building your own speakers

Anyone ever tried?

I've been looking for a new pair of speakers and my father suggested to build them on my own. Because I dont have that much background on how to plan/build speakers I came across several pages that sell DIY kits from Desktop- speakers to high- end systems. (They say its possible to build your own system for 2.000€, instead of paying 10.000..)

Those two sets would suit my budget:

http://www.lautsprechershop.de/hifi/mini_en.htm

http://www.lautsprechershop.de/hifi/simon_en.htm

The price is for one speaker (without chassis; amp) ~120€, do you think those are worth it?

no idea but your avatar is awesome

Yeah, I have a couple monitors that I built myself. The kit was only $150, and are comparable to speakers in the $500 range.

It's actually quite simple, but you have to have some soldering skills and some of the necessary tools [hot glue, wire cutters, soldering iron, etc].

sounds neat what kit(s) did you use?

The kit that I bought was from a company called Dayton Audio. I think the kit was through Parts Express.

that looks ace

Sooo I finally bought a 2.1 system. The chassis is still missing, but the hardware arrived a few days ago. Since I have absolutely no idea how they're gonna sound when they're finished, I'm a bit nervous. Still, the new amplifier already sounds fucking amazing on my old system, so we'll see

pictures!

my old system, it sucks.

a few facts:

Satellite:

Frequency response: 50-35 000 Hz (-8dB)

Power handling (RMS/peak): 80 / 120 Watt

Crossover frequency: 3500 Hz

Sound pressure level at rated input: 82 dB (1W/1m)

Impedance: 8 Ohm

Size (HxWxD): 31,4 x 19 x 25 cm

Subwoofer:

Sound pressure level:109 dB (1W/1m)

Power: 150 Watt sinus/300 Watt music

Frequency response (-8dB): from 27 Hz

(upper crossover frequency adjustable)

Size (HxWxD): 64 x 26 x 38 cm

Impedance: 4 Ohm

How can you keep Harry Potter next to Eco, and on the same shelve as Kakfa? (etc.)

  On 11/9/2009 at 10:34 PM, Glass Plate said:

How can you keep Harry Potter next to Eco, and on the same shelve as Kakfa? (etc.)

either that or:

well.. at least the german covers are a lot better than the american ones.

Nadjaaaaaaaa.

So how does they sound?

wow those kits are quite expensive.... I'm in the cz rep, and I'm buying some monitors soon, but I can get a set of krk's for the price of those kits, and then I still have to build the boxes. I'd love to do it, and I've done it before, but it's gottaa be a better deal than buying pro monitors...

How do they sound? I;m curious. :)

I've ordered the boxes monday. They should be done in 1-2weeks, so I'll have to be patient.

And yes, those were rather expensive. I decided to spent a little more, so hopefully the quality will justify that

Satellite: 160€ each

Subwoofer: 180€

Subwoofer- Amp: 260€

Stereo- amp: 200€ (I didnt have one before)

+150€ for the boxes (the material I need is kinda expensive, but they'll process it for me so I only have to put everything together)

  On 11/9/2009 at 10:45 PM, plstik said:

  On 11/9/2009 at 10:34 PM, Glass Plate said:

How can you keep Harry Potter next to Eco, and on the same shelve as Kakfa? (etc.)

either that or:

you sick sob... get that off of fante this instant!

i've done it before but they tend to be pretty shit. to be fair i don't put much effort in though.

rigged up to my laptop now i have some old speakers from a 1980s TV with fabric from some waterproof trousers for a diaphragm, mounted in small cereal boxes.

soo I've managed to build the satellites and they're better than I'd expected.

They sound is very detailed and acute, although it seems a little bit "stinging"..And the bass is a little bit thin compared to my old speakers, but thats what that 600cm monster of a subwoofer is going to be for

Still one speaker seems to be broken, it sounded too crunchy and when I moved the membrane by myself you could hear a little scratching noise...I've contacted the seller and gonna send it back tomorrow

Setting up was quite easy, I really sucked with the soldering iron, but somehow managed my way through the wiring diagram

a few pics

  On 9/8/2009 at 9:55 AM, Braintree said:

The kit that I bought was from a company called Dayton Audio. I think the kit was through Parts Express.

I have these speakers. They are absolutely killer for the price. They only took a few hours to put together, and my jaw dropped the first time I heard them. They really do compare favorable to speakers in the $400-$500 range. Unfortunately, they aren't that great as studio monitors because their frequency response is not flat at all.

for hi-fi use building speakers can be very worthwhile but for monitor use I'd personally want something factory built to spec for accuracy

building your boxes really precisely can have a huuuuuuge effect on the sound.

http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/Calculator/Box/

try this next time, and you can have something a lot more flat..

  On 5/15/2011 at 10:02 PM, slightlydrybeans said:

building your boxes really precisely can have a huuuuuuge effect on the sound.

 

http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/Calculator/Box/

 

try this next time, and you can have something a lot more flat..

The kit I built was intentionally designed not to be flat. The cabinets were pre-fabricated.

i'll build things like pedals and synths, but some things take a level of OCD i don't have. i would go insane trying to build a mixer, wiring up sixteen identical channels! not worth my time to save a couple hundred.

i feel like if i put together speakers, something would wind up a quarter inch off, and it'd sound shit!

  On 12/11/2009 at 7:20 PM, plstik said:

soo I've managed to build the satellites and they're better than I'd expected.

They sound is very detailed and acute, although it seems a little bit "stinging"..And the bass is a little bit thin compared to my old speakers, but thats what that 600cm monster of a subwoofer is going to be for

 

A 6 meter subwoofer?!

  On 5/16/2011 at 8:18 AM, azatoth said:

A 6 meter subwoofer?!

it's just like a,

mini-mall.

It actually exists. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subwoofer#Matterhorn