I was always looking on this 3way full range diy speaker for home and PA/DJ top, on this site. I started Djing in 1977 and few years later bought a brand new pair of Altec Model 14's and used it doing little parties and a few school events. I realized its not made for this task and listening at home with vinyl was the ultimate experience I'd have in those years. Later I bought a pair of AST 3 way DJ speakers with Altec and JBL components it was a lot of money for the pair at $1,000 it broke the bank as I was a small time dj back then in (80's)NYC. Is there a diy plans here already for full range 3 way home listening and on occasion do small parties and karaoke. Or it could be cheaply made speakers with nice drivers from say 45-18kHz that are available through mail order but needs to with stand at least 110dB on the middle of a 50' x 50' dance floor. Just a thought if any one out there is willing to design something like this and I will buy the components as well as the crossover parts. Thanks😉
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Most people on this multi-way forum are interested in sound quality far more than high SPL.
Suggest you repost this question on the the forum entitled PA Systems where you are likely to get better answers.
Suggest you repost this question on the the forum entitled PA Systems where you are likely to get better answers.
And also since certain events have reduced live music to very
minimal.
The used market is full of PA systems for live high SPL
minimal.
The used market is full of PA systems for live high SPL
Some of the best sounding speakers also go loud. Consider the waveguide and large woofer two way, then add a third way below.
Its too bad DIYSG is a one man operation. Their kits will go LOUD and are easy builds. I've built a few kits for my HT and honestly like listening to them for music.
Whats DIYSG? Do you have a link, you guys are correct this should be posted on PA. Now how do I move it? LOL Thanks
Done.A 3-way speaker system is the minimum needed to produce a "fullrange" PA sound system, but it's folly to try to build that into a single speaker cabinet.. it will be too big and heavy or you will end up compromising some of it's capability to get a managable size. I had 3-way PA cabs back in the '80s that worked great as a fullrange solution for the music of that era but they would need subs with modern music genres and that speaker package is just way too big for most events. I still own a system that size but most events I do these days use much smaller powered sub+top combos.
The way to do this in a form factor that doesn't compromise sound quality and is as light and easy to move as possible is with a dedicated mid/hi box and separate sub/s. That could end up being anything from something like an 8+1 top with a 12" sub all the way up to large horn loaded tops and subs that need a forklift to be moved, it just depends on how much SPL you want to achieve and what your definition of portable is.
The way to do this in a form factor that doesn't compromise sound quality and is as light and easy to move as possible is with a dedicated mid/hi box and separate sub/s. That could end up being anything from something like an 8+1 top with a 12" sub all the way up to large horn loaded tops and subs that need a forklift to be moved, it just depends on how much SPL you want to achieve and what your definition of portable is.
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I’ve still got one - not that it gets used for DJing anymore. Fine for background music where it doesn’t need to get stupid loud or stupid bassy, and dirt simple setup is required. I ran them with 2x18 subs for a while till I started building *horns* and wanting more output. Something this big isn’t the most “commercially viable” thing anymore - a 2x12/2” on poles with subs is a “better solution”. But for party levels in the house, where you just want to hook up one pair of speakers to an amp, I’m not sure it can be beat. In a typical living room you can get club levels with no trouble at all with just a couple hundred watts - and very hi-fi sound. Not enough deep bass for a lot of modern stuff, but for classic rock absolutely perfect. These now get used with *tube amps* for a 100% “vintage” system. Now all I really need to do is resurrect a *turntable* from the dead, and make a nice tube RIAA.
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wg_ski you're right that is way too big, I was maybe looking for compact 3 way 12"x8"x1" kinda of like an EAW FR153 but with a 12" in a separate chamber and trap box with a pole mount on the bottom and all neo drivers either Faital or Eminence and not weighing 75 lbs like the EAW. Radiata pine 1/2" ply braced internally and 1" in a small horn. For speech a d light DJ work with no massive bass rap style music blaring. With passive dover, Thanks
Seems like a good idea. A 6.5" mid will do vocals well and not have the strange gap that some woofer+1" combos do. It should also be easy to cross to a 12 and a horn. Neo drivers do make a difference when you have to haul those boxes around. 
A 1.4" exit driver with a neo 12" would be easier to design and lighter. I built a pair of 12+1 trapazoid boxes with the Deltalite 2012 that only weigh about 35 lbs.
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+1 to conanski w.r.t. the 1.4" HF option.
If not married to Emi/Faital, B&C have a suggested design for a 12" Utility box that should put out some proper SPL, it has options for passive or active XO with full component lists provided.
If not married to Emi/Faital, B&C have a suggested design for a 12" Utility box that should put out some proper SPL, it has options for passive or active XO with full component lists provided.
I bought a pair of these off ebay, apparently they are the RCF ND2530-T3 NEO 1.4" exit driver. Preliminary testing suggests they are quite happy with a 1.2khz crossover, paired with a Kappalite 3012lf that is only 12lbs in drivers.
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conanski, nice to have a 1.4" in a horn and wouldn't it sound harsh in the upper mids like 700-3-4kHz. Also the horn for a 1.4" would be big and may take a bigger space. What do you suggest for a cheap nice sounding 1.4" horn (18Sound). Thanks
David Morison what type of 12" utility box are you suggesting, can it be designed trapezoidal shape to be compact.🙂
For low end the Eminence Neos do rather Well and extremely light.
Be surprised how good a 3012LF does in a good sized box.
Far as mids, for very nice off axis, Faital pro has various Fullrange 3" drivers.
Like the 3FE22 and various others in that family.
For one, being fullrange you can practically get away with no horn
and have a 2 way system.
Otherwise it allows higher crossover points for the compression drivers
and will help reduce the crackle. since you can use 6K even 8K crossovers.
8" even 6" mids can be a thing of the past.
And rather crystal clear vocals and mids can be had with newer 3" neos
Mush better dispersion with a vertical array
Be surprised how good a 3012LF does in a good sized box.
Far as mids, for very nice off axis, Faital pro has various Fullrange 3" drivers.
Like the 3FE22 and various others in that family.
For one, being fullrange you can practically get away with no horn
and have a 2 way system.
Otherwise it allows higher crossover points for the compression drivers
and will help reduce the crackle. since you can use 6K even 8K crossovers.
8" even 6" mids can be a thing of the past.
And rather crystal clear vocals and mids can be had with newer 3" neos
Mush better dispersion with a vertical array
No, that is what the larger diaphram gives you... much better performance at the lowend of it's operating range. Those 12+1 boxes I mentioned above have Selenium D210ti 1" exit drivers, these are very good overall but they're not really happy crossing at 1.6khz.. they do get a bit harsh when pushed. The RCF drivers in comparison are clean and smooth at 1.2khz.
Not necessarally, the Eminience H14EA for example is only 12.6" wide, the B&C ME90 is only 10.6" wide, RCF has both 60 and 90 deg horns that are only 9.8" wide. The horn itself may color the sound you get and there may also be throat distortion from some designs, don't assume anything bad you hear is because of the driver.
The U12 from this list: Suggested Designs - B&C Speakers.
(I can't attach it here as the file is too big, sorry).
It should be possible to change the shape of the box as long as you kept the baffle width, net internal volume and tuning the same, so a plain trapezoid with fewer angles would be fine, and a little easier to construct.