My DIY Stereo Speakers

[subro99]

Dear all,

A question which could be very relevant to the OT as well as myself..

Now that the OT is very much aware about the pluses and minuses of good cabinet design, and going by what mishra jee is suggesting, the next logical step would be a DIY speaker project with better drivers this time...

So will Dayton RS225-4 plus BG Neo8 plus BG Neo 3 PDR would be a good combination? I checked up in the net - and got this feeling that there is very little that could go wrong in this combination!

Your comments....

 

[sarith]

Hello friends, anyone knows where to get Bolton woofer nowadays? I have this Bolton 12" with cream coloured cone 30P W2 and a 10" black coloured cone 25SKW22 each. Also one Toyotone 12" with speaker cone black saying 100W (maybe 50W in real)

 

[drphil]

Great going. You will get better everytime!

 

[kapvin]

Dear all,

A question which could be very relevant to the OT as well as myself..

Now that the OT is very much aware about the pluses and minuses of good cabinet design, and going by what mishra jee is suggesting, the next logical step would be a DIY speaker project with better drivers this time...

So will Dayton RS225-4 plus BG Neo8 plus BG Neo 3 PDR would be a good combination? I checked up in the net - and got this feeling that there is very little that could go wrong in this combination!

Your comments....

Are you designing yourself or is "an established design?

if it is the latter, then stick the the driver recommendations (and the crossover recommendations)

if it is the former, and I were you, I would look at 2 x RS225-8s (this will be a bigggg cabinet) and BG NEO10. this really widens your choice for tweeters. (but you could go for Neo3s)

crossover work is not likely to be simple, but I'd crossover 400hz and 3-4k (depending on the tweerer)

all the best.

 

[sarith]

I have each of Bolton 10" woofer 25skw22 (black cone) and Bolton 12" woofer 30pw2 (brown cone, cloth surround) (both unused) which I bought some time ago. They are lying around without much use. With a pair, I can either use it or sell it. If fellow diyers see these in their diy shops, please let me know. Thank you.

http://imageshack.us/a/img521/8926/a661.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img33/7534/k5fc.jpg

 

[saheb11123]

if you want to sell these then i will take them, let me know!!

 

[sarith]

if you want to sell these then i will take them, let me know!!

Sorry Friend, I just saw your post. I don't mind selling it as I have no use for them until I find a pair . I have never done an online sale though, so kind of unaware on how to do it. I will pm you

 

[Deleted member 45006]

We cannot ignore any brands just because they are cheap, I have a very good experience with a dainty surprisingly, it's a 4 inch dual cone midrange which sounded way better than any other 4 inch car audio brands. I removed the second cone out of the speaker so that its not a dual cone anymore... And right now it doesn't have a dust cap, it's a good find to me, as its voice tones were really neutral compared to many expensive stuff I have heard, I tried them with my marantz, technics stereo amps and with some local amps, results were good and the highlight was the vocals, the only problem I was the sensitivity, it's quite low compared to the 'branded' ones, at just Rs465 (it's just a KFC meals money!) it's a worth try! If anyone's interested I can check the model number... And note I said mid-tones are great, not highs or lows

 

[silking]

We cannot ignore any brands just because they are cheap, I have a very good experience with a dainty surprisingly, it's a 4 inch dual cone midrange which sounded way better than any other 4 inch car audio brands. I removed the second cone out of the speaker so that its not a dual cone anymore... And right now it doesn't have a dust cap, it's a good find to me, as its voice tones were really neutral compared to many expensive stuff I have heard, I tried them with my marantz, technics stereo amps and with some local amps, results were good and the highlight was the vocals, the only problem I was the sensitivity, it's quite low compared to the 'branded' ones, at just Rs465 (it's just a KFC meals money!) it's a worth try! If anyone's interested I can check the model number... And note I said mid-tones are great, not highs or lows

Is there any decent Indian speaker & tweeters available?

 

[Deleted member 45006]

That's a total try your luck thing! I was just trying my luck out of cheap components, and after spending quite a lot, only few came out good, I m basically a silk some person, so they hardly come cheap, there are plenty of cheap items in chennai, it's your luck,... You put some cheaps together and sometimes they work out good together that's it

 

[Deleted member 45006]

I know only the Philips dual cone and the Boston dual cone 8 inch that sounds decent , but you may find more options online

 

[sarith]

I know only the Philips dual cone and the Boston dual cone 8 inch that sounds decent , but you may find more options online

Bought 2 new unused Boston 8" (early model) from an electronics shop (they had 3, one damaged, so bought 2). It sounds pretty good for the money. I heard that Boston acquired Philips India and started manufacturing hi-q speakers.

Sadly, I got a single Philips 8" woofer (new, unused). Now I have to find another one to make it a pair :/. Also on the lookout for a Philips screw driver kit. Alby, If you come across anything similar, please let me know

 

[Deleted member 45006]

Bought 2 new unused Boston 8" (early model) from an electronics shop (they had 3, one damaged, so bought 2). It sounds pretty good for the money. I heard that Boston acquired Philips India and started manufacturing hi-q speakers.

Sadly, I got a single Philips 8" woofer (new, unused). Now I have to find another one to make it a pair :/. Also on the lookout for a Philips screw driver kit. Alby, If you come across anything similar, please let me know

Sarith, if you belong to chennai, I have seen the same Boston 30w I guess in some shops, that driver has good mids, like I told earlier most of the cheap drivers are low on sensitivity

 

[Deleted member 45006]

I had two Philips with me and two divers that came from a pair of old hi q international bookshelves, but since I didn't care them my dad gave it to some metal scrap dealer ! But they were good I rememeber

 

[Deleted member 45006]

this is the speaker I was talking about, remove second cone and they sound wide open, I got it during my college days some 6 years back,@ 160 rs a piece (when our DIY was on a tight budget!) and I never found any other dainty good, went to a distributor to check if this is available , and he said its still there. @ 500 a pair, if magnetic shielding is not a prob, this a good one for the vocals!

 

[sarith]

Sarith, if you belong to chennai, I have seen the same Boston 30w I guess in some shops, that driver has good mids, like I told earlier most of the cheap drivers are low on sensitivity

Hello Alby,
I don't live in Chennai, but I can make a trip to this store if they have old stuff like the boltons or philips. Bolton 30w series is a 12" woofer with a moderate quality sound but with good mid/midbass

 

[sarith]

I had two Philips with me and two divers that came from a pair of old hi q international bookshelves, but since I didn't care them my dad gave it to some metal scrap dealer ! But they were good I rememeber

Scrap? :sad:

 

[sarith]

View attachment 11220 this is the speaker I was talking about, remove second cone and they sound wide open, I got it during my college days some 6 years back,@ 160 rs a piece (when our DIY was on a tight budget!) and I never found any other dainty good, went to a distributor to check if this is available , and he said its still there. @ 500 a pair, if magnetic shielding is not a prob, this a good one for the vocals!

Even Dainty has changed from good to average. I rarely use any Dainty stuff these days. Their midwoofers (like you said) is good. I have used a 5.5'' woofer as a replacement for creative inspire subwoofer and it worked fine (4 years ago)

 

[Danieljohn]

Hi All,

I have been following Hifivision and DIY forum for quite some time. Here had wanted to share my DIY journey till now, which I could make with inspiration drawn from other FMs' work and valuable suggestions posted here. I just completed 2 speaker sets which I am using as stereo speakers. These are too big to be called bookshelf speakers and sounding good to my taste! It is consisting of 10 inch Bolton full range and 4 inch Dainty tweeters in 45 L box. It took me more than 8 - 9 months to reach at current stage.

• My Bolton speakers (4 Ohms) - almost 18 years old :-D - were lying idle for most of the time and passed through test of time and nature in form of intense heat, moisture and even flood in my hometown.
• Boxes (48 L) + Tweeters (8 Ohms) from S P Raod Bangalore - Got from S P Road Bangalore.

My journey has gone through following milestones, spending about 2 - 3 months at each milestones, while reaching 4:

1. Bolton + Philips 3 inch tweeters in cabinet
2. Bolton + Dainty 4 inch + cabinet padding with egg crate like material which is used in fruit packing as layer (in pic 1) - This improved sound to some extent.
3. Bolton + Dainty 4 inch + cabinet padding with egg crate like material + egg crate in 1 of the box! - Not much enhancement in sound quality from step 2 though.
4. I further tried to play around with some resistors to create equal impedance for both speakers, however result was not something great as Bolton's voice got muffled in tonality. So I did not put it in. Putting resistor in parallel to tweeter obviously would had been redundant and power wasting.

Some pics of milestone 3 are attached below. I recently got a chance to listen to Sonodyne floor-standers @ Croma. And to my ears, my setup is sounding only a bit lower than that...! - Giving me much of confidence!

At this point requesting suggestions from all DIY Gurus on what further enhancements (economical) can be done.
I am aware of following:

1. Crossover network - Will it be required for full-range?
2. Putting in 4 Ohms tweeter - I previously had put in Philips tweeter, however current setup is better sounding.
3. Applying Glass-wool / Poly-wool in boxes - please suggest how much SQ will it improve from current state of cabinets, as I have already put egg-crate material?
4. Current boxes are made of MDF + Ply. One option can be of going for pure MDF or wood cabinets which will cost much more (in tune of 5K per cabinet as I understand) - however with current speakers does it make sense to spend so much?
5. If at all opting for custom make of boxes then getting them designed in such a way that axis of both speakers fall in same plane - Does not look possible for me :-D

Please let me know your views...!

Thanks for reading my first post on HiFiVision!

Regards,
Manish.

Hi Manish thanks for posting pics could

you pls send few Bolton fullrange pics I had these for more
two decades so I just want to have a good look at them [email protected]
Thank You Aaron

 

[Danieljohn]

Thanks Hari & Prosenjit for encouraging words...! :-D

Next step I am contemplating is to look in to crossover part...! From whatever I have read, I have some queries and I would request all folks to help on following:

1. Is it advisable to put crossover when using full range speakers?
2. As I have read, getting TS parameters would be the first step to go for crossover network - does anyone have TS parameters for Bolton Full Range drivers?
Again intent of this question is inherent from known difference b/w woofer & full range! This is the reason I am not looking for ready made crossovers which mostly have points for tweeter/(mid range)/woofer - (Otherwise for a novice like me any circuit called crossover could had worked...!). Please let me know if crossovers would be available for this scenario too...with my search I could not get anything specific!
3. If I have to measure it, then it will need software (freeware) for the same. Can I get the desired testing done from my laptop - which is not having sound card and has only 3.5 mm stereo output socket...?

I am starting to read through crossover litrature, so some of above queries may be due to ignorance, so please let them go..!

Thanks,
Manish.

Hi Manish instead of worrying abt a crossover use a cap to tweeter its simple sounds Good too & Designe a TL out of ur current enclosures they will keep u satisfied till death