Wanna build yourself some speakers?

[Jean]

Thumbs up!

[z31maniac]

Alright, got them up and running.

Gotta say, for $150 for a pair of speakers they sound great. I'm sure once they break in they will sound even better. It's amazing how well the sub blends in when you have mains capable of cleanly going down to 80-100 vs those shitty satellites.

I think here in a few more months, I'll buy one of the nicer kits to make the mains/center and move these to surrounds.

All in all, easy to put together and sound very good for the money.

Oh and kids, check that your crossovers are properly soldered BEFORE you put the speakers in the cabinet. That cost me an hour to pull out and reflow a couple of joints.

[StereoInstaller1]

Contact user blunt here @ r3v. He is very skilled in woodworking, and could even teach an old hand like yourself some new things. I bet he can even show you how to setup your workspace.

I do not have a "workspace" anymore, that is the issue.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Now if I only had a place to do woodworking!

Contact user blunt here @ r3v. He is very skilled in woodworking, and could even teach an old hand like yourself some new things. I bet he can even show you how to setup your workspace.

[z31maniac]

OK, received the BR-1 kit today. I took the afternoon off work since I've been getting my ass kicked by a cold the last three days.

Think I'll try putting this together later and see how it sounds.

[jquirit]

How about this sub:
http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Serious-Sub.html

Yikes. 250 lb (or 120 kg) sub! Reminds me of the sub an old roommate had that was taken out of a movie theater undergoing renovation. We use to watch Jurassic Park and the neighborhood would know it by things rattling.

Thanks for all the links. This stuff always interested me but never got around to ever taking a serious swing at it. Got too many things that siphon all my money away... *ahem*E30*ahem*

[z31maniac]

So much to learn!

[Jean]

Sweet, I forgot to give you think link. Sit down when you open it :)
He's got a LOT of good info on his site regarding quality drivers, and crossover design.

You'll see he is a fan of series type crossover vs. the older style parallel filters. It will make sense when you get the book.

Look at his designs dude! I fell in love with his Andromeda design when I made my 3ways.

http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/index.html

http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Andromeda%20Mk-II.html

http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Humble_Statement.html

How about this sub:

http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Serious-Sub.html

[z31maniac]

Alright, Jean just orderd the book in your link and this speaker kit.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-640

[z31maniac]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm going to pick up that book, and one of the basic speaker kits.

I figure building a cheap kit will let me know if I want to invest in the tools to be able to really do my own stuff. I have circular saw/router/etc.

[StereoInstaller1]

If you are serious about building, start off with Vance Dickasons "Loudspeaker Cookbook".

Well, on second thought, maybe something simpler (not saying you are simple by any means, just a neophyte) like David Weems stuff might be more useful.

I built my first pair of speakers nearly 35 years ago (yes, I was 12) and have been reading this kind of stuff since then, including joining the AES when I was 14, thinking I might get an education and stuff...instead, I found weed.

Oh well, back on topic! Personally, I say keep it simple, doa basic 12db/oct crossover at 3500Hz for a 8 ohm woofer and a 8 ohm tweeter, grab 4 of those woofers and a a pair of tweeters, then get to building!

Luke

[z31maniac]

Yeah I started poking around on their site a little bit.

I think the first thing I might do is start out with one of the little "speaker kits". The Dayton 2-way has received good reviews and is super affordable.

I'm excited about the possibility of getting seriously good sound, reasonably priced, and built by my own hands.

[Jean]

I would start with this book http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=500-035

Then if you are still into it there are more advanced ones to follow .

Couple good forums / online sites to buy parts from

https://www.partsexpress.com

https://www.madisound.com

https://www.diyaudio.com

Good starting point would be to follow someone else project to get your "feet wet", since they have already done the work of driver selection, box size(s), crossover.

Example http://www.parts-express.com/project...ojectindex.cfm

You can find out more on the online audio forums etc, some guys even ship the speakers from one place to another for listening etc.

A simple two way would be a good start imho

http://www.parts-express.com/project...cfm?project=vd
http://www.parts-express.com/project...oject=Usher701
http://www.parts-express.com/project...project=Encore
http://www.parts-express.com/project...project=Nebula

or MTM
http://www.parts-express.com/project...project=DrKMTM

2 way is always a good start as the component count is low, and crossover/driver selection is not as complicated as it is in more advanced designs such as MTM, TMM, TMW, MTMW or WMTMW ;)

[z31maniac]

What are some good resources for home building speakers? I had read a few places, but can't remember what they are now. Any books or anything?

I've been thinking about playing around with this for awhile now. And it will give me an excuse to buy some new tools.

[Jean]

Those are not bad, I've heard a set of DIY speakers locally. I wouldn't say they are excellent though, that spot is reserved for Seas Excel, ScanSpeak revelators and the like :)

I would love to try a good set of Ribbon tweeters for my next project, it's hard to find something much better than a silk dome scanspeak tweeter. You have to spend much more $