What DO YOU base your next project /needs on ???

[JinMTVT]

I am on the verge of building a new sound system for my listening room.

And i was asking myself a few question that most of you must have had to answer in the past.

How many components do i require to be in my next system ? SW+ FullR ? SW+M+T ? SW+W + ribbon ?

This is a question that i have serious difficulty anwsering
with all the possibilities there is out there.



What frequency will the drive cross at ?
How to determine what are the critical frequency one needs to pay attention to ?

With all the different contexts and audio type,
possibilities are also vast i think.

Also what kind of enclosure will give the best compromisies for my situation ?

What are my audio needs ??

How loud will ne next system need to be ?

Then i guess that we could go on and elaborate
about driver's specific details
T/S parameters required for specific design and needs..
Efficiency , pro VS consumer ??



So what i'd like to discuss about here,
is how to find answeres to all those plannign questions...

How did you decide on what excltly you would be doing as next DIY project ??

Maybe if someone could point out definite STEPS
that we should take to determine the outcome of all this!


I am seriously lost in all the available information around here, and i am sure not to be the only one in this situation . Many of us seems to take forever only trying to decide what to do, and this is in part a great loss of time ( time that passes by without actually listening to our louspeakers , wich is the point right ? )


Hope that this thread is not a remake of an older!

But i find important that we could lay dowm some pointers to help plan our future compromises.

Thanks all again

[Cal Weldon]

Hi Jin,

Wow, there's a lot of questions and confusion floating around here.

There is no formula that one can hand to another for the decisions that need to be made regarding your system.

Tell us about your room, what kind of music you listen to, how loud you need it, what sort of amplification you have, how much you like or dislike your neighbours, whether your cat/wife/dog/kids/mother like music when it's turned up, is your hearing still really good or have you been on constructions sites all your life.

Is this for music, HT or both?

What's the budget?

Usually when someone takes on a new project, it will be bigger and better than the last one unless you are building for somone else or perhaps a secondary system for the office or bedroom.

It can be as little as a 6.5" woofer and a few full range units right up to, well... let's not go there. Come up with a budget and work from there. Always leave a little breathing room for unexpected costs. It's not really that hard to make decisions once you have the above questions answered.

Cal

[JinMTVT]

hi cal!!

my question was more of a "guide"

for everybody than for my personal guidance ..

i have had this lost feeling a few times already
within a 2 years timeframe
and i am sure that many of the noobs around are in the same position as me

I would like to ask, if there are any general rules or guides to help work those questions out ..

maybe some guides already exists that we are none aware of ..neway



i'll start another thread on my needs after getting some info form here! i'll try and keep this one general!

[Dumbass]

The first step, before you develop any dogma about your next project, is to listen to as many different systems as you possibly can, and take mental notes.

[JinMTVT]

this is a great tip!!!

very true that it is the first step!

Unfortunatly not that easy for most of us

( THERE is just NOTHING around here! i live around a damn audio black hole!! )

[Dumbass]

Originally posted by JinMTVT
Unfortunatly not that easy for most of us

If it's a project you anticipate sinking a lot of time/money/effort into, don't be afraid to plan a trip around listening to some systems. There are various DIY meets, audio conventions, etc etc, plus I've found most folk on a board like this are more than happy to audition their home systems if asked nicely.

IMO it's easy to get all pumped up about a certain approach, system, enclosure, etc, and build up a certain "mythology" around it -- and then subsequently feel let down.

I've certainly changed my "philosophy" on things by meeting with people, listening to systems, etc. Best to let your ears guide you.

BTW you didn't mention the size of your room, your goals for the system, what you listen to currently, what kind of amplification you use, etc etc.

[JinMTVT]

as i said *** ( haha nice nick by the way )

i didn't want THIS thread to be about me
but rather a nice guideline to help out noobs like i am,
to get a hold of all those possibilities!

[69stingray]

JinMTVT-

Wow, I think you answered one of your own questions with another question !?!?

I know the feeling. I have been thinking about the same thing. I think you have to start with the following:

• What do I need this speaker for?
• Home theatre
• Audiophile style listening
• Background music
• Something to do, designing and building speakers seems fun, I will worry about the use after.

Build from there.

One thing to keep in mind, here is a good write-up on the frequency response and harmonic frequencies of instruments and the human voices.

http://www.dak.com/reviews/Tutorial_frequencies.cfm

Here is a list of instrument and frequencies:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu...c/orchins.html

Here is a nice chart also:


Something else to keep in mind. How is your hearing? Personally, I can only heard from 40 Hz - 14,000 Hz.

I would say start with a set of speakers with excellent sound quality in from the 60 Hz - 3,000 Range - Singe Driver covering that range maybe?

Multi-Drivers help keep distortion low. High sensitivity allow for "louder" music with less amp power and therefore less distortion also - so I understand - I think this is an item of debate.

Check out Part Express project webpage, some great projects.

http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/index.html

Good luck.

[rabbitz]

jinMTVT

Have a look in the Wiki at this which gives some clues.
http://www.diyaudio.com/wiki/index.p...truction+Guide

Once you've finished that, you'll have more questions than you started with, but you'll know more

[Cal Weldon]

There are really only two important questions to get you going.

1) How much can I spend?

2) Where in the room am I allowed to put it?

All other questions are gravy once those two are answered.