I'm building an expedition vehicle, which is basically a tiny house on the back of a huge 6x6 lorry (see below for photos).
I'm having the habitation box built professionally but it's going to be empty, so I'm fabricating all the cabinets and furniture myself from birch ply cut on a CNC machine.
I have spaces reserved for speakers at the end of the kitchen cabinets, directly facing the bed / seating area. The spaces are 500mm high, 400mm wide and 150mm deep. My plan was to install off the shelf "in wall" speakers (perhaps B&W CWM663) into these spaces, but I'm acutely aware that the sound could be greatly enhanced by properly designing an enclosure to fit the space (a port could could go on the bottom or side of the space).
However, I'm totally overwhelmed with a million other custom jobs on this project, and learning yet another skillset isn't something I have time for 😂
Would anyone like to help me out by designing the enclosures, picking most suitable drivers and advising on crossovers etc? Alternatively if there's an off-the-shelf solution that would neatly fit this space, that would be amazing...
Here's the truck:
This is what I'm hoping it'll look like when finished:
Here's the interior with the speaker placement highlighted:
I'm having the habitation box built professionally but it's going to be empty, so I'm fabricating all the cabinets and furniture myself from birch ply cut on a CNC machine.
I have spaces reserved for speakers at the end of the kitchen cabinets, directly facing the bed / seating area. The spaces are 500mm high, 400mm wide and 150mm deep. My plan was to install off the shelf "in wall" speakers (perhaps B&W CWM663) into these spaces, but I'm acutely aware that the sound could be greatly enhanced by properly designing an enclosure to fit the space (a port could could go on the bottom or side of the space).
However, I'm totally overwhelmed with a million other custom jobs on this project, and learning yet another skillset isn't something I have time for 😂
Would anyone like to help me out by designing the enclosures, picking most suitable drivers and advising on crossovers etc? Alternatively if there's an off-the-shelf solution that would neatly fit this space, that would be amazing...
Here's the truck:
This is what I'm hoping it'll look like when finished:
Here's the interior with the speaker placement highlighted:
Dave,
In the same form factor of the B&W CWM663 you could get a pair of the "Monoprice Caliber In-Wall Speakers, 8in Fiber 2-Way (pair) Product # 4101" for a fraction of the price, and less than the cost of comparable components you would need to purchase for a similar outcome.
While I don't doubt the B&W CWM663 or a purpose built design could sound a bit better, the position of the speakers in your layout will compromise their potential to such a point where subtle differences will be swamped.
Art
I’m not really trying to optimise for super low cost… could spend up to maybe $1000… what I’m looking for is a nice clear sound and solid, smooth, tight bass response… years ago I built a boominator boom box and it was a million times better than the commercial junk available, so I appreciate the benefit of having a well designed enclosure!
I was playing with a speaker box calculator and perhaps using the Tang Band W8-1772 drivers? I can extend the depth of the top edge of the enclosure so the drivers point down slightly and the internal volume becomes 25L which is I think what the W8-1772 speakers need… what do you think?
I was playing with a speaker box calculator and perhaps using the Tang Band W8-1772 drivers? I can extend the depth of the top edge of the enclosure so the drivers point down slightly and the internal volume becomes 25L which is I think what the W8-1772 speakers need… what do you think?
Recommendations depend upon your budget (which does not look too tiny!), the sound level you require, the fidelity, and level and extension of bass you want. The shallow enclosure shape may be problematical depending upon your requirements.
I mean maybe the CWM663 will be fine… I just feel it’s not really taking advantage of the space available…
ummmm … not exactly sure how to express these requirements 😂
$1000
Nice and loud
Nice and clear
Nice and low
🤷♂️ That good enough?
In this environment I’m sure Dirac would make a lot of sense. How to implement it in a car I don’t know but I’m sure there are products available. Using Dirac will most likely, in this case, make a bigger difference than wich speaker you choose to buy or build.
Remember this space is 7.3 x 2.4m (24 x 8ft), so more like a small apartment than a car... I'll take a look at Dirac...
Dynaudio P4-W80 is a 2 way (8"+1.1") loudspeaker meeting all the specs (loud, deep, clear) and the volume trapped within 400x500x150mm chamber is enough for the proper low end response. Sealed box loading together with room boundary conditions should add up nicely. The DIY route does not seem reasonable to me, or may be to someone else willing to sacrifice his time and resources to develop a functioning rig like that.
Something like this or similar would be a very acceptable option in sealed enclosures:
Beyma coaxial
You'd need to hit them with proper EQ, bi-amping, and quite powerful (high voltage output) amps to drive their 8ohm impedance properly but that seems easily doable in car audio nowadays, and these particular units sound outstanding.
Don't rule out PA drivers as they offer considerably better quality and power handling for the money in comparison to domestic and car audio speakers. (The PA industry have been constantly but quietly [!] developing real improvements in speakers whilst domestic hifi is largely loaded with hype, snake oil, and insane prices!). 4ohm versions of drivers are available in some cases if you really feel the need, however the sensitivity of PA drivers is usually so much higher than domestic speakers that they will usually play louder with the same input anyway!
Good luck with your amazing project. (HOW many gallons per mile??? 😳)
Beyma coaxial
You'd need to hit them with proper EQ, bi-amping, and quite powerful (high voltage output) amps to drive their 8ohm impedance properly but that seems easily doable in car audio nowadays, and these particular units sound outstanding.
Don't rule out PA drivers as they offer considerably better quality and power handling for the money in comparison to domestic and car audio speakers. (The PA industry have been constantly but quietly [!] developing real improvements in speakers whilst domestic hifi is largely loaded with hype, snake oil, and insane prices!). 4ohm versions of drivers are available in some cases if you really feel the need, however the sensitivity of PA drivers is usually so much higher than domestic speakers that they will usually play louder with the same input anyway!
Good luck with your amazing project. (HOW many gallons per mile??? 😳)
Hmm that Beyma speaker looks cool but I'd probably want to avoid using anything that needs a fancy amplifier... I'd prefer to use a small, low power class D amp... I used these to power my in-ceiling B&W speakers in my home system and they work great... I don't really have the space for anything much bigger, and the amp has to run from low voltage DC, not 240V (so I can run the speakers with the inverter turned off).
Right now the truck is just the bare chassis, so no weight on the back... I've done about 1,000km of motorway driving bringing it back from Germany, and it's returned 11MPG on average so far... that'll probably get worse once it has 8,000kg of house on the back, but I'm pretty pleased so far - I was expecting much worse considering it's a 20 year old, 12 litre diesel engine 😂
My first instinct would be to chose a small two-way design and incorporate it into your available area. There are many many about . Just stick to driver distances (separation) and cabinet volume. You should also consider baffle width but it is less crucial.
Given your budget, I would look at Paul Carmody's Carrera (available from Meniscus) - World class drivers. I've also had a hankering to build his Speedster at some stage.
I googled on-wall speakers on the images page, and came across the PMC Wafer 2. They seem ideal for your suggested use, and they have multiple adjustments to tailor to different locations.
https://www.whathifi.com/pmc/wafer-2/review
Someone is selling them in the UK via ebay for £550 each new.
Given your budget, I would look at Paul Carmody's Carrera (available from Meniscus) - World class drivers. I've also had a hankering to build his Speedster at some stage.
I googled on-wall speakers on the images page, and came across the PMC Wafer 2. They seem ideal for your suggested use, and they have multiple adjustments to tailor to different locations.
https://www.whathifi.com/pmc/wafer-2/review
Someone is selling them in the UK via ebay for £550 each new.
Yeah I hadn’t heard of “on-wall” speakers before and they look pretty much exactly what I want… those PMCs are a little too tall but I have some more leads… thanks for the tip!
The 8" version measures very well - https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ds/jbl-308p-mkii-studio-monitor-review.17338/
If you needed more volume, you could always add a high pass filter and a subwoofer or two.
The PSB / JBL speakers look great, but the dimensions are wrong... I only have 150mm of depth to play with...
Also if they're powered they need to accept low voltage (12/24/48v) because I want as much as possible in the truck to work with the 240v inverter turned off...
Also if they're powered they need to accept low voltage (12/24/48v) because I want as much as possible in the truck to work with the 240v inverter turned off...