Thinking of building SB12.3

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Hello,

This will be my first cabinet i build so some suggestions and recommendations are appreciated.

After some unrealistic dreaming about what to build i found this one which seems to have a good reputation and with description on how to build it. So the first thing i'm wondering about if it is the right one for me?

The room it will go into might be a little on the small side. Approx. 4x6m and it is opens up to a small kitchen by the side. Anyway i want to build something that will be with me for a long while. And which also fit into a bigger room if i at some point move.

I generally don't listen to music so loud and i don't like my coffee mug vibrating off the table but i anyway hope that what i build also can reproduce low frequensies as well. I saw on zaph's website that the cabinet volume could be increased if deeper but leaner bass is desired. So will this make an big impact on the speakers or is it hardly noticeable?

I might add that i mostly listen to progressive rock, jazz, drone and some rather experimental music.
 
Sorry about the half message, i accidentally posted the message.

I also saw on madisounds website that this one could be bi/tri amped. Is there any noticeable benefits from that. I am willing to do some extra work for it if it improves the result.

Which brings me to the next project. An amp or several to drive the speakers. How many watts would it need, and if bi/tri amped?

I think that for the amp i would start with something that can easily be built, as long as it has all necessary safty features, i don't want to burn down my home. And when everything is up and running i can improve on the design.

For my carpenter skills i would say that there shouldn't be any complications. And for electronics i studied engineering several years ago so i have some understanding about it but only limited practical experience.

Any thoughts on my endeavour is highly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your time and patience.
 
I also saw on madisounds website that this one could be bi/tri amped. Is there any noticeable benefits from that. I am willing to do some extra work for it if it improves the result.
You can expect bi-/tri-amping with a passive crossover to be largely a waste of money. An active crossover on the other hand can bring flexibility and a modest performance increase if well executed but, as far as I am aware, there is no active design for the SB12.3 and so you would probably have to do the designing.

And when everything is up and running i can improve on the design.

If you want to work at improving a design then an active crossover using digital filters is possibly worth considering.
 
I read the designers website about these speakers. My question about the volume was because the website only said:

"If you like a leaner and deeper bass, you could increase the volume by 1-2 cubic feet to reduce the effective enclosure Qtc. You'd get a little less in the 50-100 Hz range and a little more in the 20-30 Hz range."

So i was wondering if a little less/more is worth it, hardly noticeable or if it makes it out of balance. So if it is hardly noticeable or out of balance then i will not bother with recalculating the dimensions. I anyway guess zaph had a good reason for using these dimensions.

My question about right ones or not, was because i am not certain if this project is a real overkill
for me. I wanted to build a great pair of speakers because i will likely not build a second pair before these break and i also wanted something that properly can handle the whole frequency range. But if these are badly overdimensioned for my room then i am open for suggestions for someting more suitable. But i guess i can live with it if they just are a little bit too big, i was also planning them for possible future needs as well.

I read a little about different crossovers. So i will either leave the original in place, or if i find a good design for an active crossover with digital filters then i might consider changing it. Designing a crossover will not be my strong point and i don't want to degrade the quality of these speakers. But if there are noticeable improvements with an active one then i may be willing to see how it goes. I highly appreciate any pointers someone has on where to start.

Thanks again.

Thanks.
 
I highly appreciate any pointers someone has on where to start.

If I were to build a very good value project with decent bass performance,
I'd go with SB12.3.

Author says that most of his designs are made for medium sized rooms.

If you try simulating your box with this:

Loudspeaker Design Software

you would see what to expect of SPL depending on your speaker location.

Build it like it's meant to be.
 
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