humble homemade hi fi - Auriga

[s7horton]

I'm just starting into DIY. But with my audio background as well as a wood working background, I'm hoping the two will work out nicely.

Has anyone used a design from humble homemade hifi? I'm looking at a 2.5 way design (Auriga) but am going to change the drivers to ones available around here. I will use a local guy to design the crossover.

Any potential problems being new at this I should consider? Has anyone else built a design from them? How did it work out? Thanks!

[dick van nierop]

Hi

Changing the units would also imply changing the XO!

Dick.

[s7horton]

Right. If you'll notice from above, I have intentions of redesigning the crossover with Meniscus.

Thanks.

[dwk123]

Well, I think the point is that if you use different drivers and a different crossover, then feedback on the original design is pretty meaningless. You are now considering what is effectively a completely different speaker.

Nothing wrong with designing a speaker from scratch, but if you're hoping to gain some measure of predictability by starting from a 'known' design, there really isn't much you can change before the success/failure rests on your new work rather than on the original design.

[s7horton]

not really. If I know what the original sounds like and what the design is, I can extrapolate a little and get a feel for what it might sound like with new drivers and a new crossover. The cabinet plays a pretty important role in the sound of the speaker.

I'm not asking what my design might sound like. I'm asking what the original sounds like. If it sounds bad, why would I want to base my design off that?

[tktran303]

How the original sounds and how yours sounds will be totally different.

You are changing the crossover and drivers, arguably two of the most critical factors.

What are we extrapolating? The sound of a 1 metre floorstanding cabinet?

Tony Gee's Auriga cabinet is a well braced floorstanding cabinet. It is relatively inert. It's very good, but it's not the bits making the music.

dwk123 hit the nail on the head.

[Greggo]

s7horton,

Dude, the last thing I want to do is make you feel bad about your post... but please believe me when I tell you that everyone has done right by you so far. There is nothing to be gained by getting comments on the design you mention versus the design you intend to move forward on. You can compare speakers of similar box volume, baffle profile, and general driver size/role etc.... and you still won't get anywhere. If you study this hobby you will realize that at virtually every point and configuration, and there are probably close to a hundred different generic profiles that would apply to any given speaker, that in each and every one of these categories you will find many examples, and many more will exist than you will ever track down, and they all have nothing in common when it comes to there sound. The different drivers, the different treatments applied to their cabinets, the cross-overs, their components, how they are housed or mounted, and how all those things interact with the room that holds them and the electronics that drive them.... these variables are all too complex to extract anything meaningful that will point to the next example...

The bottom line is that if you want to build a two-way or a three-way or whatever, if you want point of comparisons you will at least need to start with the exact same drivers, in a similar loading (bass reflex, sealed, transmission line, horn, bipole, dipole, whatever...) and then maybe, based on the feedback you get or your own assesment, decide that you could get results that you may find more favorable by tweaking the crossover points, the component values, the brands/materials, etc... and then also adjust the cabinets slightly by volume, by profile, by materials/construction technique etc... and at that point it may be fair to look at a version A or B versus your version and have a dialogue about meaningful differences. Beyond that, it is truly Apple and Oranges and you won't get any competent advice out of anyone beyond the advice already given here in this thread. If you have some drivers in mind, and some crossover points in mind, and a configuration in mind.. then lay it out for us and ask for input... forget about anything else with different drivers and cross-over designs, it is a waste of time.

Respectfully,

Greg Jensen

[fgroen]

The components of tha Auriga are no longer available. Audax stopped supplying for the DIY market, as did Focal. As said before, drivers and XO make the speaker. Also the baffle size plays a role in the set-up of the filter.

So you better look at a different design that still has all components available. This tactic is recommended when you start your first DIY speaker project and lack an electronics degree from MIT.

I heard only one design of Tony, and that was the SOUP, in an early stage when I visited him. Quite impressive already then, the speaker has evolved in a positive way since.

Bit higher budget that the Auriga, but definately worth a go if you're confident with woodworking.

Also Marc Heijligers from my little country put a lot of effort in this design. He spent two years getting the filter right, and his journey is at least worth a read. Will also give you a sense what you step into when you choose to design a speaker from scratch.

Link to Marc's site

Good luck!!

[sreten]

Hi,

The Auriga is a 2.5 way with the main bass/mid sealed and the 0.5
way bass driver reflexed - a concept used by Mission in the 753
design except with pairs of drivers.

Not very common ...................

/sreten.