Sexy DIY Speakers

Thanks for the pics! Personally not my thing style wise or driver wise (don't much like 'popper' full range cone drivers), but I can see the attraction, especially if you listen to vocal stuff a lot.

 

I really liked the look of Shinobiwans' Perceive(?) speakers.
Never seen such a nicely finished DIY project. Not everyones cup of tea though.

 

New ones on the way from mr. ShinObiwan. You should come to the DIY Audio meet Andy.http://uk.diyaudio.com/festival07/

 

Yeah, seen a few snippets about Ants current project. Impressive!

The Diyaudio meet looks interesting, although it's a bit far for me to travel and i don't have much to contribute. Once i get driving it'll be easier.

Cheers for the offer though. Make sure you let up know how it goes(some pics would be great too )

 

ShinObiwan's speakers look staggering to me for a diy, and Tensons looked pretty damn tidy. I have to say that the spray painted gloss finish is not for me as I much prefer a natural wood look, but the quality of the work is just amazing. I'm really taken by the look of some of the single driver designs, their simplicity can make for some really elegant boxes, although obviously if that's not your thing etc... Some open baffle designs look nice as well.

Looking at these diy projects really inspires me to try a 2nd (and 3rd and 4th) pair myself; my first pair are solid and utilitarian and sound good, but a work of art they ain't! ......I can see how the whole diy thing could become addictive!

 

Thanks for the kind words fellas. If you want to a look and hopefully a listen then they'll be at the DIY meet Simon mentioned.

 

Show off!
.

 

Maybe

 

Very nice! How id you get the silver finish? Just spray paint? Undercoat?

 

Thanks, its sprayed on.

First is primer then silver groundcoat and then lacquer sprayed on top which is sanded and buffed out afterwards.

Basically its the same process and paint used for cars.

 

Why not?! I would be too.
They look the nuts Ant keep up the good work.

 

Hey that is better than the first thing I thought of. Which was along the lines of "If I was that good with my hands my wife would never have left me".

BTW, she hasn't.

 

:lol: Sweet.
So long as she doesn't catch you using them on yourself

 

In Billy Connolly voice (which I can't do), You calling me a w***** then?

Serious question for ShinOBIWAN. Have you finished any speakers in real wood veneer?

 

Woofers arrived and fitted. You'll have to use your imagination to visualise them finished.

 

this is not sexy! but it does the job...

inspired by all this diy talk, I made this today, the thing weighs about 8 stone (no joke) I intend to use a full range 8" driver instead of the bodge in there at the moment (I put it in there to get an idea of the sound), I have also brought some super tweeters to go somewhere ? (see pics) not decided whether to incorporate them into the cabinet or not yet? any suggestions would be welcome. and for full range drivers too please.
(infinite baffle)
plus how do I work out litres on a curved cabinet? (as you can see it just kind of got built I have yet to draw the plans
suggestions for finishes would also be welcome.

it is made of 18mm marine ply on the baffle sandwiched with 18mm mdf, the sides are 10 mm ply bent with a wallpaper steamer and spraying water all over them followed by 4mm hardboard, the back and top and bottom are built the same as the baffle. there is a brace in the middle and 40mm acoustic foam all round apart from the back of the baffle oh and a litre of pva in there somewhere

sorry for crap pics

 

Really, you should choose driver before making the cabinet to be honest. You need to choose the right size of enclosure. It is a lot harder to pick a driver that will work in a randomly built enclosure.

Eminence make an affordable 8" coaxial driver.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=290-500

 

cheers for the link.

I just made them as big as possible
that way if they don't sound right I can always pour concrete in the bottom to make them smaller
plus they are infinite baffle (hence the size) so shouldn't be too fussy about exact volume.

they sound pretty good compared to what I had, in fact you can't even hear the right speaker is on now, it is far louder and a lot clearer.

I would be willing to spend maybe £400 for the pair.
I have been looking at these... http://www.iconicspkrs.com/compoundspeakers.html
any good?

 

I worked out the internal volume and I think it is roughly about 55 to 60 litres (probably wrong)

I should add I have only got 12w of valve power and I like sealed cabinets in general, hence the big box (to try and get as much sound as possible without complications of transmission lines etc.
it seems to have worked.

tenson
how do you think the seas driver you used in your design would fare in this situation? is the box too big? (can it ever be too big an enclosure ?)

 

The seas would probably do alright but it is 6.5", not 8" and it is not really high efficiency.

Beyma make an 8" and a 10" coaxial driver like the Eminence and they also make a 12" full range driver with a whizzer cone. These coaxial pro drivers will probably be your best bet and they no doubt can recommend a simple crossover to get them going nice and easily.