In addition to John's loudspeaker recipe. Another favorite is;
A classic 3 way loudspeaker design using modern drivers.
*Higher sensitivity drivers like high end true ribbons or planars
*PHL audio mids; PHL 1120 [6.5"], PHL 2520 [8"], PHL 3450 [10"]. If you want midwoofers instead, PHL1340 or
PHL 1240 [16 ohm].
* Lambda TD12X or TD15X woofers [
with faraday motor].
If you did a fully active system with amplifiers with
higher headroom like pro audio amps, you are in for a
treat. But you don't have to, the PHL mids won't require
complex crossoverr. They have less problems due to their
paper treated cones. They are tolerable with no low pass
filter if you did an audition whereas other popular mids have a nasty
sound, hence those designs have very steep crossover slopes to
filter out the crud. If the driver sounds nice with no low pass,
then it will have no problems operating with a simple crossover,
even a silly 1st order low pass can be a great choice.
Lambda TD12/TD15 are amazing with no low pass. Unlike
a traditional woofer design that will sound nasty in the higher
frequency range, the low inductance design + phase plug + paper treated cone,
makes the large Lambda pretty much sound like a big quality midrange driver
that has high xmax and the ability to do lower bass. A crossover for this can be very simple too!
[I'm basing this off the original Lambda's made by Nick @ Lambda. I haven't use the John
hand crafted Lambda's, I can only assume it's equal or better]. If you use the Lambda,
just verify that you have the super low inductance motor design included, phase plug
and treated paper cone.
The tweeter you choose will probably need a more complex
crossover, it depends. If you push your tweeter to higher SPL levels, then I would use a steeper slope crossover as a
way to get more power handing on the tweeter, to protect it. I also like fusing tweeters.
Here is some project pics from others.
'Substrates' loudspeaker: Raven ribbons, PHL 6.5" midwoofers, Lambda TD12X.
http://members.shaw.ca/lcleven/home_page1.html
http://www.caraudioforum.com/vbb3/sh...d.php?t=191130
AR2's Loudspeaker: Esg ribbons, PHL 10" pure midrange, Lambda SD12.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...threadid=21523
[notes: You need to register with diyaudio.com to see this. You can use TD series instead of SD series]
Taken from diyaudio.com. It's a Fountek ribbon, Audax PR170M0 pure midrange, Lambda TD15X.
http://home.pacbell.net/lordpk/lambda/speaker-3.jpg
note: PR170M0 has a similar sonic character to PHL 1120.
Feandil's [CAF username] loudspeaker: DIY ribbon later he said it was
replaced with AC brand ribbon, dual PHL 1120 pure mids, dual Lambda TD15X.
http://home.pacbell.net/lordpk/lambda/speaker-4.jpg
Feandil's inspiration for cabinet design was the Avalon Sentinel.
http://www.avalonacoustics.com/
All these designs have many things in common which gives you the final
SQ of the system. The cabinet design can be anything you want. If you
use ribbons or planar tweeters, then just make sure the tweeter is aimed
at the listener for best results as the vertical dispersion is not as good as a dome
tweeter. Exception to this rule is if you use the very small ribbons, short elements,
ie, certain LCY ribbons, the new Raven 'point source' ribbon, etc.
If you look at Feandil's design, he aimed the tweeter section down as the ribbon
is optimized for the seating position when listening to music.