Speaker Building - Learn the Critical Factors of DIY Speakers - Build Speakers Yourself!

DIY speaker building has come into full maturity in the last few years. There are more helpful tools available now then there ever has been before. With books and computer programs to help you wring the last bit of performance from your design.

How can the computer or PC help us build better speakers?

With the computer reaching such high speeds for processors and memory nearly anyone can own a computer able to run any design program imaginable. But that is just a beginning. Computers can help someone design their speakers, their room decor' or a host of other things.

Programs are becoming easier and simpler to use to the point that what took an engineering degree a few years ago the average person can actually learn how to use today. A friend of mine taught himself how to use CAD in few weeks time.

And the computer is quickly becoming a major part of the modern home theater. More and more consumers are fitting their theater rooms with HTPC's or controlling home lighting systems by PC. (the HTPC is a home theater personal computer.) These PC systems can be integrated into whole home automation systems as well.

Using the PC for Speaker Building Design

The benefits of using a computer for speaker design are many. Least of which is that it is easy to design and model in a CAD program. Of course not all of us have the ability to design cabinets in CAD. It takes a little time to teach yourself how to use such a program. But their are companies that do just that; design custom speaker cabinets for their customers. This may not be the most simple choice but I like that it is an elegant solution and can be done provided a person possesses the motivation to learn.

The excellent speaker company Magico has always designed their speakers in this way as the owner originally designed special systems for a select and wealthy customer base. Now he does it on a more commercial level with his first project the "Magico Mini" which quickly gained worldwide notoriety.

More recently; more and more companies are using computer aided design to model their new speaker projects. Honestly, I think they are following in the footsteps of Magico as this may have been one factor that added their success.

For DIY speaker building enthusiast, commissioning a unique speaker design is usually easy and affordable. There are many designs available that can be ordered for your specific building purposes.

Find a speaker project that looks easy for you to build. Use this as a beginning or learning experience and then try harder projects from there. As you gain skill and experience you can try more difficult projects.

DIY Speaker Building is fun and your computer can help make it even better!

The computer can be used for much more than just the design of a speaker system. It can be used to playback movies, music, and even control the lighting in your home. The PC is probably one of the most underused components in the modern home.

Beyond this, the PC can do even more;

Because you can also use your own computer to apply room correction, speaker crossovers and other functions you can have much more control over the outcome of your project. You probably use the PC to play back music files anyway. Why not use the PC do more complex functions in your audio playback system?

View the original article here

Speaker Box Design and DIY Speakers, Make a Better Speaker System for Less

Coming up with your own speaker box design is not easy. I'll give you that. Most people don't have the understanding of how the loud speaker works to begin a design in the first place. It has nothing to do with a persons level of intelligence. I think most people just don't care or don't think that it can be done easily.

To a certain extent this is true; speaker design is not easy. But it is not impossible for the average home theater guy/gal to do either; certainly not impossible.

The basic parts of any cone type speaker are the same, and there are not very many parts either. You have the box, the speaker drivers -or cones, some acoustic stuffing, internal cables, binding posts, paint or veneer, speaker crossover components, and maybe some cones to sit them on. That's about it.

But the art is in how these items are put together, and how they are balanced that makes or breaks a design.

The Crossover:

Arguably the most difficult part of the speaker design is the crossover. Why? It handles the voltage that enters the speaker through the cable and it splits the signal so that the correct information only enters each individual speaker driver. If you send the wrong signal to a driver you can blow speaker drivers in a millisecond. And most high quality speaker drivers are not cheap.

But in the last few years some different types of crossover have begun to gain popularity. They are active and digital crossovers. Digital crossovers differ because they take a signal from your CD, PC, or DVD player and split the signal all while in the digital domain. The advantages of making the crossover in this way are too many to list here. I'll devote another article to that later. But these digital filters make it possible for even a novice hobbyist to experiment with different slopes and speaker drivers.

The best part of this; is that this digital technology is already available and working now. These digital programs can be installed into a computer or HTPC and used in the home theater system.

And these filters make speaker box design a project that many more enthusiasts can take on with success. Time and phase coherence can also be achieved with digital delays from within the crossover software program. Driver correction and room correction are also functions easily achieved within some of these programs.

Keep in mind you will need a channel of amplification, pre-amplification, and an output channel from the sound-card for each driver used (using a digital or active crossover).

The Speaker Box:

The other elements of speaker design are important too. Drivers should be placed as near to one another as possible. (the mid-range and tweeters) Bass driver positioning is not quite as important as bass waves below 100Hz are mostly omnidirectional.

Cabinet quality is extremely important to the amount of energy the cabinet will release back into the room.

In a perfect situation the cabinet would be completely inert. Meaning; the speaker cabinet would not resonate or make any sympathetic vibration from the back-wave of the speaker cones. The only sound would be the energy from the speaker driver itself.

In the real world achieving this level of resistance to resonance is very difficult. The amount of materials and internal bracing would be considered extreme by most retail speaker builders. But this is the beauty of DIY speaker box design. You can make the cabinet as heavy and inert as your budget allows.

Final Point:

When you build your own speakers you will save a ton of money over retail high end speaker systems. It's simple really, the amount of labor and markup involved in building speakers is extremely high. And when you do it yourself it's extremely rewarding.

I wouldn't have it any other way!

View the original article here

Audio Speakers - Repair of a Blown Speaker Or Fatigued Driver Or When Replacement Is a Better

By Daniel P Elliott Daniel P Elliott
Level: Platinum

Dan Elliott has travelled extensively throughout the U.S. and into Europe and parts of the Middle East. His experiences has given him a unique view ...

Almost every individual listens to music at some time; some more than others. However, most users of audio equipment have a limited understanding of how audio speakers physically work. When a speaker becomes damaged the majority of people will just assume that the damaged speaker is now a piece of trash and dispose of the unit in favor of spending more money on a new pair of speakers. There is a more inexpensive alternative to throwing away what may be an easily repairable piece of audio equipment.

There are several ways a speaker can become damaged. The most frequent damage sustained is what is termed a blown speaker. Symptoms of a blown speaker can be no sound being produced or a clipping type of distortion. The frame, also called the basket of the speaker, can be permanently bent if the speaker has received an impact as from being dropped. The speaker can become fatigued through heavy use. Speaker fatigue will affect the clarity or crispness of the sound. On rare occasions the cone may have developed a split due to age or a stray and random object piercing the cone.

There are definitely times when repairing a speaker is the best alternative. Pro audio drivers can easily run into the multi-thousand dollar range, but the majority of music listeners are most likely not have invested that much in a set of speakers. Basic bookshelf speakers, those which come pre-packaged with a stereo amplifier or no name speakers will not be worth repairing.

A general rule is the larger the speaker; the more expensive it will be to replace. For those music aficionados who have invested a sizeable chunk of change to obtain good quality speakers, repairing a speaker is often much more inexpensive than replacing the damaged speaker. Floor speakers and professional audio amp speakers usually fall into this category.

The physical components which can be replaced or serviced by a very patient and attentive amateur are the gasket, cone assembly/surround, diaphragm, spider and voice coil. Again, if the basket has become bent then repair will not be possible. There are re-coning services for those many individuals who do not have the fortitude and curiosity to effect repairs. Many of these repair companies will also sell just the speaker repair kits for those individuals who can repair the speakers.

Oftentimes it will be possible to exceed the original factory specifications. It is important to keep in mind, however, that if one speaker is being repaired with different materials from the original; the companion speaker should be serviced as well in order to maintain even sound integrity across the board.

Many websites provide additional information on the topic of speaker repair. One such site worth visiting is http://www.midwestspeaker.com/.

---

Dan Elliott independently authors articles for WebDrafter.com, Inc. ( http://www.webdrafter.com/ ) for search engine marketing. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those solely of the author, and not of any other person, company, or organization. No guarantee or warranty, express or implied, is made regarding the accuracy, fitness, or use of the content herein.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daniel_P_Elliott

This article has been viewed 37 time(s).
Article Submitted On: October 04, 2010

View the original article here

Speaker Drivers Will Make Or Break A Great Loudspeaker - How Good Are Your Speakers?

When speaker manufacturers choose the speaker drivers that they will offer on a specific model usually many factors contribute to the decision.

Here are some highlights of how they make their decision and it is a good indicator of how you can choose your drivers too.

Appearance:

If performance is the primary goal I suppose appearance should not make a difference. We know better though; everyone cares to a certain extent about appearance. Should speaker drivers be any different?

Price:

Price is most often the primary factor when choosing drivers for a speaker design. The price must be reasonable to fit within the budget and final price of the product. All parts, plus labor, plus overhead are all factors that can be controlled for each design.

So, using a high end expensive driver with a cheap and flimsy speaker cabinet is not logical for the speaker manufacturer. Speaker Drivers will be chosen as sets and should fit nicely in consideration of the other components used.

This is a bit like putting $20,000.00 racing wheels on a $300.00 Pinto car. It just is not done. In the same way you would not want to install a $500.00 mid range driver in a cabinet made of press wood that cost $23.00 to build. Speaker manufacturers would put a $500.00 mid-range driver in a speaker cabinet that cost $3000.00 to build.

Quality of Craftsmanship:

There is certainly something to be said for craftsmanship. If you intend to pay $20,000.00 for a set of high end speakers there is a good chance that you don't mind the use of a $1,500.00 finish. Even though the paint finish on a set of speakers does nothing to aid in the performance, if you are spending this much on them; you want the speakers to look good.

The drivers should be no different. Drivers that look like they were put together in a garage by a drunk monkey won't cut it. Quality is desirable and most folks demand it.

Quality of Sound

Sound quality is in fact the whole point of a good speaker driver. The details of each design are what lead to a low distortion and high fidelity speaker.

Speakers are not complicated. The knowledge of how to build them has been around since 1877.

In 1877, German, Ernst Siemens patented the first loudspeaker (on Dec. 14, 1877).

Since then there have been many changes in the designs and there are many different types as well. Advances are still being made to the technology as a matter of fact. But the basic idea of speaker are still the same. The theories behind how they work are essentially the way they were 100 years ago.

Inventors have just learned a lot in the last years and continue to build on each others ideas and concepts. There are more high quality and lower distortion drivers available now than ever before and the prices are only becoming more competitive as companies try to beat each other on price and performance.

What this means for the average consumer is that you have many, many excellent speaker drivers available to you that 10 years ago large companies could not get their hands on.

The best speaker drivers are used in the best loudspeakers. There are many different ways to build speakers but there is no free lunch. And there are no $10.00 drivers that can compete with a $200.00 driver. In this industry you generally get what you pay for although there are some gems if you search hard and long enough.

If you are considering a Speaker Building Project then match your budget with the components you plan to use. And get the best speakers you can afford to complete an excellent project that will reward you for years to come.

This article was written by Peter Selby of home-speaker.net. This is a self help audio and video site that offers free advice for the theater and stereo setup enthusiast.

To read more detailed information about quality speaker drivers see this article.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Selby

View the original article here

The Center Channel Speaker - Home Theater

How important is the center channel speaker in a home theater system? Is it necessary to have one? Does the speaker size matter?

The center is primarily dedicated to the reproduction of the dialogue (voice). This speaker is one of the key speakers in a surround sound system. Without it, you will no doubt always find the dialogue in movies and possibly even in music to be lacking. The speaker connected to the center channel is normally placed in the center of the system above the tv or screen. This gives the effect that the voice is coming from the same area as the picture.

In sound editing on movies, the dialogue might signal to other speakers when story action and direction require it, such as when the person talking is off-screen, but normally, it is rare that there is vocal that is completely absent from the center channel.

In other sources, such as music, the center channel simply reproduces sound that is intended to come from in front of the listener, which usually includes the lead vocals, which are rarely panned hard left or right. So in these aspects, music voice and movie dialogue signals to the center are similar.

Speakers that are used for the center channel should at least be a 3-way speaker. Meaning it should have at least two mid-range and one tweeter. Obviously in smaller rooms, a smaller sized center would okay. The PylePro 2-Way 5" - 1" tweeter Center Speaker and the Sony SSCN5000 Center Speaker are some examples. For medium and larger sized rooms, some of the options might include the Earthquake PN-4421 Center or the Cerwin - Vega VE-5C Center Speaker. If the center speaker is too large for the room, the voice sound will be rather over-baring. Of course the opposite is true when dealing with larger rooms and a smaller speaker.

The center speaker provides image-stabling effects and is considered the most important channel for film production. As previously mentioned, it is also vital to most music sources. Without a good center speaker, a home theater system will not perform sound wise nearly like it should.

View the original article here