W3-881SI Satellites + Center for HT

[Andres]

Hi fellas,

Little background before questions:
I have been using my fronts only for HT use since I moved to my current house, going on two years now (I threw away the POS Sony center and satellites I was using before that when I moved).

My fronts are JBL 4311B's that do double duty, via a switch, between my Kenwood KR-8010 for vinyl listening and a Marantz 5.1 for movie and tv watching.

I recently got the itch to get back into the surround world by making some satellites on the cheap and maybe even a center channel. I decided to go with the Tang Band W3-811's just because they would make the project cheap enough to screw up.

My main question is, will they be enough for surround sound in a 5x5x5" sealed box?
How about for a center channel? I bought two extra speakers in case I wanted to try something.

I do have a powered subwoofer that I will probably have to put back into use.

Thanks for the guidance!

Andres

 

[mikejennens]

If you can go a bit larger, here are some you might consider.
gonecatfishin'
The designer knows his stuff and prefers a practical route of speaker design as opposed to "cost is no object."
Mike

 

[planet10]

Mike,

That article doesn't really say what driver he is using.

dave

 

[mikejennens]

Mike,

That article doesn't really say what driver he is using.

dave

Sorry about that. It's the TB W3-881SI. Here's the page from which the description is linked. Look at "The Edna." It's about half way down the page.
Loudspeaker designs

 

[tuxedocivic]

Ya, Johnny did use this driver.

I've used it also, not in use right now. reasonably low SPL it'll be fine. It will not keep up with your JBL's by any mean, but if you just want some surround effects. You might wanna stay without a center for now. Let the JBLs manage that. A single 881SI for center channel duty would... suck.

 

[Andres]

Thanks for that mikje, much better to go with what someone has already tried. Looks like I have a winner.

tuxedocivic, yes, just some surround effects at low SPL is all I ask.
I figured that a single 881 in a sealed box would suck for a center. How about two of them in a ported box?

 

[tuxedocivic]

2 would help. Wire them in series and short one out with a 100uF cap like this: 100uF 100V Non-Polarized Capacitor 027-360

Still not great but will be a good improvement. A cheap way to get 5.1.

 

[tuxedocivic]

Attached is a little diagram to make myself more clear. I realized after you might not know what cap shading is. Just strap that 100uF cap to the terminals of one of the drivers. The drivers MUST be in series for this to work or you'll short the system and have no high frequencies (and possibly damage your amp).

 

[Andres]

You would be correct tuxedocivic, no idea what capacitor shading is. Nothing came up on a google search either, is there another name for that? Would like to learn a bit more about what I'm doing.

Would that still be for a sealed box? Two drivers, double the volume of the enclosure?

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.

Edit to add that your diagram makes it perfectly clear, just wanted to read a bit on the subject.

 

[tuxedocivic]

It's not a common technique. Most people parallel the drivers and use an inductor in front of the second woofer and call that the 0.5 woofer. Problem is though it presents a 4ohm load and causes 6db of added output below the 0.5 cut off (usually around 3 or 400hz). This little driver actually doesn't need that compensation. I measured mine to be quite flat, even in a very small enclosure. The inductor is also very expensive, as much as the driver in this case. So a cap shade is a better way to go imo.

Normally though, a 0.5 woofer is probably better if a $10 inductor isn't a big deal, a robust amp that can handle 4 ohms, and the need for upper bass lower midrange boost.

I'm not sure where you can find information on this technique. Like I said, it's so rarely used... Maybe try and good "baffle step compensation capacitor" or something.

 

[Andres]

Thank you for the explanation. I will give your suggestion a try this weekend.
Thanks again