New to home audio and want to build some bookshelf speakers...

[Armandhammer]

I used to play around a lot with car audio, I currently play around with mid-fi headphones, now I'm interested in messing around a little with some home audio. I also want to get into woodworking. My boss has a shop and is willing to teach and help me. I figure what better first project than a nice set of bookshelf speakers to replace my dying Polk Audio computer speakers. I need some help with the design.

No idea where to start. I guess I'd be looking at something with 6"+ woofers and a tweeter per box. Built in crossovers. Ported or sealed?

Box material? Of course I'd like some hardwood but how will that work as an enclosure? Painted MDF? MDF with a hardwood shell? How about airspace or figuring the size needed for the enclosure? Any thing else needed or recommended?

Powering the speakers? This will be used with my computer. Right now I have a decent headphone DAC and amp but not sure how well they would work with speakers. Well, I do use the setup with my computer speakers I currently have which are junk, but it works and gets them plenty loud. But I figure this is diving into a whole different realm. If need be, I can look at some sort of a receiver/amp that can be used off my computer.

Eventually I may looking into adding a subwoofer to the setup, but that's further down the road.

Any help I can get is greatly appreciated.

 

[j_garcia]

It isn't exactly that simple; there's a LOT that goes into designing a speaker if you want it to sound good. The good news is, there are a lot of kits already out there that you simply need to build the enclosure for that you basically get a top notch speaker by doing the labor. A kit is the best way to start doing DIY as it will tech you pretty much everything but the x-over design and driver selection.

I've built/rebuilt a few of the A/V-1 and A/V-2 kits from here and they sound great:

Speaker kits, loudspeaker design services, sub-woofers and amplifiers. - DIY Kits

Take a look here:

The Madisound Speaker Store

and here are some examples of what others have come up with:

Parts Express Speaker Projects

 

[Armandhammer]

Yeah, I figure there's more to it than meets the eye. Car audio is very much the same way. A lot I don't understand but then again, I've never really dove into the technical side. The kits look good though I'd like to try to figure out how to build my own, the enclosure at least. Perhaps I can get a speaker/crossover kit and build my own boxes.

Thanks for the links...I'll be checking them out.

 

[j_garcia]

Loudspeaker Design Cookbook: Vance Dickason: 9781882580477: Amazon.com: Books

This book is well written and is presented in a way that is pretty easy to understand. It covers a wide range of most aspects of design and is a good place to start if you want to get into the technical side of it. Shop around, you can probably find it for less than that.

 

[Armandhammer]

Thanks!!!!

 

[Swerd]

j_garcia gave you good advice . I'd start with a kit where all the design work is done, and you build the enclosure.

Some answers to your questions:

I guess I'd be looking at something with 6"+ woofers and a tweeter per box. Built in crossovers. Ported or sealed?

Most small bookshelf speakers today are used in ported cabinets. It really depends on what woofer you start with. Besides the book already mentioned, the first 3 or 4 chapters of this book give a good explanation of sealed and ported cabinet design.

Speaker Building 201: A Comprehensive Course in Speaker Design: Ray Alden: 9781882580453: Amazon.com: Books

Box material? Of course I'd like some hardwood but how will that work as an enclosure? Painted MDF? MDF with a hardwood shell? How about airspace or figuring the size needed for the enclosure? Any thing else needed or recommended?

MDF or plywood is recommended, usually ¾" thick. They cost much less than hardwood, and they don't contribute as much resonance to the speaker's sound as hardwood can. Also, as humidity varies throughout the year, MDF keeps its dimensions much better than hardwood. No warping or cracking.

If you want a hardwood finish, use hardwood veneer instead of attaching a thicker hardwood shell.

Powering the speakers? This will be used with my computer. Right now I have a decent headphone DAC and amp but not sure how well they would work with speakers. Well, I do use the setup with my computer speakers I currently have which are junk, but it works and gets them plenty loud. But I figure this is diving into a whole different realm. If need be, I can look at some sort of a receiver/amp that can be used off my computer.

Most computer speakers contain a small internal amplifier. You can build a plate amp into the back of DIY speakers, or get a stand-alone receiver or amp.