I wanna make BIG speakers!

[Donnie2112]

Curious if anyone here has an opinion about DIY BIG speakers.

I have heard Andrew Jones say something to the effect of, “bass extension, sensitivity, and compactness. Pick two” I understand that for most commercial products where shipping, storage of merchandise, and marketability are all considered, that compactness is always going to be one of the choices. In DIY however, I understand that it doesn’t necessarily have to be.

With this in mind, are there any known DIY kits or designs that are well executed, sensitive, go low, and do well in things like smooth response, imaging, dispersion. All the fun stuff that Amir measures here.

Thoughts?

Also, I’ve read that Andrew Jones is actually a member here, knowing what he would build DIY if going big was an option would be interesting.

 

[direstraitsfan98]

jbl 4333 clone. lots of info to make one yourself. nelson pass has plans for his own crossover made public too so you are good to go there. just make the cabinets and find drivers.

 

[direstraitsfan98]

This one looks interesting too.

https://www.canuckaudiomart.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38959

You could replace the TAD drivers which are very expensive now with Beyma/Faital Pro woofer/compression driver. I owned a very nice speaker which was essentially a TAD 2402 clone but with a smith horn instead the TH 4001 type horn. I also now currently own JBL 4367 which follows this design philosophy, to cross the woofer high. Essentially twith these designs the woofer handles up to 700hz or so at which point the compression driver takes over.

 

[Wombat]

Great Plains Audio

Altec Model 19

https://greatplainsaudio.com/gpa-vintage-altec-ezine/altec-lansing-model-19-cabinet-plans/

Components

 

[blueone]

https://meniscusaudio.com/product/statements-ii-full-kit-pair/

 

[Prana Ferox]

Curious if anyone here has an opinion about DIY BIG speakers.

I have heard Andrew Jones say something to the effect of, “bass extension, sensitivity, and compactness. Pick two”

This is known as Hofmann's Iron Law.

If you really want single boxes that do all this, consider the DIYSG Titans. But really, it's better to split off the low end to dedicated subwoofers.

 

[mhardy6647]

Probably not where you want to go -- but my daily drivers are not small.

http://www.wardsweb.org/Billfort/

Mine have morphed considerably from their original Altec 604E Duplex loads, though.

DSC_8282 (2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

 

[turnitdown]

Econowave or Wayne Parham Pi speakers. The BEST foray into this you can get.

 

[digitalfrost]

Troels Gravesen has a lot of big, high efficiency speakers:

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Diy_Loudspeaker_Projects.htm#HES-constructions

 

[Arvind]

Audio Nirvana Full Range speakers from https://commonsenseaudio.com/
These speaker drivers cover most of the frequency range, i.e. low down to 26hz to high up to 18khz depending upon size of the driver and cabinate chosen.

 

[HammerSandwich]

An Audio Nirvana 10" was recently measured at Dibirama. It's pretty ugly above 2kHz.

 

[peanuts]

https://www.diysoundgroup.com/home-...eries/titan-speaker-kits/titan-615lx-kit.html
https://www.diysoundgroup.com/home-...eater-series/impressives/aggressive-1299.html

 

[Neddy]

Define Big
(Not affiliated, just a drooler.)
Update: sold yesterday for just under $12k.

 

[anmpr1]

Curious if anyone here has an opinion about DIY BIG speakers.

With this in mind, are there any known DIY kits or designs that are well executed, sensitive, go low, and do well in things like smooth response, imaging, dispersion.

For that 'big' high sensitivity low distortion sound you could check out the late Drew Daniels (JBL/WDW/Soundpath Studio) home made system. I first came across it from issue 19 of Audio Critic, but construction details are described at the link below:

http://www.audioheritage.org/html/perspectives/drews-clues/audiophile.htm

http://www.audioheritage.org/html/perspectives/drews-clues/system.htm

 

[sergeauckland]

If you enjoy woodworking, and especially if you're good at it, then definitely make your own.
However, if like me, you enjoy woodworking but the results may be lacking cosmetically, then you could try the alternative I did.

That's to buy a decent old pair of something big, and remove the passive crossover and replace it with a DSP based crossover and as many channels of power amplification as you'll need. That way, you'll end up with something that both sounds good and look cosmetically acceptable.

This side of the water, there are many loudspeakers that lend themselves to this treatment, KEF 104 & 105s (all versions) B&W, Tannoys, IMFs, Rogers and many more. If you're careful with the modification you can restore
them to original spec without too much trouble

Even if you do your own woodwork, going active is technically the best way in any event.

S

 

[tomtoo]

Define Big
(Not affiliated, just a drooler.)
View attachment 57172

Ahh..bookshelfspeakers..i like.

(you can use them as bookshelfs..thats where the name comes from or??)

 

[Rick Sykora]

There are certainly bigger, but Bagby’s Solstice seems to fit your criteria well...

https://www.parts-express.com/solstice-mltl-reference-tower-speaker-kit--300-708

As you picked up upon, size is a tradeoff, but mainly for obtaining low bass or line array applications.

 

[SIY]

For that 'big' high sensitivity low distortion sound you could check out the late Drew Daniels (JBL/WDW/Soundpath Studio) home made system. I first came across it from issue 19 of Audio Critic, but construction details are described at the link below:

http://www.audioheritage.org/html/perspectives/drews-clues/audiophile.htm

http://www.audioheritage.org/html/perspectives/drews-clues/system.htm

I famously dislike the sound of every horn loudspeaker I've ever encountered, but this is a horn system I have always been curious to try. Just never had the money.

 

[Rick Sykora]

There are certainly bigger, but Bagby’s Solstice seems to fit your criteria well...

https://www.parts-express.com/solstice-mltl-reference-tower-speaker-kit--300-708

As you picked up upon, size is a tradeoff, but mainly for obtaining low bass or line array applications.

Should have mentioned as was reminded by earlier post, but these should also be relatively easy to convert to an active design too. Could be more helpful if you indicated how you intend to use these speakers too?

 

[Frank Dernie]

I always fancied building these.
https://www.wilmslowaudio.co.uk/prestige-1697-p.asp