budget ribbon bookshelf speakers

[xstephanx]

i was doing my product sweep over at partsexpress and came upon this tweeter.
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=275-085
now ive read reviews of speakers with planar/ribbon tweeters, and all have been incredibly positive, which got me thinking, and browsing the 8" woof section.

i found two that caught my eye, if anyone coudl tell me how well these would work with that tweet, id be hella happy. Remember when it comes to speakers im a n00b(im average with sub design though).

here are the woofs i looked at
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=295-100
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=297-310

Im a complete crossover noob, but i dont need something very complex, i also have a subwoofer, but would like extension down to 50hz, so i can listen without the sub at night. Power handling isnt top priority, detail is.

Just so you can tell what kind of sound im looking for, i own energy c-1s are mains right now and so far love them to death. I listen to alot of stuff but ill give you a basic run down

Rock(older stuff)
punk(again, older stuff)
jazz(sometimes for when i read)
metal
sometimes emo or hardcore

im a fan of brighter speakers, but not too bright ( i lsiten for extended periods of time)

Also box deisgn for the woofer aint a prob, im compitent(sp?) with winISD pro and can use all the rgaphs properly.

Crossover and if this thing will work together is a larger problem

Sorry for my spelling butchery, and thanks for reading such a long post.

[planet10]

The biggest problem with any 2-way based on an 8" is getting the woofer to go up as high as needed to meet the tweeter. I'm not passing judgement on these drivers but that is the thing you likely need to pay the most attention too.

dave

[xstephanx]

my problum thus far is that none of the 6s are efficent enogh to come close to the 94db/w sensitivity rating on the dayton. However since its an 8 ohm driver if i paralelled it with a 4 ohm woofer, then the tweeter would only get half the power as the woofer effectively lowering it to 91db/w, but i still run into the problem as most 6.5s are around 89 db efficient.

come on there must be people with more input than that!

Ill mkae my questions ebven simpler, what drivers would work well this this for a 2 way booksehlf speaker?

[BobEllis]

sorry, but it doesn't work that way. The tweeter will end up being a little less than 94 dB sensitive, due to the XO insertion loss. It's really no big deal, just add an appropriate L-pad to match the woofer's mdiband sensitivity.

If you don't plan to measure the drivers in your cabinets, then you're probably better off with an existing design.

[DougL]

To Planet10 you listen. (My best Yoda Voice)
Here is a design that you might be interested in.

http://www.lonesaguaro.com/speakers/...7/Cryolite.htm

Im a complete crossover noob, but i dont need something very complex, i also have a subwoofer, but would like extension down to 50hz, so i can listen without the sub at night. Power handling isnt top priority, detail is.

IMHO, crossover complexity is a direct result of the drivers chosen.
Pick drivers that have trouble overlapping, and very steep and complex crossovers are required.
Choose drivers with Metal cones that are very detailed, and have issues above their operating range require steeper and more complex crossovers than paper or plastic cones with more damping. These are generalities, and exceptions exist. Just be aware that you have chosen a very challenging first project.

Hope this helps:
YMMV
IMHO
ETC

Doug

[planet10]

Originally posted by DougL
To Planet10 you listen. (My best Yoda Voice)
Here is a design that you might be interested in.

Enuff XO in that one to make it not very desirable for my tastes...

dave

[DougL]

Enuff XO in that one to make it not very desirable for my tastes...

Sorry, was just agreeing with:

The biggest problem with any 2-way based on an 8" is getting the woofer to go up as high as needed to meet the tweeter. I'm not passing judgement on these drivers but that is the thing you likely need to pay the most attention too.

Then I found something with a plainer and a small metal cone.


Doug

[Illusus]

Being in the same boat as you, recently enough to remember, I suggest you try a simple, well documented and inexpensive project that has proven performance. I had a couple pairs of the C1 predecessors(exl:25, 26) and promise you that there are many simple and cheap projects floating around here that will total-eclipse the Energy's performance. Try some of the wide range small driver designs...you'll be surprised. Crossovers are a lot harder to get right than it seems at first. I never had a 'book' value xo sound right...like those generated by the many calculator proggy's around, winISD included.

IME the cheaper ribbon tweeters are really tough to integrate and make sound good, requiring a lot of correction circuitry. I've tried the BG Neo3, very similiar to the dayton. cheap-ribbon seems to be an oxymoron so far.

Make your first project a good one, that will please you for a long time, then you will always have a good pair of speakers to listen to while you experiment with design and when/if your future experiments in design fail. Plus you'll always have a reference to see if you built something better or not.

Try look here for some appropriate projects.
http://www.zaphaudio.com/index.html

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...014#post530014

http://www.t-linespeakers.org/

There are many others out there, those were on top of my head.

Good of you to start early in life...hope your future experiences push you to stick with it, it's a very rewarding interest to have.

[planet10]

No ribbon in this one, but a very good basic 2-way....

http://www.diyaudio.com/wiki/index.p...Vifa+P13%2FD27

Parts available from Solen (ie fairly local) and it is a very simple XO.

dave

[Illusus]

Where's my head at?...

Something I obviously missed(and Dave picked up on it) - build a simple alignment, ie.sealed, that you will understand how and why it works...my last two links point to mostly transmission lines, which are significantly more complex, the first link has a couple nice, inexpensive two way projects like this one