help on building dipole surrounds (1 Viewer)

[Sam_Walls]

I want to build a set of dipolar surround sound speakers. The speakers that i am going to use is a 6ohm Vifa speaker (part# 299-492) and a 8ohm Dayton Audio 1/8 tweeter (part# 275-075).

My receiver (Sony STRDE895) puts out 110 watts @ 8ohms. So will it be ok to run a 8ohm tweeter and a 6 ohm speaker.

So when building dipole surrounds how would i build the enclosure. Mostly how much airspace is needed for these speakers. I know one speaker and tweeter are wired out of phase of another. Does there need to be a divider in the middle of the enclosure? Also should surrounds be ported of sealed?

Lastly what about the crossove, what kind of crossover should i use? Do surrounds need different crossovers than front speakers?

Thank you for your time,

 

[Shawn Keeler]

Sam,
I have a few pics of the DiPoles I built for my theater. http://www.keelercables.com/keeler_theatre.htm This may help get your mind thinking. One thing you can do if you are not comfortable designing the enclosure and/or crossover network yourself is you can contact Madisound ( http://www.madisound.com/ ), and they will design the crossover and give you the recommended enclosure specs using a program called LEAP for about $35.00. Just tell them the drivers and design you are needing and the take it over from there. Hope this helps. Shawn Keeler

 

[Sam_Walls]

awesome. Another ? is it ok to use 6 ohm speakers and 8 ohm tweeters? would it be better to use the same ohm configuration?

 

[Shawn Keeler]

Depending on the overall impedance of the finished speaker you are trying to accomplish, but you can.

 

[Sam_Walls]

My reciever is puts out is rated at 110 watts at 8ohm for the rear surrounds and center channels. SO i think 8 ohm final load will be best,

sam

 

[Shawn Keeler]

Perfect!!

 

[TimForman]

I don't think I've ever seen a dipole with a single woof and a single tweet. If you look at Shawn's there are two tweeters firing on different axes. If you're looking for a high dispersion two driver/two-way solution consider having the woofer fire forward and the tweeter fire up or to the side at an angle. Or pick up a copy of Vance Dickason's Loudspeaker Design Cookbook and build his surround speakers (which has 3 drivers btw). You're not going to have a dipole design by simply wiring the woofer and tweeter out of phase. Your receiver is "rated" at an 8 ohm load but I'm sure it would handle +-4 ohms either direction on the effects channel.