3.5 Way Tower speaker design on £250 budget

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jump to Latest
#21
There is a 'Sticky' at the top of the 'Multi-Way' speaker page for DIY speakers -

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/28079-diy-web-pages.html

Perhaps you can get some ideas there.

There is also a 'Design and Build' section with tip for designing and constructing speakers -

Design & Build - diyAudio

Part Express has its own 'Projects' gallery that is at least worth a look -

Speaker Projects Gallery,Speaker Design Goals, Project Materials, Enclosure Assembly, Speaker Project Photos and More, Submitted By Parts Express Customers.

Though the Parts Express website is something of a mess since its last redesign. Way to much JAVA. It makes it impossible to link to any one project.

For what it is worth.

Steve/bluewizard
 
#22
Lots of good advice, although you can learn a lot more by getting your hands dirty I would echo what people say here, read read read, and when you think you've read too much go and read some more. Also re-read the advice people have left here, you'll find bits you didn't notice before.

Read through random threads and discussions on this forum, you'll learn a lot and it's more interesting than reading a textbook.

BIG note of interest: take everything with a grain of salt. There's a lot of big opinions out there and many people here something they like the sound of then stand by it as gospel - if it doesn't have solid scientific basis, then personally look for some (but that's my recommendation as an objectivist 😉 )

As far as your basic ideas go, they're all sound except for your budget. For me a 3.5 way (or even 3-way) on that kind of budget is a plain no no.

If £500 is a realistic budget? (as a student?)

I'm a student too, I started by buying some B&W speakers of ebay for 'cheap' (well, 30% of list) and did the same as you - built a 18mm mdf cab and started playing with xo's. This hobby is very rewarding but with a steep learning curve. I thought the £120 i spent on drivers would be the main bulk, and I'd only spend a little more on other bits. I'm now a further £200 into this project (wood tools, mdf, measuring equipment, decent speaker cable, crossover components, even just binding posts - it all adds up!) and still expect to spend a lot more.

A lot of people told me not to build this way and to build an existing design. I can't comment on building an extablished design, but I would say that I have learnt a great deal going this route and although there have been time when I've regretted it (when everything measures right but sounds crap and you want to give up) the ultimate rewards - what you learn and owning great sounding speakers that YOU built - are worth it. Just be patient and enjoy it as a hobby.

I think a lot of us aspire to have a high-end hifi company, but you'll find your level of respect for loudspeaker manufacturers will probably go up a lot as you learn how complex it is to get it right - buying good components and knowing where and when to use them are completely different things. I'm still learning now and I'm sure many other forum members would say the same thing!

Keep asking questions and stay on the forum though, you'll find most people here are very friendly and full of good advice.

In response to your actual question, if i was on a complete budget I'd be building some wilson audio watt (as in watt-puppy) style 2-way monitors. You'll learn loads just from getting your hands dirty with those. Then at a later date you can build some bass boxes ('stands') to augment the low end. You may even want to build a high pass filter into the bass bin to use the monitors in a 3-way config.

There was a guy selling some SB satori driver units on the forum, you may be able to get those, there's a build thread for a high end 2-way based on those on the forums, and that'll give you crossover/cabinet schematic.

Alternatively, good diy drivers (i.e. scan speak illuminator/revelators) come up on ebay from time to time, which will give you a headstart at about 50% off rrp (more if you're very lucky, sometimes a little less for highly sought after gear)

personally i think 18mm is overkill for cabinet sides, but why not - less resonance is certainly better.

I would double the 18mm with a decent glue for the baffle, that way you get a little more damping than you would with 36mm plain mdf. You can read online for suitable glues/resins.

Feel free to PM for more, probably put too much here for a forum post!
 
#24
^ money is not an issue I'm a financial engineer with a guaranteed full time position. Maths/Engineering side isn't either. Most advanced mathematics I'm aware of is Fourier analysis of cabinets/other resonances eg cones etc and how electromagnetic effects are linked to heat equation pde's. From what I've seen companies which create crazily expensive home cinema solutions with 50-100 drives in a room just take a set of constraints then iterate to an "optimal" solution.

Maybe I'm missing something, who knows. I have no interest in the amplifier side which is maybe more complex in terms of things that humans can reasonably change/analyse.

Thanks so much for your time, I will be sure to read and re-read all this stuff then get cracking on the loudspeakers cookbook.

If anyone can recommend a more technical book to read in a related field eg sound waves I'd really appreciate that. Hopefully by the end of the summer I'll have a 2 way or a 3.5 way depending on how everything mentioned in your posts turns out.

Thanks again!!!
 
#25
Here are a couple of discussion going on now -

Imus - 3 way build with ScanSpeak drivers (large) - diyAudio

Anarchy - diyAudio

Apparently the "Anarchy" is an existing design.

Here are a few others on other forums -

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php?27222-Official-Mini-Statements-build-thread

The "Statement" are a known design upon which several variations were based.

MiniStatements

Also -

Speaker Design Works

This next one is very close to what you asked for -

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php?15323-Dayton-RS-WMTW-Center-amp-TMWW-Mains

Here are links to HTGuide.com both speaker builds in progress and speaker builds completed. It will just take some research to find one that suits you.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?6-Mission-Possible-DIY

http://www.htguide.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?39-Missions-Accomplished!

Also, since you mentioned POUNDS(£), I assume you are in the UK. I'm sure in the EU or UK you can get just about any driver out there, it is just a matter of settling on the one's you want. The only place I know of is Europe-Audio. I provided links in Post #11.

You are in for a rough ride with unpredictable results if you don't copy an existing design.

Steve/bluewizard
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom