Buidling my first speaker system but I have crossover questions

[BobEllis]

I'm using a custom enclosure based on the ideal volume calculation of the woofer. It is 11.2 L and with F3 at 41Hz.

As you can tell, I'm trying to avoid "kits" because I'm trying to create a set of bookshelves speakers entirely on my own design. However, I have taken your advise in account. I suppose its wiser to invest in cheaper drivers for the moment and do concentrate on a much more simpler crossover design. In through measurements and critical listening, perhaps I can improve the crossover circuitry later on.

So, you suggest that I can simply just remove the fancy components and concentrate on the "true" 2nd crossover design? And when needed, I'll just add other types of networks on top? As far as crossover design, do people always rely on existent designs and it's up to them to tweak them? Or do some people design crossover on their completely from scratch (like what I'm trying to do)?

Thank you for the great response.

Ideal enclosure based on what? There are a broad range of alignments available some better suited to your requirements than others. What is your goal for the bottom end of this system's response? Note that you won't have a lot of headroom at 40Hz with a 5" driver. Anything that gets through below tuning will cause over excursion and distortion. You also need to consider the dimensions of the baffle to design the baffle step and possibly diffraction considerations.

Nothing wrong with wanting to do it yourself. There are a number of ways that you can achieve your goals, but they often look a lot like a topology someone else has chosen. The art is taking a topology to final values to achieve your goal. The recommended topology does everything you were trying to do stringing sections together (and then some that we haven't discussed) with fewer parts. It's a more advanced design that you were proposing.

What do you mean by "true second order?" The topology we've recommended nets you 4th order Linkwitz-Reilly acoustic response. The electrical order of the filter is irrelevant. The final acoustic response is all that matters.

The usual route is to start with lesser drivers and learn how to get the most of them on your way to designing a reference quality system. If you haven't already purchased the drivers, that's something to consider, especially if you don't intend to measure your drivers in your enclosures.

 

[sreten]

I'm using a custom enclosure based on the ideal volume calculation of the woofer. It is 11.2 L and with F3 at 41Hz.

As you can tell, I'm trying to avoid "kits" because I'm trying to create a set of bookshelves speakers entirely on my own design.
Thank you for the great response.

Hi,

In avoiding the write up of good designs all you are doing is avoiding
learning the various ways of doing things, and effectively not using
the hard work people have done and published so you don't have
to do it yourself the first time, your wasting the opportunities.

As Undefinition says in one of his FAQs (Have you read them ?) :

But don't let me stop you from taking a risk. If you feel as though
you are on a mission to design your own speaker from the ground up,
then you should do it. This will all make sense to you after you finish.

rgds, sreten.

http://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/diy