Hello.
I spend alot of time in my garage and well, Im tired of listening to mp3s from my phone trough ~$7 NoName portable Ipod speakers and I got a amp lying around here somewhere so why not build a pair of speakers!?!
But what to build?
I want something that is as cheap as possible, I can open up my wallet as far as ~€150-200(so around ~$200-250) exluding wood.
And I want them to be quite small so that they dont take up to much space.
Preferably somethings that can be either wall mounted or standing close to the wall(can't really get floorstanding speakers in there I'm afraid, to much projects spread out all over the place😛).
They will be playing rock 'n' roll of every kind and shape, everything from zeppelin to meshugga to sir lord baltimore to The hives etc.
My garage is ~30 m²(for you followers of the imperial measurements that is a bit over 320 ft²), so small speakers, quite a big room and almost no money to spend on it...could be a challenge😉.
I appreciate every suggestion i can get, I am quite new to the whole speaker building thing.
Thanks/Fredrik
I spend alot of time in my garage and well, Im tired of listening to mp3s from my phone trough ~$7 NoName portable Ipod speakers and I got a amp lying around here somewhere so why not build a pair of speakers!?!
But what to build?
I want something that is as cheap as possible, I can open up my wallet as far as ~€150-200(so around ~$200-250) exluding wood.
And I want them to be quite small so that they dont take up to much space.
Preferably somethings that can be either wall mounted or standing close to the wall(can't really get floorstanding speakers in there I'm afraid, to much projects spread out all over the place😛).
They will be playing rock 'n' roll of every kind and shape, everything from zeppelin to meshugga to sir lord baltimore to The hives etc.
My garage is ~30 m²(for you followers of the imperial measurements that is a bit over 320 ft²), so small speakers, quite a big room and almost no money to spend on it...could be a challenge😉.
I appreciate every suggestion i can get, I am quite new to the whole speaker building thing.
Thanks/Fredrik
Actually that is a pretty good chunk of change. I'd suggest CSS EL70s for your application. Lots of boxes designed for those. For wall mount, perhaps a set of half towers (or the still vapourware Classic Golden Ratio Mar-Kel70)....
dave
dave
Believe it or not, the best speakers near that price point are Behringer's. And they are better suited for a garage environment than hi-fi speakers.
I'm a newbie here, but from my reading, this sounds like a job for the BOFU's (Pioneer B20).
I can't find the post now, but didn't Godzilla recommend a B020U in a sealed box (1.5 cu ft?) with a Parts Express tweeter (just to gild the lily)?
I can't find the post now, but didn't Godzilla recommend a B020U in a sealed box (1.5 cu ft?) with a Parts Express tweeter (just to gild the lily)?
I'd go with the bofu's too. Fairly durable. Mine are out in the garage in 7 foot tall cabinets. I'm trying to find the site I got the build from. For the cost of two or three shets of mdf or roofing ply and a tube or two of all purpose glue from a caulk gun. They sound pretty good- not great but pretty good since the cabs were designed for some German brand drivers. I'll look for the site and post if I find- very easy build.
I see people lauding the measurements, but i don't see any comments on how they sound... and they have one of those evil crossovers right where it hurts the most.
dave
I'll make it a triple for the Pioneer B20's with a tweeter.
I have mine in just shy of 2cuft sealed enclosures and usually listen to 192wma rips off my Sanza through a 30yr old 15wpc Sharp SS amp.
It sounds nice in my 400sqft garage.
R/
I have mine in just shy of 2cuft sealed enclosures and usually listen to 192wma rips off my Sanza through a 30yr old 15wpc Sharp SS amp.
It sounds nice in my 400sqft garage.
R/
Do it yourself Voigt Hifi horn loudspeakers!
OK- they were meant to be built as a two-way: add a tweeter if you must. And the straight pipe version if size does matter to you 😉
http://www.valutronic.se/vh2.html
Maybe one of our resident experts would care to give it a go and modify/ improve either design for the BOFU's. Straight pipes an easy, cheap build. Not sure they live up to the hype of the webpage but they will meet your requirements. Or build 'zilla's BiB- proven favorite around here with more bass then you can handle in an enclosed space like a garage. Good luck.
OK- they were meant to be built as a two-way: add a tweeter if you must. And the straight pipe version if size does matter to you 😉
http://www.valutronic.se/vh2.html
Maybe one of our resident experts would care to give it a go and modify/ improve either design for the BOFU's. Straight pipes an easy, cheap build. Not sure they live up to the hype of the webpage but they will meet your requirements. Or build 'zilla's BiB- proven favorite around here with more bass then you can handle in an enclosed space like a garage. Good luck.
Sorry, missed the size considerations part. When I think garage, I think large and dirty for sound (blues, old rock, c&w) so the Valutronic voights and the BiB's came to mind.
Smaller speakers will require more power (but will sound nice, if that's the sound you want in a garage) or require larger cabs for bass and/or efficiency, more expensive drivers tend to prefer more controlled environmental conditions whereas the BOFU or pro drivers can weather the dust and moisture associated with outdoor conditions. Unless you plan to spend a lot of time fairly close to your speakers (or mount them high in the corners) and don't have a lot of 'stuff' sharing that garage with you, you might want to reconsider and supersize them.
$200.00 for garage drivers seems kinda pricey IMHO.
Smaller speakers will require more power (but will sound nice, if that's the sound you want in a garage) or require larger cabs for bass and/or efficiency, more expensive drivers tend to prefer more controlled environmental conditions whereas the BOFU or pro drivers can weather the dust and moisture associated with outdoor conditions. Unless you plan to spend a lot of time fairly close to your speakers (or mount them high in the corners) and don't have a lot of 'stuff' sharing that garage with you, you might want to reconsider and supersize them.
$200.00 for garage drivers seems kinda pricey IMHO.
yeah size is a bit of an issue. I allways have one car in the garage, atm its a huge '55 oldsmobile thats waiting for a complete rebuild, and more there is a chopper in a milion bits all over the place.
And its about time to get the snowmobile in and tore down and built up for this season.
So its alot of stuff in a small space, otherwise i have a couple of humungus 3-ways just standing in storage...but i dont have room for them in the garage 🙁
yes $200 is a bit pricey and i rather spend 50 then 200, thats my upper limit...but the cheaper the better.
And its about time to get the snowmobile in and tore down and built up for this season.
So its alot of stuff in a small space, otherwise i have a couple of humungus 3-ways just standing in storage...but i dont have room for them in the garage 🙁
yes $200 is a bit pricey and i rather spend 50 then 200, thats my upper limit...but the cheaper the better.
Crazy Talk!
Get 3 sheets of 4x8 plywood. Leave two intact and cut the third into strips of 6" to 8" to form the sides and interior baffles of two 4'x4' conjoined speakers.
Make the interior a TL/BVR horn with a pipe length of 10' or so. Put the speakers on the outside lower corners and the vents on the side top corners.
Screw the cabinets to the wall above your workbench. If the garage is 10' wide or so the vents are right where they need to be for the corners to complete the horn. Pump these bad boys with not one, but two pair of Bofu's plus tweeters.
To finish off mount pegboard on it and hang your tools on the speakers.
Maybe $100 for the ply, $150 for the drivers, and $50 for miscellaneous, and you could do some serious damage.
Or maybe it is just crazy talk....
Get 3 sheets of 4x8 plywood. Leave two intact and cut the third into strips of 6" to 8" to form the sides and interior baffles of two 4'x4' conjoined speakers.
Make the interior a TL/BVR horn with a pipe length of 10' or so. Put the speakers on the outside lower corners and the vents on the side top corners.
Screw the cabinets to the wall above your workbench. If the garage is 10' wide or so the vents are right where they need to be for the corners to complete the horn. Pump these bad boys with not one, but two pair of Bofu's plus tweeters.
To finish off mount pegboard on it and hang your tools on the speakers.
Maybe $100 for the ply, $150 for the drivers, and $50 for miscellaneous, and you could do some serious damage.
Or maybe it is just crazy talk....
For the above, a 4 segment Voigt would give a line length of about 13' (4 meters). Point would be at the lower outside corner, first turn to the inside, second turn at the outside (with drivers mounted at or just before the turn), third turn to the inside, and vent at the upper outside corner.
Have no idea what the models would make of that, but there are calculators for Voigt pipes. One way to go crazy big.
Have no idea what the models would make of that, but there are calculators for Voigt pipes. One way to go crazy big.
haha, well tom...you caught my crazyeye thats for shure 😀
The only downside is that i have to mount a speaker of that size on the long wall(around 6-7m) because i have much needed shelves on the short wall over the workbench.
And allso, like i said earlier, i have no real experience of building speakers
.
Is there somewhere where i can find calculators/formulas for for example voights and sutch?
I think i got hornresp somwhere on my computer back home, but i havent spent any time learning how to work with it
The only downside is that i have to mount a speaker of that size on the long wall(around 6-7m) because i have much needed shelves on the short wall over the workbench.
And allso, like i said earlier, i have no real experience of building speakers
. Is there somewhere where i can find calculators/formulas for for example voights and sutch?
I think i got hornresp somwhere on my computer back home, but i havent spent any time learning how to work with it
BIBs...
Bigger Is Better 'BIB' Cabinet Dimensions - ZillaSpeak - calcs there. Tall, but small footprint and incredibly easy to build.
There's also a massive thread here, but it's reading for a while 😉
Bigger Is Better 'BIB' Cabinet Dimensions - ZillaSpeak - calcs there. Tall, but small footprint and incredibly easy to build.
There's also a massive thread here, but it's reading for a while 😉
I don't think that we will see many good reviews, with their:
a] Low price point.
b] Brand name.
c] PA system looks.
d] Not invented/discovered here, position.
They have 4 strikes against them, before they make a sound.
only Behringer I measured was the passive "Truth" - somewhere I have a graph showing tweeter and woofer contributions - here's on-axis summed response vs a 2-way Yorkville econowave type box and a bass reflex with Nirvana 10. Subjectively the Behringer did not sound good to me on commercial recordings and poor on Louis Kenter's Liszt - it does have a good spectral balance on-graph. The Nirvana with no BSC sounded jagged and hot on axis on the top , Yorkville ok but subjective disconnect between woofer and tweeter. BOFU sensitivity imo is low - but I don't listen much to rock. I purchased molded plastic 1-12/horn Behringer pa boxes for my kid - enclosure coloration, poor sensitivity - I'm used to things which hit 120db/1M with very little cone movement. re:multiway -imo, in its range Danley's Unity mid-high horn sounds very coherent - not sure how they mate to full systems
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Hmmm...
If these are going to be played while you're doing a project, I expect pure sound quality wouldn't be much of an issue, whereas volume may well be, if you're using power tools etc.
Based on this, why not go for something a little more... PA? Stage monitors would be good for wall-mounting, as you'd get to angle them... PULSE|PVS10 WEDGE|LOUDSPEAKER, 10" STAGE MONITOR | CPC
The other alternative, if space is a serious issue, is to get some in-wall/ceiling speakers...
If these are going to be played while you're doing a project, I expect pure sound quality wouldn't be much of an issue, whereas volume may well be, if you're using power tools etc.
Based on this, why not go for something a little more... PA? Stage monitors would be good for wall-mounting, as you'd get to angle them... PULSE|PVS10 WEDGE|LOUDSPEAKER, 10" STAGE MONITOR | CPC
The other alternative, if space is a serious issue, is to get some in-wall/ceiling speakers...
if Karlson couplers are used then one wouldn't want them too high up unless near ceiling and inverted due to the on-axis high frequency lobe being tilted by their baffle angle. BOFU might work ok with helper tweeter in a Karlson 12 but could be too dull (??). (I don't like helper tweeters when playing the single driver game) BetsyK delivered good power without much visible cone excursion, FE206EN (stock new 206) was very good but very expensive @US$93
1954 K12 plan
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8316/karlsonetteib7.png
k in studio
1954 K12 plan
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8316/karlsonetteib7.png
k in studio
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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