Mid-Priced Drivers for a 1.75 cu ft 2-way?

[gregz]

I have a pair of old speaker 3-way cabinets that seem a waste to throw out. Approximate internal volume is 1.75 cu ft each. I'm looking to retrofit them into mid-fi 2-ways with a price point around $250 or so for woofers/tweets. Willing to consider porting as well.

After all these years, there still seems no way to search woofers by enclosure size. Anyone know of woofers that would fit this?

*Edit*

After a perusal of available 10" and 12" woofers at Parts Express I found Goldwood GW-12PC-4 for about $70 apiece. The recommended sealed volume is a close match, the resonant frequency is in the low thirties, and efficiency and response flatness look workable if I cross over around 1.5K to knock out the 2K spike.

I'll fish around in the hundred dollar range next...

 

[gregz]

If I drop to 8", Dayton RS225-4 for $58 looks like a good fit ported. Advantage over the Goldwood above is I can cross over above 2K, making tweeter integration an less dicey affair.

This might be as good as it gets in this price range. The question now is whether it's worth recycling the cabs for this experiment (vintage cabs from the late 60's), or whether I should just be normal and design a new pair of cabs around drivers like normal human beings.

 

[lsiberian]

The sealed volume for each of those is significantly lower than 1.75 cu ft Are you planning on doubling up the drivers? That would probably make this much easier. I would stick with sealed if you can and get a couple drivers that give you a much higher crossover point. Since the most critical range for a main speaker is the midrange not the bass. You want to make sure you're good there. You can always add a sub later if you need more bass.

Interestingly enough The Dayton Audio RSS315HF 12" happens to be ideal in your box size. Of course it probably also pushes you out of your budget range and would require making a 3-way. Of course the Dayton Dome Midrange drivers would certainly make that an easier task. Of course 3-ways are much more expensive on multiple levels. So doubling up the woofer is probably your easiest way to get near the Q of the box.

 

[gregz]

Thanks for the input, Isiberian. If I used the Dayton 8" RS225-4, I had planned on porting the boxes. Doubling up sealed in an MTM is definitely an option, and one that is still somewhat inexpensive.

The Dayton Audio RSS315HF you mentioned would definitely blow my budget, especially once I purchased a pair of respectable mids and tweets.

Splitting up the cabs into dual chambers opens the doors to a plethora of other woofers as well. Looks like I need to start browsing all over again. A separate sub is not a bad thing.

Thanks for the suggestion. It's good to have options.

 

[lsiberian]

Thanks for the input, Isiberian. If I used the Dayton 8" RS225-4, I had planned on porting the boxes. Doubling up sealed in an MTM is definitely an option, and one that is still somewhat inexpensive.

The Dayton Audio RSS315HF you mentioned would definitely blow my budget, especially once I purchased a pair of respectable mids and tweets.

Splitting up the cabs into dual chambers opens the doors to a plethora of other woofers as well. Looks like I need to start browsing all over again. A separate sub is not a bad thing.

Thanks for the suggestion. It's good to have options.

I forgot to mention another option. You could always make the box inert. By doing so you'd give up a lot of volume which would put you in a better range for most woofers.

To do this you'd line the walls with peel-n-seal roofing material and then put 1/2" plywood on the inside of that. From there you'd create a dense bracing matrix. You could use panel goods or dense hardwood. I've seen success with both. It's definitely a lot of work, but it does result in very good speakers because it eliminates box based distortion.

 

[gregz]

It's an interesting idea, and probably beats inserting styrofoam blocks to shrink the interior.

After revisiting the options, I'm leaning towards an MTM configuration. I've never made one before, so it would be new ground for me, and it would also make the most of the volume available especially if I go ported.

Dual 7" aluminum coned Dayton Audio DA175-8 looks like a close match to the air space.