Baffled By Choices

[mopus]

OK, I'm new to this.

I'm looking to build something, bookshelf or mtm. I know there are lots of plans around that I can handle, but the problem is that I have no idea what particular brands of drivers sound like.

Does anyone have any rules of thumb or broad generalizations that can guide a newbie? Something like, "if you like the sound of B&W 60x, these drivers will sound good".

I know there are many variables that will affect the results, but as the drivers are the most expensive part I'd hate to end up with a stockpile of stuff that I won't use.

BTW, I'm quite partial to the sound of NHT super zeros/ones, so if anyone has recommendations I'd be happy to hear them.

Thanks, and apologies if this is a dumb question.

[DougL]

If you can find a DIY event close to you, that would be excelent.
I heard more interesting, educational speakers in 3 hours than I could have in a year anywhere else.

Good Luck;

Doug

[Bill Fitzpatrick]

I notice in your profile that you have no past, have no interests and thereby no real future and that you have no solid location.

What do you need speakers for?

[mopus]

Originally posted by Bill Fitzpatrick
I notice in your profile that you have no past, have no interests and thereby no real future and that you have no solid location.

Can you say "PhD candidate"? I think the profile sums things up pretty accurately (if tersely), as does your inference.

DougL: thanks! Capital idea.

[Bill Fitzpatrick]

Unless you're willing to gather all that's necessary to design your own networks and take the time to do it, sticking to a well designed and tested project is the only option.

If you decide that this is the way to go, I have lots of links I can post for you. Here's link for one that I have been considering.

http://home.wanadoo.nl/dezaire/My%20own%20system.htm

It's going to be relatively easy to beat the quality of the NHTs. The tonal characteristics won't necessarily match the NHT but the differences will be easy to get used to.

Because the room is going to have a major influence on the sound of a speaker it's not totally accurate to believe you will like speaker X in your home even if you liked it in someone elses.

I would be happier with the better speaker even if it did not necessarily please me on first listening.

[kelticwizard]

The first place you usually start is: just how big do you want these things to be?

Then-how much will it cost?

After that, choices begin to emerge.

[mopus]

Kelt: I'm looking "smallish". For practical reasons (apartment) I'm not looking for large SPL's or extended low end. Room size would be about 12'x18', though I probably wouldn't be more than 10' away while listening, er, working.

Finally, i'd be willing to go upto about $250(US) for drivers. This is the tough part since I know nothing about the characteristics that differentiate one product from another.

Bill: I think in the first instance following someone else's design would probably be a smarter choice. Thanks for the link. Another that I've been looking at is John Krutke's Seas 27TFFC/L15RLYP design.

Oh, the choices.

[kelticwizard]

Okay, $250 US. That's $125 a side.

Considering that leaves you with a 2 way design for sure, whether MTM or not. Two way means the sound is broken into two bands-not how many drivers there are in each band.

And that 2 way design is likely to have a crossover at least 1500 Hz or above. The lower in frequency the passive crossover is, the more expensive the parts.

Using quality parts, you should be able to get away with a crossover costing $40 or less, perhaps much less. But we will use $40 as figure. That leaves $85 for woofer(s) and tweeter together.

Figure $20 for a tweeter, that leaves you with $65 for woofer(s).

If it is going to be a one woofer 2 way, your woofer could be up to 8" big. If an MTM, you should think in terms of 6.5" drivers or 5" drivers.

If you are going to make it an MTM, you should make sure your speaker is going to be vertical and at ear level, or else you lose dispersion. One woofer plus a tweeter is a design you can lay on it's side, as on a bookshelf. Although you probably want to have that vertical, as well.

Baffle step correction? Must admit, haven't done one yet. But if your crossover is a simple one, you might be able to take it out of the crossover money, if you decide to do one. Or else, buy a slightly cheaper woofer.

[Bill Fitzpatrick]

Since you're going for a tried and true design you don't need to concern yourself with the cost of individual drivers or the network parts - just the total cost.

And, since you are going for a tried and true design you don't need to think about the characteristics of the individual drivers.

You haven't been clear as to your access to woodworking tools and the skills to use them. If you can't do the enclosures you should be thinking "kit".

BTW, you DON'T want to place the speakers horizontally where the drivers are side by side.

The Krutke design you mentioned is highly regarded.

[kelticwizard]

Here is a design within your price range-the Pee Creek:
http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_fi...k/pcrkmain.htm

And the More Pee, versions 1 and 2:
http://wyrdone.org/Projects/Homethea...ee-zombie.html

Apparently, the builder experimented with three different tweeters and found that each did well without crossover modifications.

The design has baffle step compensation built into the crossover.

The design was made to use ready made boxes by Parts Express of 0.55 cu ft.

However, the Peerless 850122 woofer will fit into boxes larger, with consequent better bass. Boxes up to 1 cu ft will work well, with 3 dB down points of 38 Hz or so.

If you are going to modify the box to get better bass, remember to keep the front 7" wide. The baffle step compensation is designed to work with that width of box. Make the box taller or deeper, just don't make it wider. And maintain the center-to-center spacing between the woofer and tweeter-it affect the crossover performance.

A different size box will require a different size port. Decide what size works for you and we can work out the port size and length.

The author mentions the Usher 9500 tweeter, which I believe is now available at Parts Express. He clearly thinks it is worth the money, and I believe you will find that even with the more expensive Usher tweeter, you might squeeze under the $250 limit.