I love listening to music and have a reasonably good audio system, but I have always wanted to build my own speakers. The thing is, I know nothing about designing enclosures to get the best out of a selected driver or drivers... and I don't want to make an expensive mess, so I figure I should start small and simple and am therefore thinking that some new speakers for my PC are in order - after all, I sit at my desk many hours a day.
My initial thoughts on the matter are that I could build a pair of stereo speakers using 3" or 4" full range drivers, perhaps augmented by a single passive sub if required (if so, I'd need to make that too).
I have a total budget of around £250 including speaker parts and the amp for the project. With respect to the amp, I'm definitely open to suggestions, but I'm thinking about something like the SMSL SA-50 if no sub is required, or something like a Dayton DTA-2.1BT2 100W 2.1 (or a cheaper alternative) if a sub is required.
So, here are the physical design limitations... because I have a large monitor and don't have any space at the sides to put any speakers, the speakers will need to fit on the desk under the monitor. For that reason, they will need to be limited to the following maximum dimensions 20cm (w) by 18cm(h) by 20cm(d) which isn't great - although I guess the height could be increased if part of the cabinet went up behind the monitor (obviously not where the driver is on it), in which case the height limit could be increased to about 45cm.
Given those dimensions and budget, do you think that I'd be able to build speakers that have a reasonably flat response and don't need a sub to get down to around 50Hz (f3)? It might be worth stating that they don't need to go very loud. If not, I could build a sub too, but that would need to fit under my desk behind a vanity panel, and for that reason, the maximum dimensions for the sub enclosure (including excursion/breathing room for the driver) are 40cm(w) by 65cm(h) by 28cm(d).
Although I have a background in physics and some experience in electronics, please treat me as a complete novice and if there are any blogs/pages/papers that you think would be good for me to read before progressing, please let me know. Reading through numerous posts on this forum, I get the impression that it takes a lot of time, experience and effort to become an expert.
Many thanks.
My initial thoughts on the matter are that I could build a pair of stereo speakers using 3" or 4" full range drivers, perhaps augmented by a single passive sub if required (if so, I'd need to make that too).
I have a total budget of around £250 including speaker parts and the amp for the project. With respect to the amp, I'm definitely open to suggestions, but I'm thinking about something like the SMSL SA-50 if no sub is required, or something like a Dayton DTA-2.1BT2 100W 2.1 (or a cheaper alternative) if a sub is required.
So, here are the physical design limitations... because I have a large monitor and don't have any space at the sides to put any speakers, the speakers will need to fit on the desk under the monitor. For that reason, they will need to be limited to the following maximum dimensions 20cm (w) by 18cm(h) by 20cm(d) which isn't great - although I guess the height could be increased if part of the cabinet went up behind the monitor (obviously not where the driver is on it), in which case the height limit could be increased to about 45cm.
Given those dimensions and budget, do you think that I'd be able to build speakers that have a reasonably flat response and don't need a sub to get down to around 50Hz (f3)? It might be worth stating that they don't need to go very loud. If not, I could build a sub too, but that would need to fit under my desk behind a vanity panel, and for that reason, the maximum dimensions for the sub enclosure (including excursion/breathing room for the driver) are 40cm(w) by 65cm(h) by 28cm(d).
Although I have a background in physics and some experience in electronics, please treat me as a complete novice and if there are any blogs/pages/papers that you think would be good for me to read before progressing, please let me know. Reading through numerous posts on this forum, I get the impression that it takes a lot of time, experience and effort to become an expert.
Many thanks.
Looks like your restriction is the height (only 18cm) of the speaker. There are many designs here that should give satisfying sound near field. Here is my suggestion for a small enclosure that can give some bass. See if you can manage to fit it in the space you have. The size of the enclosure is related to the size of the driver, so maybe xrk971 can suggest the smallest driver/size:
XKi - X's ab initio Karlson 6th Order Bandpass
Another excellent option is the folded TABAQ:
TABAQ TL for Tang Band
Search for the folded versions.
XKi - X's ab initio Karlson 6th Order Bandpass
Another excellent option is the folded TABAQ:
TABAQ TL for Tang Band
Search for the folded versions.
Thanks twocents, I'll take a look at those pages.
I am interested in having a go at designing my own, I downloaded WinISD today, and had a play with it using the parameters for the Dayton RS100. It was saying that I'd need a 4.11ltr ported enclosure to get a flat response down to 59Hz (and an f3 of 52Hz). The issue is that the port needs to be nearly 32cm long at a diameter of 4.7cm.
My question is, does air inside the port count as part of the 4.11 litres (i.e. excluding the volume that the port material takes up)? Also, does it matter if there are bends in the port internally as long as the diameter and total length are maintained?
EDIT: From what I can tell, the bends don't matter, but I still don't know if the air in the port can be counted as part of the 4.11 litres.
I am interested in having a go at designing my own, I downloaded WinISD today, and had a play with it using the parameters for the Dayton RS100. It was saying that I'd need a 4.11ltr ported enclosure to get a flat response down to 59Hz (and an f3 of 52Hz). The issue is that the port needs to be nearly 32cm long at a diameter of 4.7cm.
My question is, does air inside the port count as part of the 4.11 litres (i.e. excluding the volume that the port material takes up)? Also, does it matter if there are bends in the port internally as long as the diameter and total length are maintained?
EDIT: From what I can tell, the bends don't matter, but I still don't know if the air in the port can be counted as part of the 4.11 litres.
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If you can get these, you won't be sorry: Passive Aggressive Mini Speaker Kit Pair
I run them for my work system on my desk powered by this amp: Lepai 2.1 2x40W Amplifier LP-168HA without Power Supply
The speakers will fit your space constraints and sound great.
Mike
I run them for my work system on my desk powered by this amp: Lepai 2.1 2x40W Amplifier LP-168HA without Power Supply
The speakers will fit your space constraints and sound great.
Mike
Ok, so it turned out I put the parameters for the RS100-4 in the wrong order in Win ISD and consequently I think it was giving an inaccurate result. So I followed this tutorial:
WinISD – a beginners tutorial | Midwest Audio Club
and entered in the details in the order the tutorial suggests, and Win ISD was happy. The values that I'm now getting are:
Driver: Dayton Audio Reference RS100-4
Volume: 3.5 ltres
Tuning freq: 63.28Hz
Vent diameter: 1cm x 10cm
Vent length: 18.73cm
1st port resonance 917.3Hz
The above values provide a flat response down to 65Hz with an f3 of 55Hz.
Here are my questions:
1) Win ISD is only showing in the 10 to 500Hz range, nothing above that, is that normal or have I messed something up?
2) Will a port resonance at 917.3Hz be a problem? How do I know how much of an impact it will have (by approximation).
3) Is the Dayton RS100-4 a reasonable driver to be pick for small full range speakers, or is there a better driver to pick at approximately the same budget?
4) I decided to use a flatter port (1cm by 10cm) with the thought of folding it around at least once inside the cabinet. Does that sound a reasonable approach for the port?
5) [repeat from my previous post] does the volume of air inside the port count against the enclosure volume?
WinISD – a beginners tutorial | Midwest Audio Club
and entered in the details in the order the tutorial suggests, and Win ISD was happy. The values that I'm now getting are:
Driver: Dayton Audio Reference RS100-4
Volume: 3.5 ltres
Tuning freq: 63.28Hz
Vent diameter: 1cm x 10cm
Vent length: 18.73cm
1st port resonance 917.3Hz
The above values provide a flat response down to 65Hz with an f3 of 55Hz.
Here are my questions:
1) Win ISD is only showing in the 10 to 500Hz range, nothing above that, is that normal or have I messed something up?
2) Will a port resonance at 917.3Hz be a problem? How do I know how much of an impact it will have (by approximation).
3) Is the Dayton RS100-4 a reasonable driver to be pick for small full range speakers, or is there a better driver to pick at approximately the same budget?
4) I decided to use a flatter port (1cm by 10cm) with the thought of folding it around at least once inside the cabinet. Does that sound a reasonable approach for the port?
5) [repeat from my previous post] does the volume of air inside the port count against the enclosure volume?
Nice, as you point out they even meet my size requirements - that is definitely an option that I'll think really seriously about!
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