Wife Says "Get the Small Bose Speakers"

[Tarhead]

I say "I can do better than that" and proceed to show her the small speakers from ZaphAudio and Wolf and she says "Nope, they're too big. I want the cute small ones in each corner of the room for the Home Theater."

So...I need to come up with something we can live with that resembles the small Bose satellites...ie ~3.5"T x 3.5"W x 4.25"D cubes articulating on top of each other and cram them up in the corners. They will be connected to a system with a 15" sub and low pass filtered at 150 or 80hz. Eventually I'll build a center channel speaker.

How would a Tang Band W2-803SM 2" driver in each cube sound? How about a 3" full range in the bottom cube and a small tweeter (sans crossover) in the top cube? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Mark

[Æ]

Re: Wife Says "Get the Small Bose Speakers"

I say "I can do better than that" and proceed to show her the small speakers from ZaphAudio and Wolf and she says "Nope, they're too big. I want the cute small ones in each corner of the room for the Home Theater."

So...I need to come up with something we can live with that resembles the small Bose satellites...ie ~3.5"T x 3.5"W x 4.25"D cubes articulating on top of each other and cram them up in the corners. They will be connected to a system with a 15" sub and low pass filtered at 150 or 80hz. Eventually I'll build a center channel speaker.

How would a Tang Band W2-803SM 2" driver in each cube sound? How about a 3" full range in the bottom cube and a small tweeter (sans crossover) in the top cube? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Mark

You won't need tweeter(s) with a 2" or 3" full range driver.
If you use a tweeter without a "crossover" you'll burn or blow the tweeter.

And if you are going to use 2 drivers per channel, make sure your amp (receiver) can handle the impedance. Two of the same drivers in parallel halves the impedance. Two of the same drivers in series doubles the impedance.

[jdclark]

Re: Wife Says "Get the Small Bose Speakers"

Sure hope its a small room....like a really really small room. I use Dayton RS100S drivers from 3 feet away at my computer desk, and I wouldn't think about going smaller...
Also, I cant see 4 small full rangers crossed over 100-250hz range being able to keep up with a 15in sub. Maybe they would be fine but I don't know. I would think about using 2 4in full rangers per corner.

So is this a 4.1 system? Especially if you are using small drivers like this, I would go with a 5.1 setup and go from there if you feel the need to upgrade to 7.1.

[dld]

Re: Wife Says "Get the Small Bose Speakers"

Dude, this is ridiculous. In every relationship there is give and take, she has to "give" in this case. It can hardly be called home theater with 3" speakers!

my wife would never pull this, and I would never rain on her hobbies either.

[Æ]

Re: Wife Says "Get the Small Bose Speakers"

Sure hope its a small room....like a really really small room. I use Dayton RS100S drivers from 3 feet away at my computer desk, and I wouldn't think about going smaller...

Also, I cant see 4 small full rangers crossed over in the 300-600hz range being able to keep up with a 15in sub. Maybe they would be fine with the bass filtered out, I don't know though.

If he actually mounts his "cubes" in the corners of the room, the SPL will be somewhat louder than if they were mounted out and away from the corners.

[gowa]

Re: Wife Says "Get the Small Bose Speakers"

I'm sorry to hear that you are leaving your wife. LOL

[Andy_G]

Re: Wife Says "Get the Small Bose Speakers"

Just tell her she would look better in those flat bottome $10 shoes from WallMart.

And a sack !! :eek:

maybe then she will get the message.

Grow some "bolls" dude !! ;)

[Wolf]

Maybe we can do this right! "Bozapps"; Read on....

I say "I can do better than that" and proceed to show her the small speakers from ZaphAudio and Wolf and she says "Nope, they're too big. I want the cute small ones in each corner of the room for the Home Theater."

So...I need to come up with something we can live with that resembles the small Bose satellites...ie ~3.5"T x 3.5"W x 4.25"D cubes articulating on top of each other and cram them up in the corners. They will be connected to a system with a 15" sub and low pass filtered at 150 or 80hz. Eventually I'll build a center channel speaker.

How would a Tang Band W2-803SM 2" driver in each cube sound? How about a 3" full range in the bottom cube and a small tweeter (sans crossover) in the top cube? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Mark

It's funny you say that- I actually have a pair!

If it were me, I would use a W2-803SM in the tops, and the "2" sub"

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=264-875

http://www.partsexpress.com/imageslarge/264-875L.jpg

in the bottom. Find about a 1.0mH 24AWG iron-core coil/choke from a surplus shop or maybe Mad has some. Sometimes cheap xovers in speakers also use these. It's small enough to fit, and rolloff the lower unit. This way you don't get 'beaming' from the dual-units. In the corners, the bass will load well, and probably not be an issue.

If you want to pad the -803, use about a 4 ohm series resistor, and then parallel that driver and resistor with the coil and 2" "sub".

If you really want to keep it simple, then a pair of the -803 in series will still work, but not as well, IMO.

In 0.1 ltrs (unsure of actual volume/size of BlOZE) for the -803, I get an F3 of about 216 Hz, and padded with the 4 ohm resistor, should be able to get to 94dB at 10W without *much* distortion setting in. This little driver doesn't sound bad when it over-excurses a little, so that is my reasoning. You don't want to port it in this volume. Heavy fill! (If you want a cap on it, you are welcome to use one- somewhere in the 150uF NPE type. This will however take up volume unnecessarily.)

Using the same volume, with the 2" sub, use a 3/4" thick back baffle, and drill a hole in it that is about 0.5cm in diameter. Using heavy fill, this gets you an F3 of 140Hz, an Xmax good to 100Hz, and an output of about 90dB (flat, classic vented rolloff) with the same 10W. The port *will* chuff, but this should add to "illusion" of (mid??)bass, and fill in a little more to match the -803 with the corner loading. This is also with heavy fill, but don't worry about the port being blocked. Since it chuffs anyway, a little air resistance shouldn't hurt.

Some practical thoughts for both apps;
-Use a 1/8" thick hardboard piece for the baffles to allow breathing room.
-Use same for sides if you can manage, and maximize volume.
-If you can find some plastic boxes that will work, use them. I think Hobby Lobby has some acrylic containers that could be used. However, they are transparent.
-Use a thin bead of sealant caulk to get better results in mounting, and some "cute" flush-trim square-drive screws might even be able to secure the shole enclosure together in the mounting process. They are 1 5/8" long at the shortest.
-Use the "small" setting in the receiver, as down to 100Hz is all I would care to throw at these, if that!
-If you use terminals, I would put them in the top-chamber with the -803's, as you don't have a vent to worry about.
My preferences would be:
banana-only types like #091-1160,
1/8" mono plug type jack,
BNC jack,
or RCA jack.
-I don't think the wire-leads idea will be wise.
-Use 18AWG wire at the most, but 20AWG should be fine. Zip-cord from Radio Shack or PE will be fine.

If I can be of any further help, please ask!
Later,
Wolf

[Wolf]

I have to agree to some of this....

Dude, this is ridiculous. In every relationship there is give and take, she has to "give" in this case. It can hardly be called home theater with 3" speakers!

my wife would never pull this, and I would never rain on her hobbies either.

But they are only 2-2.5" drivers.

I disagree that 3" drivers can't make an excellent HT when you augment with a sub. You have to accept the small speakers with the pinpoint imaging characteristics as decent for HT. They do "just disappear".

Tarhead-
I would think, and tell her, that she'll *have to accept inferior performance* if they got the Bloze junk, than if they made them themselves. Tell her also that if she wants a good theater without you allowing to make it that way, that you just can't do it at all, and she'll have to settle for even crappier TV speakers. If she wants an HT, it had better sound good for the money!

I also agree that the "give and take"/compromise is not happening here, and she should give a little also if you're giving in to making them small to start with.

And one last thing-
The "Audinums" I made are not much bigger than the Bloze crap. In fact, they are shorter in height, IIRC. 1.2 ltrs is not large at all, and if she can't see that, then she needs new spectacles.....
Later,
Wolf

[WmAx]

Re: Wife Says "Get the Small Bose Speakers"

Wow.

Sir, I hope she at least does not make you use the bathroom/wiz with the seat down, and sitting.....

-Chris

[Andy_G]

I might add....

.. that posting that you might even be considering buying those Bose cubes, might easily get you branded as a troll ! :p :D :eek:

[johnastockman]

Re: Wife Says "Get the Small Bose Speakers"

I say "I can do better than that" and proceed to show her the small speakers from ZaphAudio and Wolf and she says "Nope, they're too big. I want the cute small ones in each corner of the room for the Home Theater."

So...I need to come up with something we can live with that resembles the small Bose satellites...ie ~3.5"T x 3.5"W x 4.25"D cubes articulating on top of each other and cram them up in the corners. They will be connected to a system with a 15" sub and low pass filtered at 150 or 80hz. Eventually I'll build a center channel speaker.

How would a Tang Band W2-803SM 2" driver in each cube sound? How about a 3" full range in the bottom cube and a small tweeter (sans crossover) in the top cube? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Mark

So Wolf's Audinums are too big? An inch bigger on two sides is that noticeable? bose cubes in the corner wouldn't make any women I know happy (once they were able to hear the difference), whether for HT or music. That's not HT at all. The size might appease them, but the SQ would be lousy. Yup, Wolf's Audinums, or the TV speakers.

John A.

[philiparcario]

Re: Wife Says "Get the Small Bose Speakers"

http://www.roundsound.com/adiva-stereo-speakers.htm

these are better

http://www.roundsound.com/nucleus-micro-speakers.htm

these are better and cost less then the above

http://electronics.shop.ebay.com/items/Electronics__gallo_W0QQ_nkwZgalloQQ_npmdnuZQQ_sacatZ293

some ebay sellers

[bobblickle]

Re: 'Nother Idea (via Wolf)

What about (2) 4" cubes stacked on one another?

Take a look at Wolf's "PC" design and basically double it vertically. Bear in mind his cabinets were built oversize. It uses the Aura NS3 (B-Stock currently $12 ea at Mad) and a single capacitor. No crossover worries, very reasonable size, nice FR, currently cheap, etc. This would be a 4 ohm design!

bb

[billfitzmaurice]

Re: Wife Says "Get the Small Bose Speakers"

I want the cute small ones in each corner of the room for the Home Theater."

Grounds for divorce. Real men don't own anything cute, or small. They own Altec A7s and drive Chrysler Imperials. The best of them have Altec A7s in their Chrysler Imperials.