Is it worth to change this speakers to diy ones? (1 Viewer)

[pelekkk]

Hello,
first of all I don't know if it's the right place to ask this question. If it's not, sorry for that

Anyway, I have these speakers: Optimus-PRO-X55AV, you can find them on ebay (I can's show a direct link).
Is it worth to change them to diy speakers? The problem is that I have only $100 to spend for speakers and crossovers. Case I'm going to make by myself (my uncle is making kitchen cabinets, he will help me with that).
I am thinking about these:

www partsexpress com projectshowcase dayton2way html
(put . or / in place of spaces in link above)

Is it worth it? Or maybe you guys can show me some already build (built..?) speakers than are cheap and have nice sound.

The main purpose of this experiment is to learn how to make diy speakers, so I want to start from cheap ones - if I'll mess up, I'm not gonna cry for the money

Sorry for English mistakes, I'm not native American nor British.

Cheers!
pelekkk

 

[Robert_J]

If you want to start simple, the DIY Showcase for the month is very simple and has some pretty good reviews. You can go from there on the DIY projects.

The Dayton 2-ways that you linked to are very nice speakers. I've built two designs by Wayne J. I'm using the Dayton II as my mains and the Dayton III as my center channel. Very nice and inexpensive designs. I have the parts to build a set of 7 Dayton Home Theater MTM speakers as soon as the temperature drops below 90.

Be warned, this is a very addictive hobby. I started playing with this in high school, 20+ years ago. You are being smart in going with a simple design first. The only thing easier is a subwoofer.

-Robert

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

I'd give a hearty recommendation to the DIY Showcase project. Even with some differences in the crossover they should sound very similar to the Swans Diva 2.1 which sells for $350 - $500 a pair depending on the finish and use the exact same drivers. With components and building materials (and a basic finish) these should come in around $85/ea, or $425 for 5 speakers... amazing considering that's less than the price of a pair of 2.1s in rosewood.

 

[pelekkk]

This DIY Showcase SC 5.1 you guys are talking about is very nice, I like it. If I will go after it, I will use MDF instead of solid cherry, unless my uncle provides me some of this stuff. The problem is that woofer and crossover are unavailable at the moment, so I will have to wait.
Anyway, do I have to modify the crossover like the author did? Is it really worth it? It's going to cost me about $30 more (which is not so bad) but will I hear the difference (I don't consider myself an audiophile). What do you suggest - go after the extra parts?

Thanks for tips!
pelekkk

 

[Robert_J]

Buy the additional parts for the crossover. If the author had made changes but they did not improve the quality then he would not have included that in the write-up. I'm sure he experimented with, without and with other component values.

-Robert

 

[pelekkk]

Ok, I will buy everything that this project needs. I just have to wait till partexpress is going to have those speakers (if you guys know where to buy them at reasonable price, give me a link please . Anyway, my (hopefully) last question is if one of you guys has a link to a site, that explains how to build enclosures? Is the procedure similar to the one when you build a kitchen cabinet? How much "silencing stuff" should I put inside?

Cheers

pelekkk

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

Building an enclosure is basicly just building a box. With MDF it's fairly easy to use wood glue and clamps with no nails or screws. You'll usually want some internal bracing to deaden the box (decrease resonant vibration). In this case the design specifies how much polyfill to add.

One thing unique to this design is the top-mounted tweeter which will require drilling a hole for its wires to pass through. You'll want to seal this (inside and out) with some silicone sealant. You;ll also want to seal the binding post mounting plate from inside. The woofer will seal using its own included gasket.

 

[pelekkk]

It's me again.
I was pretty sure to go after these SC5.1 speakers, but I would have to wait till 11/15/2007 to get the speakers. That's a little bit too long, and I couldn't find any other place than partsexpress.com for these woofers.
Anyway, I was browsing through other projects and TriTrix seems fine for me. Because the speakers will be available soon (and I can buy parts for crossover at digikey.com) I wonder if it's worth to make these. What would you suggest? Make them? Use other speaker in SC5.1?
pelekkk

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

I wouldn't build the SC5.1 w/ different drivers. The design was optimized for those drivers and changing, especially outside of HiVi drivers in the same series, would seriously alter the performance, and likely not for the better.

The TriTrix looks like a very interesting project. The crossover looks quite simple but the enclosure, especially the transmission line version, looks like it could be more difficult to build than a standard sealed or ported box. You'd like need to make some pretty accurate miter cuts. It will also require some fairly percise circular flush mount cuts (atleast for the tweeters).

Knowing how the Swans 2.1s sound I would say the wait until november would be worthwhile, especially since you have something to use until then. You could always order everything but the drivers and begin work on the cabinets and crossovers while you wait for the drivers to become available.