Hi, I recently built a portable bluetooth 2 way mono speaker which runs off a Makita 18v battery. Had a lot of fun doing it so now looking to build another one, but a different style and bigger and bassier.
I am looking to use 2x full range speakers, stereo left/right. I am thinking of using:
Faital Pro 4FE32 Neo - 4" 30W 8 Ohm 91dB
And for the bass either:
1x Beyma 10BR60V2 - 10" 100W 8 Ohm 92dB
or
1x Beyma 12BR70 - 12" 125W 8 Ohm 93dB
My questions:
1. Would the 2x 4" be able to keep up with the 10" or 12" sub?
2. If yes, where would you reccomend crossing them over at?
3. Is there a formula to work out what size, mid/top to bass ratio at all?
I understand to look at the driver sensitivity dB itself. But the physical size of the driver has an impact too on sheer volume, which is where im unsure how to match it. As its going to be portable, i dont want to overkill the bass and have to turn the gain down loads when i could of just used a smaller driver. Whereas on the flip side i dont want to under do it as it will be used for bassy music.
My previous portable speaker was just a mono 2way so i knew what i was using would cope fine together and the crossover points were roughly dictacted by the tweeter anyway. But struggling a bit to find the answers and dont want to waste money on them to find out they arent suitable.
Amplifier ill be using is a Sure Wondom 4x100w Jab5 DSP amplifier. 1 channel for left, 1 channel for right. Then the remaining 2 channels bridged for the Bass.
Cheers 👍🏼
I am looking to use 2x full range speakers, stereo left/right. I am thinking of using:
Faital Pro 4FE32 Neo - 4" 30W 8 Ohm 91dB
And for the bass either:
1x Beyma 10BR60V2 - 10" 100W 8 Ohm 92dB
or
1x Beyma 12BR70 - 12" 125W 8 Ohm 93dB
My questions:
1. Would the 2x 4" be able to keep up with the 10" or 12" sub?
2. If yes, where would you reccomend crossing them over at?
3. Is there a formula to work out what size, mid/top to bass ratio at all?
I understand to look at the driver sensitivity dB itself. But the physical size of the driver has an impact too on sheer volume, which is where im unsure how to match it. As its going to be portable, i dont want to overkill the bass and have to turn the gain down loads when i could of just used a smaller driver. Whereas on the flip side i dont want to under do it as it will be used for bassy music.
My previous portable speaker was just a mono 2way so i knew what i was using would cope fine together and the crossover points were roughly dictacted by the tweeter anyway. But struggling a bit to find the answers and dont want to waste money on them to find out they arent suitable.
Amplifier ill be using is a Sure Wondom 4x100w Jab5 DSP amplifier. 1 channel for left, 1 channel for right. Then the remaining 2 channels bridged for the Bass.
Cheers 👍🏼
1. Generally yes (although it can depend on many things)
2. 80 - 150 Hz (again depending on many things)
3. Not really, either it would simplistic in nature and easily proven wrong, or very complicated (because the depending on many things part)
I'm using 2 x 4" with 15 W each (in closed cabinets), with a 12" getting ~150 W (in a reflex-ish cabinet). Generally a smaller driver (like a 10") will need more power to keep up with the 12" but sensitivity can be calculated using Fs, Qts and Vas and these parameters are not strictly correlated to driver size.
2. 80 - 150 Hz (again depending on many things)
3. Not really, either it would simplistic in nature and easily proven wrong, or very complicated (because the depending on many things part)
I'm using 2 x 4" with 15 W each (in closed cabinets), with a 12" getting ~150 W (in a reflex-ish cabinet). Generally a smaller driver (like a 10") will need more power to keep up with the 12" but sensitivity can be calculated using Fs, Qts and Vas and these parameters are not strictly correlated to driver size.
Thanks for the reply.
I wasnt sure if to cross them over at a "normal" subwoofer frequency or whether because its just little 4" speakers doing the mid/tops whether that would require me to cross them higher than normal.
Also regarding question 1, I have just been told elsewhere that winisd actually takes into consideration physical driver size. One of the ts parameters is Sd and thats the surface area of the driver. I didnt give that a thought, rookie mistake. That makes it alot easier for me now to decide as i can sim both drivers in winisd and see the spl at different wattages.
Thats good to know you are using a similar setup with similar power too. I think the 12" is more what i am leaning too. It looks alot better too.
I wasnt sure if to cross them over at a "normal" subwoofer frequency or whether because its just little 4" speakers doing the mid/tops whether that would require me to cross them higher than normal.
Also regarding question 1, I have just been told elsewhere that winisd actually takes into consideration physical driver size. One of the ts parameters is Sd and thats the surface area of the driver. I didnt give that a thought, rookie mistake. That makes it alot easier for me now to decide as i can sim both drivers in winisd and see the spl at different wattages.
Thats good to know you are using a similar setup with similar power too. I think the 12" is more what i am leaning too. It looks alot better too.
I got round to building the box this last week or so, pleased with how its looking. Heres a few progress pics of it so far. I went with the 12" Beyma in the end aswell.
Next up is to plan where ill be fitting all the internal parts amplifier, dc step up, battery box, on/off switch, voltmeter, aux input. Will be running it off 18v Li-ion Makita batterys so the voltmeter is basically a battery level as can only run them down safely to 15v. After the internals fitted, ill remove it all and oil it all up. Will update once ive done a bit more.
Next up is to plan where ill be fitting all the internal parts amplifier, dc step up, battery box, on/off switch, voltmeter, aux input. Will be running it off 18v Li-ion Makita batterys so the voltmeter is basically a battery level as can only run them down safely to 15v. After the internals fitted, ill remove it all and oil it all up. Will update once ive done a bit more.
That looks great and should do qujite well. I have my "Kube12" Karlsonish speaker with Eminence Kappa12A, two "K3.5" with 3FE25 and a $40 Kinter 2.1 amp which claims 180Hz lowpass for the woofer
Cheers freddi, looks alrite on winisd, i think anyway for the size of it. Looking forward to hearing how it sounds.
Its now oiled, sealed inside and cables & electrics all fitted.
Going to leave it another couple of days to fully cure before fitting the speaker drivers and then testing it out. In the meantime im going to set up the dsp to this new setup.
Going to leave it another couple of days to fully cure before fitting the speaker drivers and then testing it out. In the meantime im going to set up the dsp to this new setup.
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Fnished making it now, real happy with how its turnt out. Here is some finished photos.
The back looks like a Canadian off South Park
With the build side of it finished I started taking measurments using a umik1 and rew, outside, on concrete floor, taken within roughly 1m, mic tip on the ground, then aimed the box so the centre of the drivers are aimed directly at the mic. Im still learning with this side of things but this is what i done and the outcome. Id be very interested in your opinions and if i done it correctly.
- first i took a measurement of the 2x 4"midtops, smoothed the curve. then measured again after e.q. Repositioned the box to suit the sub driver, then took measurment, smoothed the response with e.q then measured again.
- next i looked at the responses and set the crossover.
- with all drivers response smoothed and xover set, i repositioned the whole box so the centre point of all the drivers together aimed at the mic, and took a measurment of it altogether.
- e.qd that to what i have read or been told is a good nice sound. Which did sound loads better after.
Here is the rew response curve as it stands now, after all the e.qing etc.
I havent had a chance to take it to the field just yet, to play it full volume and to make some more adjustments. It will only ever be used with a mobile phone bluetooth on spotify to play music i expect. So want to see if it distorts at full volume and to make some adjustments if so.
Hopefully it sounds bassy enough too, sounds good in the garden or home but cant blast it loud obviously here. Also I have always been led to believe its best to only ever 'take away' when e.qing and not to boost, (not boost more than the original response anyway). But anyway if anyone has any advice to get the most out of it, or things to change let me know.
Cheers 👍🏼
The back looks like a Canadian off South Park
With the build side of it finished I started taking measurments using a umik1 and rew, outside, on concrete floor, taken within roughly 1m, mic tip on the ground, then aimed the box so the centre of the drivers are aimed directly at the mic. Im still learning with this side of things but this is what i done and the outcome. Id be very interested in your opinions and if i done it correctly.
- first i took a measurement of the 2x 4"midtops, smoothed the curve. then measured again after e.q. Repositioned the box to suit the sub driver, then took measurment, smoothed the response with e.q then measured again.
- next i looked at the responses and set the crossover.
- with all drivers response smoothed and xover set, i repositioned the whole box so the centre point of all the drivers together aimed at the mic, and took a measurment of it altogether.
- e.qd that to what i have read or been told is a good nice sound. Which did sound loads better after.
Here is the rew response curve as it stands now, after all the e.qing etc.
I havent had a chance to take it to the field just yet, to play it full volume and to make some more adjustments. It will only ever be used with a mobile phone bluetooth on spotify to play music i expect. So want to see if it distorts at full volume and to make some adjustments if so.
Hopefully it sounds bassy enough too, sounds good in the garden or home but cant blast it loud obviously here. Also I have always been led to believe its best to only ever 'take away' when e.qing and not to boost, (not boost more than the original response anyway). But anyway if anyone has any advice to get the most out of it, or things to change let me know.
Cheers 👍🏼