Hi all, new to this forum. I was looking for some speaker advice on reddit and stumbled onto this forum. I have listened to some great setups lately, and a few of them had one thing in common. They had active bass, and passive mid/treble. Unfortunately they were all out of my budget, but it got me thinking, are there any affordable (under 3k or so) floor standing speakers that do the same active/passive thing. It made sense to me from engineering and economic point of view. That made me post in reddit. Apparently there are very few. I'm still browsing for my next speaker set and I could go bookshelves+active sub, but it wood look nicer if it was all in one enclosure. I was wondering are there any diy plans for a speaker with active bass, passive mid/treble, and if possible a horn design (not for the bass)?
I'm fairly competent in building things out of wood, metal, and doing electronics as well, but I just don't have the time to get into whole speaker cabinet design. That is a science in itself, and knowing myself, I would get obsessed and try to learn as much as possible before building. I also don't know what drivers are available on the market and where best to get them. So, I would need plans that include an active sub, preferably a horn, but could go with just a "regular" driver, and where to get all the necessary drivers/electronics. I live in Croatia, Europe, so anything I can buy within EU is preferable.
Tnx.
I'm fairly competent in building things out of wood, metal, and doing electronics as well, but I just don't have the time to get into whole speaker cabinet design. That is a science in itself, and knowing myself, I would get obsessed and try to learn as much as possible before building. I also don't know what drivers are available on the market and where best to get them. So, I would need plans that include an active sub, preferably a horn, but could go with just a "regular" driver, and where to get all the necessary drivers/electronics. I live in Croatia, Europe, so anything I can buy within EU is preferable.
Tnx.
I have not done one like that but have contemplated it (often). You can convert nearly any passive loudspeaker (plan or commercial units) to semi-active. I think the easiest way... is to use two off-the-shelve 2.1 amps, one for each channel: tweeter/mid/active-filtered-woofer. Sound quality with something like cheap 2.1 TPA3116 will likely not satisfy you for long (poor opamp etc.) but there are better 2.1 amps. Two subwoofer plate-amps might do but good ones with continuous phase adjustment knob (a must) aren't easy to find. Or make your own active low-pass-filter. Or (if you don't mind) rack-mount Pro gear using balanced interconnect etc., or DSP crossover.
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Troels Gravesen has several such designs. (except for the bass/treble horn requirement)
Take a look at them, you won't have to deal with calculations or measurements, all set up for fun. And they sound great, I built one, and I'm happy with it. You have the advantage of being close by, freight will be minimal.
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Diy_Loudspeaker_Projects.htm
I forgot that the small, concentric horns are called "waveguides." My cabinet has one of those coupled to a fabric dome tweeter. But if you want something more professional, there are the TL-1 and TL-2, with compression tweeters. I don't know if it's within your budget, just write to Troels, and by the way, I have absolutely no relation to TG, I'm just a happy user.
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/The-Loudspeaker-2.htm
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/The-Loudspeaker-2.htm
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Hi all, tnx for the replies.
@wchang I'd rather have a ready made solution, something tested. I could just get an eq and an amp and assemble something, but I don't know what it would sound like. Initially I was hoping to just buy something from a company, but it seems there aren't any affordable ones, Most models I saw were north of 10k. And getting bookshelves + active sub just doesn't look visually appealing, so I was thinking maybe build something myself. If I find the time that is.
@academia50
Regarding your PM. I'm sorry you feel I should have immediately answered to this post, but I just have too many things going on. Troels does seem to have interesting designs. The one you recommended looks to be too wide for my space, but I will check their other designs.
@wchang I'd rather have a ready made solution, something tested. I could just get an eq and an amp and assemble something, but I don't know what it would sound like. Initially I was hoping to just buy something from a company, but it seems there aren't any affordable ones, Most models I saw were north of 10k. And getting bookshelves + active sub just doesn't look visually appealing, so I was thinking maybe build something myself. If I find the time that is.
@academia50
Regarding your PM. I'm sorry you feel I should have immediately answered to this post, but I just have too many things going on. Troels does seem to have interesting designs. The one you recommended looks to be too wide for my space, but I will check their other designs.