diy speaker kit (1 Viewer)

[Paul His]

I'm looking for a speaker kit (or detailed plans/parts list) to build two main speakers.

I'll build the cabinets (my main hobby is woodworking) and can assemble the electronics myself. However, I know nothing of crossover design, so I need a 'recipe'.

I'm looking for a full range speaker (ie subwoofer not required) to listen to a wide range of music including rock, light rock, acoustic, jazz, etc, etc. I'd like it ideally to be a neutral or slightly warm sound - I'm really not fond of harsh and bright tweeters. I listen to music loud, but not beat-out-windows-crack-the-plaster loud. These speakers will likely be used as mains for home theatre also, but that's not my primary concern.

My receiver is a Yamaha 3300 (130 watts/channel) and the room is approx 30' x 17' x 8' in the basement.

Budget is approximately $500-$600 US, for drivers & electronics, not including cabinet, but is flexible - the Alpha LS is out of the question .

I've searched here and elsewhere and actually have found some options, but decided to post this in hopes of getting some specific recommendations for my situation.

Recommendations, comments?

Thanks,

Paul

 

[Luitz]

Look here for some plans and ideas

http://www.partsexpress.com/projects...homeaudio.html

or here select kit on left margin
http://www.adireaudio.com/diy_audio/...nitor_kits.htm
And also here for some ideas they have all the plans free

http://www.theloudspeakerkit.com/

Most of the parts can be purchased from Parts Express
Making your own 400/500 dollar speakers will rival 1.5k speakers and up.. See manufacture have such a huge mark up unlike us DIY peeps

 

[Steve Elias]

You'll have to expand you budget, but North Creek has the Rhythm speaker kit (perhaps the Borealis as well) that should meet your needs. I suspect the DIY ProAc Response 2.5 may not fit your needs exactly, but it's also worth checking out. The price for the ProAc clone is variable depending on crossover parts, but I've calculated the version I plan to build at $700. All of the aforementioned sites/kits are well-thought of. Check out the GR-Research A/V-3 as well - highly thought of AND within the budget.

http://www.northcreekmusic.com/NorthCreekKits.html

http://www.geocities.com/diyproac25/

http://www.gr-research.com/

Steve

 

[Paul His]

Thanks for the responses. Some of these look interesting.

I've also been looking at the Veritas (see speakerbuilder.net) It seems to be very close to what I'm looking for, although I'm a little concerned about the low-end (aka cheap) woofers and mid-range this design is based on.

Anyone built or heard these Veritas?

Paul

 

[ThomasW]

Historically I haven't been able to recommend THESE due to the cost of the drivers. Now, PE has replaced the expensive M8a, with the lower cost but performance equal M8n. The new driver is an electrical drop-in replacement. So the cost of the drivers plus XO's are now in your budget.

The use of the dual 8" alu/mg woofers combined with the famous VifaXT25 tweeter, make these speakers literally state-of-the-art

These are a true 'fullrange' high-end loudspeaker (retail speakers their equal would run ~$5000). Solid output to the low 30Hz range. They will indeed 'rock' if you want them to, but are also able to reproduce the subtle inner details of a chamber orchestra.

Note that they are a true 4 ohm load, so make sure your receiver will be happy with that.......

This is a true DIY speaker, we designed them for our friend Tibor, he's the 'proud' father in the pictures. We have box plans and crossover block diagrams available at no cost if you're interested. All the drivers and XO parts come from the usual suppliers (PE, Madisound, etc)

 

[Todd Shore]

Since no one has posted this one...

Dennis Murphy's MB01

He also has a 3-way variant. You can start with the MB01 and later modify it to 3-way by adding the bass cabinet and modifying the crossover.

 

[Luitz]

ThomasW
Looks like http://t-3.cc/users/audioworx/page113Tibor-MTM.html are rocket tweeters and swan mid/bass driverss.. Nice job they did .

 

[ThomasW]

Luitz

Hi-Vi Research makes the woofers used in the Rocket and Swan designs. The tweeters are Vifa XT-25s.

Tibor is a european trained and schooled cabinetmaker, so the fit and finish is pretty amazing. The pics don't do them justice...

 

[Paul His]

I was looking at the MB01 3-ways and noticed that the frequency response graph shows a drastic dip around 130 Hz - does that make sense?

Paul

 

[Chris Keen]

ThomasW,

I wouldn't mind putting together a set of those with that MTM setup. The m8n midwoofs are $48.70ea when four or more are purchased, and the XT25 tweets are $74.90ea for 1-3 quantity. In drivers, that's $172.30 in drivers (shielded versions) or $150.90 for unshielded. What do you guess the cost of the cross-overs to be for good quality?

Did you and John (I think he was the other guru involved) make up a crossover to do a center channel based on these drivers and maybe a 3-way with mid involved? Just curious.

Chris...

 

[ThomasW]

Chris,

Yep we did a center, using the same drivers and same XO. That was the plan all along.

And yep Jon did one of his famous Cauer/Elliptical XO's. The XO's design based on a variant of the article published in AudioXpress.

XO cost is purely a function of what parts are used. Tibor was on a very tight budget. Given that multiple high value caps are needed for the design, we made big cluster caps by paralleling up bunches of the GE caps on sale at Madisound. Doing that makes caps that are 1/2 the cost of the designer brands. It also creates caps that are really high quality, with a VERY low ESR.

For Tibor's inductors we used my power winder and made custom coils for him.

Buying Solen or Dayton high value caps and factory made inductors will bump the XO cost up.

HERE are block diagrams of the XO circuits. You can do the math for the components...

BTW, the XO is optimized for the unshielded tweeters

 

[TedS]

Paul,

On the Madisound Audio Discussion Board, Dennis explained that the dip at 130 Hz is the result of cancellation due to floor bounce in his measurement setup. I'm sure you wouldn't see that if he did a near-field measurement. Floor bounce is present in most rooms, but the frequency it occurs at and whether it's even audible may vary. I've built the MBOW1 and am very satisfied. I plan to do the 3-way conversion when time and funds are available.

Ted

 

[Paul His]

Thanks Ted,

Paul

 

[ThomasW]

For those that missed the jump to hyperspace..........

The Hi-Vi M8, Vifa XT-25, MTM thread is off and running HERE

 

[cacu]

ThomasW,
I'm interested in doing the m8n MTM for my next project. Would you kindly share the cabinet design?
Thanks

 

[ThomasW]

Click on the HERE hyperlink in my post above yours

 

[Bob K]

Paul,

They're not often mentioned here, but take a look at Pi Speakers, http://www.pispeakers.com , particularly the Studio 2s and Theater 4s. They are quite sensitive and with your amp should provide plenty of bass, no sub required.

 

[PaulT]

Since you are in Canada, here's a link to a supplier in BC that brings in various supplies and kits:
http://www.creativesound.ca/index.html

 

[Aaron Howell]

Sorry to dig this thread up, but I'm considering my next set of speakers.

I'm not a member of the other board, so I am asking here. What kind of power does it take to get these up and running, and what will they take long term? Would a NAD c370 be up to the job on it's own? I have a NAD c270 I could mate with it, but I unfortunatly can't be in control of the volume at all times. Already had damage occur that way once.

Thx.

 

[ThomasW]

That's the reason fast blow fuses were invented.

There are couple threads about this design

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=3606
http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=8780