Hello all,
I want to introduce my DIY full range speaker to the forum. I bought a pair of Fostex FE103e drivers and looking for a plan to make a descent speaker. After researching many over the web, i thought a Zigmahornett design would suit this driver better (just 4") and also will look good. But, that design would involve more materials, a carpenter and time which i was not willing to wait for, as i wanted to try something quickly to see some results of this driver.
Then somewhere i saw a Japanese making a speaker with fostex drivers using Sewage pipes (local water pipes we use in our construction) and that looked very doable on my own without any help. So started off and the timeframe was just 2 days over the weekend. (tiresome, for sure)
The speakers in action in my living room.
Bought the following PVC pipes :
4" dia - 2 feet length x 2
L bend x 2
4" to 5" enhancer x 2
5" dummy end to close and hold the Drivers x 2
a small length of 5" connecting pipes
Went to a local wood working place and cut 2 x padauk wood pieces for the base stand - 1 feet x 9" and cut an arch at one end
Bought some L angles for fitting the tubes to the stand
Some brass nut/bolt to be used as the spikes
Now, painting :
bought a can of ready to spray acrylic paint
bought a sample can of Indian copper colour enamel paint
Some sanding papers
Silicon glue to fix joints etc.,
Gold plated binding posts
Construction :
You have your wonderful speaker.
Cost to make :
Drivers - SGD 150 per pair (INR approx 5500)
Wood - INR 300 including cutting
Pipes and other accesories - INR 800
Paint, varnish - INR 600
Now, the observations from my minimal listening to this beauty
Overall the sound is very good
Nice body to the sound
It provides a very good imaging and a great soundstage (i benchmarked it against the same song "bricks in the wall" we played few times in the chennai HFV meet yesterday and exactly followed the expert comments during the session)
Very detailed (need some more run in)
Crisp and clear
I mostly listen to soft, easy listening, instrumental types of songs and it suits perfectly - it may not suit some other genres like heavy rock etc.,
For some people, you can add a sub to take care of some bass freq. I am happy even without it.
My own considerations to improve it further :
As it has come out nicely, now, i am confident of spending more time in getting a PROPER WOODEN ENCLOSURE made for this like a Zigmahornett or a TL design available over the net (after sometime though !)
Hope you all like it and i would suggest people to just try it out for fun using some local full range drivers and these pipes - may not cost even this much as the Fostex drivers are the most expensive in this whole cost.
This BEATS my Mission M32i hands down in details and clarity and now my mission bookshelf is pushed to my other room to play with my AVR.
All above are just my opinion and thoughts and i invite our forum members to come home whenever they have time to have a listen.
Thanks for taking time to read this.
swami
I want to introduce my DIY full range speaker to the forum. I bought a pair of Fostex FE103e drivers and looking for a plan to make a descent speaker. After researching many over the web, i thought a Zigmahornett design would suit this driver better (just 4") and also will look good. But, that design would involve more materials, a carpenter and time which i was not willing to wait for, as i wanted to try something quickly to see some results of this driver.
Then somewhere i saw a Japanese making a speaker with fostex drivers using Sewage pipes (local water pipes we use in our construction) and that looked very doable on my own without any help. So started off and the timeframe was just 2 days over the weekend. (tiresome, for sure)
The speakers in action in my living room.
Bought the following PVC pipes :
4" dia - 2 feet length x 2
L bend x 2
4" to 5" enhancer x 2
5" dummy end to close and hold the Drivers x 2
a small length of 5" connecting pipes
Went to a local wood working place and cut 2 x padauk wood pieces for the base stand - 1 feet x 9" and cut an arch at one end
Bought some L angles for fitting the tubes to the stand
Some brass nut/bolt to be used as the spikes
Now, painting :
bought a can of ready to spray acrylic paint
bought a sample can of Indian copper colour enamel paint
Some sanding papers
Silicon glue to fix joints etc.,
Gold plated binding posts
Construction :
- Cut pieces to desired length
- Sand them well for the paint to stick
- Fix everything to-gether for a trial
- Cut a precision hole on the 5" dummy for placing the driver. Place the dirver
- Do whatever padding/damping you want - I used Yoga Mat as one layer inside the walls of the pipes and some polyfill taken out from a pillow
- Once you are happy with how it sounds - dismantle
- Prepare the wooden stand using sanding, sealing, varnishing several times to get the gloss you want
- Drill holes for adding screws to fix pipes and spikes
- Prepare the pipes by applying a primer
- Drill holes for the L joint to fix
- Spray paint them
- Allow it to dry
- Add binding posts
- Solder wire to the driver and the binding posts
- NOW, start fixing only the tall pipe to the stand
- Once stable, add the top bend and the Driver side
You have your wonderful speaker.
Cost to make :
Drivers - SGD 150 per pair (INR approx 5500)
Wood - INR 300 including cutting
Pipes and other accesories - INR 800
Paint, varnish - INR 600
Now, the observations from my minimal listening to this beauty
Overall the sound is very good
Nice body to the sound
It provides a very good imaging and a great soundstage (i benchmarked it against the same song "bricks in the wall" we played few times in the chennai HFV meet yesterday and exactly followed the expert comments during the session)
Very detailed (need some more run in)
Crisp and clear
I mostly listen to soft, easy listening, instrumental types of songs and it suits perfectly - it may not suit some other genres like heavy rock etc.,
For some people, you can add a sub to take care of some bass freq. I am happy even without it.
My own considerations to improve it further :
- I currently run it with a SS NAD 355 amp and it sounds good, may be a tube amp will sound even better as they make the best pair
- This is not made to any specific professional measurements, just my own logic - trial and error
- No professional damping materials used - just household stuff
As it has come out nicely, now, i am confident of spending more time in getting a PROPER WOODEN ENCLOSURE made for this like a Zigmahornett or a TL design available over the net (after sometime though !)
Hope you all like it and i would suggest people to just try it out for fun using some local full range drivers and these pipes - may not cost even this much as the Fostex drivers are the most expensive in this whole cost.
This BEATS my Mission M32i hands down in details and clarity and now my mission bookshelf is pushed to my other room to play with my AVR.
All above are just my opinion and thoughts and i invite our forum members to come home whenever they have time to have a listen.
Thanks for taking time to read this.
swami
Last edited:
hyeah:....enjoy and cheers
