Introducing: The Pit Vipers (Ooh Yeah!!!)

[joshshetter]

I would love to see some in depth stuff on the mid range stuffing. IME the stuffing in the midrange box can have a huge impact on it's response.

[a4eaudio]

Regarding inductor placement...

[a4eaudio]

I'm pretty new at speaker building so hopefully someone will double-check this.
This is the Tweeter and Woofer on a 3.5 x 5 board and the midrange on a 3.5 x 5 board.
Probably could all be squeezed together on a 5 x 7 board easy enough but keeping track of the wires was a pain for me to figure out.
(Note PE has nice "perforated crossover boards" in 3.5 x 5 and 5 x 7 that look nice, but some 1/8" or 1/4" hardboard or mdf works fine.)

[djg]

Correct. Speakers operate on AC, alternating current. The + and - on the XO diagrams are to show how the amp power is input.

The speaker drivers themselves DO have polarity. They must be hooked up according to the XO diagram. Note the + and - on each driver symbol. Sometimes the drivers will be specified reverse polarity, and the + and - will be switched. All 3 Pit Viper drivers are normal polarity.

So, amp power in has polarity, driver hookup has polarity. XO components have no polarity.

[Serenitynow]

Thanks for these posts and pics. That does help answer alot of my questions.
One more tho - I think I read it before, but just want clarification......
None of these components have a positive and negative side correct ? Meaning, they can be oriented with the lead wires in either direction . No way to connect them backwards right ?

[djg]

And read this RE: the two coils on the midrange XO board.

http://troelsgravesen.dk/coils.htm

[djg]

Meniscus made these for me. They have nice terminals in and out, but they aren't necessary. The tape covers component values of a proprietary design.



Some XOs I did with strain relief for the wires done by gluing them down.



Edit: the schematic for the 3 XOs above

[djg]

The only part that might be confusing is on the LH side of the schematic where wires cross without little dots. That means they are not connected. For each part of the XO, the top line is the plus wire, the bottom, the minus. If you are new to schematics, try placing a piece of paper over the LH side where the wires cross, and then label each pair top +, bottom -.

All 3 + and- wires can meet at the terminal connectors

I use 5 minute epoxy to glue the components. I remove the ty raps on the air coils for better contact. The shellac should hold them fine If you ended up with an iron core woofer coil you might want to screw that down or ty rap it.

[djg]

The XOs are pretty simple. I would make 3 separate boards. I would make them big enough so that I could lay all the parts out just as they are drawn. Lots of people drill holes and push all the parts leads through and connect them on the reverse side. I keep it all "above board". Much simpler in my mind, and the board doesn't need any standoffs to clear the wiring.

[Serenitynow]

Thanks djg

Now that I have the enclosures pretty much figured out, I need crossover help if someone would be so kind.

I don't have any experience with passive x-over board layout. So, if someone would please diagram how the components should be arranged, that would be fantastic.

I can do all of the x-over on one board or 3 separate boards ( one for each driver ). Doesn't matter to me - just as long as I have the proper component layout.

[981CS]

Perhaps I missed it, but what is the actual impedance of the Pit Viper? I've been waiting for a good DIY design like this that I could build and it'd look properly paired with a vintage 70's receiver if executed correctly. However, a lot of us stay away from "modern" speakers (of this design) because we really don't want to push ~3.4ohms with a 40+ year old receiver (looking at you Wharfedale Lintons).


We have those memories of a friend's dad who had a Cerwin-Vega or JBL setup like this that'd slam your chest with bass. We still want that...only with a bit of actual sound-staging and accuracy now.

[djg]

CNC is hard to beat. Looks great.

[Serenitynow]

Baffles inner and outer faces

[Serenitynow]

[Serenitynow]

Some kind of a test track for a conveyor. They're about 92" long