Hi,
I am just starting in the DIY field, and have no electronics background. I was wondering if anyone knows of any online sites that explain passive crossovers, and building them, in depth, but in laymans terms. Tools and components needed, the best places to buy them, etc... Or maybe one that will walk you through building a medium quality crossover step-by-step?
Thanks,
-David-
I am just starting in the DIY field, and have no electronics background. I was wondering if anyone knows of any online sites that explain passive crossovers, and building them, in depth, but in laymans terms. Tools and components needed, the best places to buy them, etc... Or maybe one that will walk you through building a medium quality crossover step-by-step?
Thanks,
-David-
For what you want, bite the bullet and go to hard copy sources.
What's your starting point? Are you familiar with Ohm's Law, reactance, impedance, power, frequency response, and other basic concepts of speaker performance? If so, go directly to Dickason's Loudspeaker Design Cookbook.
If not, you should start with an introductory text in electronics, not worrying about something specializing in crossovers. Learn basic AC theory. Work lots of problems. Once you've got those principles in hand, you'll have a good shot at designing something that actually works and sounds good. In the meantime, you can learn the basics of construction by building kits or proven diy designs. Dickason and d'Appolito are two names to look for.
What's your starting point? Are you familiar with Ohm's Law, reactance, impedance, power, frequency response, and other basic concepts of speaker performance? If so, go directly to Dickason's Loudspeaker Design Cookbook.
If not, you should start with an introductory text in electronics, not worrying about something specializing in crossovers. Learn basic AC theory. Work lots of problems. Once you've got those principles in hand, you'll have a good shot at designing something that actually works and sounds good. In the meantime, you can learn the basics of construction by building kits or proven diy designs. Dickason and d'Appolito are two names to look for.
SY,
I am new in all areas. I'm not even that great when it comes to carpentry, but that is something i'm working on.
I was already planning to find a good DIY design and making an attempt. Although a simple 2-way bookshelf would probably help me get my foot in the door, I'm into bass heavy music, and would rather build something I'd have a use for.
Do you know of any very simple, inexpensive DIY designs (preferably with plans) using a large enough woofer(s) to provide decent bass output down to the 25 or 30hz area? From my experience a single 6 1/2" just won't achieve this.
I am new in all areas. I'm not even that great when it comes to carpentry, but that is something i'm working on.
I was already planning to find a good DIY design and making an attempt. Although a simple 2-way bookshelf would probably help me get my foot in the door, I'm into bass heavy music, and would rather build something I'd have a use for.
Do you know of any very simple, inexpensive DIY designs (preferably with plans) using a large enough woofer(s) to provide decent bass output down to the 25 or 30hz area? From my experience a single 6 1/2" just won't achieve this.
I have been reading up some, I've learned a lot actually. And I have decided to build a project listed in this book i checked out of the library called "Advanced Speaker Designs for the Hobbyist and Technician.
Although many people think an 8" woofer and a 1" tweeter are a bad combo, I need the bass extension and will be going with the 2nd project in this book. The problem is, the speaker combo listed with this project is an outdated pair of Radio Shack speakers. I have decided to replace them with a Dayton 295-310, and 275-075/070(whichever is in stock at the time). The Woofer has an AC Impedence of 6.70ohms, and the Tweeter 5.40ohms. With a crossover point of 1800hz. Using Crossovers designer(Bundled with the "Speaker Design" program), I have calculated that I'd need a 1.12mH Inductor, and 12.44uF Capacitor on the low pass, and .... .51mH Inductor and a 8.68uF Capacitor. However, the recommendations at http://ccs.exl.info/calc_cr.html#second are completely different? Are the calculations this program uses correct?
Also, I have been unable to find capacitors and inductors matching these figures on partsexpress. What is the best option if I can't find exact matching parts?
Although many people think an 8" woofer and a 1" tweeter are a bad combo, I need the bass extension and will be going with the 2nd project in this book. The problem is, the speaker combo listed with this project is an outdated pair of Radio Shack speakers. I have decided to replace them with a Dayton 295-310, and 275-075/070(whichever is in stock at the time). The Woofer has an AC Impedence of 6.70ohms, and the Tweeter 5.40ohms. With a crossover point of 1800hz. Using Crossovers designer(Bundled with the "Speaker Design" program), I have calculated that I'd need a 1.12mH Inductor, and 12.44uF Capacitor on the low pass, and .... .51mH Inductor and a 8.68uF Capacitor. However, the recommendations at http://ccs.exl.info/calc_cr.html#second are completely different? Are the calculations this program uses correct?
Also, I have been unable to find capacitors and inductors matching these figures on partsexpress. What is the best option if I can't find exact matching parts?
Have a look at Falcon Acoustics they;ve got everything from caps and inductors to plans and kits
You should check out www.audiodiycentral.com (they have some good basics, mostly on construction) and www.speakerbuilder.net (the article on choosing the right xover frequency is pretty good).
Here's another site on xovers, http://www.silcom.com/~aludwig/Sysdes/Crossove_Design.htm
not exactly for dummies. I don't understand some of it, but it has some good stuff.
not exactly for dummies. I don't understand some of it, but it has some good stuff.
Wow 1800Hz is pretty low for most any tweeter. Since this is a first project and you want something that will rattle the walls I would suggest staying with the larger woofer (8" +) and use one of the tangband 3" fullrange drivers and just crossover at about 500Hz...or even run the Tangband with no crossover and cross the woofer over at 300-500Hz...that way you don't have to build four crossovers for the stereo pair (just two)
Something like the W3-879S from TangBand and maybe a Dayton 8" woofer would be easy to implement and not cost too terribly much. Plus you could even use something quick and dirty like this crossover on the Woofer. Some will say that that type of crossover is not very HiFi, and they would be right, however this would only be used on bass, and would not affect the full range driver, plus it's dirt cheap, since the inductor alone would cost more than that and for a couple bucks you could even replace the caps with "better" electrolytics.
Something like the W3-879S from TangBand and maybe a Dayton 8" woofer would be easy to implement and not cost too terribly much. Plus you could even use something quick and dirty like this crossover on the Woofer. Some will say that that type of crossover is not very HiFi, and they would be right, however this would only be used on bass, and would not affect the full range driver, plus it's dirt cheap, since the inductor alone would cost more than that and for a couple bucks you could even replace the caps with "better" electrolytics.
Hybrid Fourdoor,
1800hz is pretty low, but the Fs of that tweeter is 907hz. Crossing it over safely one octave above that would be around 1800hz, wouldnt it? I wanted to set the crossover point as low as possible since the dayton woofer has a big dip in the frequency response much above that.
I am all about crisp, clear highs, silk dome tweeters are my favorite. I doubt a full range driver will have the kind of highs i'm looking for. Would the sound of this driver actually compare to that, of separate mid and tweeter? Those bass crossovers are $14, if i'm paying that much wouldnt I be better off just buying their Dayton 2-way crossovers at 2000hz or so for $19.95 each? It looks like the low pass section is designed similarly in these, only using poly caps.
diamdiam,
Thanks for the links, speakerbuilder has some other projects i was looking at.
timH,
Falcon Acoustics looks good, aside from the fact that they're in the UK, and I'm in the US. Shipping could get a bit expensive.
1800hz is pretty low, but the Fs of that tweeter is 907hz. Crossing it over safely one octave above that would be around 1800hz, wouldnt it? I wanted to set the crossover point as low as possible since the dayton woofer has a big dip in the frequency response much above that.
I am all about crisp, clear highs, silk dome tweeters are my favorite. I doubt a full range driver will have the kind of highs i'm looking for. Would the sound of this driver actually compare to that, of separate mid and tweeter? Those bass crossovers are $14, if i'm paying that much wouldnt I be better off just buying their Dayton 2-way crossovers at 2000hz or so for $19.95 each? It looks like the low pass section is designed similarly in these, only using poly caps.
diamdiam,
Thanks for the links, speakerbuilder has some other projects i was looking at.
timH,
Falcon Acoustics looks good, aside from the fact that they're in the UK, and I'm in the US. Shipping could get a bit expensive.
The pdf mentions a 5% variation in calculated capacitor and inductor values is acceptable, but is it acceptable if theres a variation in all of the values?
My Calculated inductor values were 1.12mH, and .51mH, but partsexpress had 1.10 and .50, Capacitors were 12.44 and 8.68 and partsexpress had 12 and 8.2. Would it be acceptable to use these, or do I need to be closer to the calculated values by combining capacitors?
My Calculated inductor values were 1.12mH, and .51mH, but partsexpress had 1.10 and .50, Capacitors were 12.44 and 8.68 and partsexpress had 12 and 8.2. Would it be acceptable to use these, or do I need to be closer to the calculated values by combining capacitors?
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.