DIY Tower Speakers - Require Tips

[ukjeyaraj]

Hi All,

I am having a Sony TA-F5A Integrated amp(70+70 RMS) connected to my Kenwood Direct Drive Turntable and Zune 30GB. I want to build a pair of Tower Speakers to connect with this (only for music). Tips required on following items

1) What should be the wattage of woofer, midrange and tweeter
2) If I use nuwood for the box, is it possible to get wood like finish and how to achieve that
3) Choice between metal net and cloth net

 

[ukjeyaraj]

Bumping expecting some tips

 

[TaureanBull]

See DIY section of Suri sir or better PM him. He can advise you the best here. Here is the link of his thread;-

http://www.hifivision.com/diy/4250-all-speakers-i-made-suri.html

 

[GeorgeO]

Hi I built a pair of floorstanders, using Fostex drivers about a year ago and posted info here-the design was by Bob Brines.

 

[crisscross]

Do you have a budget in mind?

 

[ukjeyaraj]

Yes 6 - 7K for the pair.

 

[GeorgeO]

You may need to rethink-my enclosure cost me about that amount-I used 2 sheets of MDF, and got a carpenter for 12 days.

 

[suri]

You may need to rethink-my enclosure cost me about that amount-I used 2 sheets of MDF, and got a carpenter for 12 days.

hi ukjeyraj-

most of the time - DIY ends up being costlier than commercially available -

unless you aim for high-end.

if the budget is 6-7k INR - then you might end up with something you do not like.

regds suri

 

[asliarun]

Hi All,

I am having a Sony TA-F5A Integrated amp(70+70 RMS) connected to my Kenwood Direct Drive Turntable and Zune 30GB. I want to build a pair of Tower Speakers to connect with this (only for music). Tips required on following items

1) What should be the wattage of woofer, midrange and tweeter
2) If I use nuwood for the box, is it possible to get wood like finish and how to achieve that
3) Choice between metal net and cloth net

The Asawari | dhandanought.org/tcpip

You have a nice vintage amp. You should consider getting a decent pair of speakers (DIY or store-bought) to do justice to your other components. As others have mentioned, DIY is quite complex if you are doing your own design. A much easier way is to use an existing design or even buy a "flat-pack" which you only need to assemble. However, these options don't exist in India so you will have to import the drivers, etc.

Anyway, I don't know enough about this subject, so I'll shut up now.

 

[square_wave]

DIY is not cheap. Unless you go the really cheap route with bolton drivers and some ready-made crossover. They will sound horrible !

Your best bet is to look around for some vintage speakers like sansui, pioneer which can be got under 10k. Or look for some used Norge speaker.

 

[ukjeyaraj]

Thanks for the advice and info from all. I googled a bit and realised the budget is too low. But googling made me incline more towards DIY. I think i will start to plan after 2 months for a proper DIY.

 

[GeorgeO]

You have a whole raft of options in diy-from entry level to audiophile. The best way to do it is to start with a low budget and then after some time gradually upgrade, as and when budget ( and spouse) allows.

 

[ukjeyaraj]

Its more than a year old. I am slowly moving towards DIY Floor-standers.

Right now I got 4 piece of Peerless India S16NI and 2 piece of Peerless India SR10DT.

Idea is to use the S16NI for low and mids and SR10DT for highs.

Right now my mind is set on MTM floor stander. Currently reading from different sites about building cross over.

All advices and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ukjeyaraj]

I was just checking the following link for crossover design 3-Way Crossover Designer / Calculator

and have some doubts

1) Input parameters has only drivers' impedance, is that sufficient?
2) What does different crossover type define (i.e., 1st order, 2nd order etc). Is there any optimal type?
3) Which frequency spread to choose 8:3 or 10:3.4?

 

[ukjeyaraj]

Finally I completed my DIY floor stander

This thread was started in July 2010, without realising exactly where I am stepping into. At the end of nearly 2 years, I am happy with this journey. In this journey i have learned many things and few are

1) Speakers have something called TS parameters
2) Cross over should not be bought, but need to designed and made
3) Box dimensions need to be meticulously calculated
4) Different type of capacitors used
5) Different type of inductors
6) Terminologies like attentuator, L-Pad
7) Many components are not available in India
8) How to finish MDF like wood

Though it is not ultimate, I am happy about where I have reached in this journey.

About sound quality. It sound clear and warm. I need to keep the bass control(in the amplifier) at one point above zero for the kind of bass I like and I am getting good bass at low volume too.

Drivers used are Peerless India Drivers SR10DT (1) S16NI (2)

Software used are x-over pro and boxpro. (The version I got ran only in windows XP. I had to create a VM in my windows 7 laptop just for using this software. It was worth it.)

I got lots of help and guidance from the following members

1) Mr. t.antony - Pointed me in right direction to get the drivers
2) Mr. hari.iyer - He gave invaluable inputs in making the cross-over. Thanks Sir.
3) Mr. suri - He guided initially in understanding the DIY speaker

Pictures of the speakers are given in the following post.

 

[ukjeyaraj]

 

[miroflex]

Hi U K Jeyaraj,

Congatulations on completion of your DIY project which I feel has generated less interest than it should have. Anyway all's well that ends well. It is great to know that you are happy listening to your speakers.

It would be wonderful if you could very kindly share the knowledge gained by you in this thread. It would encourage those who are contemplating building their own speakers.

Regards and happy listening.

 

[ukjeyaraj]

Thanks miroflex.

DIY is definitely good. In my case even wood work was done by me. I enjoy wood work equally. Enclosure finish is like

MDF (19mm)
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Wood Putty (twice) and sanding
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Wood Primer (thrice) with sanding
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Wood stain (twice) with sanding
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Asian Paints Touch Wood Glossy (twice)

 

[yugaaa]

Hi All,

I am having a Sony TA-F5A Integrated amp(70+70 RMS) connected to my Kenwood Direct Drive Turntable and Zune 30GB. I want to build a pair of Tower Speakers to connect with this (only for music). Tips required on following items

1) What should be the wattage of woofer, midrange and tweeter
2) If I use nuwood for the box, is it possible to get wood like finish and how to achieve that
3) Choice between metal net and cloth net

ooopsss .. Did not see the 2nd page and I was suggesting stuff .. sorry

 

[denom]

Very nice ukjeyaraj,

kindly upload more pics of the speakers including the rear sides showing binding posts.