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building my own speakers

bowtie427ss said:
You fellas make cutting panels more difficult than it needs to be.

You cannot do better than a quality hand held circular saw with a SHARP plywood blade, and a straight edge clamped to the panel you are cutting.

Yes, it takes time. But, most DIYers have plenty of that, and the reward for doing it ALL yourself with your own tools is priceless.
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I agree. While I have a table saw, often using one of these simple clamp on devices is much easier on heavy sheets.
https://www.amazon.com/Kreg-KMA2675...8&qid=1482604803&sr=1-1&keywords=kreg+rip+cut
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The tools and adhesives, etc I have, I just have never built a speaker before. My guiding light on box size and component selection is Greg at PE and my motives for DIY are a little different. More that happy to talk to folks with more experience building "upscale" speakers. Thanks all for your input, Rob
 
Really, 18 Cubic feet isn't that big. My boxes in the avatar occupy a little over 16 cubic feet. Bringing them up to 48" instead of 40" brings them to 20 cubic feet.:p
 
The JBL 4345 at 9cu. ft. need a huge space to realize their potential. Klipsch La Scalas are even bigger at around 12 used for outdoor concert venues. How can a 16-18 ft. cab be utilized indoors? An airport hangar maybe? :) Like for a 747? I know, the Kennedy Space center.
 
westend,Thanks.I went through your build blog and I would like to say very nice ! Good strong joinery in your bracing. My plywood supplier so far has been good for what little sheet goods I consume. I've used MDF for template making but I probably will use plywood in the build eventually. One thing now worrying me is that a number of folks have raised concern over the component selection- which is what I supposedly had figured out with the help of the tech adviser at PE.
 
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sawmill said:
elitopus, The gentleman at PE suggested a PRVAudio 3df400/1800 crossover.
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That is a nice crossover (for PA use) and it does have some flexability designed into it but it simply isn't designed to work with a soft dome tweeter. It is designed to work with a large format horn compression driver. You will not get hi-fi performance even though you have selected some impressive drivers to work with. Each driver is impressive but that doesn't mean they will work together as a team...especially with a passive crossover.

As was mentioned before, go with a proven DIY design. Focus your time and energy on building awsome cabinets. Do not waste your time going down the rabbit hole of speaker design. Lots of great people are already down there, just copy what they did.

My $0.02 worth....

Use the Auras as dedicated subwoofers. That means seperate amps and an electronic crossover. And dedicated subs means now all you need is a relatively simple 2-way to play from 60-80Hz and up. Many options to choose from. I like the idea of using a pro-audio midbass and small compression driver to get high output...I assume you plan to turn these up to 11 occasionally (if not, you could same some $ on the Auras). I use something similar to these as surrounds http://www.diysoundgroup.com/waveguide-speaker-kits/fusion-8.html Quite a few more options out there...Wayne Parham's 3pi and 4pi are also quite nice.

Good luck!
 
My last build (a 2.1 system) used 3/4" marine plywood- because it was available in large scraps for free from work- with a 1/4" solid wood veneer over that. That's the satellites, at .6 cu. ft.
The sub used 1" MDF, doubled for the baffle.
All braced like crazy.
 
Farmhand , Thanks . I am tending to the plywood side at this point for a few reasons. It would appear from several responses on this thread that the design PE selected for me may need another look. Not giving up ! Rob
 
if one has room for a pair of 18 cu.ft. cabs then by all means..:thumbsup:

please show us when your are done.:)
 
Thank you guys for the positive feedback! I want to single out donprice for his time last evening. Don listened to what what it is I'm looking for and gave me some direction and a lot of background on speaker building. He shared a LOT of his own experiences in this field and sent me links to the path I'm pursuing.Like GPS points are to navigation, my ship is now steering straight. I can't tell you how many speaker builders I've written to with no results . Kudos and thank you to donprice. Rob
 
Hey, I love overkill too but there are limits to everything. My project is all JBL. It will be a 10 cu. ft. Franken 4345 with 2206 mid bass and 2390 HF substitutes. Hope they don't rip my head off.:)P1010563.JPG They will be fully active with a DBX Drive Rack 4820. I'll also change the baffle orientation to the narrow side for 20" to accommodate the 2310 lens
 
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