I've been googling for a day now, and I can't fund any in depth articles about how to build some speakers. That's my problem. I found a craptastic amount on theory of building speakers, but I can't find anything on how to do it. I have an idea of the parts I need, but I guess I'll put out my idea to see if I'm going about this the write way. I want to start off building 2, (then do another do for surround on my PCVO/Media Server later). I have a line on some small woofers and tweeters from allelectronics, and I'm lookin to put it in as small of a box as possible. What I want to know is, 1. Because I'm running it off a SBLive! card, will I need an amp? 2. Can anyone show some me some guides on how to hook everything up and whatnot? 3. Yes I know I probably won't get as great sound as I could get from store bought ones, but this is more for just being able to say, I build those speakers. 4. Anything to lookout for, and would I need some crossovers? Thanks a bunch!
hi check here for loads of info... http://www.sound.westhost.com/articles.htm the ACTUAL building is simple/logic the sound card only produces the signal not the power for speakers, so you will need an amp. if you are planing to build more speaker later it may be worth buying an AV amp so you can have full surround
Hey, I have been wanting to build speakers for over 2 years now and a few weeks ago I found these sites and decided what the heck and went and bought some MDF These are the ones I decided on but there are more designs on the site: http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_files/Projects/D3/dayton3.htm and a step by step guide to buildng them, http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_files/Projects/D3/D3W/index.html also an online store that sells electronic and speaker stuff in the US that has an excellent forum for speaker building and some other designs using their own drivers. http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/homeaudio.html http://www.pesupport.com/cgi-bin/config.pl I've had to make a few modifications mainly on the driver choice because the ones used are only available in the states (maybe you're from the states anyway...) I ended up with a compromise between what I could get my hands on easily and cheaply and decided on Audax speakers from mappers. But you're from Canada so you can probably get the correct speakers with less hassle. http://www.partsexpress.com/ So far I've completed one speaker with no crossover yet but I've been absoloutley blown away by the quality compared to a pair of JVC speakers that I thought were reasonably good. They're a bit lacking in the mid range but I suspect that is due to a lack of a crossover. Even so, the JVC's sound muffled and tinny compared to mine. Ans to ur q's: 1. Definately need an amp! 2. hookup inside the speaker or how to hookup the soundcard to the amp etc? 3. I would say go for something that someone else that seems to have some experience has designed and you can easily expected good quality as well self esteem I'm so proud that I even managed to build a decent box, lol. 4. Some say the crossover is the heart and soul of the speaker. Hopefully I can confirm that in the near future. Hope this is some help! email me if you want more info or anything renko(at)techangel(dot)co(dot)uk
1) Yes you will need an Amplfier to power the speakers. Here is some basic info, to design speakers you need to know what speaker drivers you are going to use, you need to know the speaker drivers Thiele and Small parameters. What are Thiele and Small paramaters? These are a group of parameters outlined by A. N. Thiele, and later R. H. Small, which can completely describe the electrical and mechanical characteristics of a mid and low frequency driver operating in its pistonic region. These parameters are crucial for designing a quality speaker/subwoofer enclosure. Fs - Driver free air resonance, in Hz. This is the point at which driver impedance is maximum. Fc - System resonance (usually for sealed box systems), in Hz Fb - Enclosure resonance (usually for reflex systems), in Hz F3 - -3 dB cutoff frequency, in Hz Vas - "Equivalent volume of compliance", this is a volume of air whose compliance is the same as a driver[/b]s acoustical compliance Cms (q.v.), in cubic meters D - Effective diameter of driver, in meters Sd - Effective piston radiating area of driver in square meters Xmax - Maximum peak linear excursion of driver, in meters Vd - Maximum linear volume of displacement of the driver (product of Sd times Xmax), in cubic meters. Re - Driver DC resistance (voice coil, mainly), in ohms Rg - Amplifier source resistance (includes leads, crossover, etc.), in ohms Qms - The driver[/b]s Q at resonance (Fs), due to mechanical losses; dimensionless Qes - The driver[/b]s Q at resonance (Fs), due to electrical losses; dimensionless Qts - The driver[/b]s Q at resonance (Fs), due to all losses; dimensionless Qmc - The system[/b]s Q at resonance (Fc), due to mechanical losses; dimensionless Qec - The system[/b]s Q at resonance (Fc), due to electrical losses; dimensionless Qtc - The system[/b]s Q at resonance (Fc), due to all losses; dimensionless Ql - The system[/b]s Q at Fb, due to leakage losses; dimensionless Qa - The system[/b]s Q at Fb, due to absorption losses; dimensionless Qp - The system[/b]s Q at Fb, due to port losses (turbulence, viscosity, etc.); dimensionless n0 - The reference efficiency of the system (eta sub 0) dimensionless, usually expressed as a percentage Cms - The driver[/b]s mechanical compliance (reciprocal of stiffness), in m/N Mms - The driver[/b]s effective mechanical mass (including air load), in kg Rms - The driver[/b]s mechanical losses, in kg/s Cas - Acoustical equivalent of Cms Mas - Acoustical equivalent of Mms Ras - Acoustical equivalent of Rms Cmes - The electrical capacitive equivalent of Mms, in farads Lces - The electrical inductive equivalent of Cms, in henries Res - The electrical resistive equivalent of Rms, in ohms B - Magnetic flux density in gap, in Tesla l - Length of wire immersed in magnetic field, in meters Bl - Electro-magnetic force factor, can be expressed in Tesla-meters or, preferably, in meters/Newton Pa - Acoustical power Pe - Electrical power c - Propagation velocity of sound at STP, approx. 342 m/s p - Density of air at STP 1.18 kg/m^3 (rho) You may not need all of these but a you will need some of them.
