I've seen answers to this question before, but mostly in regards to larger subwoofer drivers and typically only two drivers sharing one enclosure.
I'm looking to make only two enclosures; left and right, for a mobile audio application for my Sprinter van. Want to put 8 of the 6-1/2 woofers and 4 tweeters in each enclosure. Would it be OK to have all 8 of those woofers share one sealed enclosure? (properly sized of course). Much easier to build that box than one with 8 partitions. I'm not looking for the pinnacle of sonic realism, so as long as this would sound "about as good" as if these were in their own enclosures then I'm fine with that. Also, if a driver blows out in an enclosure with only two drivers, I realize the one working driver now sees twice the volume...but with 8 drivers I'm not all that worried about 7 sharing an air spring meant for 8.
My other concern is wiring. I'd love to use these terminal cup crossovers I bought years ago from PE. I know I have at least four of these. Does parallel and series wiring make a difference when multiple drivers share the same enclosure? I swear I saw something about making sure drivers were wired in parallel for shared enclosure. Also, how much power can those crossovers handle? I'm looking to throw probably 200-300 watts per side.
Below are the components I'm thinking of using. The goal is to make something quite loud yet sounds decent and do it for cheap. If anybody else has suggestions for different components, then I'm all ears. Also, I have the low end covered, so there's not necessarily a need for 8"-10" mid woofers unless there are some great options out there.
https://www.parts-express.com/6-1-2-Poly-Cone-Woofer-4-Ohm-299-609?quantity=1
https://www.parts-express.com/DynaLab-V22-DR-0004-1-Mylar-Dome-Tweeter-299-4006?quantity=1
https://www.parts-express.com/V-33X...-2-Way-4-000-Hz-Crossover-299-4030?quantity=1
I'm looking to make only two enclosures; left and right, for a mobile audio application for my Sprinter van. Want to put 8 of the 6-1/2 woofers and 4 tweeters in each enclosure. Would it be OK to have all 8 of those woofers share one sealed enclosure? (properly sized of course). Much easier to build that box than one with 8 partitions. I'm not looking for the pinnacle of sonic realism, so as long as this would sound "about as good" as if these were in their own enclosures then I'm fine with that. Also, if a driver blows out in an enclosure with only two drivers, I realize the one working driver now sees twice the volume...but with 8 drivers I'm not all that worried about 7 sharing an air spring meant for 8.
My other concern is wiring. I'd love to use these terminal cup crossovers I bought years ago from PE. I know I have at least four of these. Does parallel and series wiring make a difference when multiple drivers share the same enclosure? I swear I saw something about making sure drivers were wired in parallel for shared enclosure. Also, how much power can those crossovers handle? I'm looking to throw probably 200-300 watts per side.
Below are the components I'm thinking of using. The goal is to make something quite loud yet sounds decent and do it for cheap. If anybody else has suggestions for different components, then I'm all ears. Also, I have the low end covered, so there's not necessarily a need for 8"-10" mid woofers unless there are some great options out there.
https://www.parts-express.com/6-1-2-Poly-Cone-Woofer-4-Ohm-299-609?quantity=1
https://www.parts-express.com/DynaLab-V22-DR-0004-1-Mylar-Dome-Tweeter-299-4006?quantity=1
https://www.parts-express.com/V-33X...-2-Way-4-000-Hz-Crossover-299-4030?quantity=1
OK, but the front panel with 8 large holes in it will resonate like crazy. You must strengthened that panel somehow.
It is not that simple. Blown woofer now behave as a passive radiator, so original closed box will become horrifically ill-tuned vented box. Moral of the story? Do not blow the woofers!
Those crossovers are junk. You need much bigger inductor (higher inductance and beefier core) for the woofers.
Those woofers are 4-ohm, wire pairs in parallel (that is 2-ohms) and then 4 pairs of woofers in series - that is 8 ohms total.
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Good point. Also the other panels would not have holes but would have some larger spans and might also need reinforcement.
I thought about that... not intending to blow speakers, but just in case one fails then I guess that would suck.
Supposedly the woofers have a decent natural roll-off around 5khz, so maybe just a simple cap for the tweeters would work.
I'm not sure I follow you. Are you basically saying the project would be doomed and thus a waste of money from the start...so I would be better off buying PA speakers? If that's the case, then as I put in my first post I'm all ears. Show me a way to produce similar sound levels with acceptable quality for a few hundred dollars and I'm in.
Could you explain why you want to use 8 6.5" woofers to begin with? Using many drivers to reduce non-linear distortion is a valid approach but in a space constrained van you might be better off to start with higher excursion nicer drivers to begin with, not to mention possible lobbing/cancellation issues if you run this 2-way.
Btw to answer your question when it comes to sharing box volume being bad it's generally across different frequencies. So if all the 6.5" drivers are playing the same frequency range it's not a problem from that specific aspect (bracing/vibrations may be a different story).
Btw to answer your question when it comes to sharing box volume being bad it's generally across different frequencies. So if all the 6.5" drivers are playing the same frequency range it's not a problem from that specific aspect (bracing/vibrations may be a different story).
Might I be better off with something like any of these? Would 4 per cabinet provide similar or greater sound level compared to 8 of those other non-PA drivers? Sensitivity and power handling of the PA drivers looks much higher. The 8" GRS looks like a nice option, but wondering if they do a good enough job up to 3-5khz in order to cross to tweeters. I don't really know much about decent-sounding high-output tweeters...so any help there would be appreciated.
1- https://www.parts-express.com/GRS-6PT-8-6-1-2-Paper-Cone-Prosound-Woofer-8-Ohm-292-800?quantity=1
2- https://www.parts-express.com/GRS-8PT-8-8-Paper-Cone-Prosound-Woofer-8-Ohm-292-802?quantity=1
3- https://www.parts-express.com/Pyle-PDMW6-6-1-2-Mid-Woofer-292-204?quantity=1
4- https://www.parts-express.com/Pyle-PPA6-6-1-2-PA-Speaker-292-210?quantity=1
1- https://www.parts-express.com/GRS-6PT-8-6-1-2-Paper-Cone-Prosound-Woofer-8-Ohm-292-800?quantity=1
2- https://www.parts-express.com/GRS-8PT-8-8-Paper-Cone-Prosound-Woofer-8-Ohm-292-802?quantity=1
3- https://www.parts-express.com/Pyle-PDMW6-6-1-2-Mid-Woofer-292-204?quantity=1
4- https://www.parts-express.com/Pyle-PPA6-6-1-2-PA-Speaker-292-210?quantity=1
I can't really comment on these specific woofers as I have no experience with them, though GRS is generally a decent brand for the money. If you're trying to cross at 3-5khz you'll definitely get beaming from any 6.5" woofer though, even if it is good enough on axis. Could you explain why you want to use so many woofers?
For tweeters classic suggestions include the SB Acoustics 26adc and the dayton audio ND series tweeter (forget the model number) for a more budget option. I'd also suggest looking at 1" or 2" woofers to use as tweeters, they'd likely play fairly louder.
For tweeters classic suggestions include the SB Acoustics 26adc and the dayton audio ND series tweeter (forget the model number) for a more budget option. I'd also suggest looking at 1" or 2" woofers to use as tweeters, they'd likely play fairly louder.
No particular reason really.
I have a pair of 15" subwoofers, a pair of 12" subwoofers and two pairs of 8" subwoofers to cover the lower end. I recently used a bunch of mismatched 2-way speakers with 5-1/4 and 6-1/2 woofers plus mostly dome tweeters to cover the rest. We attend an event each year where I like to have a pretty loud system. It needs to sound acceptable, but not audiophile by any means. I just figured that 6-1/2 drivers would cover the range from about 80hz - 4khz and some tweeters to take care of the rest. The sheer number of drivers would be for power handling and output levels, but I'm not beholden to any particular arrangement. I've really only built much milder systems up to this point, so any advice is welcome.
Again, the objective is to get very high output with acceptable sound quality for a low price. I literally will be using this setup for 3 days each year, so I'm not looking to spend a bundle.
I have 500-1000W available just for these speakers (about 3800w for the subwoofers), so power shouldn't be an issue.
Also, I have a ridiculously cheap source for MDF anywhere from 1/2" - 1", so I can build enclosures for minimal cash outlay.
Two reasons.
First, and most important, for sheer output.
Second, for some visual "wow factor". I know...it's childish and stupid...but I go to the event with my 20-yr old son and his friends of similar age...and when they see a whole bunch of speakers it just adds to the experience. It's kind of a psychological SPL booster.
So...I don't really need all those drivers if similar or better results could be achieved with fewer drivers. But...I also don't want just 2-4 midwoofers. Really would like to have at least 6-8 for some of that visual impact along with the sonic impact. I know...childish and stupid, but honestly I also enjoy seeing a wall of drivers.
The real problem is below 5 kHz. You need a big inductor (and possibly capacitor) to make a reasonably flat frequency response below 5 kHz. Without measurements, you are shooting in the dark.
SPL is the least of a problem. The problem is you will not succeed in making it sound decent unless you get help
in simulating the rig. GRS is a better brand to work with. At least it comes with measurement graphs.
You need a single horn loaded tweeter capable of matching total SPL (about 97-100 dB/2.83V/1m).
Find one that suits your budget. Eminence may have some.
edit: BGH 25-8 could be shaped into acceptable HF solution
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I think it's the latter one (or one of the ND25 variants at least).
If you can, I'd suggest going 3 way if you want a lot of volume and many speaker drivers. Though if sound quality isn't super important you could likely get away with your current method as well, it will certainly make a lot of sound.
Another consideration is speaker sensitivity, loudspeakerdatabase.com has a handy way of finding drivers. High efficiency ones (85-90+ db/W) will go a long way in playing loud. Especially if you can go 3 way - 2 tweeters, 2 high efficiency midrangers and 2 or 4 or 6 bass/"mid"woofers for the bass. (Midwoofers sometimes play bass depending on what the manufacturer calls them).
Found these ... super efficient 105db, good power handling, reviews are favorable
https://www.parts-express.com/Timpano-Audio-TPT-ST2-Black-4-Super-Tweeter-Pair-294-3083?quantity=1
Might some combination of any of the following drivers work well?
Woofer/Mid-woofer:
https://www.parts-express.com/GRS-8PT-8-8-Paper-Cone-Prosound-Woofer-8-Ohm-292-802?quantity=1
Midrange:
https://www.parts-express.com/GRS-6PT-8-6-1-2-Paper-Cone-Prosound-Woofer-8-Ohm-292-800?quantity=1
https://www.parts-express.com/Pyle-PDMW5-5-High-Performance-Midbass-Woofer-292-202?quantity=1
https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-PA130-8-5-Full-Range-PA-Driver-295-010?quantity=1
https://www.parts-express.com/PRV-Audio-4MR60-4-4-Full-Range-4-Ohm-294-2760?quantity=1
Tweeter:
https://www.parts-express.com/Timpano-Audio-TPT-ST2-Black-4-Super-Tweeter-Pair-294-3083?quantity=1
https://www.parts-express.com/GRS-P...-Tweeter-Similar-to-KSN102-292-444?quantity=1
https://www.parts-express.com/Goldw...ion-Piezo-Horn-Mid-Tweeter-280-062?quantity=1
https://www.parts-express.com/Pyle-...-Titanium-Horn-Tweeter-Pr-292-2606?quantity=1
I was thinking something more like this...a quad of ten-inch woofers, GRS 10PR-8 woofers, wired series/parallel for eight ohms. A ultra sensitive horn loaded two-inch diaphragm tweeter, Timpano TPT-DH2000 , use two amps per channel (Four channel amp)...so one can dial back your tweeter if need be. Arrange the quad of woofers in a square & the tweeter in the center.....eight ten-inch woofers in total...fairly cheap setup.
================================================================================================Rick...
================================================================================================Rick...
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