Need help selecting drivers for a speaker build!

[Christian24]

Hello Audioholic, Happy to be part of the forum.

Im 15 years old based in oz and after finishing a Bluetooth speaker build, tower modifications, center speaker builds now I am finally going to make from scratch some awesome tower speakers, with my inspiration from martian logan 60xt's.

Me being in oz, its hard to get speaker drivers, and ive sourced just about the best website you will find for speaker drivers, the website being https://www.wagneronline.com.au/audio-speakers-pa/ct/

or just wagner online for those scared to click the link. I have the choice of "audiophile drivers" from peerless, SB Acoustics, Vifa and scan-speak. I know all these manufacturers make good drivers but I am limited on cash and dont want to dish out much on drivers, not getting super high end drivers but basic ones that will do well. Which one of these drivers will do the job best for my speaker design in the image below with SMALLEST COST factorr in mind? I have multiple designs but I dont know which ones will give me the best results. Ive got bass covered, thats for sure but I just want a nice , balanced and realistic sounding speaker that will give me basic stereo imaging. The woofers will be ported. More than happy for any feedback thanks in advance.

 

[TheWarrior]

Hi!

First, the project needs a purpose. Those a three very different options. What size room will it be used in? What will be listened to?

To keep cost down, I would plan for either a 2-way book shelf speaker, or at most a 3 way with no more than 3 drivers.

Bass driver performance is not determined by cone diameter. No woofer is large enough to match the wavelength of the frequencies it produces. Larger drivers typically have higher power handling.

I would recommend reading the 'Loudspeaker Design Cookbook' as it should give you the foundation you need to select the appropriate drivers yourself. Matching impedance is only the tip of the iceberg, for example.

 

[Winkleswizard]

Welcome!

While you may get lucky, without some major education, you are more than likely to create a frankenspeaker. Suggest you read (at least the start of) the following:

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/Fitz/considerations.htm

After this, you should have a reasonable idea of why it is best for you to consider a DIY speaker from an experienced designer. You can find some references here: http://reasonable.tech/sound-advice.html

Look these over and answer TheWarriors questions and will suggest some next steps to give you a better answer to your post. Also, what is your budget? If ML 60xt is your target, you could easily spend more than $1000 U.S. for just the drivers and crossover components.

Ww

 

[Christian24]

Hi!

First, the project needs a purpose. Those a three very different options. What size room will it be used in? What will be listened to?

To keep cost down, I would plan for either a 2-way book shelf speaker, or at most a 3 way with no more than 3 drivers.

Bass driver performance is not determined by cone diameter. No woofer is large enough to match the wavelength of the frequencies it produces. Larger drivers typically have higher power handling.

I would recommend reading the 'Loudspeaker Design Cookbook' as it should give you the foundation you need to select the appropriate drivers yourself. Matching impedance is only the tip of the iceberg, for example.

Thank you mate my room is small and variety of music will be listened to all the way from jazz to edm and michael jackson so forth. Ive locked in on a bookshelf speaker with an 8 inch driver and 1 inch dome tweeter, I have found the woofer I think I may use and it is a SB Acoustics 8 inch woofer (model SB23NRXS45-8) as it suits my price range , looks good and SB Acoustics seem to make better products for the same price vs other people. Ive think ive made it out to sound worse then what my skills really are, I have a table saw, circular saw and just about every tool except a router. Thank you

 

[Christian24]

Welcome!

While you may get lucky, without some major education, you are more than likely to create a frankenspeaker. Suggest you read (at least the start of) the following:

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/Fitz/considerations.htm

After this, you should have a reasonable idea of why it is best for you to consider a DIY speaker from an experienced designer. You can find some references here: http://reasonable.tech/sound-advice.html

Look these over and answer TheWarriors questions and will suggest some next steps to give you a better answer to your post. Also, what is your budget? If ML 60xt is your target, you could easily spend more than $1000 U.S. for just the drivers and crossover components.

Ww

Thank you. I think ive made out that it sounds worse then what I really am, I have access to a table and circular saw, with being able to lend just about any tool you can think of from my school, such as a handheld disk sander I will use for the wood finish. I had a look at those and it looks great, the ML60XT is not my target just inspiration to draw from in tower design but to keep cost down and to make it simple, bookshelf speaker with 8 inch woofer and 1 inch tweeter is the go. SB23NRXS45-8 is the woofer model number from sb aucoustics. Thank you

 

[Winkleswizard]

Here is a design using your choice of woofer: http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/SBAcoustics-3WC.htm

It is a 3-way design. While SB does have good driver values, integrating this woofer as part of a 2-way design is likely challenging and would require much more time than a known design. In the end, you may find you spent significant time and money on a mediocre outcome.

This driver needs a vented box of at least 35-40 liters. So along with the budget question, is that a size you can live with?

As they are complex electro-mechanical devices, designing a good speaker requires more than just woodworking skill. The wrong box or wrong crossover design can ruin the sound of the best drivers.

Closer to home here, try perusing this: http://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design

Hope this helps!

Ww

 

[TheWarrior]

Thank you mate my room is small and variety of music will be listened to all the way from jazz to edm and michael jackson so forth. Ive locked in on a bookshelf speaker with an 8 inch driver and 1 inch dome tweeter, I have found the woofer I think I may use and it is a SB Acoustics 8 inch woofer (model SB23NRXS45-8) as it suits my price range , looks good and SB Acoustics seem to make better products for the same price vs other people. Ive think ive made it out to sound worse then what my skills really are, I have a table saw, circular saw and just about every tool except a router. Thank you

For critical listening, that design will keep one person happy. Switching from a 1" to and 8" driver will increase the speakers directivity significantly.

Thinking about wavelength of audible frequencies, 20 hz = 17m while 20 kHz = 17mm. Due to those wavelengths, bass is omni directional, progressively becoming more and more forward biased as frequency increases and wavelength decreases. Assuming you cross that 8" woofer near or above 2khz, there will be a sharp increase in directivity due to the wavelength @ 2khz being smaller than the diameter of the woofer. That means narrower dispersion which is fine for a single listener, but means two people on a couch won't hear the same sounds.

I would recommend using a 6" driver which I'm pretty sure SB Acoustics has. It won't play quite as low, but a subwoofer will offer far better bass performance anyway.

A 2-way crossover is pretty simple to design, so keep at it!