Great DIY speaker builds (for newbies) to learn about design?

[Rick Sykora]

You may have missed the link to the main design thread for those where more background info is posted:
http://www.hificircuit.com/community/threads/the-alti-a-diy-2-way-bookshelf-speaker-design.773/

I did, but did not see any individual driver measurements and how a beginner might learn more about design.

Feel free to point me towards this if I missed. I acknowledge there is a difference between thorough build information and more of a tutorial on speaker design. Am seeking more of a walkthrough design tutorial. There is no shame in the former, just is different than I intended.

 

[mtg90]

I did, but did not see any individual driver measurements and how a beginner might learn more about design.

Feel free to point me towards this if I missed. I acknowledge there is a difference between thorough build information and more of a tutorial on speaker design. Am seeking more of a walkthrough design tutorial. There is no shame in the former, just is different than a I intended.

Yeah sorry I forgot that was the main point of the thread, feel free to ignore.

 

[Deleted member 62801]

Welcome to ASR!

While a little weak on explaining the driver choices and design rationales, these are better documented than most. Since have not built or heard, not sure about the budget Directiva possibility, but appears to be a good effort.

Thanks!

Hi,

I first found the MTG Designs AlTi DIY speakers within the Spinorama website. While we cannot exclude the possibility that the measuring configuration gives more lenient scores compared to a Klippel NFS (I doubt this effect is substantial because there are 12 measurements by @mtg90, some of which the speakers were more widely built, and this speaker's measurements still stand out), this build definitely seems to have an edge over most, if not all, existing 5-inch passive options.

While people would choose the Genelec 8030C/8331A or the Neumann KH80/KH120 for a tabletop active speaker with money being no object, I would say that this speaker could possibly give similar performance (plus its ample potential for EQ since DSP was not already used) at a fraction of the price, strapping on a budget amp costing about $100. I care about self-noise and active options cheaper than the Genelec/Neumann fall short in this regard.

Therefore, this speaker definitely deserves attention for people to build, test, and scrutinize extensively (not necessarily by the original designer), then discover and release insight on its design rationale for the community.

 

[Burning Sounds]

The LXmini is a special case...

Agree there is a wealth of info to be discovered from Linkwitz but not as much how to do as how he did.

The plans take you through a how to do and will also get you access to some experienced builders on the OPLUG site.

 

[Rick Sykora]

Hi,

I first found the MTG Designs AlTi DIY speakers within the Spinorama website. While we cannot exclude the possibility that the measuring configuration gives more lenient scores compared to a Klippel NFS (I doubt this effect is substantial because there are 12 measurements by @mtg90, some of which the speakers were more widely built, and this speaker's measurements still stand out), this build definitely seems to have an edge over most, if not all, existing 5-inch passive options.

While people would choose the Genelec 8030C/8331A or the Neumann KH80/KH120 for a tabletop active speaker with money being no object, I would say that this speaker could possibly give similar performance (plus its ample potential for EQ since DSP was not already used) at a fraction of the price, strapping on a budget amp costing about $100. I care about self-noise and active options cheaper than the Genelec/Neumann fall short in this regard.

Therefore, this speaker definitely deserves attention for people to build, test, and scrutinize extensively (not necessarily by the original designer), then discover and release insight on its design rationale for the community.

You have a point that it may be a great example of a solid initial design that is advanced by an existing community of experienced DIYers. While not what I intended as a beginner tutorial, it is useful for someone more experienced.

 

[Mudjock]

My Sehlin Sound Solutions site might be of interest to some. One of my more complete walkthroughs is from a more recent effort that isn't posted on my site yet.

Volare design thread

 

[Rick Sykora]

2

My Sehlin Sound Solutions site might be of interest to some. One of my more complete walkthroughs is from a more recent effort that isn't posted on my site yet.

Volare design thread

Yes, this is pretty good too. A bit more discussion in crossover design and could edge out the BR-1.

 

[Rick Sykora]

Maybe I didn't well understand what you were looking for (my english is... perfectible) . If it a easy open source design of a great speaker that someone can build like a cooking recipe, I have some ideas. But I thought your goal was to share projects from DIY skilled designers with rules of what work and what do not given explanations and measurements. That is what I am trying to do before doing my own design (for instance see https://heissmann-acoustics.de/schraege-fasen/)
In a second time, I spent a lot of time playing with vituixcad software (trying different volume enclosure ; baffle geometry ; active crossovers, etc...) (it costs nothing and you can see and understand the interaction between parameters)

Thanks for clarifying. While not my goal, agree there is some useful content. Like some others, there is valuable content, but either incomplete or more scattered than the BR-1 example in my OP.

The VituixCAD tutorial is helpful too, but it lacks explanations for the beginner. The content is more about how than why.

 

[Rick Sykora]

If you can find an archive of Speaker Builder Magazine, you'd have tons of speaker projects and articles about speakers.

I have some copies of Speaker Builder and it was pretty good. Not apparently sustainable though and since the content is not freely available, would need a specific example of a project that is exceptional.

 

[fpitas]

Some useful reading:

The Speaker Building Bible - Techtalk Speaker Building, Audio, Video Discussion Forum

Want a second or third opinion about your speaker cabinet design or other audio related problem? Post your question or comment on the Technical Discussion Board. Hundreds of technicians, engineers, and hobbyists, nationwide read and discuss electronics related questions each week. We welcome...

techtalk.parts-express.com

 

[fpitas]

More suggested reading:

Amazon.com

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Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Loudspeaker-Design-John-Murphy/dp/0966377346/ref=sr_1_5?crid=19LLTKGS9M6SE&keywords=vance+dickason&qid=1686744568&sprefix=vance+dickason%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-5

If you don't mind used, they can had be pretty cheap.

 

[Rick Sykora]

The Loudspeaker Design Cookbook has good build example in it. I have the 7th edition, so not sure if the newer project has been done. It is called the LDC6 Studio Monitor. One drawback is it uses some pricey drivers.

Anyone else (@amirm or others) able to comment on the latest edition?

 

[fpitas]

The Loudspeaker Design Cookbook has good build example in it. I have the 7th edition, so not sure if the newer project has been done. It is called the LDC6 Studio Monitor. Another challenge is it uses some pricey drivers.

Anyone (@amirm or others) may be able to comment on the latest edition.

I have it, but haven't read through it yet.

 

[Timcognito]

Any sites, guides or books on open baffle designs?

Great thread, thanks to all posters with advice.

 

[Rick Sykora]

Any sites, guides or books on open baffle designs?

Great thread, thanks to all posters with advice.

Aside from Linkwitz Labs, another good one is gainphile’s website.

 

[Timcognito]

This site has some quick reads on all things DIY speakers except PEQ/DSP. They even take a stance on ears vs measurements.

Creative Sound Solutions | Blog

Stay up to date on what's going on at CSS or check out tech articles.

www.css-audio.com

 

[Prana Ferox]

Paul Carmody tends to write up why he did what he did in his designs. You can read some of this at his website. I don't think I've seen him post here but he does post at the Parts Express forum; his latest thread for his Pit Viper design (not what I'd go for as a beginner but not impossible) gets into a good bit of detail. Several of the designs are also available as inexpensive kits, which let you learn with your hands, tinker with the crossovers etc.

@mtg90 is obviously already in the thread if you had questions on the thought processes of his designs. And @Rick Sykora (two posts up) has his extensive Directiva thread which has a lot of start-from-scratch details.

 

[Rick Sykora]

Paul Carmody tends to write up why he did what he did in his designs. You can read some of this at his website. I don't think I've seen him post here but he does post at the Parts Express forum; his latest thread for his Pit Viper design (not what I'd go for as a beginner but not impossible) gets into a good bit of detail. Several of the designs are also available as inexpensive kits, which let you learn with your hands, tinker with the crossovers etc.

I find Carmody is a very entertaining writer but does not convey his thought process as much as I am going after. The Pit Viper follows this pattern. This is common when your focus is more about documenting what you did and not so much about why you made certain choices. To be fair, I think it really takes a book to do but if you look at the BR-1 or the LDC-6, I think they are much better at explaining why certain design choices were made.

@mtg90 is obviously already in the thread if you had questions on the thought processes of his designs. And @Rick Sykora (two posts up) has his extensive Directiva thread which has a lot of start-from-scratch details.

Thanks for the acknowledgement, but even though I tried to explain more of why something was implemented, I know I fell back to sometimes just documenting what to do too. Some of this content was done in team discussions and not exposed to simply avoid getting into design by committee delays. Directiva r1 is also too pricey to be a good first time learning build.

 

[zman01]

Rick,

Have you come across Goran's AudioXxcite website? An example from there:

www.audioexcite.com » Classic Two – M5

There are other design on the site too.

 

[Rick Sykora]

Rick,

Have you come across Goran's AudioXxcite website? An example from there:

www.audioexcite.com » Classic Two – M5

There are other design on the site too.

Not bad, but the design you linked uses Scanspeak drivers and so is comparable to the LDC6. The LDC6 writeup is more comprehensive. Not sure if it is free for use though.