Newbie seeks driver approval

[markg]

I have Just subscribed here!

I have read the design book and barely understood the chapter titles. However, I have designed a box of about 70 litres and hope to use a:

Vifa PLH 270 VF/6 tweeter,
ScanSpeak 13M/8640-00 mid,
Peerless Csx-257 W woofer.

Does anyone know of any obvious reason why this combo wont work?

Also, as I understood even less than the chapter title on crossovers, can anyone recommend an 'off the shelf' brand or even a 'design and build service'.

You may be asking, why is a guy who knows nothing doing this?
Well, to find out why you guys do it.

Many thanks, Markg

 

[Jimmy154]

I think madisound.com builds cross-overs. lalena.com has a good explanation on how to build a cross-over, even if you know nothing.

 

[pinkmouse]

Hi Mark, welcome to the dark side

The drivers sound fine, but you maybe biting off more than you can chew as a first project, do a site search on crossovers to get a better idea of some of the problems...

My suggestion would be to check out the following links for kit information, they will also design crossovers, but at a cost, and they will be a sound basic design, but they will not get the best from your speakers.

http://www.falcon-acoustics.co.uk/
http://www.iplacoustics.co.uk/
http://www.wilmslow-audio.co.uk/

 

[GeniX]

Mark,

I have never done woodworking above some sanding & glueing back at school on items small enough to be held in a hand.

I have never been good at electronic things - until recently I had trouble remembering the difference between a volt and an amp.

I am currently making a pair of speakers (my first DIY) from scratch. I found my own drivers/tweeters, designed my own box size (with WinISD help), and have currently cut all the wood and sanded it down. I hope to apply a high-gloss black enamel (spray-on) for my finish.

Why do I tell you all this? Well, as I read once on a site "Think thrice, measure twice, cut once".

Follow that rule, read lots of information you can find online, and I reckon you'll be alright. Making a pair of speakers that will play something musical is not rocket science. Getting them phase-coherent, smooth response, and propperly crossover'd seems to be!

Ofcourse I cannot speak for definate as my speakers are not done yet. I remain quite confident tho'.

Goodluck!

BTW: You seem to be aiming for a 3-way - if you havent seen the crossovers for 'em, I would recommend you take a look. You might want to cut out the mid and do a 2-way (if your woofer can get high enough to crossover to the tweeter)

 

[daatkins]

I have to agree with Genix, a three way speaker for a first project will be very tough to optimise the crossover.

I suggest doing a simple two way with cheap, but respectable, drivers. There's a good range of suitable Audax drivers at www.maplin.co.uk (perhaps 6.5" coated paper midwoof at £15 each and a 70W 25mm dome tweeter for £12).

Build, listen, tweak and learn. Then repeat. When you're confident about your abilities then look to more advanced and expensive projects.

Nice one,
David

 

[Redeye]

I'd agree with David and Genix here. A pair of cheapo two ways using bog standard Audax drivers from Maplin will give you all the satisfaction of building a decent sounding set of speakers, and the minimum amount of hassle in designing and building them.

Good luck.

 

[diypole]

For what it's worth, IF your looking for bigger sound you can get very respectable bass and larger image with an MTM while still staying two way.
Jason

 

[lemondog]

I built a 3 way speaker system for my first project back 4 years ago, got everything from maplins, wahoo, nice to see someone else has mentioned maplins. you have to be carefull to match the speaker frequencies to the crossover frequencies when making a 3 way sytem.

Im currently on my 6 system using all eminence speakers icluding the kappa 18F speaker. and im still learning a thing or two. Takes time and you learn from wot you done before, but start cheap then once your confident, go big

 

[markg]

Newbie seeks driver approval (Reply)

Thanks to one and all for your responses which, I am happy to say, have given me a lot to think about. I am not quite the audiophile and the project was simply to replace a 20+ yrs old set of Pioneer s710's that suffered foam decay and cone cracking. They were a 12", 4" and ribbon and were the mid price choice of the time.

For my first post it was great to hear back and I'll continue to stay a part of it.

Cheers!! MarkG

 

[GeniX]

Lemondog,

Your ' start cheap, then go big ' is only too true! My current project is only 2-way bookshelfs. I dont expect to have a use for them when Im done as my PolkLSi7's are my bookshelfs (and will definately give better sound than these 1st DIY's).

However my plan is that once I have done this, and am used to this whole speaker creation thing I can work my way up to my 'ultra grand master reference' idea (dubbed the 'superlative line').

Lets just say these suckers are still in conceptual phase while I learn & think about the plausability of them - not huge in size, but an extremely dead cabinet design with a good 3-way design which will hopefully be phase coherent, time coherent, and be full range (hoping to get down to 30Hz or below).

These are on the cards for when I have a clue... for the moment 2-way bookshelfs are coming along nicely.

 

[navin]

the drivers yo chose ar good esp the SS midrnage.

1. i agree with all the others make a cheaper and good 2 way that u can use for surrounds later
2. if you decide to go with a bigger speaker i suggst you try out a kit. atleast it is a start.