1.     Don't be a dotard!
    Read these "rules" AND introduce
    yourself     before your first post
  2. A healthy approach to understanding measurements
    Being true to what the artists intended
  3. After being asked for the 308th time, Merv lists top 5 headphones
    (opinion / entertainment piece)
    Dismiss Notice
  4. $1000 to the first to design a headamp using discrete components with better measurements than Magni 3+
    Dismiss Notice
IMPORTANT: New Members Read This Don't Be a Measurement Fascist Merv's Top 5 Headphones - 2023 Edition $1000 Challenge

Some questions about DIY speakers

Discussion in 'DIY' started by ohshitgorillas, Mar 1, 2016.

  1. ohshitgorillas

    ohshitgorillas Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    685
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Sacramento, CA
    To make a long story short, I'm in the midst of considering a pair of bookshelf speakers in the $500-800 range. I've heard the Dynaudio DM/6 which were very impressive, which I can get as a floor model for under $600. I can similarly get the DM/7 for under $700. On the other hand, I'm very interested in DIYing speakers as future projects (maybe when I live somewhere that gives me some working space). My questions are:

    1. For that kind of money, is there a DIY kit option out there that comes with pre-cut cabinets (I can glue them together, no problem, I just don't have the time or space or tools to cut the wood) which would outperform the Dynaudios? I realize that "outperform" may be a matter of opinion more than anything, which leads me to my second question:

    2. Speaker DIYers, how do you decide on a speaker not knowing what the end product will sound like? What do you look for in a design that tells you whether or not the speaker will be the type of sound you like? and finally,

    3. How long does it usually take to build a pair of speakers after the cabinets are cut? What kind of time committment am I really looking at here?

    I would say that my ideal sound is natural and realistic with a slight warmth. My favorite headphones are the HD600 (HD800 awesome imaging but sound too analytical, LCD2 too dark/rich, HE1000 too sweet/polite, T1 unrealistic treble/tonality, LCD-X lots of fun but a little too aggressive), if that helps you get an idea of what kind of sound I like. I really enjoyed the Dynaudio's in the audition room, although I thought they did fall a little bit short in being too polite and taming the aggressiveness of one of my metal test tracks.

    Furthermore, these will be used both as desktop speakers in a pseudo-treated corner near the wall, and as theater/vinyl speakers in a larger room with stands and pulled out from the wall.

    Thanks for your opinions, SBAFs!
     
    ohshitgorillas, Mar 1, 2016
    #1
  2. uncola

    uncola Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    597
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Oahu, Hawaii
    uncola, Mar 3, 2016
    #2
  3. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    90,072
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    Probably not unless you are willing to cut / route at least the front baffle. There are pre-made boxes where you can cut the front baffle yourself. If you are willing to do this, you certainly have the potential to build a better sounding speaker. The caveat is experience and knowing what box sizes / tunings, and crossovers circuits to use for your intended application (e.g., speakers intended to be used in a corner will be designed differently from speakers intended to be used a few feet from the back wall). The all equations and circuit designs are out there, but applying theory to reality is a little bit of an art. It's the last 10% of finishing touches that makes a design sound good.

    A large part of this is intuition based on experience. No guarantees how things will turn out. It also helps if you have heard a lot of different kind of speaker drivers. There really aren't that many types of speaker drivers in the world and speaker driver development has basically been zero for the last several decades with the exception of the Accuton ceramic diamond stuff. Most speakers I see at shows I can identify the manufacturer and model of the drivers. The drivers will likely be customized according to certain specific requirements of the speaker manufacturer, but still, they are not going to different significantly in sound for what is available at Madisound, etc.

    I will usually spend a few days or weeks mulling over the crossover design beforehand. If you want the wood finish to be nice, it's a labor of love and can take days and days or sanding, re-sanding, staining, etc. If you want to get something up and running quickly, a day or two to let the glue dry will suffice, assuming your first shot at the crossover works. Ports are things you can always adjust on the fly. I will use a DCX2496 digital X-over to come up with a target for the passive crossover circuit.

    Basically, it's like all good things in life. I started building subwoofers first for cars in the 1990s. My next designs were room speakers, but they totally sucked. I threw them in the trash. A lot of trial and error back in those days since there was no Internet and there was no such thing as free or cheap development tools or pre-made cabinets almost ready to go.
     
    purr1n, Mar 3, 2016
    #3
  4. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    14,092
    Trophy Points:
    113
    someone used to use a lot of WinISD.
     
    zerodeefex, Mar 3, 2016
    #4

Share This Page