Tweeters are TYPICALLY more efficient than woofers.
So its normal to match a 100 watt woofer with a 20 watt tweeter, since it doesn't need much power to match level of the less efficient woofer.
Woofers dropping fast below 100 is something, that it could be wise to just live with. Just turn your eq all the way down at ~40-60hz so amp and woofer doesnt have to struggle with what they cant do anyways.
Raise bass a little above and you will subjectively hear/experience some bass.
Aim for 60-14.000 hz instead. -Its PLENTY good. Tape recorders typically only went roughly to 14 khz, and they sounded AWESOME.
Above that supertweeters were used for rich audiophiles until normal tweeters were developed, that could reach higher.
Cheers!
So its normal to match a 100 watt woofer with a 20 watt tweeter, since it doesn't need much power to match level of the less efficient woofer.
Woofers dropping fast below 100 is something, that it could be wise to just live with. Just turn your eq all the way down at ~40-60hz so amp and woofer doesnt have to struggle with what they cant do anyways.
Raise bass a little above and you will subjectively hear/experience some bass.
Aim for 60-14.000 hz instead. -Its PLENTY good. Tape recorders typically only went roughly to 14 khz, and they sounded AWESOME.
Above that supertweeters were used for rich audiophiles until normal tweeters were developed, that could reach higher.
Cheers!
As Guerilla said: Don't get too hung up on wattage be it amp or driver.
I first used the 5Fe120 to build a stereo for my daughter to use while at university with a 45W/ch amp. After 4 years of abuse by partying students it still goes strong!
I first used the 5Fe120 to build a stereo for my daughter to use while at university with a 45W/ch amp. After 4 years of abuse by partying students it still goes strong!
Cheers to you! Thanks!Cheers!
And thanks to you as well. That really broadens my options.As Guerilla said: Don't get too hung up on wattage be it amp or driver.
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Alright, thanks for confirming that! I surmised as much, but I wanted to make sure.So its normal to match a 100 watt woofer with a 20 watt tweeter, since it doesn't need much power to match level of the less efficient woofer.
Two schools of thought.
A 50 watt amplifier is fine with a 100 watt speaker, as long as you don’t push it.
The reason I like a 500 watt amp with a 100 watt speaker is because I’d rather hear the woofer coil slap the back plate than hearing the tweeter fail. A few woofer ‘clacks’ are easily dealt with by turning it down. A clipping amp, as Art says, is not easily heard. Before you know it, you’re replacing your tweeters.
My thoughts on this are from mistakes I made back when watts were expensive and I was wearing beermuffs on a Saturday night. These are also recommendations from some manufacturers. I am far from alone in these thoughts, as another member has alluded to.
A 50 watt amplifier is fine with a 100 watt speaker, as long as you don’t push it.
The reason I like a 500 watt amp with a 100 watt speaker is because I’d rather hear the woofer coil slap the back plate than hearing the tweeter fail. A few woofer ‘clacks’ are easily dealt with by turning it down. A clipping amp, as Art says, is not easily heard. Before you know it, you’re replacing your tweeters.
My thoughts on this are from mistakes I made back when watts were expensive and I was wearing beermuffs on a Saturday night. These are also recommendations from some manufacturers. I am far from alone in these thoughts, as another member has alluded to.
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I can easily reach 20k, it's getting below 100hz that is my problem atm. if I wanted to get a water-resistant cone, I chose the https://www.parts-express.com/Visat...ge-Waterproof-Driver-4-Ohm-292-782?quantity=2 It's super cheap if I wanted to keep cost down, and I can put my crossover darn near anywhere I want.Aim for 60-14.000 hz instead. -Its PLENTY good.
I understand... I think... but I won't be pushing these items. Currently, my idea is to run about 8 watts on each of the 16-watt amplifiers on this small project. When I go to do the bigger project later depending on how well this goes, then I will ensure I plan accordingly for that. Thank you for the advice! For now, this box will be two 4in(+/-1in) x 5in(+/-1in) boxes. depth is not known yet. I am not sure if that's fine, but that is what I've come up with, so far. I am still thinking of picking a 25/30w Amplifier which is higher than the two speakers, but I haven't found one I like yet, as I am currently planning to do a left and right independent speaker. Perhaps I shall ditch the idea.Two schools of thought.
A 50 watt amplifier is fine with a 100 watt speaker, as long as you don’t push it.
The reason I like a 500 watt amp with a 100 watt speaker is because I’d rather hear the woofer coil slap the back plate than hearing the tweeter fail. A few woofer ‘clacks’ are easily dealt with by turning it down. A clipping amp, as Art says, is not easily heard. Before you know it, you’re replacing your tweeters.
My thoughts on this are from mistakes I made back when watts were expensive and I was wearing beermuffs on a Saturday night. These are also recommendations from some manufacturers. I am far from alone in these thoughts, as another member has alluded to.
Most of us listen to between 0.1 and 10 watts. If you are in this group, you need not worry. When the big time warriors come out, you have to be careful. I am a large speaker person. I don’t wander too far from the volume control for fear of those who still wear the beermuffs on ’those’ nights.
The Visiton FR 10 HMP sensitivity is only 70dB at 60 Hz, with 10 watts it would hit around 80dB SPL.it's getting below 100hz that is my problem atm.
It has only 2mm Xlim, if power was doubled to 20watts, it still would not produce any more than 80dB SPL at 60Hz.
80 dB at 60Hz sounds about as loud (equal loudness) to your ears as 40dB at 1000Hz- roughly whisper level.
I understand... I think... but I won't be pushing these items.
Understand you won't won't be making any bass with speakers like you are thinking of buying driven with 20 watts compared to Cal's big speakers driven with one watt.
If you look at the response charts, you will notice that sensitivity always drops off below Fs (the free air resonant frequency, impedance peak)- if you want response down to 60Hz (an octave above the low B on a five string bass..) the speaker should have an Fs below 60Hz.
Ah, it seems I forgot to mention that in that post, my apologies. Yes, I am aware of that. I have several FR graphs for a few promising speakers saved in a folder. This speaker was chosen in case of a bump of my expectations from 60hz to 100hz. That's why I mentioned it being hard to get below 100hz. It's just a thought. In reality, I'm willing to compromise... but I also have several ideas and sets of items that I'm pairing with each other to figure out what I want to do. I even have an idea for making it one device and putting a small subwoofer in the back as this will be used indoors mostly, but I repeatedly scrap the idea for one reason or another. The main one being that I don't know how to hook up a single Subwoofer to a stereo channel device. The other being it's size and the fact it will be facing the other way.Understand you won't won't be making any bass with speakers like you are thinking of buying driven with 20 watts compared to Cal's big speakers driven with one watt.
https://www.parts-express.com/Dayto...-Cone-Midbass-Woofer-4-Ohm-295-415?quantity=2
This was the speaker I was originally looking at for the project. it is common in several other projects, including kits on Parts Express, that others have done similar to what I had in mind.
And it is the reason I figured I could get down to 60hz. But a few things hold me back from using it. One of those things was the 40-watt RMS. I didn't want to get an 80+ watt Amplifier if I were to follow Cal's advice. But now I am rethinking my approach and ballpark budget.
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The drivers you have found are very in efficient. I suggest you find the most efficient 5 inch driver you can within your budget. That will allow you to boost bass some where it drops of
There are databases with measurements of speaker drivers. I just dont remember the name. Cheers!
Could your speaker be tall? That would bring drivers to ear height and allow more volume for the woofer to work in.
Cheers!
Cheers!
For your use I would go for woofer with cheap stamped frame. That Equalizer of yours can work wonders btw. Therefore not SOOO critical with frequency response.Raw efficiency is what you want.
Cheers
Cheers
One last post out of curiosity if you or anyone would be willing...For your use I would go for woofer with cheap stamped frame. That Equalizer of yours can work wonders btw. Therefore not SOOO critical with frequency response.Raw efficiency is what you want.
(how about these?
https://www.parts-express.com/Dayto...oft-Dome-Neodymium-Tweeter-275-035?quantity=2
https://www.parts-express.com/Dayto...ne-Full-Range-Driver-4-Ohm-295-586?quantity=2
I like the size, depth, and weight of these as well. The vented F3 isn't great though... and that's going to affect what bass I can get, yes?)
(https://www.parts-express.com/Dayto...m-Cone-Full-Range-Driver-4-290-208?quantity=2
This one seemed PERFECT!... until I noticed its SPL was 86db and my tweeter was 90. It's more than a 3db difference, which I suppose I could deal with in EQ? or do I need to add an LPad resistor setup to match them?...)
(https://www.parts-express.com/FaitalPRO-3FE25-3-Professional-Woofer-4-Ohm-294-1103?quantity=2This one is past what I was hoping to pay, but if it's THAT much better I'd consider it.)
I have a general list of possible parts including crossover parts... but I still need to learn the enclosure design aspect of it. I guess I've gotten all I can from here for now. Thanks, everyone!
One last post out of curiosity if you or anyone would be willing...
http://microlab.com/en/catalog/2.1-stereosystem/wired/fc-330/
I suggest buying this or something similar. You can't do better for the money. DIY only pays off for bigger and more expensive things. The speaker even has decent bass thanks to the active 5" subwoofer. Whatever you buy, make sure it has an active SUB, otherwise there is nothing from the bass.
There is a good tweak you can do yourself to improve them, adding damping and a super tweeter to the back of the box and better cables to get the most out of this. The crossover for the super tweeter is a single 0.47uF capacitor. The super tweeter can be connected in phase or out of phase with the FR driver, whichever sounds better. It is important to install it in the back and not in the front.
It is clear that after opening the speaker, the warranty is no longer valid. But who cares about this money.
Microlab uses fake tweeter and FR driver 3", you can see in the first picture. The text is Serbian, but you have google translate. 🤣
https://www.diyaudio.rs/topic/8911-microlab-fc330-sal-dt20/#comment-273980
I suggest buying this or something similar. You can't do better for the money. DIY only pays off for bigger and more expensive things. The speaker even has decent bass thanks to the active 5" subwoofer. Whatever you buy, make sure it has an active SUB, otherwise there is nothing from the bass.
There is a good tweak you can do yourself to improve them, adding damping and a super tweeter to the back of the box and better cables to get the most out of this. The crossover for the super tweeter is a single 0.47uF capacitor. The super tweeter can be connected in phase or out of phase with the FR driver, whichever sounds better. It is important to install it in the back and not in the front.
It is clear that after opening the speaker, the warranty is no longer valid. But who cares about this money.

Microlab uses fake tweeter and FR driver 3", you can see in the first picture. The text is Serbian, but you have google translate. 🤣
https://www.diyaudio.rs/topic/8911-microlab-fc330-sal-dt20/#comment-273980
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