Active Speaker Kits (1 Viewer)

[Dustin B]

Does anyone make any decent active speaker kits. Along the lines of a 2 1/2 way (2 way being active crossover and the 1/2 way being passive) using 1" and two 6.5" or 8" drivers? Maybe even a ribbon tweeter instead of the 1"?
Oh and here's the real kicker, would it be possible to get 5 of them for around $4000 CDN including taxes (which works out to about $2300 USD before you add tax), shipping, cabinet construction and finishing materials (don't have to ship cabinet materials, would buy and build those locally).
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Dustin
[email protected]
My Adire Tempest Sonosub
[Edited last by Dustin B on October 24, 2001 at 01:38 AM]

 

[BobL]

Hi Dustin,
Adire Audio makes a plate bi and tri amplifier with built in active crossovers. The crossovers are adjusted by changing a resistor to get the crossover point you want. They would work with any cabinet and driver combo you would like. And the three way would avoid the 2 1/2 issue. They are only 65Wx2 or 65Wx3 but remember you don't need as much power if the amp is right at the driver. The price also seems reasonable. Here is the link.
http://www.adireaudio.com/cd/active_home.htm
Hope this helps.
Bob
Ps. If you build speakers with these amps let me know as I am debating making active speakers myself.

 

[Brian Bunge]

Damn, that's pretty cool! I was thinking about building a center channel based on an existing two-way monitor and adding dual 6.5's! Looks like this could make things pretty simple! I could use the same crossover between the mid/tweet and use the electronic crossover between the mid and dual 6.5's! This way I know the center would match my existing L/R monitors and I could get by with just using the two way amp!
Brian

 

[Brian Bunge]

Also if Dan Wiggins pops in here, would the toroidal transformer have any negative affect on placing a speaker with this amp in it on top of or near a TV? Is the back side of the amp enclosed or is it completely open?
Brian

 

[DanWiggins]

Brian,
The toroidal transformer is actually a good thing, from a TV standpoint; toroidals are inherently self-shielding, with VERY little stray magnetic field.
The back of the amp is open; it's air-tight through the mounting plate, but the back of the amp is completely exposed.
Dan Wiggins
Adire Audio

 

[Brian Bunge]

Dan,
Thanks for the input! Since the amp is open on the back do you think it would be a good idea to have it isolated in a separate chamber on the back of the speaker enclosure?
Boy, the wheels are churnin' now!
Brian
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[Randy G]

Sure would make it easier to calculate for volume displacement, but what about heat dissipation issues if you enclosed it?
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[Brian Bunge]

Randy,
That was my next question...
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[Hank Frankenberg]

Brian, yes, you could build a separate enclosure on the back of your speaker enclosure. Take a look at my sonosub photo (sorry for the low resolution). I built an enclosure to attach to the sonotube and it works great. with it next to a wall, it's out of sight: http://www.geocities.com/hankbond1/My_page.html

 

[Brian Bunge]

Hank,
What I was really referring to was having the amp's enclosure recessed within the speaker cabinet. Sort of like the cross section cutout of the Aerial SW12 subwoofer. But in this case I'm referring to a monitor and not a subwoofer.
BTW, I've seen the pics of your sub but could you give us all the dimensions?
Thanks,
Brian

 

[Randy G]

Hey Brian,
If ya need to find the exact volume of that active crossover, don't forget that you can always rely on Archimedes' principle of water displacement....just go fill up your bathtub to the rim, drop in the crossover, then measure the volume of the water that spills out. The warranty will cover any problems. :^)
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[DanWiggins]

Brian,
No need for a seperate chamber; it's plenty air-tight as is... As far as the displacement, a good estimate is 2.6L - no need for the bathtub trick...

Dan Wiggins
Adire Audio

 

[Brian Bunge]

Randy,
I've seen guys do something similar in car audio to determine the volume within a spare tire well. The fill the well with packing foam peanuts and then measure how much they've used against a known volume. Say a 1ft^3 box.
Dan,
I'm not worried so much about an air tight seal. I was more concerned about the amp's components possibly interacting with the speaker's drivers or possible fire hazards from any type of damping material coming in contact with the amp's components. Of course, I had a plate amp on the back of a sub with several pounds of fiberfil and never have any problems. If you don't think either of these concerns are real issues then I guess I can discount them also.
Thanks,
Brian

 

[Randy G]

Dan,
"a good estimate is 2.6L"
C'mon, in the interest of science, and for DIYers the world over, sacrifice one of those puppies to the water gods(Neptune,Poseidon??) and get the EXACT figure. Brian wants to extend the depth of his cabinets by a precise amount so that he can please his anal retentive customers.
ya mean like me???
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[Brian Bunge]

Randy,
You, anal retentive? You resemble that remark! Whaddaya mean customers? I've only had one so far and I think I've actually gone in the hole on that deal! But she's a friend and wasn't expecting to really make anything off her! The idea is for her to help drum up future business! And you know you already get a special price (assuming you ever get that fence post you've been sitting on for over a year outta yer ass!).
I'm actually getting 1.9L. I'm multiplying the cutout dimensions (5.75W x 6.75H) times 3"D. I then convert to cubic feet (divide by 1728) and then convert to liters (multiply by 28.3).
Brian
P.S. Ellen, you reading this?

 

[Chris J R]

Are active speakers like this a good idea? I mean are there any conlicts soudns wise. I guess what I am asking is what are the benefits/drawbacks to using a built in amp on your speaker like this? Thanks for the help!
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Laters!!
Rollo

 

[ShaneH]

No advice on my part Dustin, just saying thanks for the demo on the weekend. You've got an aewsome setup and your sub is incredible, the pictures don't do it justice. Did you get your programming figured out?

 

[Dustin B]

Yep. Canned using fgets and switched to gets and it worked perfectly. Found out later that what I was missing is that fgets keeps the n at the end of a line it reads in. So all I would have needed to do was add n to the strtok function delimiters.
And you're welcome for the demo. Don't know a lot of people locally who are interested in HT. So your were the first person I've given a demo to that could truly appreciate what a Tempest Sonosub is :p The others just thinks it's big, loud and can shake things.
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Dustin
[email protected]
My Adire Tempest Sonosub

 

[Brian Bunge]

Chris,
I think the main advantage is the elimination of passive components in the signal chain. Inductors in particular suck up amp power so eliminating them can be a good thing. I don't know that I would call it a negative but many drivers still require some impedance correction so you might still have to use some passive components but not for the actual crossover itself.
Brian
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[Chris J R]

What about using the passives that are built with most DIY speakers and using these amps? For example the Bryston Powerpacs are just like their fantastic amps jsut monos. Is it a good idea to use these types of amps (ps later I will add active crossovers) or should I just go with a regular ole amp? Thanks for the help!!!
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Laters!!
Rollo