hello
long time listener first time caller
thanks for all the experience knowledge and willingness to help here
i have been putting together a mobile mini sound system, the goal of which is mobility and good sound on a budget. i strap the speakers on one hand truck and all the other equipment goes on the other. it plays reggae so i had to get an 18“ sub and a horn. it sounds great right now for dub. i am running a crown amp bridged into the sub and an old nothing amp for the highs through a 3 way mono crossover. vocals are lacking which brings me to…
i am trying to fill in the mids.
i am thinking about 2 x 8” speakers in sealed boxes, individual boxes so i can turn them outwards to spread the sound out. the smaller the better, they have to fit on the sub footprint (see pic) would like to put 100w into each. i can build boxes but would would need plans or a recommendation for a prefab. Need to buy a seperate amp for these, maybe run them bridged parallell into the speakers? total budget 3-400$
i feel like this is the meat of the system as the bass already slaps and the treble is nice and crisp from the horn. Looking for some midbass to support the 18" sub but really emphasizing warmth in the vocals.
Open to suggestions thanks in advance!
long time listener first time caller
thanks for all the experience knowledge and willingness to help here
i have been putting together a mobile mini sound system, the goal of which is mobility and good sound on a budget. i strap the speakers on one hand truck and all the other equipment goes on the other. it plays reggae so i had to get an 18“ sub and a horn. it sounds great right now for dub. i am running a crown amp bridged into the sub and an old nothing amp for the highs through a 3 way mono crossover. vocals are lacking which brings me to…
i am trying to fill in the mids.
i am thinking about 2 x 8” speakers in sealed boxes, individual boxes so i can turn them outwards to spread the sound out. the smaller the better, they have to fit on the sub footprint (see pic) would like to put 100w into each. i can build boxes but would would need plans or a recommendation for a prefab. Need to buy a seperate amp for these, maybe run them bridged parallell into the speakers? total budget 3-400$
i feel like this is the meat of the system as the bass already slaps and the treble is nice and crisp from the horn. Looking for some midbass to support the 18" sub but really emphasizing warmth in the vocals.
Open to suggestions thanks in advance!
Attachments
Lol no this is a picture of it in storage
I am not sure what you mean by system response
The sub is
https://cerwinvega.com/int-118sv2.html
The horn is vintage compression driver
I was thinking maybe just one fe300 In a sealed box (.3l is a 12x12x14 box) might be enough since it can take 250w
And can cover mids from 200-1000 no problem to fill in where the sub falls off and the horn picks up
I am not sure what you mean by system response
The sub is
https://cerwinvega.com/int-118sv2.html
The horn is vintage compression driver
I was thinking maybe just one fe300 In a sealed box (.3l is a 12x12x14 box) might be enough since it can take 250w
And can cover mids from 200-1000 no problem to fill in where the sub falls off and the horn picks up
System response means the range of frequency your existing system can reproduce.
The way to know that is using any sort of measurement mic and freq analysis software.
That way we can get a graph of your system.
Our hearing is very subjective, and although you said vocals are lacking, we need to know exactly how your system looks with a scientific approach.
Your high frequency horn has ~90 degree horizontal dispersion, that means it's response is -6dB at 45 degrees off-axis "outwards".
The Faitalpro 08fe300 is around -6dB at ~ 2500Hz, it will cover as wide as the horn up to 2500Hz, and wider below. Anything between 1200-2500Hz would probably work OK for a mid high crossover, higher will clean up the HF sound and the 8" will cover the fundamental vocal range.
The pair of drivers will have much more even horizontal dispersion placed one above the other vertically, placing them side by side will cause peaks and dips in the response, known as "comb filtering".
The sealed cabinet should have around 8-10 liters per driver, it could be crossed as low as 100 Hz and still "keep up" with the 18".
One mid driver may be enough for the usual "scooped mid" sound popular for reggae and dub systems.
You could put steel "top hats" in the sub and mid cabinet and use a pole to elevate the mid/high cabinet(s) above head level.
You could save weight building the HF horn into the mid cabinet.
Art
Weltersys:
Thank you for your thoughtful and constructive reply.
Is there a benefit to using a single driver (rated at 250w) over a pair (130w each = 260w? I am looking at faitalpro 4fe200 vs 8fe300.
https://usspeaker.com/faital pro 8fe200-1.htm
https://usspeaker.com/faital pro 8fe300-1.htm
There is also a recently released 8fe400:
https://loudspeakerdatabase.com/Faital/8FE400_8Ω
"One mid driver may be enough for the usual "scooped mid" sound popular for reggae and dub systems."
If one speaker is enough for the system do you recommend a size? The 8" I had selected because of box size and weight.
Would it make a difference to add a smaller woofer like a 6 or 4? Or a pair?
"You could save weight building the HF horn into the mid cabinet."
That is a great idea to build the horn into the mid cabinet. Will I have to consider the box volume for a compression horn in the same way as a woofer?
I also think it is a wonderful recommendation to put the elevating rod into the bottom of the mid cabinet, especially since the sub has a place for it already.
Thank you for your thoughtful and constructive reply.
Is there a benefit to using a single driver (rated at 250w) over a pair (130w each = 260w? I am looking at faitalpro 4fe200 vs 8fe300.
https://usspeaker.com/faital pro 8fe200-1.htm
https://usspeaker.com/faital pro 8fe300-1.htm
There is also a recently released 8fe400:
https://loudspeakerdatabase.com/Faital/8FE400_8Ω
"One mid driver may be enough for the usual "scooped mid" sound popular for reggae and dub systems."
If one speaker is enough for the system do you recommend a size? The 8" I had selected because of box size and weight.
Would it make a difference to add a smaller woofer like a 6 or 4? Or a pair?
"You could save weight building the HF horn into the mid cabinet."
That is a great idea to build the horn into the mid cabinet. Will I have to consider the box volume for a compression horn in the same way as a woofer?
I also think it is a wonderful recommendation to put the elevating rod into the bottom of the mid cabinet, especially since the sub has a place for it already.
This is free
https://www.roomeqwizard.com/
You only need to invest in this
79 bux
https://www.minidsp.com/products/acoustic-measurement/umik-1?
There are mics that cost 2000 or 4000. But that one is very good.
We are DIY so we try to find ways to save money and to acquire stuff that otherwise are impossible for us the DIY community.
People with the big check accounts buy brand name speaker cabinets. They don't bother to build.
People that can't buy brand name cabinets ...build ...get second hand or just plain keep dreaming as even building your own cabinets , the drivers have doubled the price after pandemic.
I wish to had get in to this hobby 20 years before
