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Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ. |
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Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ. |
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In Reply to: DIY Speaker Kit Opinions? posted by GregS on March 17, 2000 at 13:00:17:
First, go for it!Next, I'd say look for areas where you can 'add value' compared to the
ready made article. Take note of Peter S.'s excellent post for ideas.In particular look for things the professionals (building to a price!)
don't like doing - and therefore don't get done. Remember, market
appeal has a lot to do with *visible* perceived value; so look for the
less visible things and improve them.Some specifics.
Think about a transmission line. For the professional/production line,
they are awful! Lots of extra material inside (no visible value); awkward,
several joints that are not 90 degrees; complex assembly. Things that
put the pro off, but should not matter to the keen amateur. Make a good
one and you're into a class way way above the cost of all the bits.Double thickness panels, cross bracing etc. Yes, yes, yes!
Or at least use thicker material than standard.
In my case I used 20mm MDF for a speaker 8in wide x 12in deep which is
cross braced everywhere (another advantage of TL's - the baffles act as
bracing). Also the front panel is double thickness plus a bit more ...
Anyway, all these things will reduce colourations to give a really
'clean' result. You'll then realise how badly coloured (and slightly
muffled as well as a result) many speakers are.Make a floor stander.
The extra material cf a stand mount isn't much, and will cost far less
than a decent stand. What's more you get the mechanical integrity of a
complete unit (though OK, there can be benefits from decoupling things;
but I'd say start simple but good, try esoteric things later).Try for a bit of elegance.
Generally this means a speaker that's narrow, but it can be tall and
fairly deep. This also has the advantage (usually) of better imaging.
So how to get bass from such an enclosure?
Well, special cabinet configurations will do it - eg TL's (my preference
as if this wasn't obvious!); special tuned bass chambers/ports (see some
Dynaudio designs). These things give good bass from a limited size
drive unit.
Or make the speaker deep and put a larger bass driver in the side.
This way, the driver size isn't limited by the baffle width. Note though,
it should only handle the low bass which is less directional, so you'd
need a mid range unit (on the baffle of course) as well.Don't skimp on the crossover. Again, no visible value to this, so you can
do better than most of the professionals building to a price and perceived
value.If it sounds good, finish it well! Think about exotic wood veneer - the
right kind of iron-on veneer is very easy to use.I'd say my IPL S3TL's (using SEAS units) which cost 300 UK pounds all in
(yes, incl. veneer) sound in the 1500 pound class and look like a couple
of k's worth.All this is personal opinion of course! Use any thoughts you think are
OK and discard the rest .... (smile)
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Follow Ups
- Re: DIY Speaker Kit Opinions? - Mike Carrick 03:35:37 03/20/00 (0)
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