Using Illusion C series 3 ways in Home boxes... just for fun

[Stewysb119]

So I have a set of Illusion Audio Carbon 3 ways (c6, c3, & the c6 tweeters) sitting around and I was wondering about putting them in 3 way boxes and put them in the office for fun.

Questions:
1) Is that a stupid idea, and should I just sell the set to an enthusiast?
2) How would I go about designing and building a pair of boxes? I will really need help with this.
3) Active vs Passive crossover. I can buy a cheap Dayton 3 way crossover that crosses at 375/3k to make it easy, and I can HP the woofer to not blow it up or I can go for crazy SQ and put them in active.

Here's the specs for the 3" mid: https://www.illusionaudio-america.com/downloads/CarbonC3.pdf
Here's the specs for the 6.5" woofer and tweeter. (The C3 tweeter is different than the C6): https://www.illusionaudio-america.com/downloads/CarbonC6.pdf

I have the passive crossovers still, but they're not 3 way, as most people who used these in 3 way ran active. The biggest issue i see is getting the woofer right, and not bottoming it out. I never had the 6.5s running lower than 65hz in the car because I had 2 12's in the trunk... This is going to require a sub too i think...

Any help would be great, and I am open to any and all help.

 

[kemmler3D]

These are pretty expensive drivers, but I can't find a lot of independent measurements of their performance. If you want to build 3-ways for home use I'd say you can get (probably) better drivers with known performance for the money.

If you're just going to put some drivers on an off-the-shelf crossover I would definitely not spend that much on the drivers.

IMO better to go with a kit... for the money you could pay for most of the Audio First 3-way kit and come away with some really SOTA 3-ways.

"Stupid idea" might be too strong but I think you're better off selling the drivers and going with a known quantity.

 

[Stewysb119]

These are pretty expensive drivers, but I can't find a lot of independent measurements of their performance. If you want to build 3-ways for home use I'd say you can get (probably) better drivers with known performance for the money.

If you're just going to put some drivers on an off-the-shelf crossover I would definitely not spend that much on the drivers.

IMO better to go with a kit... for the money you could pay for most of the Audio First 3-way kit and come away with some really SOTA 3-ways.

"Stupid idea" might be too strong but I think you're better off selling the drivers and going with a known quantity.

And that's where I was... I have these $1000 drivers sitting at home that sounded incredible in the car, albeit a little bright on the tweeter. I have moved on to Focal Utopia M's in the car, and Kef R3's in the main system. Those are $2k a pair... These were just for fun in the office, but i might be better off selling them for a great set of bookshelves and a sub for the office...

 

[DVDdoug]

Overall, you have a lot of decisions to make for yourself.

Personally, I wouldn't go "too crazy" with a small speaker... You probably won't match the sound of the small JBL (or similar) monitors.

How would I go about designing and building a pair of boxes? I will really need help with this.

The main thing is box volume for the woofer and the decision to make it sealed and ported (and the port dimensions). If the midrange has an open back it needs to be isolated (a box-in-a-box, etc. The volume behind the midrange isn't too critical.

WinISD is free speaker design software. You enter the Thiele-Small parameters and it will help you to optimize the volume for a sealed box and the volume and port dimensions for a ported box, and you can model the performance.

If you are going to use a separate subwoofer, it's not as critical and a sealed box might be best but I'd go-ahead and model it anyway.

I can HP the woofer to not blow it up or I can go for crazy SQ and put them in active.

That's probably not necessary unless you really crank-up the bass, trying to make-up for the small woofer. Of course if you are using a subwoofer it's better to high-pass the mains.

 

[kemmler3D]

i might be better off selling them for a great set of bookshelves and a sub for the office...

I got 2 subs and a pair of Genelecs for my office for less than $1K total, secondhand. So I think if you're looking for nice sound in the office, rather than "something to do with these drivers" your best option is definitely to sell them and use the cash on something else.