Can anybody be a speaker designer?
Actually I am giving a try to a DIY pair .... so far I am not at all sure that my result will be any good, but I wanted to try anyway. As for the shiny box recipe, https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ol1ge |
I have a experience of visiting attending HiFi Events where Speaker Building Enthusiasts bring there work to be auditioned by the attendees. Some who exhibit are recognised Speaker Designer / Builders, who have a Business and Market their work. Some who exhibit are very long term served Speaker Design / Build enthusiasts, who are very sure of what they like and have a clear understanding of how to produce the design. Some who exhibit are willing to take part in Building Speaker either their own designs or a design that has impressed them. The exhibits seen on my visits have been from Very Small Cabinet Book Shelf Speakers through to Large Three Way Cabinet Speakers. Dual Concentric OB's through to 4 Way Active OB's. ESL's with custom modifications. I have been impressed by Cabinet Speakers being powered by a Few Watts Output Power Amp with Speaker Drivers costing a few hundred £££'s. I have been 'blown away' by OB designs that have been presented by time served enthusiasts. For myself, the opportunity to meet with talented individuals, and share in their work and receive good clear descriptions of the design intent, has been a valuable asset in my learning how I would like a Speaker to deliver a performance. I have not too long ago acquired pair of DIY Built 3 Way Cabinet Speakers, 'not built by myself'. They are made up of £600+ of Audax Drivers, £200ish of Xover Parts, and a Cabinet that is a Five Sided Construction and extremely Heavy for the size. The Driver Mounting Baffle is 50mm/ 2" Depth, and is modular so that each driver can be removed independently. Due to the weight, I have only had them auditioned outside of the home on one occasion, at the above referred to event, where a group of listeners gave a positive appraisal for the performance. I will say they were not show stoppers. At home I have used them in Two Rooms and in one room the Front Bass Baffle Panel was removed and the inner volume was reduced, as well as the Port needed to be modified to control a Reverberating Bass that could be detected behind the listening position. Designing a Speaker is achievable if there is a understanding of the Math required to work with all the required parameters. DIY Building a Designed Speaker is the more common method undertaken. Adding to the design, to allow for easy access to a X over, Internal Cables and to the Inner Chambers to work with the Volumes and increasing/decreasing internal acoustic treatments such as Wall lining and Wool, will allow for a greater flexibility in making a Design perform and integrate into the Designated Room. I am a Electrostatic user as my go to Speaker, but I can happily listen to these 3 Way Cabinet Speakers for long periods of time before I start to want to return to the ESL's. As I was familiar with the 3 Way Cabinet Speakers Design and some of the routes the design had evolved. I think the fact I paid £150 for the 3 Way Speakers and it took a 6 Hour round trip to pick them up and get them home from the Vendor, has been money and time well spent. As a prompt to the OP, I have met quite a few Speaker/Designer Builders, and it would seem to me that from ' little Acorns, grew mighty Oaks'. Have a go and see where it takes you. |
