Creating 5 Home made speakers. Various questions on how to go about this project.

[Anwar^_^]

Please bare with my lack of knowledge, as I'm only 17 years old at the moment.

I had the Logitech z-5500 Digital system but couldnt stand how they lacked treble so I took all 5 speakers apart and took out the midrage driver within them. With those 5 drivers im making 5 bookshelf type speakers to reconnect to the Logitech z-5500D's amplifier which is within the subwoofer which I will be using since its not too bad. I will be buying 5 tweeters preferably Focal or if anyone else knows a superior quality company please let me know.( They must be 8 Ohms )

I will be hooking the speakers up in a Series Parallel circuit so that the impedence will remain the same, 8 Ohms.

The one question I have is that If i get crossovers, would I need 1 crossover per bookshelf speaker?

And I also dont know how to hook up a crossover since I've never dealt with one in my life.

I could go about and buy another amp but am not sure if Its worth it, because idk how many watts I can feed the entire speaker if the midranges can accept a max of 60W and the tweeters can accent 100-150W. Idk how
to go about feeding the speakers the correct amounts of watts. Also, I want to hook these back up to my computer so if i used the logitech amp, I can connect it to the computer via OPTICAL which will be awesome .

Thanks! Any and all help will be appreciated.

 

[Anwar^_^]

How are the MB Quart QTD 25 tweeters? Theyre 1" Titanium but theyre 6Ohms, what would they make the resistance in S-P Circuit? 7?

Also if i were to buy 3 of these sets of 2tweeters+2xovers
I would have 6 all together, could I put two tweeters in the center channel or would that screw up the resistance within the circuit too much for the amp to handle? Because that would be sweet if I could use both in the center channel.

 

[Anwar^_^]

Here are the Specs on the Logitech AMP

Total FTC power: 505 watts RMS
Sub-woofer: 188 watts RMS (into 8 ohms, @ 100Hz, @ 10% THD)
Satellites:
Left/Right: 62 watts RMS x 2 (into 8 ohms, @ 1khz, @ 10% THD)
Center: 69 watts RMS (into 8 ohms, @ 1kHz, @ 10% THD)
Rear Left & Right: 62 watts RMS x 2 (into 8 ohms, @ 1kHz, @ 10% THD)
Total Peak power: 1010 watts
Maximum SPL: >115 dB
Frequency response: 33 Hz — 20 kHz
Amplifier: Ultra-linear, high-capacity analog
Signal to noise ratio: >93.5 dB, typical 100
Input impedance: 8,000 ohms

 

[j_garcia]

It isn't as simple as it might seem, and no offense, but what you are trying to do most likely isn't going to work well, at least not with the original amp. The included amp wasn't designed to handle any other drivers and will give you very unpredictable results. Plus, a random crossover, even if it is the right x-over point for the drivers in question, does not guarantee a good blend between the two drivers - you need to be able to take measurements and see what works and what doesn't - in other words, some experimentation is needed to achieve decent results. Sticking a nice tweeter with a crappy midrange (semi-full range in this case) is also not going to yield great results.

How much $$ do you have to work with? www.partsexpress.com has the BR-1 kits on sale this month ($129/pr) and it would be a great place to start.

 

[Anwar^_^]

I have around a 1K budget. What If i designed pretty big speakers and purchased 5 tweeters, used the logitech as midranges and purchased 5 more midbasses? Or should I just go with the midbasses+tweeters and just drop the logitech speakers? I would have to use a 3-way Xover for a 3-driver speaker design right?

 

[j_garcia]

Are you looking just to learn from the project or are you looking to get really good sounding speakers? With multiple drivers you can have a few different options (depending on the drivers), 3 way would be one choice. With a budget like that though, I would say pick up some kit speakers instead (which removes the whole trial and error step) but gives you the experience of building and still gets you good sounding speakers. I personally would just start from scratch with the drivers. Parts Express has a great selection and there is also www.madisound.com

Take a look at www.gr-research.com for some great kits.

 

[Anwar^_^]

Well, huge change of plans here now, I was gonna make those speakers for fun. Now that our center channel speaker has blown (Klipsch Synergy Series C-3) and our amp (Onkyo TX-NR901) is shutting off from overheating constantly when played above 75 on real volume. I am now going to be remaking the whole home theatre system for our living room tv. Its a 50" Panasonic plasma so I want something powerful. I want to be able to blast music but with crazy clarity and amazing response. The budget is $7K, raw materials only ( Drivers, Amp(s?) ) not including wood and stuff. Basically you guys are the champs at sound and I just want a piece of the pie, an amazing AUDIOPHILE home theatre SOUND SYSTEM!!!!!! I would like to build the Sub and the five speakers. Not the amp... yET! haha jk

Thanks!
-Raheel

 

[j_garcia]

How big is your room? Sounds like you need an amp or two to drive your stuff to the levels you are after. Did you have it set to large or small?

 

[Anwar^_^]

I had the amp set to large because the amp book said > 6.5" set to large. And yeah I think I will have to be bi amping this setup so I'll have to purchase a pre-amp? or Processor? What drivers would you reccommend for the front floorstanding speakers? I would like them to be able to play various types of music. ie rock and rap. Most systems I hear when playing rock play bass too much making the music sound fake or retarded. Anyway, what in your opinion is the best speaker company out atm?

 

[j_garcia]

There is no "best" because speaker preference is an individual thing and there are plenty of great speakers to choose from.

Driver size has nothing to do with large/small, it is the actual specs and performance of the speaker. Large draws more power because there is more bass and if you don't have enough power during big peaks, that is when bad things can happen.

I'd say take that budget, head over to the speakers forum and start a new thread there to get a ton of suggestions.

I'd take a look at the offerings from www.av123.com , www.ascendacoustics.com , and of course the kits available from GR if you are looking to build your own. For subs, www.svsound.com www.hsuresearch.com

 

[Sheep]

Here are the Specs on the Logitech AMP

Total FTC power: 505 watts RMS
Sub-woofer: 188 watts RMS (into 8 ohms, @ 100Hz, @ 10% THD)
Satellites:
Left/Right: 62 watts RMS x 2 (into 8 ohms, @ 1khz, @ 10% THD)
Center: 69 watts RMS (into 8 ohms, @ 1kHz, @ 10% THD)
Rear Left & Right: 62 watts RMS x 2 (into 8 ohms, @ 1kHz, @ 10% THD)
Total Peak power: 1010 watts
Maximum SPL: >115 dB
Frequency response: 33 Hz — 20 kHz
Amplifier: Ultra-linear, high-capacity analog
Signal to noise ratio: >93.5 dB, typical 100
Input impedance: 8,000 ohms

Bu bu bu bu BOOOOGUS.

Logitech is pulling your chain man. Don't use that amp. Get a real amp and processor or a receiver.

SheepStar

 

[Darth Mike]

I don't know many parents that would trust a kid to build a $7k HT rig out of raw materials and drivers. You'd be surprised at how money can add up due to waste and mistakes, as well as trial and error.

IMHO you'll do better to research pre-made stuff A LOT, go do some serious listening, get some first hand advice from anyone you can, then think about how far into DIY you want to be. Maybe you'd like to be a big part of the turnout and be impressed with your newfound knowledge and abilities, but taking a step in over your head isn't pretty.

Being a beginner, maybe you'd have good luck with a premade speaker that is common to upgrade, like the BIC DV-62i, although for a whole setup you still would have money left afterwards with a $7k budget. But let's not forget, the equipment is not the only important part of a system, the room, the cables (good quality not snake oil), the environment, the lighting, and proper mounting and positioning for the speakers, are all just as important.

As far as being a big part of the turnout of your system goes, a great thing to learn about and allow budget for are DIY room treatments, which are much easier to build than a speaker system. The right room can make mediocre speakers shine as compared to good speakers in a bad room.

Our whole hobby is a constant state of DIY, so never worry yourself that you aren't a big part of a superior sounding system. When you shop around and listen to the garbage that people allow thier ears to be subject to, you won't lack faith in my statement. You will notice as you gain expierience that taking the time and effort to put the right components together the right way make a huge difference in the final product. You may find that to be enough DIY.