I'm heading off to a small, cramped dorm room in about a year and a half. As a result, I figure I should go for a pair of compact speakers that will work well in the itsy-bitsy room I'm likely too be living in.
I've recently been offered a pair of mysterious woofers - Hi-Vi E6's - with no data availible anywhere. They're coated-paper drivers with phase plugs, and the price is right. I'm likely to buy these, but I can buy another pair of woofers between now and then - I figure it's worth the investment in a good pair of high-quality woofers.
T/S on # 1
Qts .378
Qes .387
QMS 17.7
Fs 47.8 Hz.
Re 6.1
Dia eff. 125 mm
VAS 22.3 L
SPL 89.84
T/S on #2
Qts .395
Qes .403
QMS 20.2
Fs 49.9 Hz.
Re 6.1
Dia eff. 125 mm
VAS 20.23
SPL 89.78
According to WinISD, this should use a box 16.75 inches tall, 10.75 inches wide, and 6.75 inches deep - I'm not sure which face I'm supposed to put the driver on. The chart says I get -3db at 50hz - not too shabby. This is without a crossover, too, and I may just make a LM3875-based four channel amplifier so that I can use active EQ to help improve the bass, or just use a small subwoofer.
For the tweeter, I'm a bit torn. I'm still working on my first "proper" pair of speakers based around some Peerless buyout woofers I bought really, really cheaply off eBay. I'm looking for even more quality in treble than I am in bass - many years of stuffing paper in my ears at concerts has left me with very good high-frequency hearing, at least when my ears are not full of wax.
One option is the Bohlender-Graebner Neo3 PDR. While the response curve is a bit wonky, they're supposed to be very good, and the "beaming" effect might be an advantage in such an in-optimal mounting situation.
Another is a standard dome tweeter, like the 27TDFC. These work very, very well, and cost a good bit less. Which is better is often a matter of opinion, though.
That said, the matter may be solved simply by whichever I can get cheap first.
EDIT:
After some more thinking, I think I can put up a set of design goals.
1. Good quality in a small room. I'd like to go "one step better" than Zaph's Silver Flute design - I'm not going to have any other speakers, so these should be pretty bloody good. Admittedly, I can't afford more than about $100 for the pair, but I intend on using used drivers, and the woofers should only cost me $30/pair.
2. Good treble. A lot of people like the Neo3 PDR, and I think that's the best choice. They're also used a good bit in "monitor" style speakers.
3. Small size and ease of placement. While these are not in the same category as Bose Crap-Cubes for size, they're not exactly Klipschorns either. In other words, these should be mountable in the corners of a room near the ceiling, and should be no larger than, say, my Baby Advents.
4. Not unreasonable cost. Please, no Usher woofers or Hiquphon tweeters, unless they're really cheap.
Now, for the things which make design easier.
1. Active crossovers. I would not have much trouble building a 4-channel amplifier to drive these, though a passive crossover certianly would make my life easier.
2. SPL. I listen to my speakers at a very low volume level, and it won't be at more than about two meters. Hence, low output is no biggie.
3. Efficiency. These will be driven by at least 25 watts per channel, and as you can see above, that's plenty.
4. Deep bass. 50hz is adequate for me, especially in a small room.
5. No hurry. I'm likely just to toss the woofers into boxes, use some Peerless of India tweeters I got for $10/pair, and be done with it - I need some speakers for my room anyway.
I've recently been offered a pair of mysterious woofers - Hi-Vi E6's - with no data availible anywhere. They're coated-paper drivers with phase plugs, and the price is right. I'm likely to buy these, but I can buy another pair of woofers between now and then - I figure it's worth the investment in a good pair of high-quality woofers.
T/S on # 1
Qts .378
Qes .387
QMS 17.7
Fs 47.8 Hz.
Re 6.1
Dia eff. 125 mm
VAS 22.3 L
SPL 89.84
T/S on #2
Qts .395
Qes .403
QMS 20.2
Fs 49.9 Hz.
Re 6.1
Dia eff. 125 mm
VAS 20.23
SPL 89.78
According to WinISD, this should use a box 16.75 inches tall, 10.75 inches wide, and 6.75 inches deep - I'm not sure which face I'm supposed to put the driver on. The chart says I get -3db at 50hz - not too shabby. This is without a crossover, too, and I may just make a LM3875-based four channel amplifier so that I can use active EQ to help improve the bass, or just use a small subwoofer.
For the tweeter, I'm a bit torn. I'm still working on my first "proper" pair of speakers based around some Peerless buyout woofers I bought really, really cheaply off eBay. I'm looking for even more quality in treble than I am in bass - many years of stuffing paper in my ears at concerts has left me with very good high-frequency hearing, at least when my ears are not full of wax.
One option is the Bohlender-Graebner Neo3 PDR. While the response curve is a bit wonky, they're supposed to be very good, and the "beaming" effect might be an advantage in such an in-optimal mounting situation.
Another is a standard dome tweeter, like the 27TDFC. These work very, very well, and cost a good bit less. Which is better is often a matter of opinion, though.
That said, the matter may be solved simply by whichever I can get cheap first.
EDIT:
After some more thinking, I think I can put up a set of design goals.
1. Good quality in a small room. I'd like to go "one step better" than Zaph's Silver Flute design - I'm not going to have any other speakers, so these should be pretty bloody good. Admittedly, I can't afford more than about $100 for the pair, but I intend on using used drivers, and the woofers should only cost me $30/pair.
2. Good treble. A lot of people like the Neo3 PDR, and I think that's the best choice. They're also used a good bit in "monitor" style speakers.
3. Small size and ease of placement. While these are not in the same category as Bose Crap-Cubes for size, they're not exactly Klipschorns either. In other words, these should be mountable in the corners of a room near the ceiling, and should be no larger than, say, my Baby Advents.
4. Not unreasonable cost. Please, no Usher woofers or Hiquphon tweeters, unless they're really cheap.
Now, for the things which make design easier.
1. Active crossovers. I would not have much trouble building a 4-channel amplifier to drive these, though a passive crossover certianly would make my life easier.
2. SPL. I listen to my speakers at a very low volume level, and it won't be at more than about two meters. Hence, low output is no biggie.
3. Efficiency. These will be driven by at least 25 watts per channel, and as you can see above, that's plenty.
4. Deep bass. 50hz is adequate for me, especially in a small room.
5. No hurry. I'm likely just to toss the woofers into boxes, use some Peerless of India tweeters I got for $10/pair, and be done with it - I need some speakers for my room anyway.
The dorm rooms I've been in were larger than but comparable with automotive cabin space. Room gain is going to help, and so can WinISD.
When I designed my last car sub, I had WinISD simulate room gain by (if I remember rightly) creating an inverse Linkwitz transform and summing that with the sub/box response (I googled a tutorial).
I was open minded about closed versus vented and tried both until I found a combined flat response. Though I used a 12" woofer, it has a relatively high fs and low Qts and so comes across to me as a smaller woofer just with larger volume displacement.
With some tweaking I now get an apparently flat response down low.
When I designed my last car sub, I had WinISD simulate room gain by (if I remember rightly) creating an inverse Linkwitz transform and summing that with the sub/box response (I googled a tutorial).
I was open minded about closed versus vented and tried both until I found a combined flat response. Though I used a 12" woofer, it has a relatively high fs and low Qts and so comes across to me as a smaller woofer just with larger volume displacement.
With some tweaking I now get an apparently flat response down low.
Get a Behringer DEQ2496, regarding bass it is a god-send for small rooms.
I found my AML1s were great in a small room, so maybe a standmount with transmission line. Perhaps the Seas L18RCY/P (H1085) would suit that and a Hi-Vi RT8II would allow a nice low crossover away from any resonance, it also has a reasonably high directivity (and well controlled) in the treble-mid so again a good solution for a small room. That should make a super system.
I found my AML1s were great in a small room, so maybe a standmount with transmission line. Perhaps the Seas L18RCY/P (H1085) would suit that and a Hi-Vi RT8II would allow a nice low crossover away from any resonance, it also has a reasonably high directivity (and well controlled) in the treble-mid so again a good solution for a small room. That should make a super system.
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