Building cheap 2-ways

[spwelton]

I'm thinking of building a set of cheap two-ways for my dorm room. I've already got a (cheap) HTIB setup and would like to improve the speakers. I already mounted a xplod car audio sub in an old ported box, and it sounds pretty good, actually (I was surprised).

So I'd like to build a set of compact 2-ways that would fit well in the dorm and sound better than the stock 1-ways. I've been toying with WinISD and it seems that a 0.5 cu. ft. ported box will give me decent low end extension with a smaller size. I was using Dayton's 5.25" woofer to model this.

Does anyone have any suggestions on drivers? How about any 2-way plans? Most 2-ways I've found are larger drivers such as 7", etc which is too big for my dorm room. I'm thinking something like a 5.25" or 6" mid or woofer and a tweeter. I found the Modula MT on the HTGuide forum, but they seem a bit big...

Ohhh I can't wait to have some more room for a big set of towers..

 

[Guiria]

Check out www.zaphaudio.com I think he has some relatively inexpensive 2-way designs.

.5 cubic ft isn't all that small for a 5.25 2-way. I just built a pair that was .27 net internal volume, and that was ported as well.

 

[Swerd]

I'm thinking of building a set of cheap two-ways for my dorm room. I've already got a (cheap) HTIB setup and would like to improve the speakers. I already mounted a xplod car audio sub in an old ported box, and it sounds pretty good, actually (I was surprised).

So I'd like to build a set of compact 2-ways that would fit well in the dorm and sound better than the stock 1-ways. I've been toying with WinISD and it seems that a 0.5 cu. ft. ported box will give me decent low end extension with a smaller size. I was using Dayton's 5.25" woofer to model this.

Does anyone have any suggestions on drivers? How about any 2-way plans? Most 2-ways I've found are larger drivers such as 7", etc which is too big for my dorm room. I'm thinking something like a 5.25" or 6" mid or woofer and a tweeter. I found the Modula MT on the HTGuide forum, but they seem a bit big...

Ohhh I can't wait to have some more room for a big set of towers..

Have a look at the Dayton BR-1 kit. It uses the Dayton 6.5" woofer with their well known 1" silkie tweeter. It's a decent 2-way speaker and you can't beat the price. Even if you decide on something else, be sure to download the manual. It is a great read for firstime DIY speaker builders.

 

[spwelton]

Thanks guys! I really like the Zaph Audio 4" budget mini 2-way. This is basically what I am looking for!

What size port did you fit in a 0.27 cu. ft box? The smaller ports I tried in WinISD were getting into port noise territory.

 

[Guiria]

Thanks guys! I really like the Zaph Audio 4" budget mini 2-way. This is basically what I am looking for!

What size port did you fit in a 0.27 cu. ft box? The smaller ports I tried in WinISD were getting into port noise territory.

It was a slot vent that was 4x1x16 roughly I believe. The vent ran along the bottom of the box and up the backside of the box about half way.

Check out my build thread, you'll see what I'm talking about.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47566

 

[spwelton]

Idea!

Okay, after much back-and-forth on several designs, I think I've decided on a tentative BOM

I'm thinking of a Goldwood 5.25" woofer and a Goldwood tweeter. I modeled this in a 0.25 cu. ft. sealed box using WinISD and it gives an F3 of 77 Hz, right where I wanted it! So I think that this box design will be cheap to build and I will be satisfied with its compactness I plan on using a 12 dB/octave crossover at 3500 Hz as it is 1500 Hz from the rated boundaries of either speaker (woofer is rated up to 5000 Hz and tweeter is rated down to 2000 Hz). The main reason I decided on the sealed enclosure is because that driver seems to have a much flatter bottom end in the sealed enclosure.

Am I crazy or will this work?

 

[TLS Guy]

Okay, after much back-and-forth on several designs, I think I've decided on a tentative BOM

I'm thinking of a Goldwood 5.25" woofer and a Goldwood tweeter. I modeled this in a 0.25 cu. ft. sealed box using WinISD and it gives an F3 of 77 Hz, right where I wanted it! So I think that this box design will be cheap to build and I will be satisfied with its compactness I plan on using a 12 dB/octave crossover at 3500 Hz as it is 1500 Hz from the rated boundaries of either speaker (woofer is rated up to 5000 Hz and tweeter is rated down to 2000 Hz). The main reason I decided on the sealed enclosure is because that driver seems to have a much flatter bottom end in the sealed enclosure.

Am I crazy or will this work?

That driver will have to be in a sealed box, because it is a high Qts driver. I can not find enough info on the driver to help you with a crossover.

Here is a design that is already worked up, with a simple easy to build low part count crossover.

The volume is slightly over 0.5 cu.ft. but not by much. The drivers are of good quality and with a good price performance ratio.