Hi all,
I am a college student in need of a new speaker setup and I'm just not sure where to turn or which direction to go.
My setup will be used primarially as the sound system for my pc. I love high quality music reproduction so I need something that will sound nice. I am also a pc gamer which has caused me to lean towards surround sound(I have an 8 chan audio card).
I started off looking at high(er) end pc multimedia packages. I have heard and am more than impressed with the klipsch promedia ultra 5.1's, but research has turned up some problems with their bash amps dying. I also looked at(but have not heard) the logitech z-5500.
Then the other day a friend of mine turned me on to the idea of putting together a component setup that would suit my needs. So now I am here, looking for some imput as to what speakers would be in my price range and give me the quality that I desire.
My biggest constraints are $$$$ and space. Living in a dorm dosent' afford much space for big speakers. Any imput is much appreciated.
on a side note, I currently own a set of RCA PRO-LX55's. I found someone talking about a crossover tweak on these, but never managed to find any instructions. anybody know how to do it? I was thinking about using these as my rear speakers in the setup.
I also have a boston acoustics multimedia sub, origionally part of a gateway presenter system. It may not have the tightest sound but it has thump and volume. Should I use it as part of this setup or will it detract from the rest of the sound setup?
I also own an old onkyo amp(solid state I *think*) its not a surround amp and it only pushes like 80 or 100 watts per chan but its something that i might could use.
help please!
I am a college student in need of a new speaker setup and I'm just not sure where to turn or which direction to go.
My setup will be used primarially as the sound system for my pc. I love high quality music reproduction so I need something that will sound nice. I am also a pc gamer which has caused me to lean towards surround sound(I have an 8 chan audio card).
I started off looking at high(er) end pc multimedia packages. I have heard and am more than impressed with the klipsch promedia ultra 5.1's, but research has turned up some problems with their bash amps dying. I also looked at(but have not heard) the logitech z-5500.
Then the other day a friend of mine turned me on to the idea of putting together a component setup that would suit my needs. So now I am here, looking for some imput as to what speakers would be in my price range and give me the quality that I desire.
My biggest constraints are $$$$ and space. Living in a dorm dosent' afford much space for big speakers. Any imput is much appreciated.
on a side note, I currently own a set of RCA PRO-LX55's. I found someone talking about a crossover tweak on these, but never managed to find any instructions. anybody know how to do it? I was thinking about using these as my rear speakers in the setup.
I also have a boston acoustics multimedia sub, origionally part of a gateway presenter system. It may not have the tightest sound but it has thump and volume. Should I use it as part of this setup or will it detract from the rest of the sound setup?
I also own an old onkyo amp(solid state I *think*) its not a surround amp and it only pushes like 80 or 100 watts per chan but its something that i might could use.
help please!
You could buy some CSS FR125 and get real good value
To save further on the money you make a octagon to place on the wall
On every second "side" you mount a plate to funktion as legs to "stand" on the wall - and then inside all the way round you place some acoustic dampening material
I think this might work - anyway its a cheap solution with real quality drivers
To save further on the money you make a octagon to place on the wall
On every second "side" you mount a plate to funktion as legs to "stand" on the wall - and then inside all the way round you place some acoustic dampening material
I think this might work - anyway its a cheap solution with real quality drivers
If you want good sound and your budget is limited, like most college students, I would examine what you have and build from there. Use your existing sub and RCA's for the rear and build some nice speakers for the front and center channel. If you buy prefabbed speakers, your paying a lot for markup, figure a good 300% over the cost of building yourself.
A sheet of 3/4" MDF goes for about $19 a sheet, most homedepot type outlets sell it in smaller sections than the usual 4X8 sheets so transportation issues can be resolved. You can figure around $50 a box if you buy a prebuilt box, $19 will make several boxes.
The part 295-306 at Partsexpress is a Dayton 6 ½” woofer $15.40 each 4@15.40
275-075 is the Dayton 1 1/8” textile tweeter, $16.75 each
260-140 will give you a 2 way crossover that should work well with the tweeter and woofer, $19.95 each or build your own crossover.
260-309 for the rear connectors, $3.40
13.5H X 9W X 8D of ¾” MDF will give you 0.33cf of volume perfect for the woofer in a vented box
4X4 sheet ripped 9” sliced into four sections gives you 2 fronts and two backs
rip another 6 1/2” piece gives you 4 sides
another 9” rip then cut to four 8” sections will provide the tops and bottoms and you still have another 4’ by 23 1/2” wide piece left over for a center channel
12H X 8W X 7D of ¾” MDF will give you 0.217cf of volume perfect for the woofer in a sealed box
4X4 sheet ripped 8” sliced into four sections gives you 2 fronts and two backs
rip another 5 1/2” piece gives you 4 sides
another 7” rip then cut to four 8” sections will provide the tops and bottoms and you still have another 4’ by 27 1/2” wide piece left over for a center channel or another two speakers.
Four sealed enclosures would run you around…..
4@$15.40 $61.60
4@$16.75 $67.00
4@$19.95 $79.80
4@$3.40 $13.60
$222
add 10 bucks for the MDF a few bucks for some screws, glue and some cheap paint and you’ll have four inexpensive speakers that will sound better than just about anything you could pick up for $250
The vented enclosures would probably be more to your liking, but would add the cost of another sheet of 4X4 MDF. You could also save a few more dollars building the crossovers yourself, but not a whole lot.
If you only need two speakers, then put some more dollars in the drivers.
A sheet of 3/4" MDF goes for about $19 a sheet, most homedepot type outlets sell it in smaller sections than the usual 4X8 sheets so transportation issues can be resolved. You can figure around $50 a box if you buy a prebuilt box, $19 will make several boxes.
The part 295-306 at Partsexpress is a Dayton 6 ½” woofer $15.40 each 4@15.40
275-075 is the Dayton 1 1/8” textile tweeter, $16.75 each
260-140 will give you a 2 way crossover that should work well with the tweeter and woofer, $19.95 each or build your own crossover.
260-309 for the rear connectors, $3.40
13.5H X 9W X 8D of ¾” MDF will give you 0.33cf of volume perfect for the woofer in a vented box
4X4 sheet ripped 9” sliced into four sections gives you 2 fronts and two backs
rip another 6 1/2” piece gives you 4 sides
another 9” rip then cut to four 8” sections will provide the tops and bottoms and you still have another 4’ by 23 1/2” wide piece left over for a center channel
12H X 8W X 7D of ¾” MDF will give you 0.217cf of volume perfect for the woofer in a sealed box
4X4 sheet ripped 8” sliced into four sections gives you 2 fronts and two backs
rip another 5 1/2” piece gives you 4 sides
another 7” rip then cut to four 8” sections will provide the tops and bottoms and you still have another 4’ by 27 1/2” wide piece left over for a center channel or another two speakers.
Four sealed enclosures would run you around…..
4@$15.40 $61.60
4@$16.75 $67.00
4@$19.95 $79.80
4@$3.40 $13.60
$222
add 10 bucks for the MDF a few bucks for some screws, glue and some cheap paint and you’ll have four inexpensive speakers that will sound better than just about anything you could pick up for $250
The vented enclosures would probably be more to your liking, but would add the cost of another sheet of 4X4 MDF. You could also save a few more dollars building the crossovers yourself, but not a whole lot.
If you only need two speakers, then put some more dollars in the drivers.
hmm....not as bad as I thought it would be.
I have all the tools and such to do woodwork, routing, you name it(we own rental property so repair abailities are a must), its just a matter of finding the time.
Could you guys get me some links to say some printable blueprints for some enclosures that would fit my size constraints?
What about doing them in a V shape or a flat backed V to save space? how much effect would it have on the sound vs a square/rectangular enclosure?
also if i want to spend more on the speakers themselves what would be a good choice for fairly cheap price but excellent sound?
Thanks a lot guys,
~Larry
I have all the tools and such to do woodwork, routing, you name it(we own rental property so repair abailities are a must), its just a matter of finding the time.
Could you guys get me some links to say some printable blueprints for some enclosures that would fit my size constraints?
What about doing them in a V shape or a flat backed V to save space? how much effect would it have on the sound vs a square/rectangular enclosure?
also if i want to spend more on the speakers themselves what would be a good choice for fairly cheap price but excellent sound?
Thanks a lot guys,
~Larry
judging by the cost of materials I'm quite open to custom construction. I've even got some nifty vinal decal type stuff to cover it with to make it look really nice really fast.
I noticed on parts express that part # 295-335, which is a slightly nicer dayton sub is actually less expensive right now and has a wider frequency range. 35-10,000 vs 33-4,000 on the other sub. Would it be advisible to go with the wider range sub when coupled with the 2000-20000hz tweeter? How would that change effect the sound quality overall?
I really don't know much about doing component speaker stuff...i'm a computer guy...
Thanks again for the help,
~Larry
I noticed on parts express that part # 295-335, which is a slightly nicer dayton sub is actually less expensive right now and has a wider frequency range. 35-10,000 vs 33-4,000 on the other sub. Would it be advisible to go with the wider range sub when coupled with the 2000-20000hz tweeter? How would that change effect the sound quality overall?
I really don't know much about doing component speaker stuff...i'm a computer guy...
Thanks again for the help,
~Larry
I think I know what you mean about the metal cone woofer. feel free to explain further though
Would that woofer/tweeter(either woofer) combo be made better with the addition of a midrange? or is the output already even enough to produce the quality range that i'm looking for?
thanks for the link btw, i'm checking that out now.
working on coming up with some dimentions now...
~Larry
Would that woofer/tweeter(either woofer) combo be made better with the addition of a midrange? or is the output already even enough to produce the quality range that i'm looking for?
thanks for the link btw, i'm checking that out now.
working on coming up with some dimentions now...
~Larry
pardon my rampant double posting, but for some reason its not showing me the edit button...
anyway, i was looking around on zaph's site(love his nickname btw), and i found this enclosure setup that looks like it would suit my needs fairly well.
http://www.zaphaudio.com/Waveguidetmm.html
I think that the dimentions will work for me fairly well
I am more interiested in that box design than the components put into it. When you start to figure in shipping, crossovers, etc the components chosen there are just barley out of my current range.
If i only go with building two enclosures, I can definantly afford to go with better speakers. Also if i build those enclosures I would probably be going with standard dome tweeters rather than doing the modded version seen there.
All material costs aside, what would be a good mix of components that would bring the price per satelite into the 150 dollar range? That includes woofers, tweeters, crossovers, etc.
I don't know if any of you have ever heard the klipsch 5.1 Ultra multimedia setup, but i'm looking for sound quality that is at least equivalent to that if not a bit better.
Thanks,
~Larry
anyway, i was looking around on zaph's site(love his nickname btw), and i found this enclosure setup that looks like it would suit my needs fairly well.
http://www.zaphaudio.com/Waveguidetmm.html
I think that the dimentions will work for me fairly well
I am more interiested in that box design than the components put into it. When you start to figure in shipping, crossovers, etc the components chosen there are just barley out of my current range.
If i only go with building two enclosures, I can definantly afford to go with better speakers. Also if i build those enclosures I would probably be going with standard dome tweeters rather than doing the modded version seen there.
All material costs aside, what would be a good mix of components that would bring the price per satelite into the 150 dollar range? That includes woofers, tweeters, crossovers, etc.
I don't know if any of you have ever heard the klipsch 5.1 Ultra multimedia setup, but i'm looking for sound quality that is at least equivalent to that if not a bit better.
Thanks,
~Larry
One way you could go.....one of those nice small Fostex fullrange and supplement it with a woofer....you could use a Dayton with a maximum crossover at 250 hz
Just a silly idea
But I must remind you that you cannot take a bit here and there and then toss things together...that takes a lot of experince
Just a silly idea
But I must remind you that you cannot take a bit here and there and then toss things together...that takes a lot of experince
FREQUENCY RESPONSE:25Hz-20kHz +/- 5dB
POWER HANDLING:FTC Rated per Satellite: 60 w/channel @ ¡Â 1% THD, 100Hz - 1KHz (Note: all channels driven)FTC Rated Subwoofer: 170 w @ ¡Â 3% THD, 40 - 100HzMaximum Burst Power*: 500 w
MAXIMUM ACOUSTIC OUTPUT:115dB at listening position (near field)
CROSSOVER FREQUENCY:HF: 3000Hz LF: 120Hz
TWEETER:25mm metalized polymer
HIGH FREQUENCY HORN:MicroTractrix ¢â horn
MIDRANGE:3" fiber composite
SUBWOOFERual 8" side-firing fiber composite drivers
I took look at the specs for the Klipsche, having never heard them and viewing the specs, I would say they probably sound OK but I wouldn¡¯t purchase them for several reasons. The first is the freq response, plus or minus five db across the freq range is pretty shabby. Think of every 3db is a power range. If you are playing music, and you want it to be louder, it will take another 3db for you to notice the level change. Plus or minus 5 gives you a range of 10 so some where along that 20-20Khz there are power shifts that would be very noticeable.
Speaker frequency response is heavily related to the physical size of the speaker, take a look at some of the response graphs for speakers from parts express and you¡¯ll notice a trend in size verses response capabilities. For an 8¡± speaker to get down low, it needs to have a very limber suspension. The limber suspension will greatly affect it¡¯s ability to produce it¡¯s upper range frequencies. So it¡¯s a trade off some where, this same principal holds true with the 3¡± midranges.
The low freq crossover is 120HZ, I¡¯ve not seen too many 3¡± speakers that can faithfully reproduce this area without being very limber and expensive and remember, there is a trade off if it can go that low. So without a published frequency response curve for these speakers, I would suspect that the dips and curves for these speakers in some where in that area where the physical properties of the speakers take over.
That being said, most of the folks involved in the DIY arena are shooting for a good flat or controlled frequency curve and low distortion, something that the vendors sacrifice for size and appearance on so many boxed systems.
The speakers you see on Zaphs site have all had extensive research to dial in the perfect sound. Remember I mentioned that 300% mark-up, figure if the company is selling their speakers for $400, then they are building them for $100 or less. Take into consideration the cost for some one to design these speakers to be pleasing to the eyes and the time to be pleasing to the ears, project development, material and production cost, etc etc and that does not leave a lot of extra cash for the quality of the drivers.
This quality issue is the main driving force for many in the DIY world. Thus a home built system that has had some quality research and testing tends sound far superior to the manufactures setups for the same costs. And if the DIYer can make it pleasing to the eye, then they tend to sound even better. Visual presentation is another subject and a very relevant one, but we won¡¯t go there.
Anyway, if you really enjoy good sounds, then try building one of the many setups you¡¯ll find floating around the net, such as Zaphs speakers you pointed out. If modifying the tweeter isn¡¯t up your alley, then put the tweeter in just as it comes, the difference is not going to be as noticeable as one might expect and I¡¯ll think you¡¯ll be pleased. The only warning I¡¯ll give you, is that once you have heard what you can build compared to what you can buy, the bug can take over and you¡¯ll never buy prefab again.
POWER HANDLING:FTC Rated per Satellite: 60 w/channel @ ¡Â 1% THD, 100Hz - 1KHz (Note: all channels driven)FTC Rated Subwoofer: 170 w @ ¡Â 3% THD, 40 - 100HzMaximum Burst Power*: 500 w
MAXIMUM ACOUSTIC OUTPUT:115dB at listening position (near field)
CROSSOVER FREQUENCY:HF: 3000Hz LF: 120Hz
TWEETER:25mm metalized polymer
HIGH FREQUENCY HORN:MicroTractrix ¢â horn
MIDRANGE:3" fiber composite
SUBWOOFER
ual 8" side-firing fiber composite drivers I took look at the specs for the Klipsche, having never heard them and viewing the specs, I would say they probably sound OK but I wouldn¡¯t purchase them for several reasons. The first is the freq response, plus or minus five db across the freq range is pretty shabby. Think of every 3db is a power range. If you are playing music, and you want it to be louder, it will take another 3db for you to notice the level change. Plus or minus 5 gives you a range of 10 so some where along that 20-20Khz there are power shifts that would be very noticeable.
Speaker frequency response is heavily related to the physical size of the speaker, take a look at some of the response graphs for speakers from parts express and you¡¯ll notice a trend in size verses response capabilities. For an 8¡± speaker to get down low, it needs to have a very limber suspension. The limber suspension will greatly affect it¡¯s ability to produce it¡¯s upper range frequencies. So it¡¯s a trade off some where, this same principal holds true with the 3¡± midranges.
The low freq crossover is 120HZ, I¡¯ve not seen too many 3¡± speakers that can faithfully reproduce this area without being very limber and expensive and remember, there is a trade off if it can go that low. So without a published frequency response curve for these speakers, I would suspect that the dips and curves for these speakers in some where in that area where the physical properties of the speakers take over.
That being said, most of the folks involved in the DIY arena are shooting for a good flat or controlled frequency curve and low distortion, something that the vendors sacrifice for size and appearance on so many boxed systems.
The speakers you see on Zaphs site have all had extensive research to dial in the perfect sound. Remember I mentioned that 300% mark-up, figure if the company is selling their speakers for $400, then they are building them for $100 or less. Take into consideration the cost for some one to design these speakers to be pleasing to the eyes and the time to be pleasing to the ears, project development, material and production cost, etc etc and that does not leave a lot of extra cash for the quality of the drivers.
This quality issue is the main driving force for many in the DIY world. Thus a home built system that has had some quality research and testing tends sound far superior to the manufactures setups for the same costs. And if the DIYer can make it pleasing to the eye, then they tend to sound even better. Visual presentation is another subject and a very relevant one, but we won¡¯t go there.
Anyway, if you really enjoy good sounds, then try building one of the many setups you¡¯ll find floating around the net, such as Zaphs speakers you pointed out. If modifying the tweeter isn¡¯t up your alley, then put the tweeter in just as it comes, the difference is not going to be as noticeable as one might expect and I¡¯ll think you¡¯ll be pleased. The only warning I¡¯ll give you, is that once you have heard what you can build compared to what you can buy, the bug can take over and you¡¯ll never buy prefab again.
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