6.5" 2-way under $150

[BradH]

Hello,

First post - thank you for this site,

I'm looking to build 2 way stand mount stereo speakers. They will be driven by a class D amp from China. Subwoofer is not in the budget so 6.5" drivers or larger for adequate bass. The more bass the better if possible.

Budget is $150 CAD (about $120 USD) for drivers and crossovers. Bare bones crossover components are fine. I have the lumber. I'm not great at soldering and don't have measuring equipment. I am not bad with wood working though. FWIW

Would like something like Jeff Bagby Soprano but with larger woofers. Would like to use paper drivers if possible.

Listen to mostly rock, prog rock, ambient, house

Thanks
Brad

 

[BradH]

I haven't picked out a class D amp yet. So if there's one that works well with suggested speaker feel free to recommend.

 

[ernperkins]

Look at the Classix II Bare Bones kit by Paul Carmody (slightly over your budget) and the Caritas Full Kit (well within your budget) by Jeff Bagby, both available at MENISCUS.

 

[LineSource]

The 6.5" SB_Acoustics SB17NRXC35-8 is a popular paper cone midbass, and there are a few designs with the SB29RDC-4 1.1" dimple dome tweeter using a 1650-1800Hz crossover. Attached one example.

A 0.8cuft cabinet can reach -F3 ~ 42Hz. $130 - $150 for drivers and crossover parts. Selecting lower cost iron core woofer inductors and standard grade capacitors gets close to your budget. More info available on these drivers in different cabinet builds... like stepped baffle for time alignment and fewer parts LR2/LR2 crossover for lower total cost. Get latest prices at PartsExpress and Madisound(drivers)

 

[Gallen1119]

I built Paul Carmody’s Overnight Sensations and I really like them. I later added his Voxel sub for a little more bass. The OS alone sound pretty good and they are a proven design. I think you can get whole kit, including flat pack enclosure for about $140 US. Bare bones I sure is available cheaper. The crossover was very straight forward with point to point solders.

I was running them with a class D until I built Nelson Pass’s ACA which takes them to a new level entirely.

Edit: Just checked and meniscus audio has bare bone for $91 US.

 

[Bill poster]

Consider 3e 3255 class d module, if you can find one.

Madisound have the SB 6" CAC on sale
A very good driver!

 

[ernperkins]

The 6.5" SB_Acoustics SB17NRXC35-8 is a popular paper cone midbass, and there are a few designs with the SB29RDC-4 1.1" dimple dome tweeter using a 1650-1800Hz crossover. Attached one example.

A 0.8cuft cabinet can reach -F3 ~ 42Hz. $130 - $150 for drivers and crossover parts. Selecting lower cost iron core woofer inductors and standard grade capacitors gets close to your budget. More info available on these drivers in different cabinet builds... like stepped baffle for time alignment and fewer parts LR2/LR2 crossover for lower total cost. Get latest prices at PartsExpress and Madisound(drivers)

Great drivers, but I took his budget to be for the pair of speakers, not for each speaker.

 

[BradH]

Thanks for the suggestions.

The SB acoustics stuff with the sb17 looks really nice, but it comes in about double the budget unfortunately.

Not a huge fan of the look of the Overnight Sensations, thanks though.

I'm going to go with the Classix II because I can get all the parts from Solen here in Canada and it comes in right on budget. I'll probably need some help a little later with assembling the crossover.

Question - Could I easily replace the BC25TG1504 with a BC25SC0604? Would it make much a difference? Heard nothing but great things about the latter one.

Thanks
Brad

 

[ernperkins]

I personally wouldn't unless I was willing to remeasure and modify the crossover for the tweeter differences. The magic is in the designer's crossover and it was designed for a specific pair of drivers. You might get lucky because these tweeters are similar, but they aren't identical. And you would always wonder if it would have sounded better if you had built it as the designer had intended.

 

[BradH]

Thank you, I'll leave the drivers as they are.

In terms of the cabinet. For aesthetic purposes I'd like to change it a bit, have a bit more space above the tweeter for a big roundover. Will that be a problem?

Thanks
Brad

 

[badman]

Thank you, I'll leave the drivers as they are.

In terms of the cabinet. For aesthetic purposes I'd like to change it a bit, have a bit more space above the tweeter for a big roundover. Will that be a problem?

Thanks
Brad

So basically making it a little wider and taller for bigger roundovers on the sides and a roundover on top and bottom? Keep the internal volume the same and make sure the vent has plenty of breathing room inside the box (2" from any wall minimum) and you should be okay.

 

[BradH]

Thanks

 

[laplace]

I am doing a similar project at the moment and have ordered a pair of Dayton DC160-8 and Peerless/Vifa D27TG35-06. That's $48/channel for drivers (partsexpress) which will produce an honest 50Hz from 10L ported boxes (F3=45Hz). I'll use 2" PVC for the ports and 18mm MDF for the boxes.

I will be bi-amping it, so "free" 4th-order Linkwitz-Riley active crossovers using some parts I have on the shelf. For amplifiers, probably 4 of LM3886 (about $45 from eBay), plus another $100 in parts (160VA transformer, heatsink, case, knobs, fuses, etc) to finish off the amplifier.

I also considered an SB15NRXC30-8, SB17NBAC35-8 and Tang Band W6-1721. The SB15NRXC30 costs 3x the DC160 and has 2dB more sensitivity but doesn't go any lower. The other two go appreciably lower but require much larger (28-36L) boxes. If you are OK with 40L of space (two jerry-cans!) per channel and can afford the W6-1721, I think that could be the bottom-half of a great 2-way, with F3 at about 36Hz.

Rough graphs from WinISD are attached showing absolute SPL and indicative box sizes, from the published specs of each.

I picked the D27TG because I have them on my main home-theatre speakers; they are awesome (better than my 40yo ears anyway) and fairly affordable.

 

[BradH]

Thanks, something to think about. I would have no problem with bigger speakers, I have the room for them, it’s mostly an issue of conserving wood. Since i’m using BB $$. I’m going to stick to Paul’s design since I’m a noob at this. Fingers crossed it works out.