Building my own speakers (1 Viewer)

[bilanio]

Hi, i decided to build my own home theater -- please advice me if you think that this is a loss project

The plan is to buy a nice 5.1 (or 7.1 Yamaha receiver)
Build my 5 speakers
Buy a descent subwoofer since i heard it tricky to build your own.
I have an old HTiB that i can use for my testing, this way i keep the choice of buying the receiver till the end.
My friend has a Yamaha receiver that i can use for the testing once a speaker is completed.

so the plan is to start with the middle speaker and i was wondering if anyone has a information on the
Loudspeakers' specs and the tweeter.

So i like to go to the hardware store and buy 2 speakers and a tweeter to install them, i like my speakers to be at least 50W (that i think is the average home theater speaker power)
What are the specs i should look for?

I plan to have my center look like the following
http://news.cnet.com/i/bto/20071121/center.gif

 

[Type A]

I think you got that backwards. DIY subs are much more pervasive than DIY speakers. Meaning advice and purchase options are much more common for subs than speakers.

 

[bilanio]

Hey Ty, excuse my modest english

Just to make sure i understood you, you meant to tell me that subs are easier to build than speakers?
or the other way around

I was reading about building middle speakers and i saw that i would need to use crossovers so its not only about getting speakers and tweeter and connecting them right?

 

[Type A]

Im not sure a DIY sub is any more tricky than speakers, especially considering how much more common it seems to be, thats all I was saying.And Ive never built one myself but I do know there are kits that look to be just that easy, yes. However if youre building from scratch I think its more complicated than that. Have you researched it at all? What did you find?

 

[schan1269]

The issue with building your own speakers is...

You'll need 2-3 different tweeters and 2(at least) different woofers.

You should also try crossovers with varying cut-off points.

Last time I knew somebody doing their own speakers, they started with an external crossover and bi-amped the speakers(basically separating frequencies outside the speaker...and then connect the tweeter and woofer to their own amp).

Sure that means you have to buy a crossover you are likely to "never use again" but it gives you the flexibility to figure out what crossover works with the tweeter/woofer you end up with. The crossover is the hardest part.

 

[schan1269]

Don't know if they ship over there...but a kit like this would be a great little learning curve before you dive in...

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-706

 

[Robert_J]

Where is "over there"? That will give us an idea of what products are available to you.

Like Ty said, subs are easier to build than speakers. Much, much easier. It's a box, driver and amp. Speakers have 2 or more drivers with a crossover. A generic, textbook crossover will make a speaker work but it won't sound good. That's like going to an auto parts store and picking parts at random to build a car. You can invest in the software and hardware to build your speakers correctly but it is a losing proposition if you are only doing this one time. Software like CALSOD is way out of my budget.

Subs require at minimum, free software and some basic power tools to build the cabinet. Most countries have a wide selection of "car audio" subs to build with as well as professional amps to power them with. Alpine, Infinity and Earthquake are among the worldwide brands that many people have access to.

 

[schan1269]

He is in Lebanon.

Omar, you should add your locale...

 

[Robert_J]

Lebanon. To bad it isn't Lebanon, Tennessee.

I suggest a kit. I've been building speakers as a minor hobby for years. When I went from textbook crossovers to a 100% custom model as part of a kit, it was amazing. It's hard to describe other than it went from listening to a CD to a musical experience. The design I used isn't even a top tier design. It's more of a budget model. http://stories.parts-express.com/stories/2444-en_us/category/Speaker/story/16516/redirect.htm%C2

Subs are my main hobby when I have the time. There's nothing like the physical sensation of massive bass.

 

[bilanio]

Thanks guys for the info,
i thought its a matter of numbers and thats it, like choosing a tweeter with the specs (X, y and z) and speaker with those specs and it should work!

I was asking around and someone told me that there is no need for crossovers, and that the tweeter will handle the high frequency audio alone! i guess that will work like that but gives bad sound output!

We pay extra for the pound whenever we ship things to Lebanon, and most probably customs will think im building a rocket or something worst lol soo it's better not to order anything online

I'll keep doing my research, if anyone of you guys knows a tutorial with specs for the parts please share

 

[Robert_J]

I was asking around and someone told me that there is no need for crossovers, and that the tweeter will handle the high frequency audio alone! i guess that will work like that but gives bad sound output!

There is ALWAYS a crossover .unless it is a piezo tweeter. That's how you keep the lower frequencies away from the tweeter. Send a 20hz tone to a tweeter and it will destroy itself by trying to move too much in a frequency range it was never designed to play. Most speakers have a passive crossover to route the signal to the proper drivers. The amp sends the electical signals to the crossover, it sends the lows to the woofer, the mids to the midrange and the highs to a tweeter. There is also an active crossover. The low level signal is sent to a crossover that routes the signals appropiately. The lows are sent to an amp that is connected directly to the woofer. The mids are sent to an amp that is directly connected to the midrange. The highs are sent to an amp directly connected to the tweeter.

i thought its a matter of numbers and thats it, like choosing a tweeter with the specs (X, y and z) and speaker with those specs and it should work!

It will work but it will sound bad.

I'll keep doing my research, if anyone of you guys knows a tutorial with specs for the parts please share

First, do you want to design your own speaker or build one from published plans? Designing starts with learning and http://books.google.com/books?id=nMyBis2blVUC was the first book I read back in about 1985. At least you can buy it as an ebook now.

The 2 links below may be too much for a beginner but it shows you how much additional equipment you need to buy and how much work goes into the step from the textbook above to measurements and full on custom speakers.
http://web.archive.org/web/20051201144335/http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_files/Articles/phat/hpif.htm
http://web.archive.org/web/20060427153152/http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_files/Articles/xover%20article/xpointmain.htm

If you have some tools or a friend that has tools and you provide the beer (after working), then a design is a better choice. I use these - http://web.archive.org/web/20060410...lder.net/web_files/Projects/D3/dayton3.htm%C2

 

[schan1269]

Back in the day when EV was a brand that mattered...

It was easy to play around with speaker design around a predicated box. EV mounted "everything" to the front baffle and you just had to unscrew it. If you bought different drivers you just had to make another square piece of wood to screw back down to the original box. I know quite a few people who turned EV boxes into subwoofers.

 

[bilanio]

I really appreciate all the support you provided, it seems that the project is a bit risky in my case
I'll start looking around for receiver and speakers.
klipsh HD 500 is an affordable option