The Speaker Building Bible

[Paul Carmody]

Re: The Speaker Building Bible

The thing that bothered me the most is that the articles pretty much present MDF as the only choice.

point taken

As far as failure, there are some pretty long threads dedicated to dealing with edges and sealing. Some pretty elaborate trenching and multicoating methods are presented. In those threads, people seemed to view the edges printing through the finish as failure.

Well, it's an article for beginners. I mean, think of learning an instrument... to a person just starting out, they're happy if they can make it through the song without stopping. Obviously, a more advanced player has a higher set of standards for his performance.

[Wolf]

Re: The Speaker Building Bible

I know he posted them on the old MAD board waaaayyyy back, but he also posted them in a thread on the PE forum here. Just do a search for "Jeff Bagby's Crossover tips", and you might find it. There were at least 3 threads of postings over the course of a month, and a lot of people found it interesting and useful.

I use Unibox and WBCD, so WinISD is not my normal either.

Later,
Wolf

[[email protected]]

Re: The Speaker Building Bible

I'm thinking of changing the Veneer section into a wood working section... thoughts?

Personally I have no knowledge of useful woodworking sites/forums. Any recommendations?

[Jeff B.]

Re: The Speaker Building Bible

Got a couple more links up there that I've found useful over the years. Can't find Jeff's crossover tips webpage... anyone got that?

I think I have them in a Word doc. I'll take a look and can send it to you or anyone else who wants it.

Jeff

[Paul Carmody]

Re: The Speaker Building Bible

I think I have them in a Word doc. I'll take a look and can send it to you or anyone else who wants it.

Jeff

Why don't you put them in a "blog" here at PE?

[Jeff B.]

Re: The Speaker Building Bible

Why don't you put them in a "blog" here at PE?

I should probably put all kinds of things in a blog. It's just getting around to it that gets in the way. Point taken, though.

[[email protected]]

Re: The Speaker Building Bible

I think I have them in a Word doc. I'll take a look and can send it to you or anyone else who wants it.

Jeff

PERFECT! I know one of the biggest AH-HA moments for me was directly related to what you wrote.

[fbov]

Re: The Speaker Building Bible

Looks great!

Maybe add some info regarding suggested books, like the Loudspeaker Design Cookbook, and Speaker Building 201.

Published References would be a good section to add, including links to publishers and sellers (if sold by PE) of reference books like those above, and, of course, Floyd Toole's Sound Reproduction.

It could also include links to useful internet references not directly linked to loudspeaker design, but useful to those trying to get the most from their speakers. I'm thinking things like the Welti/Harmon subwoofer number vs placement work, Kippel's papers on distortion and auralization, BBC papers on bass traps, to name a few I've used recently.

At the same time, don't sacrifice fundamental usefulness; this can't be all things to all people. This is a great resource; keep up the good work!
Frank

[diy speaker guy]

Re: The Speaker Building Bible

Folks, what do you think?

The two links on box building / mdf, while I know they come from a respected source, are wrong or misleading on several structural facts about mdf. They also conflict with each other on several points.

Well, I think you are right. And oddly enough, they seem to be written in a time and/or place when/where mdf was extremely hard to find and more expensive than plywood. BUT regardless of the inaccuracies and oddities of these two articles, they ~ accurately sum up the culture of this forum wrt mdf, which is arguably more important than a heap of real objective information that can easily be found elsewhere.

I haven't had a chance to read all the links, and I'm sure I'll have small nitpicks with at least a few of them, such as WinISD being the only suggested modeling program (unibox is better, hornresp is better still) but overall I think this thread (the first post at least) is a great idea, a very valuable resource.

[tpremo55]

Re: The Speaker Building Bible

Hey - this is a great resource - thanks Mike!

One great free tool I use for EVERY design is Google Sketchup. There are many references to it's use on the forum - here is one:

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/showthread.php?t=213821&highlight=sketchup

You can download it HERE:

http://sketchup.google.com/

It's the easiest CAD program I have ever used since the "drafting table, T-square, set of triangles, and an engineering scale" setup.

[Andy_G]

Re: The Speaker Building Bible

Nicely put together guys... BUT >>>>

I think we need something that helps a newby, or anyone else for that matter, decide what type of speaker to build.

Starting with the question.. "What do I want this speaker to be able to do?"

"What is it's PURPOSE"? This for me is always the first point I think of.

Then I look at options from there, and further questions, such as...

How much power does it need to be able to handle?

How much room do I have?

Finally ending up with,

"What sort of driver compliment do I need, and how much do I want to spend?"

That sort of takes us to the beginning of the diagram in the first post of the thread.

[Paul Carmody]

Re: The Speaker Building Bible

Nicely put together guys... BUT >>>>

I think we need something that helps a newby, or anyone else for that matter, decide what type of speaker to build.

Starting with the question.. "What do I want this speaker to be able to do?"

"What is it's PURPOSE"? This for me is always the first point I think of.

Then I look at options from there, and further questions, such as...

How much power does it need to be able to handle?

How much room do I have?

Finally ending up with,

"What sort of driver compliment do I need, and how much do I want to spend?"

That sort of takes us to the beginning of the diagram in the first post of the thread.

Ooh. Ooh. I know where one of these articles is!!!

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/choices.htm

[Paul Carmody]

Re: The Speaker Building Bible

Nicely put together guys... BUT >>>>

I think we need something that helps a newby, or anyone else for that matter, decide what type of speaker to build.

Starting with the question.. "What do I want this speaker to be able to do?"

"What is it's PURPOSE"? This for me is always the first point I think of.

Then I look at options from there, and further questions, such as...

How much power does it need to be able to handle?

How much room do I have?

Finally ending up with,

"What sort of driver compliment do I need, and how much do I want to spend?"

That sort of takes us to the beginning of the diagram in the first post of the thread.

Ooh. Ooh. I know where one of these articles is!!!

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/choices.htm

[NyxOne]

Re: The Speaker Building Bible

You guys might want to look at these :

http://www.kirchner-elektronik.de/downloads/photostory2.pdf

http://www.kirchner-elektronik.de/downloads/photostory2-2.pdf

I've never seen these refered anywhere before...

Very interessting material and I think it could be in the advanced category.

Found thru lspCAD Forum (yahoo groups). Credit goes to a guy named "ergoesken".

Chuck

[carlspeak]

Re: The Speaker Building Bible

You guys might want to look at these :

http://www.kirchner-elektronik.de/downloads/photostory2.pdf

http://www.kirchner-elektronik.de/downloads/photostory2-2.pdf

I've never seen these refered anywhere before...

Very interessting material and I think it could be in the advanced category.

Found thru lspCAD Forum (yahoo groups). Credit goes to a guy named "ergoesken".

Chuck

I can vouch for their software package, ATB-PC Pro. I've used it for a few years now and find it quite sensitive. Mr. Kirschner is also responsive to personal email questions.