Please help a professional woodworker build DIY speakers

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I listen to classical music hours a day - two 24/7 non-commercial fm stations - and I cannot agree with your post. You are not helping with this.
My stations are KWAX and KQAC, both streaming on the web.

If that was addressed to me, I don't get your point. I listen to classical music as well and the speaker kits I listed are all excellent for that purpose.

I was responding to Moondog55 who claimed they would not be good for heavy metal. I don't listen to that, don't even consider it to be music at all, but am aware that it involves purposely distorting the guitar at very high SPLs.
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So my point was why bother spending money on quality drivers, particularly the excellent Satori woofer in the Adelphos, if you are going to send highly distorted sound through them.

In essence, I was agreeing with Moondog55, so I don't understand your objection.
 
If that was addressed to me, I don't get your point. I listen to classical music as well and the speaker kits I listed are all excellent for that purpose.

I was responding to Moondog55 who claimed they would not be good for heavy metal. I don't listen to that, don't even consider it to be music at all, but am aware that it involves purposely distorting the guitar at very high SPLs.
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So my point was why bother spending money on quality drivers, particularly the excellent Satori woofer in the Adelphos, if you are going to send highly distorted sound through them.

In essence, I was agreeing with Moondog55, so I don't understand your objection.

Why is the original poster wanting to build speakers? If he's only going to use them in a work shop to listen to hard rock I would think he might be better served by buying the JBL bookshelves for $249 (arena or stage) and just enjoy the music. If the original poster just wants to build a nice looking speaker box that just hold average drivers then I just don't get the motivation there unless it's just to get his feet wet in learning how to build speakers.
 
not sure if it matters… But I mostly listen to old country, blues, classic rock, stuff like that but have been known to crank up the volume on some of the modern stuff … I’m a big steel panther fan ( don’t judge me )

If that was addressed to me, I don't get your point. I listen to classical music as well and the speaker kits I listed are all excellent for that purpose.

I was responding to Moondog55 who claimed they would not be good for heavy metal. I don't listen to that, don't even consider it to be music at all, but am aware that it involves purposely distorting the guitar at very high SPLs.
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So my point was why bother spending money on quality drivers, particularly the excellent Satori woofer in the Adelphos, if you are going to send highly distorted sound through them.

In essence, I was agreeing with Moondog55, so I don't understand your objection.

Our OP's taste does stil sound like music to my ears, I've even seen Steel Panther a couple of times :D. To me it seems a couple of Econowaves (do they fit within the budget? Considering the wood is free?) might be worth a try with the listening material the OP suggested.

What exactly is your definition of Heavy Metal? I'd say much of the stuff I play involves distorted guitars, I own a guitar and the equipment to distort it, but I still regard it as music, thank you. In reproducing this, I still care about the quality of the playback equipment.

With a genre list like the OP posted, I'd probably not go for single full range drivers. But I can't agree with the downplay of these genres in relation to the drivers needed to do it justice. It's really uncalled for i.m.h.o.

With good wood working skills a Synergy/Unity horn might be a wonderful project as well. But harder to stay within budget (more drivers). With the love for vintage stuff the two way horn/woofer combo (much like the Econowave) might be a good fit.

Lots to choose from, I bet making a horn is quite possible for someone with the skills to build these instruments...
 
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Our OP's taste does stil sound like music to my ears, I've even seen Steel Panther a couple of times :D. To me it seems a couple of Econowaves (do they fit within the budget? Considering the wood is free?) might be worth a try with the listening material the OP suggested.

What exactly is your definition of Heavy Metal? I'd say much of the stuff I play involves distorted guitars, I own a guitar and the equipment to distort it, but I still regard it as music, thank you. In reproducing this, I still care about the quality of the playback equipment.

With a genre list like the OP posted, I'd probably not go for single full range drivers. But I can't agree with the downplay of these genres in relation to the drivers needed to do it justice. It's really uncalled for i.m.h.o.

With good wood working skills a Synergy/Unity horn might be a wonderful project as well. But harder to stay within budget (more drivers). With the love for vintage stuff the two way horn/woofer combo (much like the Econowave) might be a good fit.

Lots to choose from, I bet making a horn is quite possible for someone with the skills to build these instruments...

This all goes back to Moondog55 posting that he doesn't think the various quality kits that were recommended by several of us are suitable for heavy metal. While he doesn't state it specifically, I assume he means that those speakers don't have the bass extension or power handling capability at low frequencies to match the demands of that genre.

I was just stating that given the loud, intentionally distorted guitar in that genre I doubt that speakers designed more specifically for sound quality, detail, and clarity are worth the extra cost. They are designed and intended for an entirely different purpose. In essence, I was agreeing with Moondog55, but without offering a solution.

Also listening to that genre requires a lot of bass power capacity in the amp as well as the drivers. And I'm not sure that the amp the OP is considering is up to the job. There has been no discussion so far about speaker efficiency, which should be addressed as well.

I do agree with you, however, about trying to use full range drivers. They are not well suited for this application.
 
You might want to look at the 12” Fane for playing loud. Needs a substantial box (or a room next door you can use to turn the wall into a baffle — but that does not involve much woodwork..

dave

Good suggestion, Dave.

I was thinking more in terms of a 4" to 6" FR like the MAs. But a 12" Fane or similar pro audio driver might be just the ticket. Why not use the same driver that you would hear amplified in person at a live concert.

That might produce a sound much closer to the real thing than anything else.
 
Volt 10 V2 from diysoundgroup plus a sub, for those moments when the music just cannot be subtle. The coaxial format addresses the movement around the space issue, and adding a sub to a larger 'satellite' is more easily done than working with toy boxes.

Barney,

I kind of skipped over this the first time, but now with Dave's post about using a pro audio driver I went back and realized the wisdom of it for your type of listening.

I think phivates may have given you the best suggestion yet for getting the Volt 10 V2 kit. I would take a good serious look at it instead of what some of us have been suggesting with more classical two way designs.
 
diyAudio Member
Joined 2007
Sorry if I offended anybody. I'm not a fan of heavy metal as a regular diet but I own albums and when I play them I listen to them loud, the artists intend this music to listened to loud. So "Yes" I did indeed mean that speakers to play this genre at the proper listening volume need deep and reasonably extended bass but also fast attack and the ability to hit 105dB occasionally etc.
Just because the music itself is distorted doesn't mean you don't need clean reproduction. But I also listen to classical symphonic music, modern music, jazz and especially female voices on jazz and on the odd occasion Willy Nelson et-al
 
RESPECT: Javad Shadzi has been very clever at routing and stacking hardwood boards into a beautiful, high performance translam cabinet. You will enjoy his threadS and construction techniques. Javad's driver selection cost more than your $200-$250 budget.

Strafi Translam FaitalPro Tower Build

From my experience, a 12" woofer + 1"CD EconoWave constructed from plywood is a great speaker for your workshop goals. Route baffle for waveguide, woofer, plus edge roundovers. If you desire BEAUTY, you could use Javad's translam construction for this EconoWave.
 

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I don't know if there's a kit for the sb17 aluminum driver with sb metal dome tweeter so maybe somebody has a link to a pre-made crossover that works with pre-designed baffle and enclosure dimensions...... Hope this helps.

For the popular SB_Acoustics aluminum cone 6.5" SB17NAC35-4 midbass and aluminum cone 1" SB26ADC-4 dome tweeter, there are a couple cabinet designs and a crossover with enough baffle-step compensation for in-room placement. You will want a slightly different crossover design for on-wall = near-wall placement.... much less baffle step compensation. The low diffraction distortion cabinet requires a few bevel cuts on a 2x thick front baffle. There is also a stepped-baffle cabinet for physical time alignment. The BW3 tweeter crossover circuit and LR4 midbass crossover circuit also produce enough phase shift speed for good flat-baffle performance.

details...details...details... decisions...decisions...decisions...
 
I have had a pair of Radian 5208C in my shop for some time, and have found them to be smooth and 'musical' while still projecting cleanly into the room. No harsh PA shout to my old ears. Unlike the Volt 10/2 at diysg they are a little above your budget when the Radian crossover is included.
 
not sure if it matters… But I mostly listen to old country, blues, classic rock, stuff like that but have been known to crank up the volume on some of the modern stuff … I’m a big steel panther fan ( don’t judge me ).

From Paul Carmody:
"the Tarkus was intentionally voiced for rock music. I mean, they are still capable of playing jazz or female vocal with finesse, but what they really like are guitars, electric bass, drums, cymbals, and synthesizers. I have been playing these instruments for 15 years now; I know what a Marshall half-stack or an Ampeg or an overdriven Fender Bassman sounds like. I wasn't happy with the design until it sounded like those amps were in the room with me.

The Tarkus were designed to play loud, play clean, and to bring rock recordings to life. "

Still sounds like a fit to me. An Econowave or similar horn (e.g. SEOS) + big woofer setup should work too. I'll be putting a pair of these as mains for my living room HT system:

Faital Pro 12PR300 + SEOS-12/DNA-360 | HiFiCircuit

I'd skip the tiny full rangers or mini-monitor 2-ways for this project. The room ain't that small.

Just my opinion.

Bill
 
sorry I also overlooked the heavy metal as a choice of music programming.
I side with those who stated that loud distorted music could probably be best served by a bunch of commercial designs. Else if you opt for DIY you will find that the size matters for the attack etc. if such qualities are required.
 
Actually Siegfried, a friend and neighbor, made me do it.

:yes:

Yeah I know you guys must have wrestled on that nice beach at the Sea Ranch, or he played them incessantly at night until you caved in :D.

p.s. anyways, those are a pretty little pair with a rather special polar distribution. I find them lacking a bit in midbass though. Else for upper mid I use them as a reference when designing my own speakers. I think I will always keep them for their small footprint and inspiring an awe in unsuspecting visitors. The only thing I did not try yet was to use one of your amps to drive the top (just too lazy :rolleyes:).
 
Take a look at the SEAS A26. You can find info at Madisound and reviews online. It uses very high quality drivers in a very simple but effective design. Great for the kinds of music that you stated you like to listen to as it uses a 10"woofer. I actually came across your thread because I am about to list a set of the SEAS drivers at a good discount that were used very briefly (hours) in prototype cabinets. The drivers from Madisound are about $858, which is above your budget but I will sell them for $500 so you can do this project if you so choose.
 
Hi Barney,

I don't know if you already decided to build some speakers, just want to show 2 examples of big two-way speakers with MDF material and bracing and also a more recent build with thin wall speakers with bitumen lining on the walls.

I can tell you that I spent at least 2 x as much time on the small one than on the big Pi 3 speakers... but since you are wood worker I don't think it would be a problem.
Since I don't have a wood shop, they are assembled right on my desk...:)
 

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