Need some guidance and suggestions for first DIY speaker project

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(some of these questions I have mind may seem stupid but I've never used pa and DIY speaker settings so I just want to get these out for peace of my mind sake :D)

Hello! This year I really started to get excited about DIY speaker because of lower cost with less compromised made that off the shelf speakers can offer.
But main reason is that it would bring a lot of experience in working with wood and plus tools that is needed to make them. :)

I'm really dedicated to learn how to calculate box sizes, how to work with CAD/Bassbox pro, how to work with wood/tools and how to finalize speakers.

1.I need some guidelines how to get started and what I need to know.

2.I've decided that I want to make 3-way Bass, mid, tweeter based speakers.


Precision Devices PD.186/2 Precision Devices PD.186/2 - Thomann UK
(seems to have a ton of good feedback)

or
Eighteensound 18TLW3000 Eighteensound 18TLW3000 8 Ohms - Thomann UK

(Seems to have double 4 inch voice coil that can answer to 6 inch voice coil in diameter.)
or
RCF LF18X401 RCF LF18X401 - Thomann UK

These are three bass speakers that I've looked upon for now, I've though about other bass speakers like eminence's but there are just too much to choose from. It would nice to have some suggestion on that front like what mids and what tweeters would be good match if you have experience of those or know more about mids and tweeter speakers. How do more expensive tweeters (100-200€) differ from 50€ :)

4.Next would it be more viable to buy active crossover like behringer's 3-way stereo/4-way mono active crossover compared to passive crossover for first timer in building speakers. With active crossover having XLR terminals how are they connected to speakers and does it need external amp (like Behringer Inuke 6000 dsp) and can I connect them to my main amp(onkyo's two channels just for stereo) and use these as surrounds for my speaker setup while my main amp being the source of audio. Would there be any noticeable latency?

5. Would someone know good tutorial how to calculate speaker for box size?

6. What kind of tools would I possibly need for making of DIY speaker project, I already own some but they are at my summer house at a moment. But they are pretty old, thinking of buying (all new tools)

7. Would I first need to buy speaker drivers and testing equipments before even starting to design box, or are speaker specsheets enough?

Hmmm :rolleyes: these are the things that comes first in my mind :)
 
So..... have you considered building a kit already designed for you? Lots to choose from there, relatively low risk. Good learning opportunity. At the very least, you really should examine as many of these kits as you can ahead of time, it will help you pick and choose your features more wisely.

Active crossovers are really nice in that you can reconfigure at zero cost, and add time delay relatively easily to each drive. Not so nice in number of amplifier channels needed. For a pair of 3-way speakers, that is the equivalent of 3 stereo amplifiers.

One kind of hybrid approach is to do passive tweeter/midrange, and active between mid and woofer. This reduces the amplifier channels by a third, and makes the use of a number of 2-channel plate/DSP based amplifiers. Plus, you still get full EQ capabilities on the top and bottom sections.


Best,


E
 
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So..... have you considered building a kit already designed for you? Lots to choose from there, relatively low risk. Good learning opportunity. At the very least, you really should examine as many of these kits as you can ahead of time, it will help you pick and choose your features more wisely.

Active crossovers are really nice in that you can reconfigure at zero cost, and add time delay relatively easily to each drive. Not so nice in number of amplifier channels needed. For a pair of 3-way speakers, that is the equivalent of 3 stereo amplifiers.

One kind of hybrid approach is to do passive tweeter/midrange, and active between mid and woofer. This reduces the amplifier channels by a third, and makes the use of a number of 2-channel plate/DSP based amplifiers. Plus, you still get full EQ capabilities on the top and bottom sections.


Best,


E

Is it possible to connect active crossover like CX3400 Super X Pro to Inuke 6000dsp amp and that to Onkyo :confused: I'm trying to possess all information possible :)
 
So..... have you considered building a kit already designed for you? Lots to choose from there, relatively low risk. Good learning opportunity. At the very least, you really should examine as many of these kits as you can ahead of time, it will help you pick and choose your features more wisely.

Active crossovers are really nice in that you can reconfigure at zero cost, and add time delay relatively easily to each drive. Not so nice in number of amplifier channels needed. For a pair of 3-way speakers, that is the equivalent of 3 stereo amplifiers.

One kind of hybrid approach is to do passive tweeter/midrange, and active between mid and woofer. This reduces the amplifier channels by a third, and makes the use of a number of 2-channel plate/DSP based amplifiers. Plus, you still get full EQ capabilities on the top and bottom sections.


Best,


E

I got an idea, would it be ideal to make semi-modular speaker system like subwoofer would have it's own box and mid-bass/tweeter their own little box on top of that subwoofer box that is going to be hold on to place with pin fasteners and one stereo amplifier powering them. I must say that I personally like modular things over anything, be it smartphone/PC or anything modular/semi-modular.

It would take A lot less effort upgrade mid-bass and tweeter that way if I want to change them sometime in the future without changing bass driver.:):)
 
Why not a high-impact, good sounding 2-way to start? Here is one of many at DIY Sound Group:

HTM-10 DIY Sound Group

I'm sorry I don't know the electronics, but usually it's something like this:

Preamp/Processor --> Crossover --> (multiple amplifier channels) ==> Drivers

Everything wiht a dash is line level (RCA/XLR) while the ==> Denotes high voltage speaker level signals. Passive systems are more like this:

Preamp/Processor --> Amplifier ==> Passive Crossover ==> ( multiple drivers)

Best,

E
 
(some of these questions I have mind may seem stupid but I've never used pa and DIY speaker settings so I just want to get these out for peace of my mind sake :D)

Hello! This year I really started to get excited about DIY speaker because of lower cost with less compromised made that off the shelf speakers can offer.
But main reason is that it would bring a lot of experience in working with wood and plus tools that is needed to make them. :)

I'm really dedicated to learn how to calculate box sizes, how to work with CAD/Bassbox pro, how to work with wood/tools and how to finalize speakers.

1.I need some guidelines how to get started and what I need to know.

2.I've decided that I want to make 3-way Bass, mid, tweeter based speakers.


Precision Devices PD.186/2 Precision Devices PD.186/2 - Thomann UK
(seems to have a ton of good feedback)

or
Eighteensound 18TLW3000 Eighteensound 18TLW3000 8 Ohms - Thomann UK

(Seems to have double 4 inch voice coil that can answer to 6 inch voice coil in diameter.)
or
RCF LF18X401 RCF LF18X401 - Thomann UK

These are three bass speakers that I've looked upon for now, I've though about other bass speakers like eminence's but there are just too much to choose from. It would nice to have some suggestion on that front like what mids and what tweeters would be good match if you have experience of those or know more about mids and tweeter speakers. How do more expensive tweeters (100-200€) differ from 50€ :)

4.Next would it be more viable to buy active crossover like behringer's 3-way stereo/4-way mono active crossover compared to passive crossover for first timer in building speakers. With active crossover having XLR terminals how are they connected to speakers and does it need external amp (like Behringer Inuke 6000 dsp) and can I connect them to my main amp(onkyo's two channels just for stereo) and use these as surrounds for my speaker setup while my main amp being the source of audio. Would there be any noticeable latency?

5. Would someone know good tutorial how to calculate speaker for box size?

6. What kind of tools would I possibly need for making of DIY speaker project, I already own some but they are at my summer house at a moment. But they are pretty old, thinking of buying (all new tools)

7. Would I first need to buy speaker drivers and testing equipments before even starting to design box, or are speaker specsheets enough?

Hmmm :rolleyes: these are the things that comes first in my mind :)

I second many of the suggestions that you start with a complete kit. I assume you are in UK. Visit Falcon Acoustic which have excellent choice of speaker drivers. Wilmslow has more choice of kits over a wider price range.

Falcon Acoustics, or

Wilmslow Audio

If you are more ambitious, Paul Carmody has an excellent resources reference for begineers. See the resouces particularly the Q&A's. Paul has pretty good answer for your question #5, #6 and #7.

undefinition

There are too many good speaker DIY websites. Spend the time to browse them.
 
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I second many of the suggestions that you start with a complete kit. I assume you are in UK. Visit Falcon Acoustic which have excellent choice of speaker drivers. Wilmslow has more choice of kits over a wider price range.

Falcon Acoustics, or

Wilmslow Audio

If you are more ambitious, Paul Carmody has an excellent resources reference for begineers. See the resouces particularly the Q&A's. Paul has pretty good answer for your question #5, #6 and #7.

undefinition

There are too many good speaker DIY websites. Spend the time to browse them.

Okay thanks! (I actually living in Finland but ordering from inside EU or from UK is not a problem:D) Paul Carmody carrera speaker project sounds very interesting :). I slowly start to understand crossover diagram, as I've read and watched couple of dozen different videos and resources. But I still don't get how is frequency cut to to specific frequency and how is RMS wattage calculated from crossover design.

On other note. Are there any good internet crossover component stores in hong kong, korea or in china that has global shipping?:confused:

Finland has some really expensive crossover stores..

2.0mm 0.10mH 0.050 ohm Inductor is like 16€ (close to 20$)
1.50mH 0.210ohm inductor is over 50€

Loudspeaker freaks Home page seems to be okay speaker/crossover store in EU (I think) :D
 
I've decided that I want to make 3-way Bass, mid, tweeter based speakers.
Then build the Tarkus (instead of the Carrera).

They used to be called Europe Audio and here is a thread spanning 6 years of experiences dealing with them:
Europe Audio - dreadful experience
I don't want to be an advocate of them, but once you know what are their shortcomings everything works. The only very annoying thing it that they answer to emails very rarely if at all, I got an answer only for a defective unit. In short, buy only what they have in stock. If it is not in stock, if you are not very lucky you can wait for a very long time.

Ralf
 
hi ExponentFlame11,

you might have a look at the pages from iris strassacker or intertechnik here in germany
they have all the stuff for speaker building (even cabinet- and xover-calculator).
have fun
A.

Okay thanks! ^_^ Gonna check it out:)


I really like treble of my Klipsch RF-52II even though they are too harsh for some ears and bass is really good for 5.25 inchers, if I was to build horn based speakers someday in the future would it need more or better resistors to get loudness even between the woofer and tweeter.

Are there any big differences between say 50€ 8" drivers vs 150€ it terms of quality of bass reproduction considering they are in equally good enclosures and about same frequency response?
 
I've ordered from Strassacker before without any problems whatever but their international postage prices are a bit high unless you order a lot.

Within the UK I've used Lean Business and Falcon Acoustics both of whom are excellent but I have no idea how they are internationally.
Lean Business - Outstanding Audio, Guitar Speakers and PA Speakers specialist

Falcon Acoustics | The Leading DIY Speaker Parts and Kit Supplier since 1972

For loudspeaker project, I will stick with regional sellers. Shipping overseas is not practical because of the weight and the resultant cost.

Falcon Acoustics is a well respected vendor who can help its customer technically some times. I am in the US, my experiences with Falcon and Wilmslow were positive, but limited to crossover and parts.
 
Okay, so is it just inductor coil's size? (bigger size = more cooling area = lower resistance = better wattage before overheating)? :)

Inductor larger than 0.5 mH is not going to be cheap. But "1.50mH 0.210ohm inductor is over 50€" is too excessive. So go shop in UK.

For even moderate inductance (1-5 mH for crossover) range, air coil inductor will be expensive, bulky and heavy. DC resistance can be high except for very large magnetic wire gauge (14 or smaller#). Avoid Chinese sellers on eEbay because they often use ridiculously small gauge wires.

The European speaker builder prefers Ferrite core inductor. In the US, laminated iron core is more popular for high end. They are not cheap, but still affordable if you want good sound.

The problem of higher wattage inductor is NOT about overheating. inductor with ferrite or iron core can saturate (the current induced magnetic flux) at high power making the inductor become non-linear, thus, the sound distorted. For my project, I use "15 AWG Sledgehammer Steel Laminate Inductors" from Madisound and am very happy with the sound. The Sledgehammer inductor can handle over 500 watts before I start worrying about saturation.

Don't worry about trying different component and trust you ears. Other's experience are helpful to you. But you are the ultimate judge.
 
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This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.