Humour me...

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StuG
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#1 Humour me...

Post by StuG »

Hi there,

Let me start by saying I know pretty much nothing about speakers or speaker building. However, I can make the cabinets - I am a joiner with all the toys necessary to do these things well (CNC, Vacuum press, spray booth etc).

Ever since I went to visit a client who showed me their audio set up I have wanted to have a high quality audio setup. At the time I didn't make a note of the equipment as I didn't realise quite how it would affect me, but the sound was mindblowing. We listened to a few tracks, mostly modern stuff, I don't even remember the tracks. The only way that I can describe it, it was like you could hear the musicians actually playing, not just the sounds.


Anyway, and it's a long shot, I'm hoping that there is someone out there who is my opposite! Someone who can design and spec the speakers for fun but is as ham fisted in the workshop as I am with the electronics and design!

I'm looking a collaboration of some sort, not sure exactly how it would work, it's just an idea.

I know there are a few guys on here that offer speaker building commercially and I don't want to tread on their toes so it has to be a two way thing.

I look forward to hearing any suggestions!


Stu
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pre65
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#2

Post by pre65 »

Hi Stu, welcome to the forum.

To be honest, with regards to speakers, your question is like me asking you for the best bookcase without mentioning how many, or what size books I wanted to house. :wink:

The "best" speaker would depend on so many other things like what size room, what amps are you using and what is your budget.

Where are you situated ? That may help you/us as certain areas of the UK are enthusiast rich and may enable you to listen to a diverse range of audio reproduction hardware.
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StuG
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#3

Post by StuG »

Right, i see what I've done there, typical newbie error, not enough info, too excited to post. :lol:

In essence, I don't know what I want! I am totally open to ideas and suggestions - with an "other half" caveat. It has to look good and not be too big.

A bit of background, I like listening to music, mainly rock - ac/dc, radiohead. It will also form a part of the home cinema which we are keen on as a family. I don't have any decent kit to drive them other than a Denon 1601 av receiver which everything goes through. I plan to upgrade the kit as and when.

The lounge is about 5m x 8m give or take, normal 2.4m ceiling height. Its due a refurb so I will be building some cabinetry or the av gear but that's not been decided on yet but it will probably have an impact on the style/design in terms of finishes, but the boss is quite keen on piano black (or other colour) rather than wood finishes. I on the other hand prefer a veneered finish.

The budget, well there is a limited budget - and i really don't know how much these things cost. As a starter project, I wouldn't want to be putting down more that a few hundred pounds plus the labour of making the cabinets.

Oh, and I'm in Southampton, but I would be happy to work remotely on a project.
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david C
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#4

Post by david C »

Hi Stu welcome to the forum

a bit off topic but a friend of mine is looking for someone with a cnc to take measurements of a guitar body to enable him to pass them on to the far east to be produced, is this something that might interest you?
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#5

Post by simon »

Welcome Stu.

Bit of a tough one this. There are nearly as many opinions on what is good hi fi as there are hi fi owners. This really is a game where one size generally does not fit all. In fact very few. And the more involved the kit gets quite often the bigger the difference in opinion.

So with that caveat welcome to the wonderful world of DIY :-). A few hundred quid on drivers and possible accompanying bits should go quite a long way. The interesting bit is choosing what to build. There are quite a lot of established designs out there which would take a lot of the guesswork out of the equation, but really you need to hear a few to see what floats your boat, just as Phil suggested in the first reply.

Can you get back in touch with your customer to see what the kit is? That might give a starting point?
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#6

Post by StuG »

Cheers guys.

David - I think that there are people out there that have 3d plotting capabilities, for me it would be a labour intensive task and probably not as accurate.

Simon, short of getting out there and listening to every ones speakers - whatever I end up doing, It will be a massive improvement on what we have.

Ok, Ill try and narrow things down. I'm not after horns or baffles, they have to be "conventional" looking or they wont be allowed. I would prefer full range rather than adding a sub. I like my bass, but it was the clarity that blew me away. I was once approached by a guy to make some speaker enclosures commercially, but having listened to them they lacked any "depth"

Does that help? On re-reading it it probably doesn't!
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pre65
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#7

Post by pre65 »

OK Stu, as your budget is quite limited, I would think a pair of Frugal horn mk3 might do you.

I was amazed how "big" they sound, and although they are horns the size would make them domestically acceptable. Don't discount them.

I use a pair of open baffles at home, but I could easily live with these Frugal Horns if a future SWMBO (she who must be obeyed) asked me nicely.

Here is a link to a topic about them.

http://www.audio-talk.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3061 :)
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chris661
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#8

Post by chris661 »

Hi,

If it's to form part of an AV set-up, are subwoofers going to be used as a seperate .1 channel (ie, 5.1), or will the main speakers handle the bass?

Modern receivers have the options for both.


Next up, some questions:
how low does the bass need to go?
how loud does the system need to go? (cinema levels?)
how big can the cabinets be? (this will often be a compromise with the two above)


A system based around the afore-mentioned FH3s would be a rather nice one, but I think you'd want a dedicated subwoofer for movies - what the 3" drivers can do is impressive, but they can't shift air like a 12"er.

You could use the FH3s for front left & right, and then some more conventional ported cabinets for the rest of the surrounds - use the same drivers throughout to maintain tonal balance - doing this would save some space.

Chris
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Nick
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#9

Post by Nick »

Hi,

Well, maybe the obvious thing to do is come along to Owston and use that as a way of getting a handle on what things sound like and what works for you. Its not the best room to listen to speakers, but its the best place to chat and get opinions (maybe more than you need :-)) about them.
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#10

Post by StuG »

Ok, thanks for the replies.

I think that Owston is a bit far for me. Is it an event or something?

It seems that there are far too many variables to get my head round as a newcomer, so I think that unless it's a massive mistake I'm just going to pick something, go with it and then use that as a reference to use against my prevoius experience. That way, at least, I will be able to describe what I hear in terms of what I like, what I'm expecting to hear and what I would like to change.

A quick browse reveals that I can get the Markaudio Alpair 7 drivers that I have seen in Frugal Horns thread for about EUR150 delivered. I think I can swallow that. What other bits do I need? The carcass materials and finishing are all FOC. Seems like a good place to start?
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pre65
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#11

Post by pre65 »

My Frugal horn cabinets are in 15mm MDF and came ready made from a German e-bay seller.

It would seem 18mm BBP would be the preferred material, so I would go that way. All you then need are four binding posts, (2 red 2 black) some wire from binding posts to speaker drive unit and a bit of felt (carpet underlay) to go on the back panel behind the driver.

Colin Topps made up some nice outrigger style feet for his which would aid stability, it's all in that thread.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

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pre65
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#12

Post by pre65 »

The binding posts (speaker terminals) are best mounted on an alloy plate rather than mounted directly on the BBP.

Here's one I did earlier. :)

Image

Those speakers were my DIY mini monitors for the computer.

EDIT.

You could use something like this if you are not DIY with bits of alloy.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPEAKER-TERMI ... 45fc92acaa
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

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Mike H
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#13

Post by Mike H »

What Nick said. Listening to a bunch of other people's stuff for 2 days is very handy indeed.
 
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#14

Post by Mike H »

Oh and BTW greetings Image
 
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chris661
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#15

Post by chris661 »

StuG wrote:Ok, thanks for the replies.

I think that Owston is a bit far for me. Is it an event or something?

It seems that there are far too many variables to get my head round as a newcomer, so I think that unless it's a massive mistake I'm just going to pick something, go with it and then use that as a reference to use against my prevoius experience. That way, at least, I will be able to describe what I hear in terms of what I like, what I'm expecting to hear and what I would like to change.

A quick browse reveals that I can get the Markaudio Alpair 7 drivers that I have seen in Frugal Horns thread for about EUR150 delivered. I think I can swallow that. What other bits do I need? The carcass materials and finishing are all FOC. Seems like a good place to start?
The A7s and a sub would be a very good system. For music, you can get away without a sub, but IMO, relieving the small drivers of bass duties does them a lot of favours.

Owston is where we all meet up a couple of times per year to drink beer, eat chips, listen to music and try not to get electrocuted. Have a look through the Assorted Stuff section for a thread about Owston - the longer threads will have lots of pictures which will give you an idea of what goes on.

Chris
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