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Re: Some Articles that Helped Me
All right, so aside from me writing any NEW material, here's several links that have helped guide me along my journey. Some of this is taken from the "links" section of my site. I'll add more as I think of them.
Beginner
Construction techniques and tips
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...october98.html - For those who don't have much experience with power tools, this article does a good job of listing the tools a speaker builder uses, and what to expect from them at different price points.
http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/FAQ/Build/ - This tells about some best practices for simple box construction and driver spacing. I think they reprinted this from a David Weems book, but most of the info is still good.
http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/FAQ/MDF/ - talks about the advantages and challenges of working with MDF. Very good for people whose woodworking experience is limited to things like plywood and pine lumber.
http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_fi...D3W/index.html - This was written by a college kid after building his first speaker, the Dayton III. What sets this apart from the many awesome build threads you see nowadays is that he really had no idea what he was doing at the outset, so he doesn't skip over details a more experienced builder would just take for granted. Plus, it’s very well-organized—which is inherently impossible with a build thread.
http://speakerdesignworks.com/nodal_analysis.html - Curt C explains how to “read” a crossover schematic and turn it into a physical layout of parts.
http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_fi...xo/xoconst.htm - Wayne J explains very clearly how to assemble crossover components onto a board and solder them together.
http://www.lonesaguaro.com/speakers/VeneerTutorial.pdf - Lou’s speaker veneering tutorial (Contact Cement method)
http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/%7Eschneid...veneering.html - Bill's veneering tutorial (iron-on PVA method)
http://www.ellisaudio.com/rhetoric.htm - Dave Ellis' reflections on good speaker building practices
Design and general info
http://www.parts-express.com/resourc...ding-terms.cfm - This is a glossary of terms that speaker builders and designers throw around, assuming everyone knows what they’re talking about.
http://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/diy-mfaq - Answers the common question “I have drivers ABC. How do I make a speaker with them?”
http://www.diysubwoofers.org/ - Tells the basics of various speaker enclosures, and when to use them. Also briefly explains Thiele/Small parameters.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/loudspeak...ele-small.html - Decent overview of Thiele/Small parameters
http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_fi.../phat/hpif.htm - Wayne J describes the work that goes into designing a crossover, and tells why it’s important without getting too technical.
http://sites.google.com/site/undefin...-provendesigns - Pleads the case for newbies to build a proven design versus trying to design their own from scratch.
Intermediate
Design
http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_fi...xpointmain.htm - Wayne explains how to choose the optimum crossover frequency for a given driver.
http://speakerdesignworks.com/bafflestep.html - Curt C explains Baffle Step Loss and Baffle Step Compensation, what it means and how to implement it in a crossover.
http://sites.google.com/site/undefin...iverimpedances - Answers to questions about driver impedances and their effects when combined with other drivers, and how they will interact with your amplifier.
http://www.rjbaudio.com/Audiofiles/FRDtools.html - Roman Bednarek’s guide to designing a loudspeaker using the free tools available. There have been some more sophisticated tools developed since the article was written, but his method will still work very well.
http://sites.google.com/site/undefin...d-measurements - This is sort of an “updated” version of Roman’s guide above on how to design a speaker with free tools and simulated measurements.
http://www.t-linespeakers.org/tech/f...eff/index.html - Jeff Bagby describes his approach to creating 2-way loudspeaker using the Vifa PL18 woofer and Seas Excel T25 tweeter.
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/blog.php?b=123 – This is a series of articles by “Wolf” from the Parts Express board. He gives you many helpful tips on what’s important in crossover design, and even walks you through how to get your design up and running in Passive Crossover Designer.
http://www.zaphaudio.com/DLR/ - A truly impressive walkthrough explaining how and why a speaker designer does what he does. Even includes files that the reader can download and experiment with to understand the concepts better.
Concepts
http://www.falstad.com/wavebox/ - Java applets that can help a person visually understand concepts like comb filtering and beaming
http://www.zaphaudio.com/mtg-surface.html - articles describing the effects of flush-mounting drivers
Advanced
Driver Evaluation
http://www.zaphaudio.com/tweetermishmash/ - The section at the top of the page explains how to read harmonic distortion graphs.
http://www.audioheuristics.org/prime...distortion.htm -
http://www.audioheuristics.org/prime...on_testing.htm - Mark K gives lessons on linear and non-linear distortion, and what they mean in terms of testing and listening to a driver.
Measurement
http://www.lonesaguaro.com/speakers/testing/Testing.htm - Nice little walkthrough on how to measure with LSPCad
http://www.zaphaudio.com/setup.html - John “Zaph” Krutke describes his Soundeasy setup in lots of detail.
http://members.cox.net/pjay99/MLSmain.htm - Explains the effect of gating in MLS measurements
All right, so aside from me writing any NEW material, here's several links that have helped guide me along my journey. Some of this is taken from the "links" section of my site. I'll add more as I think of them.
Beginner
Construction techniques and tips
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...october98.html - For those who don't have much experience with power tools, this article does a good job of listing the tools a speaker builder uses, and what to expect from them at different price points.
http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/FAQ/Build/ - This tells about some best practices for simple box construction and driver spacing. I think they reprinted this from a David Weems book, but most of the info is still good.
http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/FAQ/MDF/ - talks about the advantages and challenges of working with MDF. Very good for people whose woodworking experience is limited to things like plywood and pine lumber.
http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_fi...D3W/index.html - This was written by a college kid after building his first speaker, the Dayton III. What sets this apart from the many awesome build threads you see nowadays is that he really had no idea what he was doing at the outset, so he doesn't skip over details a more experienced builder would just take for granted. Plus, it’s very well-organized—which is inherently impossible with a build thread.
http://speakerdesignworks.com/nodal_analysis.html - Curt C explains how to “read” a crossover schematic and turn it into a physical layout of parts.
http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_fi...xo/xoconst.htm - Wayne J explains very clearly how to assemble crossover components onto a board and solder them together.
http://www.lonesaguaro.com/speakers/VeneerTutorial.pdf - Lou’s speaker veneering tutorial (Contact Cement method)
http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/%7Eschneid...veneering.html - Bill's veneering tutorial (iron-on PVA method)
http://www.ellisaudio.com/rhetoric.htm - Dave Ellis' reflections on good speaker building practices
Design and general info
http://www.parts-express.com/resourc...ding-terms.cfm - This is a glossary of terms that speaker builders and designers throw around, assuming everyone knows what they’re talking about.
http://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/diy-mfaq - Answers the common question “I have drivers ABC. How do I make a speaker with them?”
http://www.diysubwoofers.org/ - Tells the basics of various speaker enclosures, and when to use them. Also briefly explains Thiele/Small parameters.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/loudspeak...ele-small.html - Decent overview of Thiele/Small parameters
http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_fi.../phat/hpif.htm - Wayne J describes the work that goes into designing a crossover, and tells why it’s important without getting too technical.
http://sites.google.com/site/undefin...-provendesigns - Pleads the case for newbies to build a proven design versus trying to design their own from scratch.
Intermediate
Design
http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_fi...xpointmain.htm - Wayne explains how to choose the optimum crossover frequency for a given driver.
http://speakerdesignworks.com/bafflestep.html - Curt C explains Baffle Step Loss and Baffle Step Compensation, what it means and how to implement it in a crossover.
http://sites.google.com/site/undefin...iverimpedances - Answers to questions about driver impedances and their effects when combined with other drivers, and how they will interact with your amplifier.
http://www.rjbaudio.com/Audiofiles/FRDtools.html - Roman Bednarek’s guide to designing a loudspeaker using the free tools available. There have been some more sophisticated tools developed since the article was written, but his method will still work very well.
http://sites.google.com/site/undefin...d-measurements - This is sort of an “updated” version of Roman’s guide above on how to design a speaker with free tools and simulated measurements.
http://www.t-linespeakers.org/tech/f...eff/index.html - Jeff Bagby describes his approach to creating 2-way loudspeaker using the Vifa PL18 woofer and Seas Excel T25 tweeter.
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/blog.php?b=123 – This is a series of articles by “Wolf” from the Parts Express board. He gives you many helpful tips on what’s important in crossover design, and even walks you through how to get your design up and running in Passive Crossover Designer.
http://www.zaphaudio.com/DLR/ - A truly impressive walkthrough explaining how and why a speaker designer does what he does. Even includes files that the reader can download and experiment with to understand the concepts better.
Concepts
http://www.falstad.com/wavebox/ - Java applets that can help a person visually understand concepts like comb filtering and beaming
http://www.zaphaudio.com/mtg-surface.html - articles describing the effects of flush-mounting drivers
Advanced
Driver Evaluation
http://www.zaphaudio.com/tweetermishmash/ - The section at the top of the page explains how to read harmonic distortion graphs.
http://www.audioheuristics.org/prime...distortion.htm -
http://www.audioheuristics.org/prime...on_testing.htm - Mark K gives lessons on linear and non-linear distortion, and what they mean in terms of testing and listening to a driver.
Measurement
http://www.lonesaguaro.com/speakers/testing/Testing.htm - Nice little walkthrough on how to measure with LSPCad
http://www.zaphaudio.com/setup.html - John “Zaph” Krutke describes his Soundeasy setup in lots of detail.
http://members.cox.net/pjay99/MLSmain.htm - Explains the effect of gating in MLS measurements
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