My new 5.1 speakers

[tim_rule]

Hi,

I finished my new speakers. Its is a simple design I think...but then the simple things in life are often the best 😎

They use Vifa drivers D27TG45, PL11WG09 & PL22WR09 (sub's). The crossover point is at 3KHz, 3rd order on the high pass and 2nd order on the low pass.

The sub's will be driven by a separate amp (not yet purchased) with the input signal comming from a XM9 XO and a WM8 Basis equaliser (Marchand). The sub enclosure is thus not vented and the WM8 will ensure a smooth response curve to 20Hz if I so desire. I think this will be a much better solution to a ported box design.

External dimensions are (H/W/D) 900*150*260mm and 390*150*260, the wood is 15mm ply, all joints are glued.

All up the cost is 4000EUR which includes 1500EUR for the amps (NAT T752 & NAD C270) and XO/EQ components.

Attached is a photo.

Cheers, Tim.

 

[Audiofanatic]

Tim,

They shure looks cute.
I hope you'll enjoy every note they produce.
Congrats,

Audiofanatic 😉

 

[7V]

I finished my new speakers. Its is a simple design I think...but then the simple things in life are often the best 😎

The sub enclosure is thus not vented and the WM8 will ensure a smooth response curve to 20Hz if I so desire. I think this will be a much better solution to a ported box design.

Congratulations on the speakers, Tim. You've been very busy.

It may be a simple design to you but you've only got to go back a little while and this would be leading edge technology.

I'm all for sealed box for bass - tuneful, tight, and fast. Incidentally, I'm currently using a 1970s Cambridge A70 solid state power amplifier for my subs. I got it used from eBay and it's fantastic for the job. You don't have to spend big money for a sub amp.

Enjoy your creations.

 

[Guss]

I plan to buy some D27TG45 too. Could you describe how they sound ? was 3rd order apropriate ? tell us more about the crossover !

Nice speakers, I built side woofer floorstander too and had pretty good results. Id go for sealed enclosure as 7v. good job

 

[phreeky82]

i recently built some similar floor standers - mtm+w, using a 1" dome tweeter, 2 5"s and an 8" on the side.

what crossover did u use on the subs?

i have no digicam, so no pics of mine

 

[jleaman]

Perfect example of my favorite speakers. ( STYLE ) towers they look awesome. I have always been a fan of towers with the subwoofer inside them. Congrats man they look awesome

 

[tim_rule]

i recently built some similar floor standers - mtm+w, using a 1" dome tweeter, 2 5"s and an 8" on the side.

what crossover did u use on the subs?

i have no digicam, so no pics of mine

Hi,

I used an active crossover and equaliser (XM9 & WM8 from http://www.marchandelec.com/).

Basically I take the preout from my amp and feed it into the XM9, the high pass goes back into the amp and the low pass goes into the WM8, from there the low signal is equalised and then it goes into a sub amp and then the sub's.

Here is a picture...

 

[tim_rule]

I plan to buy some D27TG45 too. Could you describe how they sound ? was 3rd order apropriate ? tell us more about the crossover !

Nice speakers, I built side woofer floorstander too and had pretty good results. Id go for sealed enclosure as 7v. good job

Hi,

The D27TG45 is nice when paired with the two PL11's. The biggest thing I have noticed is the clarity and depth in drums and cymbols. Previously I had DT19's but they seemed thin in comparison and there was no depth to the sound.

OK, initally in design process I considered 1st or 2nd order and a notch filter to protect the tweeter at its resonant freq...but then I did a component count and it was the same as 3rd order...so I figured that was the better option - you know KISS.

But also with a MTM config comes the chance to make a D'Appolito configuration which relies on 2nd or 3rd order crossovers.

After plugging values into various formulas I decided that it would be quicker just to get madisound to do a LEAP design for 30 dollars.

I really wanted someting that would work first go without tweaking and the like so I took a conservative approach, selecting drivers with good response, computer designed XO, sealed boxes...taking this system approach worked well.

I have attached a picture of the XO's, notice they are on a PCB, this is to keep things compact as there is not much room in those boxes. Perhaps a different approach is better if you have the room (more active XO's could be an option).

 

[tim_rule]

And here is a picture showing the glueing process. Notice the crossover is in place, no room for a screwdrive once its put together!

Also look at the joints, its a good way to hide the ply's.

 

[wintermute]

Hey Tim,

quick question on your sub amp. Is it single channel, or dual channel. (just realised that's probably a dumb question as its a 5.1 system, derrr). I've done a complete flip on what I was thinking after a helpfull suggestion involving using a separate (single channel) amp for my woofers I'm not sure if he was suggesting to have a totally separate sub enclosure or keep the woofers in the same cabinets), and I was thinking very similarly to what you have done.

I did a search on mtmw and your speakers came up, makes me feel a lot more confident already.

I haven't considered side firing woofers was thinking of maybe having a stepped style, ie the mtm enclosure being narrower than the woofer enclosure with the woofers front firing, but will start up a thread about that one, no idea what nasties that may entail.

Wintermute.

 

[tim_rule]

Hey,

I'm using a normal stereo amp with two sub woofers, one channel for each driver. By taking the signal from the front left and right channels of the 5.1 preamp and feeding thru an active crossover I can get two sub signals, one for the left and one for the right.

The high frequency signals from the XO go back into the 5.1 amp section an onto the normal speakers.


I'm going to run the sub woofer upto about 250-300Hz so I think having a stereo setup will be essential though if it were a traditional sub (<100 Hz) I don't think it would be neccessary - but I would do it anyway 🙂


In my 5.1 pre-amp I turn off the .1 output and this makes it route all subwoofer signals to the front left and right speakers. So I guess in a way its a 5.2 system?


Rgds,
Tim.


PS. for anyone else interested, with the subwoofers not running I can enable the sub in the preamp and it removes the bass signal from the front left and right speakers - there is a noticable reduciton in bass which shows that you can get good bass from a small speaker (2 in this case) and a small sealed box.

 

[wintermute]

Thanks Tim,

I'm thinking I'll go with the standard 5.1 xover freq of 80Hz (although I may stretch it 100Hz), that way I should be able to get away with a single channel amp for the two subs.

I should be able to hack my existing amp without any problem to insert the active xover between the pre and power stages.

I think I can get away with having the xover that low, if not I can allways go 5.2 like you 🙂...... Note that at the moment though its gonna be plain old stereo. surround will be down the track a wee bit.

Regards,

Wintermute.