What books to buy for first time DIY speaker building?

You can start with a kit. For example, this: http://www.madisound.com/catalog/pro...oducts_id=8307 (Zaph, designer, has a good rep!) Parts Express also has a decent selection.

So basically, you'll have to make the cabinets, which is a big part of the game. Gets you started pretty quickly and isn't too hard, basically have nothing to mess up. That's what I'd do for first build.

Or, you could do a subwoofer, buy driver, amp, again, the cabinet is again the main thing, not much to screw up Either way, I wouldn't try to design the thing myself, just go with a tried and tested design, have fun!


Oh but you asked for books...... :\\ Well, you get get A LOT of info online. The book shouldn't be too bad, should give you the basics on crossovers, don't think they've changed that much, maybe some new types, for such as MTM, but 1st/2nd order, Ryley, etc. I think have been there for a while.

I think a good basic audio book before you even get into the DIY aspect is Toole's "Sound Reproduction" book, as it gets into a lot of practical basics and debunks some widely held beliefs. All very empirically based, and not too much dry math and/or theory for its own sake. Because if you don't know what it is you really want, how are you going to know when you see it? And what will you build? I think many will be surprised to find information they didn't know to look for. I know I was... Not saying it necessarily has all the right answers for everyone, but it's a great start.

Dickason's Loudspeaker Design Cookbook is a good choice to start with - it covers the "whys" pretty well.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...TOKEN=82245165

There are certainly other choices, but as I look at my bookshelf, I have the Toole book mentioned earlier (Which is excellent), an old Colloms book, and three (yeah, three) editions of the LDC (no - they are not that different....).

Oh - by the way - I got started with that same Weems book, just a few editions older.....mine was the 2nd edition, and I read and reread it until it fell apart. It is a good place to start, and the fundamentals will be there for you to learn and build from. The forums are a great place to learn too, but you've got to have a grasp on the fundamentals.

I actually like Dickason's LDC, but it doesn't get into room interaction and psychoacoustics much. And that stuff really matters. Before getting into the "how," having some idea of the "what" and "why" helps...

Another endorsement of Dickason's Loudspeaker Design Cookbook. Make sure you get the 7th Edition.

What's the gotta have additions in the 7th edition?

+1 on both

Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms. This is Floyd Toole's summary of what we know about those subjects, drawing on decades of AES papers. It'll give you hints about what design targets should be (many speaker designers both commercial and otherwise ignore this out of market considerations or ignorance)

http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Reproduction-Acoustics-Psychoacoustics-Loudspeakers/dp/0240520092

and

The Loudspeaker Design Cookbook. It gives some ideas on how to realize those design goals

http://www.amazon.com/Loudspeaker-Design-Cookbook-Vance-Dickason/dp/1882580478