a OB shape as in the Wharfedale
model is a good. There is another of the same size but with two wings
connected by piano hinges to save space. It is a difficult task indeed to
come to a conclusion.
Thank you
Roushon
Hi !
being VERY frugal ,happens scarcely to me to buy something.
But you live JUST under Thailand and China ,which are big driver manufacturers. Just to let you know what would be the requirements for a good sounding OB ,just a BIG 15". I crossed it actively at about 400Hz , 50 watts for the wf (it's a 5 Ohm driver ) and another 50 W for the mid-tw (they're
16 Ohm ). Now they sit alone in a corner , I don't have the room to get a decent listening point from them.
being VERY frugal ,happens scarcely to me to buy something.
But you live JUST under Thailand and China ,which are big driver manufacturers. Just to let you know what would be the requirements for a good sounding OB ,just a BIG 15". I crossed it actively at about 400Hz , 50 watts for the wf (it's a 5 Ohm driver ) and another 50 W for the mid-tw (they're
16 Ohm ). Now they sit alone in a corner , I don't have the room to get a decent listening point from them.
