What drivers do you recommend.... On a budget

[lapoltba]

HI,

im new here, so i hope im posting in the right place. Ive done some searches on here and found some brands that ive never heard of before which is cool, and they seem reasonable priced. But i just wanted to get everyones input.

My plan is to build a 5.1 system all diy including the amp and such.

Id like to keep it all as simple as possible, fewest drivers per enclosure, sealed enclosures.... I was thining maybe 6" drivers for the front 2 chanels and 4" for the rear and center. Power requirements, anywhere between 20-50 watts rms per channel not including the sub... thats already taken care of . Id like to keep the speakers in the 8 ohm range to make the amplifiers a bit easier to make. ill be using the LM3886 or something similar.

I found a place called wavecor that seems to have some decent OEM type speakers that may work, however the sensitivity isnt all that great <90.


Thanks all in advance.
-Brian-

[TerryO]

Two questions:
What is your budget?
How big is your room?
It's hard to make any suggestions without a few details.
Best Regards,
TerryO

[lapoltba]

Well, ideally id like to spen less than $200 on the speakers. I am going to be building the enclosures and amplifiers myself based on some chipams, havent really sorted it out exactly yet. it pretty much depends on what i decide on for drivers. I would like to get away with just a single speaker in each box, but i think i could probably get better sound with a midrange and a tweeter in each, am i correct?

The room isnt huge, probably 20 x 20 so i dont need huge speakers.

Like i said, it will be mostly on my computer for listening to music and watching dvds.

[lapoltba]

Bump... if thats allowed here...

Got some pricing on the drivers i was looking at.

4 ohm units

http://www.wavecor.com/html/wf138wa01.html

http://www.wavecor.com/html/wf138wa02.html



8 ohm units

http://www.wavecor.com/html/wf138wa03.html

http://www.wavecor.com/html/wf138wa04.html


prices

TW030WA02 USD 22.30 each

WF138WA01 USD 49.50 each

WF138WA02 USD 28.80 each

WF138WA03 USD 49.50 each

WF138WA04 USD 28.80 each

Let me know what you think.

[holdent]

Why don't you look at the driver tests on John "Zaph" Krutke's site to guide you? Mid-woofers at http://www.zaphaudio.com/6.5test and tweeters at http://www.zaphaudio.com/tweetermishmash. His DIY speaker systems are fully documented, complete systems. His newest project the "Bargain Aluminum MTM" (http://www.zaphaudio.com/BAMTM.html) should come out to less than $200 including drivers and crossover parts.

[AdamThorne]

If you wanna keep it to a single driver then I'll throw out that I've been very pleased with my make of the Cyburgs Needle with the Tang Band W3-871. They might be a bit small for a 20 x 20 room, but then you'll have a bunch of 'em for a HT.

A bit bigger is the Cyburgs Stick. The driver he uses in that writup (again, Tang Band) doesn't seem to be available in the US, but there is some mention of a Bamboo coned driver that substitutes well. The bamboo driver is more expensive, however.

You can look up either one here. The box construction is more complex than a simple sealed unit, but the single driver keeps the cost down, and they're floor standers so you needn't worry about stands.

There are actually lots of TB W3-871 implementations, I'm sure you could find a smaller one around here as a center as well.

[lapoltba]

thanks everyone for your replies.

Im sorry to admit that i probably dont belong on these boards....

IM pretty much an ametur when it comes to designing speakers/crossovers and seleccting drivers. the logic behind desiging crossover networks and matching drivers is beyond my knowledge.

The projects on zaphaudio are pretty nice but the driver comparisons are more than i was looking for... lol

One thing i as looking at was the Dayton DA175-8 and on that site it got a very good review for price/quality so i think i iwll be looking into getting that. The recomended sealed enclosure is about 14x9x6 which is about my ideal size. So, throw in a tweeter, (to be deterimend) and i think that may be what i am aiming for.

Constructive criticism is appreciated.

[tinitus]

Forget it ..... you cant just throw something together, and especially not on a tight budget with that many speakers


Make three of this.... back and center

http://www.zaphaudio.com/audio-speaker18.html


As front a pair of theese

http://www.zaphaudio.com/audio-speaker13.html


This would be just within your budget

[lord_darkhelmet]

If you could stretch the budget a few bucks, I would go with 5 of these:

Dayton HT

I have built a pair of these for myself and they sound fantastic. The man who designed them really knows what he is doing.

[Pit Hinder]

Brian,

OK - one very sane thing you said: you can't and won't design your own megagigaproject. Would be easy, though - spend five times your budget to buy measuring tools and literature, and you're halfway there. Right, let's leave cloud seven and come back to earth. I keep preaching this, although I'm not married to anybody from that firm: g**gle "Monacor". Look at their prices. If they sell, FedEx or anyhow ship to where you live, just email me for plans.

Pit