Newbie wanting some help on a center channel and diapole surrounds

Give us some dimensions on how big you want the speaker cabinet.

I think the term "low cost" is relative. It might be $150 for me, but $500 for you...

I personally don't have any experience building anything like what you're looking for, but some good resources are:

http://speakerdesignworks.com/index_page_2.html

http://www.parts-express.com/project-gallery/speaker-projects/

If you don't have much experience with speaker or crossover design you'll probably want to use an existing set of plans instead of designing your own.

Also, if you decide not to build, there are some pretty decent centers out there at the size you're looking for, for about as much if not less than what it would cost to build one.

If you decide to build, keep us updated! I'm sure someone who is more knowledgeable on the topic will chime in.

Take a look at some of these designs

 

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=28655

http://www.parts-express.com/project-gallery/speaker-projects/

https://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/diy

http://www.zaphaudio.com/za5/

 

I have not seen many diy dipole surrounds...

You have to use exactly what is shown in the plans.

 

Madisound has some Zaph kits

http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/zaph-audio/

No, the speaker was designed and measured with those specific drivers.

Depends on the design, I think some allow you to use an enclosure but they are designed to be in wall only.

You can't customize these designs on how you want. Unless you have calibrated measuring gear and an understanding of speakers/crossovers...

I don't know anything about crossovers and designing speakers but I do know its not that simple so you may not get any replies.

The same guys that can design a really good crossover are also good at picking drivers that are good at what they want them to do for a particular design. You will save much time (and $, probably) if you follow a proven design.

Hint - many of the bargain drivers at Parts Express are cheap for a reason....and it ain't because they are real easy to use or the best performers.

Not trying to be a downer.

Good luck!

Think about it as needing to find a speaker design that uses inexpensive drivers, rather than starting with inexpensive drivers and trying to find a design to use them in.

However, in direct contrast to the advice i just gave :-), Parts Express has those nice Aura ns6 woofers for $9. And there are various designs that use them -- the Stentorians are one design, and there are a few others floating around on diysoundgroup.com.

Building speakers is still quite fun, even when you are limited to building other peoples designs.

-Max

The drivers are a key part of any design. You can't swap in other drivers.

Designing crossovers involves building, listening, measuring, and tweaking. It is unlikely that you'll be able to get someone to do that for you just so you can use some cheap drivers. A person with those skills is going to work on projects that they find interesting. Saving you a few bucks isn't interesting.

Also, be aware that crossovers can be a significant part of the cost of building a speaker. And lousy drivers often need expensive crossovers. A driver that looks like a bargain may not be once you build a crossover for it. That might be one reason that you don't see a lot of DIY speaker designs for every cheap driver out there.

You aren't SOL; you just need to change the way that you approach speaker building. If that feels too constraining, get over it. Focus on the possibilities rather than the limitations. There are tons of excellent designs out there.

Here are some more ideas (and I know that I am sort of ignoring your size requirements, but I think it's good to look outside your initial constraints a little bit):

* There's a speaker design on this $15.50 "tweeter" product page that uses the $9 Aura NS6 woofer that I mentioned:
"tweeter" http://www.diysoundgroup.com/drivers/tweeters/dna-10.html
woofer http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=299-030

* Madisound kits:
http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/2-way-speaker-kits/

* "Stentorians" with lots of those NS6 woofers:
http://speakerdesignworks.com/NS6project_1.html

* Several small, budget-friendly designs in the threads here:
http://www.diysoundgroup.com/forum/index.php?board=20.0

* This design requires some fancy woodworking, but it uses inexpensive drivers, and has some cool audio properties:
http://www.diysoundgroup.com/forum/index.php?topic=19.0


Now, with all due respect, quit whining and get back to planning your speaker build. It's going to be fun.

-Max