DIY First Timer

Welcome to DIY!


I am a DIY sub guy myself and don't really have much interest in making a set of speakers but there are some very talented people around here.


You may want to start out with a kit of some sort or follow someone elses plans so you can ease into it. Here are a couple of links with some ideas:

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


And some supplies and kits:

http://www.parts-express.com/speaker-building.cfm


There is a ton of info on this site and most people are happy to share there knowledge.


Here is an excellent thread that I have been following and picking up tips from:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1157847


I would have to figure the crossover is going to be your biggest hurdle but there are books and software for that. You can find a good selection of DIY books here:

http://www.parts-express.com/wizards...CAT&srchCat=72


Good luck.


Mike

hi reklis,


first off, welcome to the DIY club! I'm also a new DIYer myself and I know how overwhelming it can be to absorb all of the information thrown at you and how intimidating it can get when you feel like you have no idea what you're doing. All I have to say is don't be too afraid to ask questions and don't be scared to just give it a shot. I just started building my first pair of DIY speakers (Zaph SR71) and I had absolutely ZERO woodworking experience prior to starting. However, once I decided to just give it a shot and do some trial runs, I slowly started figuring things out...and man did I start to get excited! One thing that I will admit is that if you don't have the tools, the tools + parts alone could double your initial idea of what the cost for the speakers may be. It looks like you won't run into that problem though (seeing that your dad is a carpenter and your brother an elect. engineer [should have soldering experience]).


As for getting started, it's true you can find all the information you need online and on the forums but I tend to find them all scattered and hard to put together. Not everyone goes this path but I started ordering some loudspeaker design books to get myself acquainted with basic speaker design (topics ranging from how the speaker works; closed, ported, etc systems; crossovers; and so on). No book is perfect though and they won't cover all that you need but they definitely do help if you're absolutely new to DIY.


Several books I have:

- Designing, Building, and Testing Your Own Speaker System by David B. Weems

- Advanced Speaker Designs for the Hobbyist and Technician by Ray Alden (more basic than advanced)

- Loudspeaker Design Cookbook (very detailed and good book but probably should not be read as a first book unless you know the basics pretty well)


Nonetheless, keep searching and reading the forums, and look over at the audio theory section in this forum. I believe there is a sticky with a ton of online articles you can check out for references.


Unfortunately I haven't heard very many speakers or know enough to give direct comparisons from your previous speakers to any DIY speakers out there. I'll leave that up to the more experienced DIYers here, but regardless good luck!

welcome to diy.


the first step is to define your performance criteria and your budget criteria.


what spl (105, 115, 125, 135)?


what configuration (2 way, 3, 5, 7, 9)?


what size room (cubic feet)?


what frequency response ('flat' to 40, 30, 20, 15, 10hz)?


what aesthetic contraints (don't mind 15-18" drivers, or do you want minimally visible speakers like little bose cubes)?


if you need help spec'ing out your performance criteria, that is cool too. we can help with that.


but, if you have some idea of what you want, it will be a lot easier for folks to suggest a system.


here is an analogy. i love motorsports. if somebody shows up and says, "i want to go fast". the first step would be to try to quantify what he means by fast. quarter mile et, trap speed, lap time? high winding lightweight motor and car or big heavy torquey car? one guy might end up on a motorcycle, another guy might end up in an s-class amg. both are "fast", but are totally different animals. not too many motorcycle guys care about the color of the burlwood dash. not too many s-class amg drivers care about hit 0-60 in less than 3 seconds. the key to choosing your drug is to define the high you seek first. ;-)



Quote:
Originally Posted by LTD02 /forum/post/16829477


the first step is to define your performance criteria and your budget criteria.


what spl (105, 115, 125, 135)?


what configuration (2 way, 3, 5, 7, 9)?


what size room (cubic feet)?


what frequency response ('flat' to 40, 30, 20, 15, 10hz)?


what aesthetic contraints (don't mind 15-18" drivers, or do you want minimally visible speakers like little bose cubes)?


if you need help spec'ing out your performance criteria, that is cool too. we can help with that.

Click to expand...

I would need your help calculating SPL, I know nothing about that. I hadn't put much thought into frequency response. A long time ago somebody told me that 20-20,000 were good numbers to shoot for. Is that true? Is that the same thing? I know if I don't do something 4ohms or 8ohms I'm going to have a hard time finding a receiver to match them. I had such a great experience with my original Outlaw Audio 1050, that I went back to their website and started investigating their M-Block 200w monoblocks, but I'm not completely sold on them. I want a really good "match" between the receiver and the speakers. I don't want to spend all my money one one thing and just slap in the other thing just because it fits the budget.


The configuration I seem to like after looking at many speakers is a mid-range / tweeter with a little bass response all around the listener, and then a stand-alone subwoofer to fill in the gap on the low end. This is what my old system was (5x b&w lcr, 1x sub)


Ascetically, I know this:

- The size of the room is approximately 20'x20' with 10' ceilings (I still need to measure)

- I think the "bookshelf" size of my old B&W LCRs would work just fine, but it's not really a big deal as long as they are practical. Ideally they would be something I can lift / move on my own that would not require two people. My son isn't old enough to help me lift things yet

I agree with those who ask if you plan on doing this 1 time or as a hobby and plan on building more in the future?


It can be a very addicting hobby but also rewarding. It also gives you an excuse to upgrade more often as your wife will assume since you make it yourself it costs just a small fraction of what it would be at the store.


The tool investment can be quite large but if your Dad has all the equipment already then your in luck. Even if he is missing a few items maybe he would split it with you since it will be in his shop. This way you can show your Dad your not as useless as he thought when you were growing up


A lot of times DIY does not necessarily mean cheap. With the low mfg costs in China some DIY projects are more costly but usually yield better results and a sense of pride. AV123 . com sells there MFW-15 for about $500 + shipping when it is on sale and that is a very good sub now that they have the amp issue corrected.

You can get the same results or better then the AV123 sub with DIY but after everything it will cost you about the same if not more.


If this is a 1 time shot at DIY to save money then to be honest you would probably be better off buying new or used instead. Emotiva is selling some bookshelf speakers for $250 each when you buy more than 1 on a sale that ends today http://emotiva.com/ I don't know how good these speakers are but that is just an example.


If you want a rewarding hobby then welcome but if your mostly looking to save money then I think you have better options.

As you guessed, this is not a new question. Here's the most comprehensive list of DIY options I've seen:
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/sh...11&postcount=1


I found the design for me on the HTGuide link, which is organized by design type and has pictures as well. Unless you want to spend a lot of time learning to design speakers, build a proven design. The question is what do you want these speakers to do (LDT02's post)? If you don't understand a question, give wiki a try then ask here.


If you plan to make a proven (or commercial) desing and want a comprehensive reference for all things outside the enclosure (i.e. not drivers, corssovers, enclosures, etc.) I highly recommend Floyd Toole's book "Sound Reproduction." In it, he shows the data that leads to the recommendation of flat frequency response and covers a lot more than speakers, since the room has a great affect on what you hear, especially at low frequency. Avoid it if data and charts give you apoplexy.


Finally, be aware that there are folks out there willing to do the woodworking for you, or at least the hard part - routing driver recesses - as well as pre-fab kits that only need glue and screws, plus a little paint. It all depends on what you want to get out of it. In my case, this is a hobby, so it's OK if it takes me a lot of time to do things as long as I'm enjoying myself.


Have fun,

Frank



Quote:
Originally Posted by mjaudio /forum/post/16830915


The tool investment can be quite large but if your Dad has all the equipment already then your in luck. Even if he is missing a few items maybe he would split it with you since it will be in his shop. This way you can show your Dad your not as useless as he thought when you were growing up

Click to expand...

Since he doesn't currently have a HT yet, I think the return on investment for him is that we'll probably end up building two home theaters and he gets to keep one