I too have read Briggs book. A classic. Much to learn, Much realization of how far we have come.
dave
dave
I've also got a copy of Briggs' More About Loudspeakers (1965) - which charts the further developments in areas such as magnets and enclosure design.
To the OP...
I started with Dickason's book and a subscription to Speaker Builder, back in the days when the internet was either unborn or very young, and remember feeling overwhelmed by all the info. Really, it's a great book. Just keep reading, re-reading, digesting, and absorbing a little at a time, Little pieces will click, big pieces will make more sense. I haven't looked at my copy in years, and I'm sure it would take me more than a few reads to get back to the level of comprehension I had when immersed in it decades ago.
The worst thing about the book is the somewhat misleading title. "Cookbook" leads one to believe it'll tellnyou what specific ingredients to buy, how exactly to assemble them, and voila...delicious speakers. Instead, the book is written so you can learn enough to design your own speakers....or, create your own recipes. That takes a much more in depth knowledge of how all ingredients interact, and Vance does a great job making that about as simple as it can be (which really isn't simple, unfortunately, at least not to me).
I've built speakers from kits, from other people's plans, from tweaking other people's plans, and from scratch of my own design. The latter was the most interesting, fulfilling, and led to the most learning, but the best results were the ones built tinkering with already excellent proven designs. Vance's book really made any and all of that possible.
I started with Dickason's book and a subscription to Speaker Builder, back in the days when the internet was either unborn or very young, and remember feeling overwhelmed by all the info. Really, it's a great book. Just keep reading, re-reading, digesting, and absorbing a little at a time, Little pieces will click, big pieces will make more sense. I haven't looked at my copy in years, and I'm sure it would take me more than a few reads to get back to the level of comprehension I had when immersed in it decades ago.
The worst thing about the book is the somewhat misleading title. "Cookbook" leads one to believe it'll tellnyou what specific ingredients to buy, how exactly to assemble them, and voila...delicious speakers. Instead, the book is written so you can learn enough to design your own speakers....or, create your own recipes. That takes a much more in depth knowledge of how all ingredients interact, and Vance does a great job making that about as simple as it can be (which really isn't simple, unfortunately, at least not to me).
I've built speakers from kits, from other people's plans, from tweaking other people's plans, and from scratch of my own design. The latter was the most interesting, fulfilling, and led to the most learning, but the best results were the ones built tinkering with already excellent proven designs. Vance's book really made any and all of that possible.
Sorry, haven’t checked in here for a while. I did procure several books and will set time aside to read them and digest them.
Since my last logon, I’ve succumbed to severe buying impulse….
To be fair, I’ve plans to utilize this router for work needs. But making my first set of speakers give reduce my initial hesitance. Taking the general advice on this site, I just put together my first set (starting out easy, MarkAudio Alpair 10P full rangers in a pre-cut, assembly-required bookshelf MDF cabinets from Parts Express).
Kinda bungled the first one, but the second one came out reasonably ok. It’s a start…
Thanks again,
Z
Since my last logon, I’ve succumbed to severe buying impulse….
To be fair, I’ve plans to utilize this router for work needs. But making my first set of speakers give reduce my initial hesitance. Taking the general advice on this site, I just put together my first set (starting out easy, MarkAudio Alpair 10P full rangers in a pre-cut, assembly-required bookshelf MDF cabinets from Parts Express).
Kinda bungled the first one, but the second one came out reasonably ok. It’s a start…
Thanks again,
Z
Just started, so less than an hour. I began with Philip Glass - Akhnaten for a spell. Now some Charlie Parker. I work from home quite a bit and have the music going most of the time so it’ll take some time yet.
But I’ve been using the ProMedia 2.1 setup for a while now (in a system dry spell of sorts) and the speakers are less than a meter apart. Currently, the A10P’s are just under 2 meters apart and a little below ear line.
I’m lacking on glamorous amps but currently giving the Yamaha RX-V795a the nod. I have a Pioneer SX-780 and a Denon AVR-3000 (yes, the old one), but both need some attention. Denon DN-300Z for source.
But I’ve been using the ProMedia 2.1 setup for a while now (in a system dry spell of sorts) and the speakers are less than a meter apart. Currently, the A10P’s are just under 2 meters apart and a little below ear line.
I’m lacking on glamorous amps but currently giving the Yamaha RX-V795a the nod. I have a Pioneer SX-780 and a Denon AVR-3000 (yes, the old one), but both need some attention. Denon DN-300Z for source.
They will get better for some time, but do break them in gently.
100 hrs is usually tossed around, i put them on the shelf for 200 hrs to get thru the worst of it.
They will really appreciate better amplification.
dave
100 hrs is usually tossed around, i put them on the shelf for 200 hrs to get thru the worst of it.
They will really appreciate better amplification.
dave
I started with Weem's. My copy had a BASIC program in the back for box design and I used it for many years. Worked well. He covered enough math to get the job done. I can't remember if Speaker Builder or Dickason came next, but had both. The earliest copies of Speaker Builder were the best. You can do a lot more math but driver properties and other error sources make me question the value. You need to be able to measure, but you also need to listen and trust your ears to voice a speaker well.
dude, thank you so much. Seriously. I am so appreciative of you for posting those up. I haven't even read more than the cover page of each yet, but the presence of hundreds of proper pages, all in pdf... wonderful.
thank you!
yea, picking out a driver on partsexp, and building a corresponding enclosure isn't mysterious to me at all anymore. However, I don't have the ear part down. Like describing "purple". also I just don't have a super discerning ear (which while sometimes disappointing, is more often a relief lol).
I made a ported enclosure with a 10 inch sub I had, and played around sliding different lengths of PVC pipe through holes in the box to act as the ports, seeing how the sound changed (my neighbors loved it when I was playing... I wanna say a mobb deep instrumental loop over and over).
I think I'm still having design ideas with lower than normal/needed low frequency -3db points. I think "40hz-20khz... yea that should be good" then I look at giant ampeg cabs and find they dont even go that low.
The ear part isn't that hard so long as you listen to a wide variety of program material. Just because it sounds good with Mark Knopfler doesn't mean it will sound good with Joan Baez. (substitute whatever names you like) Listen to instrumentals, listen to vocals, listen to rock and listen to classical.