All the speakers I made - suri

[suri]

Hi forum members,

just a thread with pictures of my journey down DIY speaker lane!

started off in 1996, and quite enjoyed using my spare time with them.

have a look, critical comments are welcome!

these attached pictures are of my first attempt - a big monkey coffin box- using Bolton 10" woofers, 4" mid and JBL titanium tweeter, crossovers made by a friend of mine who thought he knew what he was doing .

at that time i thought the speaker was good, but in retrospect, I realise that the speaker was bass heavy, the crossover frequency from woofer to mid was set way to high. It made a huge wall of sound and that made some of my friends happy - mainly the head bangers, and the usual comment after a person listened was "NOW WE CAN PUT UP A DISCO HERE AND HAVE FUN"

Not a single person said anything about clarity, depth of imaging, tonal balance - they were all not there!

definitely, a JBL!!

 

[gobble]

Your speaker looks like HAL from 2001 space odessy

Did it try to take over your life?

Regards

 

[kaushik]

"NOW WE CAN PUT UP A DISCO HERE AND HAVE FUN"

similar comments i got when i bought YAMAHA AVR,

frenz told "for dance parties surely we will take YOUR SOUND SYSTEM!"

i had just to give a smile in reply...

 

[reju]

OK fine...not impressed with the design, and you say sound is not good.
But still justified for your 1st attempt, in 1996.

Now lets have the pictures of the your latest creations. I know they are coming....

 

[suri]

this was my second attempt - a massive failure - any sane person would have stopped trying at this point. the bass was boomy and absolutely one note because the pvc pipes were functioning as resonant tubes - notably, i tried to make the housing of the midrange and tweeter come together to form a sort of horn for the midrange back wave.

 

[realactivex]

Suri... keep going King Lear!
We would like to hear more about your attempts..
Ask soundsgreat and he will tell you the number of years he took to make his anaconda!

The pain is the beauty of DIY.
I am closely following this thread.. do update it.

 

[stevieboy]

suri you've sure got some funky ideas for speakers!!! :clapping: how does your latest one sound? do post when you post the pics

 

[reju]

How old were you at 1st attempt? When was the 2nd? Didn't you complete it?

 

[smedhavi]

I am sure you are having a hell of a good time! I envy you.

My 2 cents:
In addition to the PVC pipe, one more thing that was affecting the bass, was the spring! The spring loaded woofer box would move backwards with the same force as the cone moving forward (courtesy Sir Newton). Actually the bass would have got tighter if the woofer enclosure was securely fused with the floor

Regards,
Sharad

 

[soundsgreat]

Hi,

Hey suri, sorry for not posting earlier !


Very interesting and intriguing stuff ! You've been busy I must say hyeah:!! Its very good to see some folks who are of this type ! I really congratulate you on all the time,effort and money that you've spent on making them :clapping:!!

The old speakers look somewhat similar to what I made back in the days ! that and couple of others that I happen to make,but sadly unlike you I have not retained any of them except for one! Rest I just used it as firewood and burnt it ! it was very sad doing that but I had no other option (folks at my place gave an ultimatum,either me or the speakers which stays , so had to make the obvious choice )

Btw did you read my last PM ?? coz didn't hear from you,so just checking.

Regards.

 

[suri]

I am sure you are having a hell of a good time! I envy you.

My 2 cents:
In addition to the PVC pipe, one more thing that was affecting the bass, was the spring! The spring loaded woofer box would move backwards with the same force as the cone moving forward (courtesy Sir Newton). Actually the bass would have got tighter if the woofer enclosure was securely fused with the floor

Regards,
Sharad

Hi Sharad,

Very true - and i can see it only now, when you say it. Obviously, the cone cannot push air if it is thrown back on the springs! and therefore, the bass will be woolly and loose! So true!

Maybe I should visit this design again, and fix the woofer section firmly to the base/ground and then decide!

 

[suri]

How old were you at 1st attempt? When was the 2nd? Didn't you complete it?

Hi Reju,

I must have been 35 yrs. at the first attempt. That boy in the picture is my second son. I am very picture shy!

The second attempt, I never did complete, it became very obvious very soon that I had run into the wrong woods!
regards

 

[suri]

my third attempt,

was a 4" Bose driver ripped from a pair of their PA systems.

I measured the dimensions of the original enclosure, calculated the volume, and made this enclosure with approximately the same volume.

the red mushroom cap at the back covers the hole at the back of the main enclosure and serves to deflect the back wave to the front.

this speaker was sweet, and did a commendable job within the limitation imposed upon it by the inferior, supposedly full range, Bose driver!

Importantly, it restored my confidence and faith in myself.

 

[murali_n]

Hai Suri,

The speakers look massive. Add two BAR stools and it will make way for a MINI BAR.

Just Kidding. great work. It reminds of the speakers of 80's which were massive and voluminous.

Just thought I will add my DIY also.

Thank you.

N Murali.

 

[suri]

Hi Murali,

that speaker looks like a million dollars!
was it ply you used, or veneered MDF?
and what drivers are those?

regards

 

[murali_n]

Hai Suri,

Thanks for your comments , I feel honoured.

My DIY was made from Peerless Denmark 8 inch Woofer(60 W rms), 6 inch Peerless India M/W and Silk dome tweeters (both 35W taken from TORVIN speakers because of less bass), Bolton Make 3 way N/W ( 24 dB/Octave), internally wired with OFC cable (0.75 sq.mm), Glass wool 50mm thick insulation, MDF Enclosure of Size 670mmx240mmx300mm(HxWxD) made of 12 mm MDF. I am not sure of the MDF material but it is green colour inside. Speaker terminals from MX thread type. Port is 50mm dia 100 mm long, Speaker cables are DIY made of Lapp make cable 4 x 1.5 sq.mm copper, where two runs in diagonal form positive and the other two for negative. My amp is NORGE 2060. This setup sounds OK to me. Bass is better than with 8 inch Bolton.

The Woofer is just a month old so will know the full performance after a complete Burn-in.

Thanks,

N.Murali

 

[grubyhalo]

...
Just thought I will add my DIY also.
...

Nice speakers!

 

[vivekphadnis]

Hi Suri, Murali, great effort from you guys. The speakers look good. Would have loved to listen to them.
I had made two MTM towers with Vifa TC18 drivers. Now I ripped them apart and put Peerless India midbasses.
I am thinking of building a pair of good two way speakers for music listening only. Hoping to find a good drivers.

Vivek

 

[madman29]

Very nice looking speaker. How do they sound? How much did you pay for the tweeter. It's hard to come by a good tweeter in kolkata.

 

[gobble]

Great finish! did you hire a carpenter? Where did you procure the material from?

Regards