Yes, wouldn't be without gaming on the PC. I was trying to have just one machine that would do everything competently yet silently and look more like a living room lifestyle product than an impressive uber rig.
Extreme HTPC
- Thread starter Synthesis
- Start date
Yes, wouldn't be without gaming on the PC. I was trying to have just one machine that would do everything competently yet silently and look more like a living room lifestyle product than an impressive uber rig.
I know what you mean - i got some basic data from the guy that sold me the drivers but nothing else.
Thanks for the detailed response - you're a legend!
All very useful info plus you've sumarised it very well too, cheers. I've now copied and pasted it into word ready for future use.
Hats off once again to the workmanship sir.
gt
Thanks for the detailed response - you're a legend!
All very useful info plus you've sumarised it very well too, cheers. I've now copied and pasted it into word ready for future use.
Hats off once again to the workmanship sir.
gt
WOW! Did it take a lot of planning to arainge the speakers in there box and directional orientation?
What was the final build price including speakers etc, and how did you get that coat to go on so shiny and hard looking if its ontop of an MDF board?
man i have so many questions, i have allways wanted to build my own speakers but i just dont have the technical know how to do it like that.
I know what you mean - i got some basic data from the guy that sold me the drivers but nothing else.
Thanks for the detailed response - you're a legend!
All very useful info plus you've sumarised it very well too, cheers. I've now copied and pasted it into word ready for future use.
Hats off once again to the workmanship sir.
gt
No problem at all.
I'd always recommend starting out with a good fullrange project first. These are quite simple because there's no crossover involved or at the most a very simple one. There's many well documented projects out there that provide building plans as well as crossover diagrams. As a first project its important to have something that is successful and doesn't turn into scrap and put you off the idea of DIY audio for life. A documented project is an excellent way to ensure that doesn't happen. I started out that way and if you really take to it then you can see what its possible to build with some time, effort and experience.
Personally my favourite fullrange project, and you will be shocked at just how good these sound is this one:
http://www.planet10-hifi.com/tom-zHorn.html
The designer is Tom Zurowski and is based around a 5" fullrange driver from CSS with a transmission line loading for impressive low end output and particularly the quality.
All you need really is a pair of CSS FR125S drivers and the above link has detailed plans for the cabinet cutting. You could even get this done at your local DIY center using 18mm MDF.
You can grab the drivers for £85 from MAS here in the UK: http://www.madaboutsound.com/prod_det.asp?product_id=36
Alternatively if you might find these other well documented DIY projects of interest:
http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Diy_Loudspeaker_Projects.htm
http://www.zaphaudio.com/
http://www.vikash.info/audio/index.asp
If you ever need a hand with any advice then feel free to ask and I'll try to help out. I know its tough starting with this stuff but its nowhere near as hard as it may seem.
Sorry badbob, twas me taking it off topic by asking about Synythesis' speakers!
@ Synthesis - thanks so much for that info. Will go and have a good look at it all now! Also, thanks for the offer of help too, if i need any i'll be sure to get in touch!
gt
Did it take a lot of planning to arainge the speakers in there box and directional orientation?
About 3 months was spent planning. I used a small selection of well regarded CAD or design software such as Coreldraw X3 for sketching and diagrams, as well as LEAP 5 for the modelling of loudspeaker acoustic performance based on various cabinet, crossover and drivers selections. This was the boring but most important part of the project.
Well you have to understand that this was an all out project with no compromises so its pretty expensive. I kept a list of all the expenditure, even down to the screws and glue. Total for a pair of the speakers is £3800, that's just materials such as paint, MDF and drivers. The biggest chunk of that is £2.2k for the drivers. There's also the small matter of time but since this was done as a labour of love then I forget about that. Also not included in the price is the amplification of which the a pair of these speakers requires 10 channels since each driver has its own. Cost for the amps was approx £2.3k. I built my own amps too:
The crossover again isn't included in the price but is based around a dedicated PC with Linux installed running crossover/correction filters for each driver and outputting through a pro audio sound interface. Cost for that was about £1500 and most of that was on the RME fireface 800 sound interface.
So all in all the total is £7.5k for a pair of speakers with crossovers and amplification. Sounds crazy but believe me, I've been to many hifi shows and regularly listen to £20k+ or even £50k+ speakers and nothing touches these. So relatively speaking they're a bargain and that's the beauty of DIY.
Yeah sorry about that. A couple of people asked and then I went a bit over board on the details. At least it started off on topic, I'm sure most blokes are into speakers as much as their PC's too.
Soldato
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- 17 Aug 2003
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that is why i love DIY. stunning mate, totally.
audiotechnology you say? very interesting......
what about your amps? are they your own design, or are they a kit of some kind? ive been looking for a decent kit amp for a long time now.
audiotechnology you say? very interesting......
what about your amps? are they your own design, or are they a kit of some kind? ive been looking for a decent kit amp for a long time now.
ive never seen anyone make their own speakers
these are amazing dude, way out of my "technical" league though
nice work mate both the htpc and speakers
edit: just out of interest, do you not need to plug in both crossfire ribbons to enable crossfire
thats how ive been running mine
these are amazing dude, way out of my "technical" league though
nice work mate both the htpc and speakers
edit: just out of interest, do you not need to plug in both crossfire ribbons to enable crossfire
thats how ive been running mine
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