As the title states this is going to be my first ever speaker build. It's based entirely on my own thoughts.
This isn't my first ever speaker build, i've made several subwoofer enclosures for my own vehicles and friends but this is my first Home theater speaker build, and definitely my first 3-way build.
I'm not really worried about creating the right size enclosure, my wood working skills are up to par for what i'm planning to do i'm just not sure if these drivers and cross over will work together. Here are the links to the drivers:
Woofer 2 of these will be used in their own separate ported enclosure.
Mid Driver 2 of these will be used in a sealed enclosure to produce the cleanest sound.
Tweeter Only one tweeter will be used and it will be right in the middle with one woofer and one mid bass on each side.
All of these will be in their own enclosures however they will all be joined together to create one center channel. I'm not sure if that makes sense but here is a crappy drawing on paint. The First view is the front view, while the drawing to the right is a basic idea of what the layout would be.
All of these will be connected with this cross over
https://www.parts-express.com/speaker-crossover-3-way-8-ohm-800-4500-hz-200w--260-230
I'm curious to know if all these drivers will work together, they are all magnetically shielded and seem to be great drivers, just not sure if they would be great together.
I do consider myself an audiophile but until recently I've just been using over priced brand name speakers. And while i can probably not build anything that even compares to my front room set up I want to try. My Max budget on this Center channel is $200, and with all these drivers and cross over i'm at $120.37. So not including the MDF and the terminal cups/paint/speaker mesh I don't know if i can go much higher.
I'm sorry if this is completely inexperienced but this seems like the right place to start.
This isn't my first ever speaker build, i've made several subwoofer enclosures for my own vehicles and friends but this is my first Home theater speaker build, and definitely my first 3-way build.
I'm not really worried about creating the right size enclosure, my wood working skills are up to par for what i'm planning to do i'm just not sure if these drivers and cross over will work together. Here are the links to the drivers:
Woofer 2 of these will be used in their own separate ported enclosure.
Mid Driver 2 of these will be used in a sealed enclosure to produce the cleanest sound.
Tweeter Only one tweeter will be used and it will be right in the middle with one woofer and one mid bass on each side.
All of these will be in their own enclosures however they will all be joined together to create one center channel. I'm not sure if that makes sense but here is a crappy drawing on paint. The First view is the front view, while the drawing to the right is a basic idea of what the layout would be.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
All of these will be connected with this cross over
https://www.parts-express.com/speaker-crossover-3-way-8-ohm-800-4500-hz-200w--260-230
I'm curious to know if all these drivers will work together, they are all magnetically shielded and seem to be great drivers, just not sure if they would be great together.
I do consider myself an audiophile but until recently I've just been using over priced brand name speakers. And while i can probably not build anything that even compares to my front room set up I want to try. My Max budget on this Center channel is $200, and with all these drivers and cross over i'm at $120.37. So not including the MDF and the terminal cups/paint/speaker mesh I don't know if i can go much higher.
I'm sorry if this is completely inexperienced but this seems like the right place to start.
It can be done, just not sure how. I've never gotten two woofers in a D'Appolito horizontal array to sound right if one of them makes noise above 250 to 300 hz.
You may want to find some software programs to help model driver requirements . Otherwise, I try to vary panel thicknesses, materials,and brace the back of the woofers. Looks like a good project.
If the mids should be oriented vertically I would have to change the driver. I'm trying to keep this as low profile as possible or my wife will probably kill me.
One thing i've thought of is to have the woofers upward firing and still ported backward, That would allow me to make a more narrow speaker but may sacrifice height a little bit.
Any recommendations on what to change?
Looking at your driver choices, the ones you have choosen don't make a whole lot of sense. And the XO will not work out (no off the shelf one will)
You would be WAY better ahead just choosing a single decent 4" FR driver. There are lots, some examples: CHR-70.3,Fostex FF105wk, or FF125wk. All are capableofgoing as low as the HiVi, close to as extended at the top as the tweeter, with no (evil) XO, simplier box and less cost.
And as to the box, i never recommend MDF for speaker boxes, unless the only alternative is no box. Get yourself some quality plywood.
dave
You would be WAY better ahead just choosing a single decent 4" FR driver. There are lots, some examples: CHR-70.3,Fostex FF105wk, or FF125wk. All are capableofgoing as low as the HiVi, close to as extended at the top as the tweeter, with no (evil) XO, simplier box and less cost.
And as to the box, i never recommend MDF for speaker boxes, unless the only alternative is no box. Get yourself some quality plywood.
dave
I kinda figured the driver choices wouldn't work out. To be honest i wasn't sure what I would be looking for. As far as those drivers is there that much of a difference from the
Markaudio CHR-70A and the FF105wk?
Would it be better to do 2 FR drivers and one tweeter? a cap could always be wired in with the tweeter to reduce the frequency it receives right?
I'm not really familiar with that type of wiring. I am familiar with the wiring differences of series and parallel and basic electronics but not so much speakers.
I've always heard that using MDF was better, so that's news to me. Any other considerations/precautions that I might need to know before making an enclosure out of plywood?
Markaudio CHR-70A and the FF105wk?
Would it be better to do 2 FR drivers and one tweeter? a cap could always be wired in with the tweeter to reduce the frequency it receives right?
I'm not really familiar with that type of wiring. I am familiar with the wiring differences of series and parallel and basic electronics but not so much speakers.
I've always heard that using MDF was better, so that's news to me. Any other considerations/precautions that I might need to know before making an enclosure out of plywood?
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They are both good, but fairly different. Personally i prefer the latter.
No.
A very pervasive myth.
You should poke around a bit here. It will probably raise as many questions as answers, but you won't be as green.
dave
I believe the tweeter should be placed higher than centre for better response off axis, much better tweeter response for anyone not seated directly of the centre speaker. That's if the centre speaker is placed ear level or below, tweeter placement should be below woofers if speaker is placed above ear level.
+1 on using plywood, try getting the highest quality plywood you can find for your budget. Usually high quality plywood has few small voids (holes) and lots of ply layers.
I have used MDF yet felt it does need bitumen pads on internal walls and 4mm plywood skin on exterior walls to get better results, it's a great cab and MDF is easier to cut etc yet buying high quality birch ply is far better sounding IMO. Good luck!
+1 on using plywood, try getting the highest quality plywood you can find for your budget. Usually high quality plywood has few small voids (holes) and lots of ply layers.
I have used MDF yet felt it does need bitumen pads on internal walls and 4mm plywood skin on exterior walls to get better results, it's a great cab and MDF is easier to cut etc yet buying high quality birch ply is far better sounding IMO. Good luck!
After doing some reading I do prefer the FF105WK over the CHR-70.
I'm rather stumped with the driver though, I've been trying to input it into winISD but it's not exactly working out for me. The Znom always changes to 10 and the Vas around 260ft^3 which i know is wrong. Could be my entering it but it's not clicking for me.
Going by the specs on Madisound though if i wanted to do 3 drivers in parallel it would require a box that was 0.53ft^3 with a port that was 1.5" in diameter and 3.35" long? Which seems off so i probably should've tripled that number on their specs. Would be nice if my driver input would work. But on their specs that is tuned for 72hz, would that be an idea enclosure or would it be better with a PR rather than a vent?
I'm rather stumped with the driver though, I've been trying to input it into winISD but it's not exactly working out for me. The Znom always changes to 10 and the Vas around 260ft^3 which i know is wrong. Could be my entering it but it's not clicking for me.
Going by the specs on Madisound though if i wanted to do 3 drivers in parallel it would require a box that was 0.53ft^3 with a port that was 1.5" in diameter and 3.35" long? Which seems off so i probably should've tripled that number on their specs. Would be nice if my driver input would work. But on their specs that is tuned for 72hz, would that be an idea enclosure or would it be better with a PR rather than a vent?
When i was 1st suggesting FRs, i wasthinking you eeded a pair, but a Centre is just 1 box, which means you could afford a more expensive/better FR such as Mark Audio Alpair 7.3, A10p or A10.3.
All of those, and many others, if you spend more are decidedly better. Makes way more sense than buying multiple lesser drivers.
dave
Ahh that makes sense, the only reason i had planned on doing multiple drivers is because those drivers are rated around 30W max, while the amplifiers i'm looking into are 100-150w RMS per channel. My front channels are very inefficient(but they're also approaching 30 years old) and require 100+ watts RMS to really come alive.
I will be using a receiver for bass management, I'm not sure if i'll be adding a sub woofer to this system yet. It's going into a smaller room approximately 11ft x 12ft so i'm unsure yet if my speakers will be good enough or if i'll be needing to add a sub woofer.
It really is irrelevant.
Get any of those 3 higher end drivers i mentioned,and you could well find yourself planning new mains as well.
dave
Out of those 3 drivers I'm kind of leaning towards the A10.3.
Not sure if I'll be able to get the added thickness by my wife, it will probably end up around 8" tall. As far as sound quality will i be sacrificing much by going with the Alpair 7.3 driver?
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