Which speakers to buy for bookshelf speakers

[timkoh]

I'm new to diy speakers and know nothing about speakers, however I'm on holiday in Japan and discovered several nice shops in Akihabara that sell a lot of diy speakers parts which made me want to get into this hobby.

While I'm in Japan, I'd like to buy all the parts (speaker and enclosure) I need for a decent pair of bookshelf speakers to use in a 2.1 setup with an active subwoofer on a 30 watt diy amp. It will be used in a small bedroom.

I don't have much time to research and read through a lot of threads so I'd like to ask what are the popular speaker part numbers that are used in bookshelf speakers and what is the ideal size of speakers to get for a bookshelf sized enclosure.

I am looking for a detailed full sound that is nice for vocals and classical/jazz music. I do want enough bass to have a decent fullness to the high and middle range on vocals.

I'm thinking about getting a 10in sized pair of full range speakers as it would likely sound nice with both high and lower pitched vocals.

Looking at the shop, they had a large amount of speakers to choose from and I have no idea what to look for when choosing between them.

I did see some wood cone speakers that were quite expensive but looked really nice. Looking online for reviews however, it seemed that the wood cone speaker didn't actually sound very good. So I'm guessing that price isn't a reliable measure of how good a speaker will sound.

If there are any good wood cone speakers out there I would be interested. Otherwise, I'm open to anything that sounds good.

Currently I'm looking at the following setup:
2x Tang Band W3-1319SA speakers 2380 yen each
2x Fostex p800e enclosures 1150 yen each

So that is 4760 + 2300 = 7060 yen ($75~)

My budget is about $250, but if I can improve the sound more, then I might consider spending more if its worth it.

I am thinking of putting the speaker in my suitcase, but if it gets too large, I might have to post it back. So size of the enclosure may be an issue. Wll a small enclosure like the one I have listed affect the sound much? I've read size could affect the amount of bass. Is this right?

I couldn't find out much about this speaker apart from a Japanese review saying it having a high detailed sound, decent bass and a soft feel to the sound. (I can read Japanese)

If you can offer some advice for better choices for the speakers or enclosures, or tips on choosing parts, I would really appreciate it.

 

[picowallspeaker]

Just borrow the speakers with you, you'll think later about the box.
The components alone are non-taxable, instead when it's a working unit they can apply to
you the export fares.

 

[timkoh]

Update.. I wrote 10in, but I actually mean i'm after 8cm speakers. Although maybe 10cm speakers would be better. Not sure about the difference in size will give.

It seems the ones I listed are 8cm speakers.

 

[timkoh]

Ah, I actually meant to write 8cm speakers, not 10in.
I made a mistake when writing the thread.

As for the idea of just getting the speakers first, that's a great idea.
I'll consider buying get a few more pairs of speakers while I'm here to try them out when I get home.

I'm still not very sure about which ones to look for when shopping though.

 

[ssportclay]

An 8 cm speaker would be 3 inches and a 10 cm speaker would be 4 inches. A good place to start would be the 3" Fostex FF85WK and the 4" Fostex FF105WK. These will both work in bass reflex boxes or the even better Planet10 Fonken style boxes. If you want small boxes, the FF85WK will fit in the Planet10 uFonken cabinet and the FF105WK will fit in the mFonken cabinet. These are premium drivers and a good value.

 

[ssportclay]

The most current box that is designed for the Fostex FF85WK will actually be the uFonkenWK cabinet by Planet10.

 

[vinylkid58]

Mark Audio A6p should be on your list as well.

jeff

 

[larryldspkr]

Mark Audio CHR 70.3 4 inch, won't break the bank and get you an octave lower bass than the 3 inch drivers!

Larry

 

[timkoh]

Thanks for the quick replies! The shop I visited has all of those speakers in stock. I'll have a look around for the best prices and start shopping.

As for the enclosures, I might just get one pair of small ones and then check out about ordering some of the recommended ones online.

 

[picowallspeaker]

If you're not into DIY or you don't want the best ...go for it !!

 

[timkoh]

If you're not into DIY or you don't want the best ...go for it !!

I will look into DIY the cabinet too at a later stage as i'm planning on buying more than one pair of speakers to keep me busy. But i will buy at least one enclosure so i have at least one pair of speakers ready to go.

Currently also considering multiway speakers, but it's a bit confusing reading about crossovers and how to design them for the selection of speakers you buy.

 

[talaerts]

In Yodobashi and perhaps others you can listen to various Fostex speakers in their "official" enclosure.
Have a look (and listen) at the FF105WK in its enclosure. It is really quite nice sounding and the standard Fostex enclosure for it is nicely made with its black piano lacquer front, assuming you can bring it in your luggage.
I was lucky that a colleague who had a high luggage limit was ok to bring me the enclosures for the FF125WK!
The smaller FF85WK in its box may be ok if indeed you will use a sub as well. Otherwise to my taste it is too lean. I would not use that cheap P800e box for it but rather the nice FF box.
On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with building your own enclosures of course

about:
> Currently also considering multiway speakers, but it's a bit confusing reading about crossovers and how to design them for the selection of speakers you buy.
Don't buy any until you know much more about the subject, or until you find a good and proven design.

 

[KyleinCowichan]

Mark Audio CHR 70.3 4 inch, won't break the bank and get you an octave lower bass than the 3 inch drivers!

Larry

Planet 10 has a mMar-Ken plan in the paid CHR70 set that sounds great. Nice bookshelf size. There's also some larger enclosures in there too if you feel like you'd like to try the driver in some other sized boxes.

KM

 

[timkoh]

Thanks all! I've done my shopping and decided on the 10cm (4") sized drivers. I got the Fostex FF105WK pair with two small Fostex p1000e enclosures and also a pair of Mark Audio CHR 70.3 drivers.

It's a bit heavy so I might end up having to post it, but will try my best to fit it into my luggage.

 

[timkoh]

Sorry to revive an old thread.

Just wanted to update about my speaker cabinet build for the CHR-70 rev 3 drivers that were recommended to me last year.

It was about a year before I decided to work on the speaker cabinet for the Mark Audio speaker drivers, but now that I've done it, I've realized I really enjoyed all the cutting wood and making sawdust.

It took several weekends, but I'm very pleased with the results. The speakers are much nicer than the Fostex ones I popped into the tiny enclosure I bought.

I'm also really impressed with the amount of bass i'm getting from the small speakers with the large enclosure I built. I built it with MDF and used a combination of power and hand tools to build it. This cabinet design has a slanted back, so it was a bit tricky cutting all the angles correct and clamping it to glue the parts together using dowel joints. I gave it a nice matt black spray paint after a primer coat.

I'm quite surprised that apart from the speaker drivers, the paint was one of the most expensive parts of the build!

I currently have it connected up to my PC with a DIY speaker amp I built previously.

 

[Philosophil]

Nicely done. There's usually a certain satisfaction that comes with doing something yourself that adds to the overall experience. Glad to hear you're enjoying the speakers.

 

[Cal Weldon]

I am glad you like them. I enjoy mine too.

Cheers.

 

[joeaudioman]

I'm new to diy speakers and know nothing about speakers, however I'm on holiday in Japan and discovered several nice shops in Akihabara that sell a lot of diy speakers parts which made me want to get into this hobby.

While I'm in Japan, I'd like to buy all the parts (speaker and enclosure) I need for a decent pair of bookshelf speakers to use in a 2.1 setup with an active subwoofer on a 30 watt diy amp. It will be used in a small bedroom.

I don't have much time to research and read through a lot of threads so I'd like to ask what are the popular speaker part numbers that are used in bookshelf speakers and what is the ideal size of speakers to get for a bookshelf sized enclosure.

I am looking for a detailed full sound that is nice for vocals and classical/jazz music. I do want enough bass to have a decent fullness to the high and middle range on vocals.

I'm thinking about getting a 10in sized pair of full range speakers as it would likely sound nice with both high and lower pitched vocals.

Looking at the shop, they had a large amount of speakers to choose from and I have no idea what to look for when choosing between them.

I did see some wood cone speakers that were quite expensive but looked really nice. Looking online for reviews however, it seemed that the wood cone speaker didn't actually sound very good. So I'm guessing that price isn't a reliable measure of how good a speaker will sound.

If there are any good wood cone speakers out there I would be interested. Otherwise, I'm open to anything that sounds good.

Currently I'm looking at the following setup:
2x Tang Band W3-1319SA speakers 2380 yen each
2x Fostex p800e enclosures 1150 yen each

So that is 4760 + 2300 = 7060 yen ($75~)

My budget is about $250, but if I can improve the sound more, then I might consider spending more if its worth it.

I am thinking of putting the speaker in my suitcase, but if it gets too large, I might have to post it back. So size of the enclosure may be an issue. Wll a small enclosure like the one I have listed affect the sound much? I've read size could affect the amount of bass. Is this right?

I couldn't find out much about this speaker apart from a Japanese review saying it having a high detailed sound, decent bass and a soft feel to the sound. (I can read Japanese)

If you can offer some advice for better choices for the speakers or enclosures, or tips on choosing parts, I would really appreciate it.

At a budget of about $250 I would recommend the Polk Audio RTI A1, they are some of the best bookshelf speakers that I know of, and are good for classical/jazz since you really hear the details. Size is of cause an issue and does affect the bass somewhat, but even smaller speakers can generate really nice and deep bass nowadays if they are high quality speakers.

 

[timkoh]

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll keep a note about those speakers.

I've now since upgraded to a diy alpair 7.3 pensil now which sounds amazing.

Here is a photo of them.

 

[xrk971]

The Vifa TC9FD, Faital Pro 3FE25, or Dayton RS100P-4 in a 0.4x Karlsonator should be on everyone's short list of an easy to make and great sounding bookshelf or desktop speaker.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/239338-mini-karlsonator-0-53x-dual-tc9fds-115.html#post4139973

Of note, if I traveled overseas for long period of time, packing a hot melt glue gun (the mini ones), a bag of glue sticks, a utility knife, some flat sheets of foam core, and a small spool of wire and a tiny TPA3116D2 amp will let you build speakers in any hotel room at night when you need some Diy relaxation time. Pick up locally available drivers and make speakers on the spot. Recently I came upon a new compact speaker box that makes a genuine 50Hz easily and loudly with the RS100P-4 (or RS100-4) see this thread:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/268524-xki-xs-ab-initio-karlson-6th-order-bandpass.html