DIY Speaker Kit suggestions

Discussion in 'DIY' started by fraggler, Oct 13, 2016.

  1. auri

    auri Facebook Friend

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    Late reply, but if you want to half-DIY it the cabinet packs made by Denovo Audio for sale at Parts Express are awesome. You'll need a router and a circle jig to cut the speaker hole cutouts but all the straight cuts and the dado for the internal bracing is perfect. If you screw up the face, it's as easy as rough-cutting out a new piece then using a flush cut bit on said router to get it perfect. Don't ask me how I know.

    I used their .56cuft kit ($80/pair shipped) to build a set of Bagby Mandolins last year, and I must say they are feverishly awesome as a nearfield setup. I really cannot find anything to complain about them, and find listening to my HD650s off a Crown D75 (not a real headphone amp) disappointing in comparison. Their voicing has always been pleasing and natural, even off of my old terrible ChiFi TubeMagic DAC, but the coherence of the center image especially (in addition to everything else) jumped by leaps and bounds with the addition of the Bifrost Multibit, and then I got another bump in resolution when swapping the D75 out for a Parasound HCA750A.

    I find nothing lacking and have no real reason to replace them, but the upgrade bug has hit hard and I now want to build a pair of Bagby's Kairos set, which use the higher grade Satori versions of the SB Acoustics drivers in the Mandolin with some witchcraft in the crossover and a sloped front baffle for "transient near-perfection".

    Cringe away, because there's nothing better for a set of high end speakers than putting a giant 27" reflective surface right between them. Still, I'm surprised they sound so good and so "focused" even despite that.

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Can any German friends help me with translation?

    https://www.hifisound.de/out/media/...AG+SK88URH1eskcEvZpfks+uVY4vKDRimmmYw2Q==.pdf

    I have a pair of the 16 ohm drivers which aren't as common as the 8 ohms and am trying to find builds besides the Fostex recommendation. I don't need everything translated, but I would like to know what the table on the second page says.

    I think it says it recommends a 13L enclosure tuned to 58Hz? Seems like a pretty large enclosure for a 4" driver.
     
  3. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

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    I know a bit of German and that's how i read it as well.
     
  4. SineDave

    SineDave Friend

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  5. JayC

    JayC Resident Crash Test Dummy

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    Yup, thats what the table says.

    Housing type
    Resistance of signalpath
    Volume of housing
    Tuning frequency
    Lower frequency limit
    Diameter of bass reflex tunnel
    Length of bass reflex tunnel

    I didnt read the rest of the article though..
     
  6. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

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    The best DIY speaker to start with is the Overnight Sensation
     
  7. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Does 'resistance in signal path' mean additional added resistance?
     
  8. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

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    Yep, it has a lower Fs, higher Vas and higher Qts than the En series driver.
    Basically all the resistance in the signal path before the driver, so amp OI and cable impedance.

    This looks like an interesting project, would be nice to see how it turns out.

    That looks nice! I wonder how well the transition from a 12" midrange to a 1" compression driver works, but I can already tell that the distortion from this speaker will be very low.
     
  9. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Thanks guys! It looks like the planet10 fonken is 13L

    http://p10hifi.net/tlinespeakers/FAL/box-plans/Fonken-1v01a-map.pdf

    I would need to adjust the vents though to correspond to the magazine spec.

    In the meantime I think I'll mount them open baffle considering the higher QTS. Good thing about OB is that I can hold everything together with screws. Cheap.

    It looks like it's out of stock. You can probably purchase the crossover separately and source the rest yourself.
     
  10. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

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    The parameters actually look close enough between the larger FE127E and the smaller FE103-SOL 16Ohm. It might even work in the same enclosure.

    OB with a big woofer could be fantastic. The smaller FE83En I use has a much higher Fs and Qts though. The right baffle size is very important for OB - even more important if you do what I did and try to go for a first order acoustical xover with no parts for the widebander.
    Also with baffles as large as mine you shouldn't underestimate the baffle size for the measurements - the typical 1m measurements are definitely not in the far field. Chances are the listening position won't be in the far field.
     
  11. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    They would just be desktop OBs and no woofers. I have no illusions of the bass presence but I figure I at least get to hear what they are about.
     
  12. Daveheart

    Daveheart Friend

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    If you look down the page, it says that you just have to contact them:
     
  13. SineDave

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    I'm tempted - just because it would be a lot of fun to play something so large. Sadly, my wife would probably murder me.
     
  14. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    The speaker is called "The Intrusive". It's appropriately named.

    At 99dB sensitivity, this can run on a fleawatt amp and run people out of the room.
     
  15. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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  16. SineDave

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  17. MikeW

    MikeW Shitbag

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    I own the DIY Sound Group Elusive 1099's the little brother to the 1899's. Built them myself, while back, they are pretty great. The SEOS wave guide has some unique properties to it, spectacular imaging, very dynamic speakers, that go very loud and are very clean. They are great for Home Theatre. They don't go low though, oddly enough i've got 6 10" woofers in my LCR"s and they don't go below 70 HZ, just were not designed for that, they arnt full range speakers, that's why they are so effcient, and clean, because they forgo the low end, so a pair of 15" subs is needed. I also built the Coaxial Volt LX10 for surround duty, and they were very impressive, even used as 2 channel speakers, they come in 6" 8" and 10" designs, they all use a high powered compression driver. The 1099's are great no doubt, but I think the Volt's impressed me even more. They sell the cabinets and front baffle already cut, all you have to do is glue it together and paint it. The crossover is fairly simple and comes with it's own PCB, soldering it took about 20 minutes. I always wanted to build some Overnight sensations or Speedster's (those ribbon tweeters!). But, my needs are well met with the 1099's and Volt's in my home theatre, and I seriously contemplated builing speakers for my computer rig, but in the end wanted something that would take up less space and be simple, thusly I'ts Jotunheim and LSR305's..

    http://imgur.com/a/NC1wB
    http://imgur.com/k91TWzY
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2017
  18. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    Grille inspiration from ATC? Looks nice!
     
  19. skem

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    I thought I’d share this DIY design that uses full-range drivers. The main value of the video is its educational aspects, but the design seems mighty fine if you’re into voxatives or other wide banders.

     
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2019
  20. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    I ran into this vid too. Haven't finished watching it yet. I think he's using Tang-Bands though
     

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