1.     Don't be a dotard!
    Read these "rules" AND introduce
    yourself     before your first post
  2. A healthy approach to understanding measurements
    Being true to what the artists intended
  3. After being asked for the 308th time, Merv lists top 5 headphones
    (opinion / entertainment piece)
    Dismiss Notice
  4. $1000 to the first to design a headamp using discrete components with better measurements than Magni 3+
    Dismiss Notice
IMPORTANT: New Members Read This Don't Be a Measurement Fascist Merv's Top 5 Headphones - 2023 Edition $1000 Challenge

Thinking About Building Some Speakers

Discussion in 'DIY' started by TwoEars, Mar 25, 2016.

  1. TwoEars

    TwoEars Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2,006
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I thought it might be fun to try and build my own speakers. I was thinking stand-mounted single driver, the purist approach.

    Only thing is I know virtually nothing about building speakers. Anyone who might care point me in the right direction? I'm looking for:

    1) Good books on the topic (or internet articles for that matter)
    2) Good forums to read and learn from
    3) Sellers of high-quality drivers (I want the good stuff!)
    4) Potentially some kind of software which can model standing waves and resonances and stuff like that
    Any help will be much appreciated! |\/|
     
    TwoEars, Mar 25, 2016
    #1
  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,999
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    1) Good books on the topic (or internet articles for that matter)

    This one is OK: http://www.amazon.com/Loudspeaker-Design-Cookbook-Vance-Dickason/dp/1882580109
    I actually don't use his book because by the time I figured out stuff (this was pre-Internet and I read semi-useless books from RadioShack by David Weems), I didn't need it anymore.

    2) Good forums to read and learn from

    Zaphaudio.com
    humblehomemadehifi.com (used to be a much better resource before he went commercial)

    3) Sellers of high-quality drivers (I want the good stuff!)

    Madisound
    eSpeakers

    I highly suggest you build simple first projects using lower quality less expensive drivers. If you use expensive parts, your first project will likely end up as a very expensive abortion. There is absolutely no substitute for experience. And it is 100% guaranteed that you will in your lifetime build a horrific sounding piece of crap for a speaker that you want to throw into the dumpster.

    4) Potentially some kind of software which can model standing waves and resonances and stuff like that

    The primary software you want should be for measuring drivers, development of crossovers, sizing boxes and ports, and maybe simulating baffle effects. You don't need software for modelling standing waves or resonances for building speakers. Building speakers is hands-on engineering, not masturbatory theoretical science. Check out Jeff Bagby's free tools. ARTA is good for driver measurements. LinearTeam's WinISD for boxes.

    5) Any extra stuff that I need to know?

    Now for the hardest part: learn how to build cabinets, cutting wood, cutting circles, routing, etc. Saws, glue, sanding, finishing, screws, etc. Or know a good woodworker to outsource this to.

    Also understand V = IR or more precisely V = IZ. Live and breath it, and crossover / EQ networks become much easier to tweak after your simulations are done and don't go exactly as planning, which is 90% of the time.

    ALTERNATIVELY:

    Just build the Seas 8" EXCEL full range kit offered at Madisound. They sell the driver and the cabinets. Just add wires and screw everything into place.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2016
    purr1n, Mar 25, 2016
    #2
  3. TwoEars

    TwoEars Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2,006
    Trophy Points:
    113
    @purrin

    Very nice purrin! I'll be chewing on all this for the next couple of days! :bow:
     
    TwoEars, Mar 25, 2016
    #3
  4. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    8,255
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northwest France
    I have built 2 sets of speakers so far and both of them are single driver fullrange. One is a set of bookshelf speakers based on the Fostex fe83en and the other is a TABAQ. The TABAQ has a pretty good reputation and the original builder even has a similar commercial product now. I built both by hand which was a bit of a pain. In the future I am trying to build the equivalent speakers in PVC instead. Here are a couple sites I like to look at for fullrange speakers. Madisound has some good kits too.

    http://frugal-phile.com/index.html
    http://www.frugal-horn.com/index.html

    If you are using quick-connect terminals and no crossover then what are you risking by using more expensive drivers? You might have to trash the enclosure but the drivers should be perfectly fine.
     
    Cspirou, Mar 25, 2016
    #4
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,999
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    The enclosure is 99% of the physical work. Also no XO doesn't necessarily mean no passive EQ network. I'm not 100% of the purist school.
     
    purr1n, Mar 25, 2016
    #5
  6. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,203
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    The Netherlands
    This has got me thinking, perhaps you can shed some light on this @purrin. Some guys built me some speakers years ago and they insisted having the XO external was better. Years later someone else said the same, why is this? The only thing i could think of was that it had to do with resonance affecting performance of the XO / filter. I think they explained it but I forgot about it, was well over a decade ago.

    I know i could google this but having this info here is probably beneficial.
     
    Riotvan, Mar 25, 2016
    #6
  7. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    8,255
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northwest France
    Personally I was thinking of making external crossovers so that I could have the option of updating in the future or even using an active crossover. I am not so sure that it affects the sound and I think that it is more about convinience to include it in the enclosure.
     
    Cspirou, Mar 26, 2016
    #7
  8. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    8,255
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northwest France
    Another thing if you are more tech minded. If you are part of a local hackerspace you can get your panels cut from a laser cutter or a CNC machine. I actually did this for one of my amps and part of the TABAQ speaker. I live in an apartment so power tools were not an option. I had to draw the cut plan myself and pay for the laser cutting time but it was far cheaper then buying the power tools to do it. An advantage of this is that you can do some complicated joints that would takes months or even years of experience in order to accomplish.
     
    Cspirou, Mar 26, 2016
    #8

Share This Page