what to pair with magnepan tweeter?

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hey guys. i had an unfortunate accident the other night that ultimately fried both my tweeters on my magnepan tympani 1D's. i have new tweeters being shipped as we speak.

my old ones "work" they just buzz when they get loud (80+dB?). they are fine for quiet listening and really only buzz when they are doing female vocals very loud. other than that you would think they are fine. problem is, my room is BIG, so i need to play them loud.

SO, i am removing those and putting in the new ones. they are crossed over a 1khz in the speaker, so they have a pretty big range. the question is, if i want to use these for a bedroom speaker what would/could i pair with it? the bedroom is pretty small (maybe 12 x 15?). so, they dont need to go loud at ALL.

i would just hate to throw them away when they really work OK. since i am saving up to buy my milling machine, money is about as tight as it can be. i have a 3-channel gainclone that i will use to power it (might even built a 4th channel and bi-amp with it). i would like it to go relatively low, but nothing spectacular. i saw these on apex jr.'s website:

(first speaker on page)
http://www.apexjr.com/speakerstuff.html

Cerwin-Vega 6" 16 ohm woofer good for MTM system $5.00ea.

would a pair of those per channel be decent? cross them over at 1khz, add a cheap xover and be done?

im just dumb with speakers, so i kinda need to be told what to get. could a simple 6" - 8" driver work? i saw some cheap dayton 8" bass drivers in partsexpress that were like $20 each.

any help would be great. all i know about the drivers is that they are the older planar-magnetics, go up to around 22khz and supposedly are crossed over at 1khz. they are like 4-6 ohm too.
 
i was thinking about the NSB thing, but i was just curious if i could get any bass from them?

i know it sounds wierd to mess with broken tweeters, but i honestly dont think i would ever play them loud enough to make them buzz in the bedroom... but i do plan on trying to take them apart to fix them. the problem is supposedly a loose wire that can be easily re-glued. but, getting them apart is a task.

ive always wanted to use those NSB speakers though, and have a line array. if they could do reasonable bass, i would be interested in them. would you just do an open baffle line array? (the tweeter is di-pole).
 
Open baffle would be easy and work well with the Maggie tweeter, but you will get next to no bass out of it. I played with a ported box with them on winISD, 16 per side (Ive got 45 of them ) and although not ideal, you can get down to the mid 60s. Add a small sub later.If you arent going to play them loudly, that might be fine. You could also use the tweeter as a monopole and be able to put the speakers up against the wall for some boost. Biamping is going to be best since the array would be 96db efficient and the tweeter in the 80s.

Another option might be to find a pair of used midfi speakers at Goodwill etc, with 10" or12" woofers and remove the other drivers, seal up the holes, and build a Newform style speaker. Easy and cheap.

One last idea would be to pick-up a pair of old Maggies. Ive got two pair of MGIs that Im rebuilding. One pair was free, and the other $50. Both have fixable bass sections but the tweeters are of course shot. Find a pair with blow tweeters and use your tweeter. Although a GC would be a bare minimum power source.

amt
 
hum, interesting thoughts...

im not really into buying a pair of maggies (i probably could find some locally, but its unlikely).

i really just want to use the tweeters i have. i already have a full magnepan theater downstairs. plus, my bedroom is small, and i really wouldnt have room for a full panel maggie. the tweeter panel i have is from a tympani, so its as big as an MMG almost just for the tweeter...

i think building a speaker that looked like the newforms would be cool. just a bass/midrange box at the bottom and a tweeter at the top in an open baffle would be nice. i have ruled out the NSB's becuase they have dont have the bass. i would HAVE to use a sub. 60-70hz just isnt low enough for me to play and enjoy music on. i would be much happier to hit 45hz or so.

the tweeters will have their own gainclone and whatever other drivers will have their own as well. so, if i do like 2 8" daytons, i will have 3 channels of amplification on each speaker. i have some extra boards for my gainclones and extra parts, so building amps would be very cheap.

ultimately, im trying to keep this whole project under $200 TOTAL. MDF is cheap, a few drivers could be cheap, and certainly i can get xover components for cheap too. i have a cd player, and i would do like a passive pre-amp. this is a BUDGET system.

also, would those cerwin vegas be a good thing to look at too? do you think they could go lower than the NSB's? do i need a 3-way, or can a simple 2-way work just fine for getting down to 45hz? thanks guys!
 
I would forget the CVs since they dont have any t/s info. I think that if you want some decent LF, and simpicity, go with a good 10' or 12" driver that will get you up to up to 2k or so and build a BR box that can mate to your tweeters. You need to really know what the stock xo frequency is and then pick a woofer. If you dont like the results, you will at least have some nice woofers and cabinets to use for something else. Multiple 6"-8" close-outs will create alot more places for error.

amt
 

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AMT,

i like your idea... im almost 100% sure that the stock xover crosses at 1khz with a 6dB/octave slope.

i just hope a simple 2-way will work ok. i think this driver might be what im looking at, any problems with it?

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=295-315

the price is right. it appears like it could be crossed at 1khz without a problem. ive been doing some searching in the forums, and ive heard some good things about the cheap dayton drivers.

if i could get away with plopping a 10" driver into a box and stacking the tweeter panel on top, i would be pretty happy! i would be happier if i could do an open baffle setup, so i didnt have to design a box, worry about ports, etc...
 
Ive looked at the Daytons before and they work well in a sealed enclosure. If you dont have winISD , which is freeware for speaker box design, you should download it and play with the drivers you find. Its given me very good results for basic designs. Sorry I dont have a link. Heres the Dayton in a sealed box, slightly larger than one cubic foot and its down to 50hz at -3db. Not bad if the specs are accurate.

amt
 

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that seems pretty good. for the price, it looks like a great choice.

i just replaced the tweeters last night, so i have the new ones in place and the old ones are out. ive been looking at them and deciding how i could "fix" them. they dont seem very servicable. its basically two fixed magnetic metal plates glued together. i might damage the internals trying to pry them apart. and im not sure if i heat it (to loosen the glue) how much of the magnetic wires could be loosened as well. i would just hate to ruin them completely when i could have two semi-working drivers if i DIDNT mess with them. hum, guess i need to think about it.

if anyone has ever repaired one of these, please let me know.
 
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