I basically have no woodworking experience and don't really know anything (yet) about speaker design, but I have been reading enough to be dangerous.
I want to build a pair of speakers to be used in a small office (10x12 foot) at low volumes (70-80 dBs) with a 30 watt EL34 tube amp.
Info on the www.madisound.com site indicates that the Fostex FE127E can use a 10 Liter (.35 cubic ft) Standard Bass Reflex Type Enclosure. The Parts Express .38 cubic ft cabinet pretty close.
Total cost including drivers would be less than $300. Anyone have any experience with doing something like this? Would it be worth it or should I just go an buy a pair of Epos ELS3 or PSB Alpha?
I want to build a pair of speakers to be used in a small office (10x12 foot) at low volumes (70-80 dBs) with a 30 watt EL34 tube amp.
Info on the www.madisound.com site indicates that the Fostex FE127E can use a 10 Liter (.35 cubic ft) Standard Bass Reflex Type Enclosure. The Parts Express .38 cubic ft cabinet pretty close.
Total cost including drivers would be less than $300. Anyone have any experience with doing something like this? Would it be worth it or should I just go an buy a pair of Epos ELS3 or PSB Alpha?
I have a pair of 127's in .4 cubic feet boxes, and they sound nice, but I don't know if it is worth spending twice as much on the boxes as you are going to spend on the drivers.
For my speakers I just went to IKEA and found some wooden boxes that were the right dimension. I found a box that had two drawers in it for $7 each which were exactly the right dimensions. I took out the drawers and was ready to go (they even had a nice cross brace built in). The only woodworking that I had to do was cut a front baffle and cut the speaker hole and port hole. You could buy hole saws for each of those holes and a drill and still come in way cheaper than $200 for the two boxes.
Hope that helps.
For my speakers I just went to IKEA and found some wooden boxes that were the right dimension. I found a box that had two drawers in it for $7 each which were exactly the right dimensions. I took out the drawers and was ready to go (they even had a nice cross brace built in). The only woodworking that I had to do was cut a front baffle and cut the speaker hole and port hole. You could buy hole saws for each of those holes and a drill and still come in way cheaper than $200 for the two boxes.
Hope that helps.
It's not unusual to allow .5 cu. ft. space for volume taken up by internal components. Marcusf's suggestion seems like a good option.
I'm waiting until they've broken in to post fully, but (drawing on some very kind assistance on this forum) I've just finished making little cabinets for some FE127Es, in essence very short and wide t-lines, for maybe $40 in materials if you include the value of stuff I had lying around, and with no more than a cheap handsaw and power drill. Of course they look a little funky. So I'm going to boldly come down on both sides of your question.
If you wany to limit total expenditure to $120 or so, and if you really have that DIY urge to make it (or screw it up, as I sometimes do) with your own hands, then you can make the ported box Fostex gives you plans for, or an appropriate t-line. Another option, if you can devise a stand and baffle, might be these excellent cheap unglazed ceramic pots that Home Depot sells in the garden section.
OTOH if you have $300 to blow and don't love the smell of sawdust, I'd just get something nice on Audiogon.
I don't think the Parts Express box you describe is a good compromise. You'd still have to cut the baffle, figure out port dimensions and get and install the right port tube, solder wire, do something about binding posts, maybe line and stuff it, etc. So you'd still have a fair bit of work to do, and after all that have no assurance that the result would sound better than, say, those nice ELS-3s that are going for $265 on Audiogon. Plus resale value would be nil.
If you do want to split the difference, the Madisound "sledgling" kit, for $208, looks like an excellent value.
If you wany to limit total expenditure to $120 or so, and if you really have that DIY urge to make it (or screw it up, as I sometimes do) with your own hands, then you can make the ported box Fostex gives you plans for, or an appropriate t-line. Another option, if you can devise a stand and baffle, might be these excellent cheap unglazed ceramic pots that Home Depot sells in the garden section.
OTOH if you have $300 to blow and don't love the smell of sawdust, I'd just get something nice on Audiogon.
I don't think the Parts Express box you describe is a good compromise. You'd still have to cut the baffle, figure out port dimensions and get and install the right port tube, solder wire, do something about binding posts, maybe line and stuff it, etc. So you'd still have a fair bit of work to do, and after all that have no assurance that the result would sound better than, say, those nice ELS-3s that are going for $265 on Audiogon. Plus resale value would be nil.
If you do want to split the difference, the Madisound "sledgling" kit, for $208, looks like an excellent value.
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