Speaker Building

FlexGunship

Hey folks,

I fancy myself as a bit of an audiophile. I love listening. I have a high-end audio interface on my computer with one set of outputs going to a pair of KRK studio monitors and a studio sub, and the other set of outputs going to some Klipsch Promedia general listening speakers.

In my living room I have a 5.1 surround sound system made out of matched driver Paradigm speakers. Two Monitor 7 v5s, two Monitor Atom v5s, and a CC-190 v5. I also have a Velodyne subwoofer.

Even my in-ear monitors cost more than the iPod they're connected to.

That being said, one frontier I've never crossed into is speaker building. I have some high-end stuff kicking around that has since been displaced by my newer equipment, and I'd love to experiment with speaker building. I'm sure I can make a crossover without any issue, but all I've ever built are shelves, racks, a TV stand, some speaker stands... I've never tried to make something as complicated as a speaker cabinet.

Has anyone done anything like this? Just looking for some first hand experience.

Bill Simpson

I've never done anything like this and wouldn't be able to recognize quality audio if it was biting me.

But I did hold in my hands once some old issues of Speaker Builder Magazine.
Google for those three words and I think you will find people and resources at your level.

FlexGunship

Thanks, I've read some online stuff... actually a LOT of online stuff. It's kind of depressing, though... it always follows the same format:

1. Choose a driver or set of drivers - okay, check!
2. Calculate the proper enclosure and port volumes to enhance deadband frequencies - yup, okay!
3. Test the speaker using your amazingly expensive test-tone-CD/microphone system - uhhhhhhh?????
4. Adjust your crossover and filters to improve the response - well, okay...
5. Rerun the test with the microphone - grrrrrr!!!!!!
6. If necessary...

There's nothing out there for ultra-amateurs. I'm good with woodworking and I'm good at math and fabricating electronics... but putting it all together into something I'm not embarrassed by seems like an unlikely proposition.