Swerd
Audioholic Warlord
Both books cover the basic information, but I think that Ray Alden's book is written more clearly and would recommend it over Vance Dickason's for that reason.
Alden's first 2 or 3 chapters tell all about how to figure out what volume cabinet to build for a given woofer. There are separate chapters for sealed and ported or bass reflex cabinets. It explains how to calculate the cabinet volume, and how to predict the bass response depending on the woofer's electro-mechanical parameters, the Thiele/Small parameters. These methods are tried and true. They've been understood for over 30 years, and they take the guess work out of designing the lower bass response. It takes some math, but no more than high school algebra. Once you understand what's going on, there are calculating programs available on-line to do the math quickly for you.
Please take some friendly advice, and hold off on the idea of using pre-made crossovers. They will not get the job done correctly.
One of the best things about DIY speaker building is that you find out how little money good speakers can cost. $500 per speaker is, in my opinion, a lot more than you need to spend for really excellent speakers. For about $500 a pair (not counting woodwork), you could build some truly excellent speakers.
If you are seriously curious, I'll be glad to talk with you. Get started with the Ray Alden book first and get the basics out of the way.
Alden's first 2 or 3 chapters tell all about how to figure out what volume cabinet to build for a given woofer. There are separate chapters for sealed and ported or bass reflex cabinets. It explains how to calculate the cabinet volume, and how to predict the bass response depending on the woofer's electro-mechanical parameters, the Thiele/Small parameters. These methods are tried and true. They've been understood for over 30 years, and they take the guess work out of designing the lower bass response. It takes some math, but no more than high school algebra. Once you understand what's going on, there are calculating programs available on-line to do the math quickly for you.
Please take some friendly advice, and hold off on the idea of using pre-made crossovers. They will not get the job done correctly.
One of the best things about DIY speaker building is that you find out how little money good speakers can cost. $500 per speaker is, in my opinion, a lot more than you need to spend for really excellent speakers. For about $500 a pair (not counting woodwork), you could build some truly excellent speakers.
If you are seriously curious, I'll be glad to talk with you. Get started with the Ray Alden book first and get the basics out of the way.
