Ugly, Cheap, Loud and All Wrong

[chad1376]

^^There you have it, the design parameters of my build. These are going to live in may garage and must overcome the intermittent noise of my air compressor and various power/air tools.

-Will they sound good? Meh - probably not.

-Will the look good? I might sand out some of the errors from my crappy woodworking and slap some paint on 'em.

Anyway, here's what I've got so far.

(8) Bravox WFR-06BV-04B 6-1/2" Poly Cone Shielded Subwoofers
(16) 2" Full Range Aluminum Cone Neodymium Driver
(4) Nuance TW5-073LR 1/2" Mylar Tweeter
..Some cheapo NP caps and misc parts laying around

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q34/chad1376/DSCF3445.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q34/chad1376/DSCF3473.jpg

[howard]

Your enthusiasm is contagious. I think I will go cut some boards.

[chad1376]

Man, re-reading my post, I do sound like a downer, just being a realist. Here's the part where I'm enthused.

They're gonna be loud!:D

[ikymagoo]

wow, crazy,
how do you like the Bravox's i just bought 4 of them, can't beat the price

[johnnyrichards]

Those woofers are actually very nice. Very low distortion, especially when you consider the cost :)

I have 12 of them (bought when they were six dollars more:mad:), and they will eventually anchor the LCR in my 5.1 with the buyout Audax/Max fidelity as a mid and the buyout Vifa BC25TG taking care of the top end.

The only problem with the Bravox woofer is the impedance at Fb can make crossing over low tricky, it can cause some spikes and dips in the FR in that region. Then again, that is a region people just don't hear very well anyway.

Looks like a fun project on the cheap :) Love it.

[chad1376]

Not sure yet... For the price, they appear fairly well made. Since this is a quick -n- dirty project, I'm hoping to give them a listen by he end of the day (or at least by the end of the weekend.

[J.Lee]

I don't see Ugly Chad - fact is I dig the look.

I'm no Designer by any means and the XO for what you have may be real tough but if you'd ask Moderators to move your thread to standard Forum you just might get some guys 'in the know' to help you with that.

They might then turn out to be good looking, sound decent and be loud as well.

I've also done some playing with simply wiring up 'what I had' . It's fun and some of it actually sounded decent.

[chad1376]

Yah.., crossover design is certainly the "all wrong" part of this project. I'm sure I could easily double the cost of with a proper crossover. For now, I'm going to give 'em a try with some simple high pass caps just to hear where I'm at. I'm thinking this project might be more suited to cobbling together a bi-amp setup using an autosound active crossover and another "garage sale" amp.

Cabinets are nearly done and ready for paint. I'll post an picture update shortly.

[chad1376]

Some heavy sanding and a little Bondo to correct the fact that I can't cut a rectangular piece of plywood to save my life. Automotive 2k primer, followed by some grey stone paint should cover all my woodworking sins.

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q34/chad1376/DSCF3474.jpg

I also used some scrap wood to brace the walls a little.

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q34/chad1376/DSCF3476.jpg

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

great way to learn i guess.

[J.Lee]

If the frames are as out of whack as photo makes them appear get yourself a good level and compensate for differences with short stands that will get them back to at least appearing straight.

[chad1376]

First one done.

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q34/chad1376/DSCF3481.jpg

Here's my highly sophisticated x-over. This has been developed through an intense R&D session involving Fu-Manchu, Pixies, and Social Distortion. It sounds good enough to me that I'm gong to solder it up and stuff it the box.

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q34/chad1376/DSCF3479.jpg

...speaker stands? Go back and read what I'm building. The right speaker is going to live on the back wall of my garage, somewhere above the paint cans, and below an old VW engine case. I'm going to need to trim that shelf though.:)

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q34/chad1376/DSCF3482.jpg

[mzisserson]

Just.... awesome. 100% **** and vinegar. I like it.

[ikymagoo]

wow, i hope they sound as good as they look, nice paint job!!

[ikymagoo]

let me know how those woofers sound and the 2 inchers,

thanks

[johnnyrichards]

Holy-flashback-to-the-early 90's Batman, is that a Radio Shack 4.25mH choke coil in that picture?

[chad1376]

Holy-flashback-to-the-early 90's Batman, is that a Radio Shack 4.25mH choke coil in that picture?

Ha, good eye. Those coils have been in dozens of ill-conceived crooked boxes. Careful,or I'll whip out my Tandy 1" mylar domes.:)

I only have one speaker wired up so far...

The 6.5" speakers are fantastic. ..they are surprisingly punchy and tonal (no one-note bass). Cramming the speaker in the corner of the garage helps a lot too.

The 2" speakers need more x-over finesse than I'm willing to invest. My cheesy x-over tamed the higher treble peak that otherwise would have made them unbearable. 8 of them combined sound very un-strained, even with my cheapo 100wpc receiver turned up nearly to the point of clipping.

Overall, the speakers ain't hi-fi, but they are punchy, have a very clear presence and tons of headroom. The best analogy is they they sound like a good sound system at an outdoor rock concert - exactly what I was looking for. I can't wait to get he other one wired up.

[robwest]

How's the sound with both?

[chad1376]

I'm just now getting back to it..stripping wire and soldering up 14-drivers is a little tedious.:)

FWIW - either my brain is self adjusting for some of the peaks and dips in the 2" speaker response, or they are loosening up a little (probably a little of both), but they seem to be sounding better and better the more I listen.

[chad1376]

Aw hell..I've got a dead tweeter:mad:. I probably got the terminal too hot when I was soldering ( I hate when the terminals are supported with plastic). I guess I'll order a few more, so I have a spare or two.

[johnnyrichards]

Aw hell..I've got a dead tweeter:mad:. I probably got the terminal too hot when I was soldering ( I hate when the terminals are supported with plastic). I guess I'll order a few more, so I have a spare or two.

Two of the six of those I ordered arrived DOA. I nuked another one soldering.

[Wolf]

I think I still have 4 of those 4.25mH coils that RS closed out on a few years ago. Dirt cheap! I had 6 total, and used a pair in the Icthus xover.

Mylar domes- I had 4 of them, but Johnny bought them from me!! :D

Cool project!
Gumption- you got it!
Wolf

[chad1376]

Both speakers are a-rockin'. Here's the final followup:

I went back to my original plan of installing the speakers on storage shelves near the ceiling. Certainly not the best for acoustics, but they're out of the way from errant screw drivers, 2x4s, and kids fingers. The wall and ceiling boundaries made them very boomy. An extra heavy dose of fiber-fill helped a bit.

The open-cell foam "gasket" on the 6.5's is nearly worthless, and I had all sorts of noise..went back and sealed them with silicon which also helped tighten up the bass.

Sound:

Still a little boomy, but OK for the scope of the project. The bottom octave isn't real strong, and the gutsy mid bass now screams for a healthy sub woofer to balance out the bass.

The orientation of the speakers, along with wall/ceiling reflections makes for some odd acoustics when listening closer than about 4' from the speakers, but the farther back I stand, the more things gel. I might try stapling some foam on the ceiling to catch some of those first reflections.

Again, these really sound "live". My wife and I spent Friday evening in the driveway (about 15-feet in front of the garage), stereo at max volume with Niel Diamond singing Hot August Nights to us. My throat is still a little sore from yelling over the top of the music (aren't you glad you're not our neighbors). :D

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q34/chad1376/DSCF3497.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q34/chad1376/DSCF3496.jpg

[robwest]

Alright!

For the boominess, you might try stuffing a bit of fiber in the port.

[setzer808]

Awesome! I like these "***** to the wall" builds.

[D, Rose]

Awesome project! I spit coffee all over the desk when I saw that x-o. You need to write for a speaker/sound mag somewhere!:D

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

try tilting them down about 30degrees or so.

[chad1376]

Wow, this is the thread that won't die. :eek: I guess my catchy title coupled with a less active forum section is giving it life beyond its years.

FWIW - the crossover didn't look too horrible after I tidied it up with some hot glue and solder, but yah, it is definately a "caveman" design.

No-go on tilting the speakers downward. The shelves are too close to the ceiling, so there's no room to maneuver without re-organizing my entire garage. No biggie though, I've got the boomieness under control by turning down the bass on the reciever. I don't expect I'll be sipping wine in the sweet spot trying to pinpoint the location of the 2nd cello with these anyway.:D Beer and "metal" coupled with the sound of shop equipment is more likely.

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

paint them a pale yellow and call them 'beer and metal'.

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

[setzer808]

I think the only thing that would make these more perfect mancave speakers would be if each one had a bottle opener built into the baffle. :D

[PunkSweeper]

Disconnect the one working tweeter in the the other cab and don't replace them...for comb filtering's sake...