Speaker upgrade ... transition to full DIY

[ostripper]

I have seen the light. I can build the best amps in the world , but if my portal between electrons and moving air are dubious , I won't ever hear the "truth".

My present speakers are $hit (really) , what is crazy .. is that they actually sound good with my Big mongrel amp and DSP/winamp/auzentech setup). Below are the "victims" (picture 1). I replaced the (HA HA X-over components) in them and the sound improved 100% ... the (AHEM) X-over was composed of 6.8uF and 1uF 100v caps for mid/tweeter. The tweeter says "5w/8R" and the 5" mid says "10w/8r , both are sony. after looking at my new dayton tweeters (pix 2) , I can see that OEM speakers are absolute junk !!! ... the dayton DC28 has almost as big a magnet as the freakin' woofer- OMG .

I have decided on a simple 1st order Xover (pix 3 ) since my components are a little different (.25mH/22uf for the mid and 4.7uf for the tweeter ), I expect 800-4800 for my mids and 4800 + for the tweeter. I only have a 2 strait 2uH higher wattage units for the woofer coils. This is only a interim setup as I will craft a ported enclosure with either 2-10" goldwood drivers or a single 12" unit... links - either 2 of these ... Goldwood GW-210/4 10" OEM Woofer 4 Ohm | Parts-Express.com

Or 1 of these ... Goldwood GW-1248 12" Butyl Surround Woofer 8 Ohm | Parts-Express.com

Even as they are "cheap" , they look 10X more durable than the present OEM junk , Hopefully I will be able to finally unleash the full power of the "mongrel "into these parts- express drivers. any hints ,tips would be appreciated as I am sort of a newbie with the "speaker thing".

[MJL21193]

Hey Pete,
Sick of endlessly building amps, eh?
Cheap driver can sound great - it's all in the implementation.
With that said, the T/S specs of those woofers make them less suitable for ported boxes. ~rule of thumb - you will want drivers with a low Qes for ported.
Good box simulation spreadsheet is Unibox. I use this and it has never let me down. A bit of a learning curve, but you have proven to be a quick study, so you won't have a problem

[Moondog55]

To re-quote many posters and many authors


It is ALL in the midrange:

Get a decent wideband midrange and build around that, something with a smooth FR and smooth roll-off
P-13 is what springs too mind , many of the smaller Peerless, and stay smaller than 155/135 mm for your first build

[Moondog55]

Sorry for shouting

[ostripper]

Originally Posted by Moondog55

To re-quote many posters and many authors


It is ALL in the midrange:

Get a decent wideband midrange and build around that, something with a smooth FR and smooth roll-off
P-13 is what springs too mind , many of the smaller Peerless, and stay smaller than 155/135 mm for your first build

There, I un-shouted you !! Hello MJL and Moondog , Yes, I need better speakers , just the caps absolutely proved that to me !! I take an amp break for a while , maybe even multitask and do both (man of action). The mids I have coming are not TOO bad .
Not quite the pyles I really wanted , but WAY better than the OEM junk. *Power handling: 40 watts RMS/55 watts max *Voice coil diameter: 1" *Impedance: 8 ohms *Frequency response: 800-8,000 Hz *Fs: 470 Hz *SPL: 89 dB 1W/1m *Dimensions: Overall Diameter: 5-1/8", Cutout Diameter: 4-1/8", Mounting Depth: 2-1/2", Magnet Diameter: 3-1/8", Magnet Height: 3/4".

They are a little less aggressive than the pyles , so I will cross them over at 800 hz. I once had a 3-way DIY 12" setup with a very similar layout. DALBECK audio in troy, NY sold me the drivers/front panel and X-over ... they were indeed impressive.

OS

[MJL21193]

Originally Posted by Moondog55

It is ALL in the midrange

Ah, but "bass is the foundation upon which all music is laid"*.

IMO, it's all important, the design as a whole. A good mid will certainly go a long way to bridge a wider gap between a less than perfect woofer and a not so stellar tweeter.




* me

[Moondog55]

Originally Posted by MJL21193

Ah, but "bass is the foundation upon which all music is laid"*.

IMO, it's all important, the design as a whole. A good mid will certainly go a long way to bridge a wider gap between a less than perfect woofer and a not so stellar tweeter.

* me

Too true, we have a saying in kitchens ( also used by builders when renovating ) "Everything is more important than everything else and Everything has to be done first"

I actually start most of my projects by deciding how much I can afford to spend on a tweeter, then using that purchase to justify buying better bass and mid-range drivers to suit, but starting with a good smooth midrange is probably the easiest way to get a reasonable sounding system quickly

[ostripper]

Originally Posted by MJL21193

Ah, but "bass is the foundation upon which all music is laid"*.

IMO, it's all important, the design as a whole. A good mid will certainly go a long way to bridge a wider gap between a less than perfect woofer and a not so stellar tweeter.




* me

I noticed just that , the woofer in my "junk" takes a good 90+ % of the wattage the mongrel puts out , the mid/tweeter just 10%. Even as this is so , I have managed to fry one of the 5w tweeters (no distortion or oscillation , just too much clean HF energy) , the image and soundstage was VERY GOOD until I heard that tweeter go. But , what should I expect for a 5w tweeter ??

Oh , on the Qes for a good ported enclosure , would .27 be better ... the pioneer woofer is a little more expensive.


Pioneer A30IR50-51F 12" Butyl Surround Woofer | Parts-Express.com

I like the sound of a good ported 12" - tuned to 30-35Hz..

OS




OS

[planet10]

Originally Posted by Moondog55

P-13 is what springs too mind

A hafl-dozen good FRs spring to my mind

dave

[MJL21193]

A better Goldwood for vented: Goldwood GW-12PC-4 12" Heavy Duty Woofer 4 Ohm | Parts-Express.com
In a 60 litre box, 33hz f3. 10cm port, 25cm long
Rough calc