Help choosing woofer and tweeter for DIY project

John Titan · 01-18-2006, 01:11 AM

Hey guys

Some background first sorry.
I thinking of building my own set of speakers (2-way 3/4-1" tweeter& 6.5" woofer, some thing that handles about 125watts)I have a workshop with any of the tools I would need and very good carpentry skills. I do not how ever have an extensive background in building speakers. I'm currently reading a few books on the subject and getting a good grasp on the basics. By the time I'm ready to build them I will have hopefully most of the knowledge I need to do so. That being said I have a few question's

1. What are some good names of woofer and tweeters to use (price is a consideration) I know a few name that SEEM to be good such as Vifa, Swan, Peerless, Morel. I don't know what are good names, what to stay away from etc. And does anyone know where to get them at the best price. I know partsexpress but I don't know if there the cheapest or not.

2. I'm doing this to get the experience and to save maybe a few bucks while being able to do some nice custom wood detail in the process(maybe some exotic woods if the budget allows).

3.Is there some really easy beginner mistakes that I should know besides not asking for help if I need it.

Thanks to anyone who posts

John Titan · 01-18-2006, 01:32 AM

Mods- Please change tittle of thread to
Help choosing woofer and tweeter for DIY project

thanks

ThomasW · 01-18-2006, 11:01 AM

Designing and building a speaker is a bit more complicated that randomly choosing a woofer, a tweeter and getting a generic crossover. So......

Unless you plan on investing in a measurement mic, a mic preamp, have a duplex soundcard, computer sofware, and know how to make measurements in the baffles you intend to use, I suggest you build someone elses proven design.

THIS is an excellent little speaker. It's designed by someone who's been designing speakers for 30+yrs.

John Titan · 01-18-2006, 03:39 PM

I wasn't planning on randomly choosing the components,
I was looking for suggestions on componenets not to bother with because of build quality or maybe being overpriced etc.

Quote:

Unless you plan on investing in a measurement mic, a mic preamp, have a duplex soundcard, computer sofware, and know how to make measurements in the baffles you intend to use, I suggest you build someone elses proven design.

Even using the mathematical formulas and maybe understanging crossover design wouldn't allow me to do this without the above listed stuff?

That seems to put a real big road block on most DIY projects relating to speakers would it not?

ThomasW · 01-18-2006, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Even using the mathematical formulas and maybe understanging crossover design wouldn't allow me to do this without the above listed stuff?

Nope not even close. If you're going to do it properly, loudspeaker design is very complicated system based process.

Read the first post in the link I posted. Look at all the data used to create that design. That's what's needed to create a quality loudspeaker using modestly priced parts.

Without doing to that level of engineering one is simply guessing, and 99% of the time people guess wrong.

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John Titan · 01-19-2006, 12:04 PM

Thanks for the help. I guess if I do decide to build them then I'll have to use someone else's design. Very disappointing though. Although knowing your building a proven design does make things alot easier.

BTW- Is there a site you could recommend that has a few speaker designs to choose from.

Thanks again for your help.

Justin_A_D · 01-19-2006, 12:44 PM

I tried to post a message with links to various projects but apparently I don't have enough posts here to include links. I sent you a PM with the links to the projects ideas though. Good luck.

Patrick Sun · 01-19-2006, 04:59 PM

Parts Express has a nice gallery of DIY speaker projects:

http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/index.html

Here's a page to Wayne J's designs (not sure if all the drivers can be ascertained nowadays amongst the designs):

http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_files/default.htm

ThomasW · 01-19-2006, 06:23 PM

Quote:

BTW- Is there a site you could recommend that has a few speaker designs to choose from.

Certainly, but what kind of speaker do you want?

Bookshelf? Minitower? MT? MTM? Fullrange?

Most of the designs on PE and DIYspeaker are using older technology rather mid-fi drivers. Projects using the newer PE RS (Reference Series) of drivers are significantly better than the older technology drivers

MarkRoberts · 01-19-2006, 06:47 PM

AscendantAudio has thier new MT kits on sale for $99.00ea. Don't know if that is what you are looking for.
There isn't allot of info on the site right now as they are in the process of updating it. You could give them a call to get the details.

John Titan · 01-19-2006, 10:58 PM

Quote:

(2-way 3/4-1" tweeter& 6.5" woofer, some thing that handles about 125watts)

^From my original post

This is basically what i'm looking for? Could be a MTM.

thanks