Hey everyone.
Been a long-ish time reader of the forum but this is my first post and now would love your input on a build I am going for. The build is for my dads birthday. He used to be an audio nerd and had two little red monitors that he gave to me in my teens. I don't want the 2 towers to be huge so that's why I'm only going for an 8'' woofer.
Now onto my questions: I'm planning a 3 way design: 8'' woofer + midrange + tweeter. Floor standing speakers to give the woofer enough volume (at least 50l). Does this build make sense from a driver point of view? are there better options for any of the parts? Just wanna gather feedback if I'm not looking at something that'll be critical.
my current favorites are the following:
Woofer: Dayton Audio RS225-4 Bass-midwoofer link woofer sens: 91 dB
midrange: Dayton Audio PS95-8 Full-range Woofer link mid Sens: 85.56 dB
Tweeter: Dayton Audio RST28F-4 Dome Tweeter link tweeter sens: 93.5 dB
Then I would build a passive XO to go along with everything and match the frequencies and sensitivities. The FRD files for all the drivers are pretty easily available that's why I decided to start off with Dayton as my first build. Other option would be to go with the Dayton KABD-4100 DSP + Amp combo, but I would prefer to learn by building the XO myself. Add on question: it's gonna be pretty easy going from the 93.5dB sens of the tweeter down to the 85dB sens of the mid using a 2nd or 3rd order XO, correct? Haven't gotten around to simulation that yet.
Cheers!
Been a long-ish time reader of the forum but this is my first post and now would love your input on a build I am going for. The build is for my dads birthday. He used to be an audio nerd and had two little red monitors that he gave to me in my teens. I don't want the 2 towers to be huge so that's why I'm only going for an 8'' woofer.
Now onto my questions: I'm planning a 3 way design: 8'' woofer + midrange + tweeter. Floor standing speakers to give the woofer enough volume (at least 50l). Does this build make sense from a driver point of view? are there better options for any of the parts? Just wanna gather feedback if I'm not looking at something that'll be critical.
my current favorites are the following:
Woofer: Dayton Audio RS225-4 Bass-midwoofer link woofer sens: 91 dB
midrange: Dayton Audio PS95-8 Full-range Woofer link mid Sens: 85.56 dB
Tweeter: Dayton Audio RST28F-4 Dome Tweeter link tweeter sens: 93.5 dB
Then I would build a passive XO to go along with everything and match the frequencies and sensitivities. The FRD files for all the drivers are pretty easily available that's why I decided to start off with Dayton as my first build. Other option would be to go with the Dayton KABD-4100 DSP + Amp combo, but I would prefer to learn by building the XO myself. Add on question: it's gonna be pretty easy going from the 93.5dB sens of the tweeter down to the 85dB sens of the mid using a 2nd or 3rd order XO, correct? Haven't gotten around to simulation that yet.
Cheers!
No problem reducing those levels. You'll also want to consider modifying your frd files to include your outer cabinet, and possibly the inner cabinet.
would you say it makes sense to buy a mic and make those files myself or just apply an offset to the existing files? Is it worth spending those $100 for the test mic?
It's not so bad to apply the offset if that's all you can justify for this project. At least you have multiple files to work with.
Why not the 5-inch RS series, I'm sure I looked at it as I have the RS225 doing nothing... Yep here, https://www.soundimports.eu/en/dayton-audio-rs125-8.html
Have you considered going active?
So much content available and easy to use. Have you set a budget? In the end it’s about how much he will use the new system. Just a thought, I hope whatever path you choose will bring many hours of enjoyment to your dad
I would only add that changing the sound to whatever you like is relatively easy with an active setup.
Best
So much content available and easy to use. Have you set a budget? In the end it’s about how much he will use the new system. Just a thought, I hope whatever path you choose will bring many hours of enjoyment to your dad
I would only add that changing the sound to whatever you like is relatively easy with an active setup.
Best
Which driver would you replace with that? The RS225 goes much lower than the 5-inch RS, am I seeing that wrong? So you‘d replace the PS95, correct?
I have, but since that'd be a whole different rabbit hole do go down, and I have some pretty great amps (Revox B740 & B750) that we could use, I decided passive would probably be easier? Not sure on that tho.
Like I mentioned the other option would be to go with the Dayton KABD-4100 DSP + Amp combo, which would probably make everything easier. with 4x100W I probably have enough power to power one of the speakers. what are some other active options that I should check out?
Not really. I just don't wanna go above multiple $1000 since it's my first project and I don't wanna fail and loose all that money. But probably all in all $300-400 per speaker in components (not XO). maybe I go with two woofers, that hasn't been decided yet
@Halikon
Maybe I'm missing something, but how do you plan to reduce the Woofer output by 5.5dB in a passive design to match the Midrange and not get a bump in the bass region? You'd have to design for burning off a lot of power when doing it passive...
Greetings,
Winfried
Since it's 5.5dB too loud, I'd have used an L-Pad network in front of the speaker output (just 2 resistors, one in parallel, one serial to the speaker)
That woofer is a 4 ohm model but its SPL is measured at 2.83V, so it's really more like 88 dB/W. Still, @wgh52 has a point.
Personally I'd go to a Scanspeak 10f/4424 or 10f/8414 for the mid. Listened to/tried most of the small mids & full ranges favoured here: nothing else is really as good.
Personally I'd go to a Scanspeak 10f/4424 or 10f/8414 for the mid. Listened to/tried most of the small mids & full ranges favoured here: nothing else is really as good.
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ah my bad, thought we were talking about the tweeter. With the woofer that's going to be more power ofc... with 8 ohm it's a 4 ohm and a 10 ohm resistor.
maybe something like this would be an option for mid woofer: sens of 90, also from dayton: link mid woofer(RS52FN-8 2")
I'd prefer to go higher power and lager size than the Scanspeak 10f/4424 or 10f/8414...
I'd prefer to go higher power and lager size than the Scanspeak 10f/4424 or 10f/8414...
You don't want to pad the woofer! But you will loose 4-6 db due to baffle step loss anyways. Consider going with the 8 ohm version of the RS225.
A 2" mid dome isn't capable of going as low in frequency as most 3-4" drivers. Or as loud. The power spec has to be considered in the context of the frequency range. And the 10f/4424 is rated for higher power over full range than your original Dayton choice. I realize there's a huge $ difference -- it's there for a good reason.
The Reference 125 driver diytiger linked is better than the PS95 and will have lower distortion. The Reference series have wide flanges, so the 125 is listed as a 5" driver but will have an SD closer to a typical 4 to 4-1/2 driver.
I'm planning a 3-way floorstander with Sba drivers: cost is about 300 € at TLHP (drivers only).
More details in the link below
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/the-1000-3-way-design-challenge.406711/post-7546844
More details in the link below
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/the-1000-3-way-design-challenge.406711/post-7546844
This one leaves some open questions for me, as @Dave Bullet raised. Doesn't seem like the crossover tinkering was finished.
Is the main reason for the Daytons just cause they publish IEC measurement files? A lot more can also be found from registering to https://www.dibirama.altervista.org/le-prove/woofer.html. Also, FYI, Seas datasheets show measurements taken on a known baffle size, so working with them is less guesswork.
It is always a compromise not having your own measurements in a given box, then again the sticky design without measurements goes on, and folks can also assist with modeling box stuff here (still with the limitations of simulation).
If I was spit-balling a design with very easy looking drivers to work with in your format (lowers risk of disappointment), then this combo might work: Monacor SPH220HQ ported 50l + Seas MCA15RCY midrange + Morel CAT378 tweeter. Or swap Monacor with CA22RNX or RNY.
Or find a published design that you like the look of and that has been verified by other builders.
It is always a compromise not having your own measurements in a given box, then again the sticky design without measurements goes on, and folks can also assist with modeling box stuff here (still with the limitations of simulation).
If I was spit-balling a design with very easy looking drivers to work with in your format (lowers risk of disappointment), then this combo might work: Monacor SPH220HQ ported 50l + Seas MCA15RCY midrange + Morel CAT378 tweeter. Or swap Monacor with CA22RNX or RNY.
Or find a published design that you like the look of and that has been verified by other builders.
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