DIY Speakers

[lg.lindstrom]

Hi

 

Anyone here having experience of DIY speakers. My guess is that build quality is below commercial ones,, but sound quality?

 

/lg

[Gonzbull]

You guess very wrong my friend. With the right skills and tools, commercial quality can be greatly surpassed. And that's both build and sound quality. The area that is sometimes not up to par is Finish.

[Gonzbull]

 

My DIY bamboo enclosure for Tannoy HPD speakers. Sounds glorious and is rock solid. Looks great too( from the outside).

[semente]

[ATTACH]28886[/ATTACH]

 

My DIY bamboo enclosure for Tannoy HPD speakers. Sounds glorious and is rock solid. Looks great too( from the outside).

 

Looks interesting.

Which improvements have you introduced in your (re)design?

Was it just the box or also the crossover?

Have you made any measurements?

 

R

[semente]

Hi

 

Anyone here having experience of DIY speakers. My guess is that build quality is below commercial ones,, but sound quality?

 

/lg

Gravesen's designs look competent:

 

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

[Gonzbull]

Well not much of a redesign at all. I went with the original Tannoy plans and increased the volume a bit. Most of the changes are in the material, bracing and the tuning of the port. All the caps and resistors were replaced in the crossovers. I bypassed the switches and replaced the wiring. I gots lots of advice of the Tannoy Yahoo forum. Much needed as well as it was a first.

[YashN]

[ATTACH]28886[/ATTACH]

 

My DIY bamboo enclosure for Tannoy HPD speakers. Sounds glorious and is rock solid. Looks great too( from the outside).

 

Very nice, I like bamboo as an audio gear material.

[YashN]

With the right skills and tools, commercial quality can be greatly surpassed. And that's both build and sound quality. The area that is sometimes not up to par is Finish.

 

I second that.

[Sal1950]

With zero knowledge in the field I'm just curious as to why bamboo? What special properties does it bring to the plate?

[17629v2]

You guess very wrong my friend. With the right skills and tools, commercial quality can be greatly surpassed. And that's both build and sound quality. The area that is sometimes not up to par is Finish.

 

What exactly is commercial quality? Not all speakers are the same. I know people who make speakers and the amount of time they put in at work is incredible. 10-12 hour days and 6-7 days a week. They never stop working.

[blownsi]

With zero knowledge in the field I'm just curious as to why bamboo? What special properties does it bring to the plate?

 

I would guess density and cost. I think we under utilize bamboo in the audio world.

[17629v2]

"With zero knowledge in the field"

 

Finally, something we can both agree on.

 

"I'm just curious as to why bamboo? What special properties does it bring to the plate?"

 

In most cases you'll see bamboo used in Asian countries. It's very difficult to get the same types of wood we have here, and in Europe. That's why you don't see too many Asian speaker companies.

 

 

 

[Gonzbull]

I guess I would equate 'commercial' as being something that is mass produced. Hours and days spent working does not mean quality.

I chose bamboo for its density as blownsi mentioned.

Here in New Zealand bamboo ply is readily available. It does however require sharp tools as it tends to chip. Perfect material for speaker cabinets. And it looks great.

[17629v2]

"I guess I would equate 'commercial' as being something that is mass produced."

 

I was thinking high end speakers, most of which are made in small shops.

 

"Hours and days spent working does not mean quality."

 

Agreed, but most of the pro designers, if not all, start out as DIY before they go professional. So, if you think about it, they're really the best of the DIY's. But you're right. The quality can vary greatly. The friend that I was referring to has a very successful company that keeps growing. His speakers have been reviewed by all of the major publications and each one has been extremely positive. I just can't imagine a DIY making anything even close to what he can do. (No the fit & finish, but the actual design.) Hundreds of hours go into designing just 1 pair of speakers.

[Sal1950]

"With zero knowledge in the field"

 

Finally, something we can both agree on.

 

"I'm just curious as to why bamboo? What special properties does it bring to the plate?"

 

In most cases you'll see bamboo used in Asian countries. It's very difficult to get the same types of wood we have here, and in Europe. That's why you don't see too many Asian speaker companies.

 

What an intelligent reply! Obviously you don't know a darn thing about the properties of different woods.

Also a bit revealing of why you shy away from science and prefer to just guess at things.

[GregWormald]

There are some very high quality designs for DIY out there and the design/calculations are far from trivial. When I had a chance to examine the inside of my current speakers (SGR CX4F) before purchase, I was gobsmaked at the maze of bracings, divided areas, the general precision of the work, and the multiplicity of materials in the design.

 

Before that purchase, I had a look at a number of the DIY designs and they demanded wood-working skills far beyond my level, e.g. within a mm. They were anything but a simple box. Since I couldn't ensure the quality of the work I was unsure how the sound quality of the design could be assured.

 

If you are considering DIY check out the designs and see whether you have the talent.

 

If you want to buy someone else's DIY then looking and listening is the only way to judge.

 

Greg

[davide256]

Natural hardwoods make great musical instruments where you want the coloration/resonance of the wood... but are bad for the same reason in speakers. Man made compounds with high rigidity and no resonant character are a better choice. If you like the appearance of wood, veneer can be used on the enclosure surface without harm to playback.

 

Bamboo as a material is too lightweight for good speaker enclosure material.

[YashN]

I was gobsmaked at the maze of bracings, divided areas, the general precision of the work, and the multiplicity of materials in the design.

 

Before that purchase, I had a look at a number of the DIY designs and they demanded wood-working skills far beyond my level, e.g. within a mm. They were anything but a simple box. Since I couldn't ensure the quality of the work I was unsure how the sound quality of the design could be assured.

 

If you are considering DIY check out the designs and see whether you have the talent.

 

All speakers aren't necessarily the boxed design - c.f. Open-Baffle Speakers.

[Gonzbull]

Natural hardwoods make great musical instruments where you want the coloration/resonance of the wood... but are bad for the same reason in speakers. Man made compounds with high rigidity and no resonant character are a better choice. If you like the appearance of wood, veneer can be used on the enclosure surface without harm to playback.

 

Bamboo as a material is too lightweight for good speaker enclosure material.

 

I suggest a bit of reading on the properties of bamboo ply. Most speaker enclosures are still made of wood. How is a DIYer supposed to make something out of man made compounds if they have no experience in the area or access to said compound. Wood is available everywhere.

[mansr]

I suggest a bit of reading on the properties of bamboo ply. Most speaker enclosures are still made of wood. How is a DIYer supposed to make something out of man made compounds if they have no experience in the area or access to said compound. Wood is available everywhere.

MDF is a commonly used material and widely available. I've also heard of (but never heard) speakers with concrete enclosures.

[blownsi]

Natural hardwoods make great musical instruments where you want the coloration/resonance of the wood... but are bad for the same reason in speakers. Man made compounds with high rigidity and no resonant character are a better choice. If you like the appearance of wood, veneer can be used on the enclosure surface without harm to playback.

 

Bamboo as a material is too lightweight for good speaker enclosure material.

 

While I understand your point I would respectfully disagree. The musical instruments you are referring to are typically hollow bodied. In a hardbody electric guitar the more dense the wood the better the sound. This is because you are hearing the strings and not the body. A good speaker enclosure should do the same thing except for drivers instead of strings. IMHO the best speaker enclosure is so dense that it provides no resonance at all. While that's impossible to achieve, the more dense the material the better the chances of providing a better enclosure. MDF is nothing more than wood shavings and glue. It most definitely has a resonance. The material is really cheap (at least in the US) so it's widely used. Baltic Birch Plywood is more expensive but is better than MDF because it's more dense. On a Janka hardness scale, bamboo beats both of the previously mentioned materials. Manufacturers typically stay away from these expensive woods because it's far cheaper to just double the thickness of the MDF.

[semente]

Bronze is very hard and dense and yet it rings like a bell so I think we need more than just rigidity.

 

R

[pooger]

With zero knowledge in the field I'm just curious as to why bamboo? What special properties does it bring to the plate?

Rigidity and liveliness. It's the best (biologically based) panel material, with Finn style ply second, and something like MDF is way to the "bad" end of the scale.

 

There red are also builders using non panel (solid wood) boxes, with the typical sound woods being favorites.

 

On topic, but off this question, there are many more "box less" designs being built DIY, along with linear arrays, and other designs that are not seen often commercially. Construction quality and finish can often get into the Sonus Faber level. There are a lot of talented builders out there.

[pooger]

Bamboo as a material is too lightweight for good speaker enclosure material.

 

The bamboo that is used is very heavy. Think fiberglass, but instead of glass fibers in resin, it's bamboo fibers. Very rigid and dense.

 

but don't discount materials because of weight. Aluminum hexcel panels are great, other than very hard to join and machine in general.

[17629v2]

"On topic, but off this question, there are many more "box less" designs being built DIY, along with linear arrays, and other designs that are not seen often commercially. Construction quality and finish can often get into the Sonus Faber level. There are a lot of talented builders out there."

 

Its very difficult to build those kind of speakers. I assume you're talking about time and phase correct speakers given your description. The first order xovers make it very difficult to integrate the different drivers, but when they get it right, the coherency achieved rivals planar speakers.