Hello,
Please help me design 3 way speaker.
I will use 10" woofers.
Can you recommend which and what brand for midrangers + Tweeters to use ?
Should i use 4" midranges ?
Please recommend me for not too pricey online speaker vendors, under USD 50 woofers per pair ?
How do you calculate the crossover ?
Is this link legit ?
3-Way Crossover Designer / Calculator
Sorry if i can't post other forum link here, just delete it, Mr. Admin.
Alright, here's my design. Please criticize for better solution :
Thank you in advance
Please help me design 3 way speaker.
I will use 10" woofers.
Can you recommend which and what brand for midrangers + Tweeters to use ?
Should i use 4" midranges ?
Please recommend me for not too pricey online speaker vendors, under USD 50 woofers per pair ?
How do you calculate the crossover ?
Is this link legit ?
3-Way Crossover Designer / Calculator
Sorry if i can't post other forum link here, just delete it, Mr. Admin.
Alright, here's my design. Please criticize for better solution :
Thank you in advance
Last edited:
3 ways are pretty complicated for a beginner to execute properly. please see my blog posting for a list of sites with pre designed kits.
A Speaker Maker's Journey: Custom Speaker Making
A Speaker Maker's Journey: Custom Speaker Making
Hi,
Stay away from utterly hideous x/o calculators.
If you want to save yourself loads of time and grief
and want a high quality three way this 3.5 way is
as good as it gets : Zaph|Audio - ZDT3.5
The twin bass drivers are equivalent to a 10". I'm not
going to waste my time trying to explain why it is such
a good idea to someone who looks at online calculators.
There are other good ideas like :
https://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/tarkus
which uses a 10" and :
https://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/diy-sunflowers
Trust me, any of the above three will be far better
than any attempt of yours to build a 3 way speaker.
rgds, sreten.
Stay away from utterly hideous x/o calculators.
If you want to save yourself loads of time and grief
and want a high quality three way this 3.5 way is
as good as it gets : Zaph|Audio - ZDT3.5
The twin bass drivers are equivalent to a 10". I'm not
going to waste my time trying to explain why it is such
a good idea to someone who looks at online calculators.
There are other good ideas like :
https://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/tarkus
which uses a 10" and :
https://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/diy-sunflowers
Trust me, any of the above three will be far better
than any attempt of yours to build a 3 way speaker.
rgds, sreten.
The above responses are spot on. It's extremely difficult to build a good 3-way from scratch as a beginner (I should know as it took me 5 years to get it right in the end) and as already pointed out, those online calculators are utterly useless. Pick a DIY kit as above and make sure you stick to the exact designs, even minor changes can greatly impact the characteristics.
Cheers
Andy.
Cheers
Andy.
As usual....I feel clueless
What country do you live in?
What speaker brands are easy to purchase at a fair price?
Will you build the cabinet with hand tools, or in a basic wood shop?
What cabinet shape do you favor? What production speakers do you favor?
What is your total budget?
--If you are planning on $25/woofer, a TM 2-way now + adding a woofer box later is a good strategy.
One recent 3-way trend is to use a modern 6" midrange in a sealed box crossed ~1700Hz to a modern dome tweeter, combined with a ported 10" woofer. Have you studied Jeff Bagby Kairos 3-way?
A 4" sealed box midrange is often used with an 8" ported box woofer.
What country do you live in?
What speaker brands are easy to purchase at a fair price?
Will you build the cabinet with hand tools, or in a basic wood shop?
What cabinet shape do you favor? What production speakers do you favor?
What is your total budget?
--If you are planning on $25/woofer, a TM 2-way now + adding a woofer box later is a good strategy.
One recent 3-way trend is to use a modern 6" midrange in a sealed box crossed ~1700Hz to a modern dome tweeter, combined with a ported 10" woofer. Have you studied Jeff Bagby Kairos 3-way?
A 4" sealed box midrange is often used with an 8" ported box woofer.
Attachments
No, unless you want a lot of later regret.
Although this will be howled down, going the active route gives you more and better options.
One, you won't need a single amplifier which you want to look good, rather you can use multiple amps and house them out of sight. Chip or class D amps can be reasonably inexpensive and offer good performance.
Two, active crossover can be a reasonable cost solution compared to inductors (admittedly less expensive since commodity prices fell), plus they give more control and options than a passive one.
Third, they sound better. Again, there will be the bla bla about well-executed this against poorly executed that, but, from where you are, one option is a road to a lot of pain while the other option can be more forgiving IF (and it is a big if) you can be thorough and have attention to detail.
Is your budget of $50 only for a pair of mids? I am listening to Holy Holy (an Australian band and highly recommended) at the moment (as in now) and there is a lot of largely unbacked male vocals. Mids make a speaker and when you listen to female vocals on good mids, you appreciate their value.
You need to work out what you can spend and over what period. Once you have that, the rest will, almost, fall into place.
I think three ways are a better long term option but I would not not consider them as passives. That said, I love my three way actives with SB Acoustics 10", SB 5" mids and VIFA 1" tweeters. I am looking longingly at the Sartori 5" mids. Sigh.
Yes you can. And I would recommend this route.
Start your diy jorney by using cheap broadband speaker drivers.
Learn how to measure them.
Build various enclosures made of cheap material (cardboard, foam sheets).
Using the same drivers, notice how the enclosure affects the sound at low and mid frequencies.
Read about the effect of enclosure types and how to calculate them. Measure the driver when installed on the various enclosures.
Little by little you’ll grow your understanding and you will make a more informed decision as to buy another driver ( a non expensive woofer) to make a two way system.
You’ll start studying the cross-overs (big issue) and so forth.
Meanwhile, you will have the pleasure to listen to the music through your ever changing loudspeakers.
As you say,
And that’s the beauty of this hobby.
George
And don’t be afraid making mistakes. No mistakes in this hobby, no learning, no fun.
Welcome to diyaudio.com
I'm seeing the projects at the PartsExpress site.
Many new designs ! I like the little ones, 3 way.
Latus 1
The Summits
The Zirconiums
All the three designs have some similarities:
-Ribbon tweeter/pleated diaphgram/AMT tweeters ( I use the same cheap Dayton mini-8 )
-Woofer being 4 Ω
Uh ! there's another one; the Hafnium...same 4 Ω woofer but a dome tw is used. Simpler crossover design
Many new designs ! I like the little ones, 3 way.
Latus 1
The Summits
The Zirconiums
All the three designs have some similarities:
-Ribbon tweeter/pleated diaphgram/AMT tweeters ( I use the same cheap Dayton mini-8 )
-Woofer being 4 Ω
Uh ! there's another one; the Hafnium...same 4 Ω woofer but a dome tw is used. Simpler crossover design
Yes you can. And I would recommend this route.
Start your diy jorney by using cheap broadband speaker drivers.
Learn how to measure them.
Build various enclosures made of cheap material (cardboard, foam sheets).
Using the same drivers, notice how the enclosure affects the sound at low and mid frequencies.
Read about the effect of enclosure types and how to calculate them. Measure the driver when installed on the various enclosures.
Little by little you’ll grow your understanding and you will make a more informed decision as to buy another driver ( a non expensive woofer) to make a two way system.
You’ll start studying the cross-overs (big issue) and so forth.
Meanwhile, you will have the pleasure to listen to the music through your ever changing loudspeakers.
As you say,
And that’s the beauty of this hobby.
George
And don’t be afraid making mistakes. No mistakes in this hobby, no learning, no fun.
Welcome to diyaudio.com
+1 George is right. Follow my similar journey of one low cost driver and a dozen alignments made in quick succession with foam core. Then FAST 2 ways and now I am finally working on 3 way passive XO speakers. That journey took me about 3 years and 3 dozen speakers.
Not saying you have to make as many or follow this route - it's just what I had to do to develop all the skills to get to where I can feel comfortable with looking at a passive XO.
Welcome to DIY.
My projects (most of them) in chronological order in post No. 1.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/223313-foam-core-board-speaker-enclosures.html
There is a presupposition that FFS is looking for a new hobby. Perhaps they are busy enough and are just looking for the most economical and satisfying way of achieving quality sound.
Not everyone is a future addict. My recommendation is to build a kit and see how satisfying that is. If after that, you lie in bed thinking of the next set you're going to build then you have two choices:
1. Run as fast as you can and do not look back.
2. Succumb to the temptation and admit your addiction.
My name is Cal and I'm a Speakerholic.
Not everyone is a future addict. My recommendation is to build a kit and see how satisfying that is. If after that, you lie in bed thinking of the next set you're going to build then you have two choices:
1. Run as fast as you can and do not look back.
2. Succumb to the temptation and admit your addiction.
My name is Cal and I'm a Speakerholic.
Check that your mid and tweeter are not too quiet (sensitivity) compared to the woofer.
The reason an online crossover calculator is not the best is that the drivers do not have a flat response to begin with. The cabinets also change the sound, and the drivers have different sensitivities plus a few other things..
If you want to take this journey, you can start with an online calculator then adjust the levels of each driver with resistors and continue to adjust until you can enjoy the sound. Maybe start with second order filters as this will be easier.
The reason an online crossover calculator is not the best is that the drivers do not have a flat response to begin with. The cabinets also change the sound, and the drivers have different sensitivities plus a few other things..
If you want to take this journey, you can start with an online calculator then adjust the levels of each driver with resistors and continue to adjust until you can enjoy the sound. Maybe start with second order filters as this will be easier.
Well, designing speakers is not a hobby.
I need a pair, just a decent and satisfying ear pleasing ones.
I looked around like those Peerless that mr.Sreten gave me links above.
But since mid 80's i always wondered how to design a kickcass pair.
That's a mystery to me.
Here in Indonesia, there's a principle agent that sells Focal kit.
But the price is a hindrance lol... nah for such flimsy pair lol
I need a big 3 way speakers pair for my turntable as 6" midwoofers unsatisfying with sansui amp.
I was just baffled by the facts that those online calculators are just a joke.
Totally bewildered that it's not an easy job to execute.
I only have hand saw.
Mmm yeah i should start with a pair of kit first.
Or maybe later experimenting with changing parameter on crossover.
What do you recommend for speaker size when using 3 way speakers?
10" woofer + 4" midwoofer + 3" tweeter is a good proportion ?
Thank you for your responses above, guys.
I need a pair, just a decent and satisfying ear pleasing ones.
I looked around like those Peerless that mr.Sreten gave me links above.
But since mid 80's i always wondered how to design a kickcass pair.
That's a mystery to me.
Here in Indonesia, there's a principle agent that sells Focal kit.
But the price is a hindrance lol... nah for such flimsy pair lol
I need a big 3 way speakers pair for my turntable as 6" midwoofers unsatisfying with sansui amp.
I was just baffled by the facts that those online calculators are just a joke.
Totally bewildered that it's not an easy job to execute.
I only have hand saw.
Mmm yeah i should start with a pair of kit first.
Or maybe later experimenting with changing parameter on crossover.
What do you recommend for speaker size when using 3 way speakers?
10" woofer + 4" midwoofer + 3" tweeter is a good proportion ?
Thank you for your responses above, guys.
Hi Flimsy,
What I suggest is you try comparing the results of XSim to an online calculator. Go to Parts Express: the #1 source for audio, video & speaker building components and find some drivers from Dayton you would like to use. Those come with FRD and ZMA files.
Go to your online calculator, and get some values for parts.
Put your schematic together with XSim. Add about 1" to the mid and 2" to the woofer's acoustic distance. Then look at the frequency response you get. Mind you, as bad as that will be, you still haven't taken account the effects of the box and baffle. This should help you understand the difficult problem before you.
Best,
Erik
What I suggest is you try comparing the results of XSim to an online calculator. Go to Parts Express: the #1 source for audio, video & speaker building components and find some drivers from Dayton you would like to use. Those come with FRD and ZMA files.
Go to your online calculator, and get some values for parts.
Put your schematic together with XSim. Add about 1" to the mid and 2" to the woofer's acoustic distance. Then look at the frequency response you get. Mind you, as bad as that will be, you still haven't taken account the effects of the box and baffle.
This should help you understand the difficult problem before you.Best,
Erik
Hi Eriksquires, thankyou for the good tips.
I am all ears for all those angelic whispers.
I did dig down into Parts Express.
I will compare to XSim calculation too.
I am all ears for all those angelic whispers.
I did dig down into Parts Express.
I will compare to XSim calculation too.
Hi Flimsy,
What I suggest is you try comparing the results of XSim to an online calculator. Go to Parts Express: the #1 source for audio, video & speaker building components and find some drivers from Dayton you would like to use. Those come with FRD and ZMA files.
Go to your online calculator, and get some values for parts.
Put your schematic together with XSim. Add about 1" to the mid and 2" to the woofer's acoustic distance. Then look at the frequency response you get. Mind you, as bad as that will be, you still haven't taken account the effects of the box and baffle.
Best,
Erik
I would choose items from SB acoustics
Distributors :: SB Acoustics
Member Linesource used to suggest SB acoustics designs, lately...
Distributors :: SB Acoustics
Member Linesource used to suggest SB acoustics designs, lately...
I only meant he try crossover design with drivers that have pre-existing FRD/ZMA files. I did not mean to guide him to purchase exclusively from Dayton.
Best,
Erik
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