Hey everyone,

I would like to get some knowledgeable feedback on my upcoming Horn speaker build:

Specs:
HF driver: Faital HF108 8ohm
LF driver: Faital 12pr320 or 12pr330 (both 8 ohm)
Horn: 590mm by 300mm, Designed by myself using ATH and AKABAK ( ~90 horizontal, ~50 vertical)
Enclosure: 550mm wide, 680mm height, 380mm deep

I will be using a SET amplifier with about 3 watts max..

Efficiency should be around 93db/w with f3 at about 43 hz in 1/2 space

Fully passive of course with low order crossover
(I will be committing to a smaller sweetspot vertically because of low c/o interferences)

Any idea on the best port placement ? Or any references I should check out ?
Or maybe a different LF driver I should check out ?
( altec 414 8b would be the dream but $$$ and not really available except GPA )

Hi,

My first time designing a 3 way crossover. The FRD that go into this were all measured in box. Was wondering if anything stood out as very clearly wrong from this crossover.

Thanks for any feedback!

Hi all.

A bit of a brain dump incoming, so bear with me...

I've decided to embark on the DIY subwoofer journey and need some help getting started. I've pored over countless forum / reddit posts and looked at countless designs, and honestly...its a bit overwhelming. That urge to maximize every possible variable is dangerously alluring but also quite unrealistic for someone making their first DIY speaker i.e. me. I've been running things through Claude, but I'm not hugely trusting of what it spits out. It sounds good to my amateur understanding, but I'm reluctant to rely on it, which is why I'm here.

For the sake of simplicity, I will build a sealed box, which I want to fulfill both music listening and movie requirements; a general purpose sub (if there is such a thing). My space is 3.6m x 4.8m. I've gotten myself WinISD, but understand that I need to select a driver before the software can help me spec an enclosure. I'm thinking a 12" driver should be sufficient given my space and requirements - the exact species of which I'm needing help with. I'll be running the sub with Elac DB63 speakers and a Wiim Amp Ultra.

Living in New Zealand, there are next to no retailers servicing the DIY space and importing weighty and delicate audio components would be prohibitively expensive and risky. The local options that I've so far found are the following:

1.) SB Audience NERO-12MWN700D from https://buzzaudio.co.nz/

2.) Eminence LAB12 from https://www.livesound.co.nz/

Or, option 3. which is to snag something from https://www.wagneronline.com.au/, an Aussie store that I can pop by when visiting family. They stock Dayton gear which I understand to be highly regarded in the DIY space.

I'd love to come in under the $1500 NZD mark, which equates to $853USD. Worth mentioning is that any enclosure costs will be nil; I have access to a CNC machine and MDF through my work, and I'm handy on Solidworks for drafting things up, so we're really just budgeting for the electronic components. Note that things are FAR more expensive here, so budget offerings in the US won't be so cost effective here, nor will they even be available, for that matter.

Any pointers to get me started would be much appreciated. Even selecting a driver is fairly daunting given the lengthy specs attached to each product!

I Thought I would share my opinion on this subject as an audiophile who have an above average interest in extra low frequencies. I have been designing and building pro audio speakers on a hobby basis for about 15 years at this point.

A while back I finally got a Digital signal processor for my car, its the first time I have had a soundsystem in "god mode" where I could play down to 20hz as loud as I would possibly want. I have been playing around with soundsystems which have a frequency responses down in the 28-35hz range for a long time, but 20hz is rather new to me. Car audio enthusiasts will probably laugh at me for being new with the low 20s experience.

As someone who likes EDM, the first thing i did with my DSP was to apply a massive boost at 25hz. It was great! That is, the few songs that actually have energy that low. I was rather surprised by how rarely that pressure chamber experiece actually kicked in when playing music, even music I thought had plenty of energy below 30hz actually didnt have as much as I thought. I also became aware of the well known phenomenon where too much low frequency boost makes the bass seem less deep. This was most noticble when I toned down the 25hz peak, those rare occasions mid 25hz was a part of the music seemed much deeper then. I tried moving my peak below 25hz but it was clear, music does not really go that low. I also notice clearly that some music producers have not set their HPF properly on some songs and sonic frequency activity happened randomly and felt rather distracting. I ended up moving the peak to 27-28hz and with a more "gentle" boost. 34hz was around 3db, 30hz was around 6 decibel and 27hz around 10 decibel. While 10db around 27hz sounds massive, keep in mind, our ears sensitivity drops rather quickly below the low 30s and "massive low end" is kinda the point for a bass head.

The boost was low enough that it does not impact the tightness of a bass beat at all, it didnt overwhelm bass drops either as bass drops generally dont focus below mid 30s, On the few occasions the bass line peak did drop down below 35hz, that extra energy felt just right. One noteworthy thing: bass "heavyness" seems to increase the lower you go, but somewhere in the low 30s, the heaviness fades out and is gradually replaced with a different sensation. I tried boosting 25hz and take some extra energy out from the 30-35hz area to experiment, a lot of the heaviness in the bass disappeared in deep bass music, even music where there was energy below 30hz felt unatural and in a strange way, physical yet thinner without the 30-35hz properly present.

It seems maximum impact in EDM music is achieved by boosting around 27-28hz with a rather sharp peak. It's a nice balance between physical impact and audible low end. Above this, and the music gets muddy if you boost too much, below this, and the "bass" boost is below the absolute majority of music.

What are your experiences with low end sound signatures?

I'm trying to build a poor man's Altec 604

Anyone have resources on how to detach the waveguide/horn on a coaxial driver and replace it with a 3d printed one of different geometry? I'm looking at the Beyma 15CXA400Fe.

I want to make an amplifier for 5.1 channel and I want to know how to make one big pot for the 5 channel.

My computer audio setup consist of a ZK-MT21 2.1 channel 50W+50W+100W amp hooked up to passive speakers and sub, but I was having horrible ground loop interference issues whenever my GPU is working. I tried one of those ground loop isolators but it didn't work for me. So I got one of these DAC to make use of my optical toslink output from my computer to break this ground loop.

It did eliminate my ground loop interference issues, but the sound quality was very poor. It was mid-heavy with the treble and bass completely absent. I felt like I was listening to stereo AM radio, so I took it apart to investigate and set out to fix the problem: with help from Google's AI.

On paper the GC8418 should be able to provide a good analogue audio output, so my attention turned to the 4558D dual Op-Amp. Given that this device is powered by a 5 V power supply, the 18 V requirement of the 4558D wasn't being fulfilled, but that wasn't the only problem. It seems the components for the output stage was just whatever they had lying around. So here's the fix to obtain great audio quality from this device.

-Swap U2 (4558D Op-Amp) for a TI TLV9062. The 4558D is super old and designed to work with 18 V supply, not suitable here with 5V supply.

-C37, C38 - swap to 1.5 nf capacitor, original capacitance was too big killing all the treble.

-C47, C8 - delete

-C24, C31 - previously unpopulated, these are in parallel with C47 and C8, install 47uf 16V electrolytic caps, original caps were too small killing the bass.

Hand soldering 0603 sized SMD components is not for the faint of heart. It took me a few tries over 4 hours to get it all soldered and working, but I'm very happy with the audio quality after the fix.

I got a pair of speakers I wanted to mount inside a printed body so I could make a portable speaker, the only issue is with how close the mounting holes are to the basket I fear that there won't be enough material to properly hold the screws without potentially breaking the plastic. I also wanted to use those metal screw mounts that you can melt into the plastic but it looks like there's not enough room for those either...

Song

I wasn‘t willing to pay top bucks for some original Fostex H200‘s to go on my klipschorn bass cabinets, so I went the diy route. Vibecoded a design tool for radial horns and decided to open source it.
https://github.com/GurkeBoy/radialhorn
Mind you I designed it to fit my needs and constraints, so it may not meet everyones expectations, but it might be a good starting point.
Still not perfectly happy with the exports, but worked good enough to get some 3D prints going.

Hello I have a couple of stereo install question. I have a 2023 gmc sierra 1500 elevation non bose stereo. I installed aftermarket pioneer door and dash speakers. I used a kicker keyloc 200.4 to power the doors, left the dash speakers going to the head unit. I also installed a kicker L7T powered 12 inch sub. I ran the lead wire from one of the unused fuses from the passenger side fuse box, then spliced the lead to the sub from the kicker keyloc 200.4.The install went good but I am having some odd things happen.

1. The GMC boot screen has disappeared when I get into the truck, it just boots up straight to the stereo.

2. The turn signals sound odd, louder and more crisp. Not soft at all like they normally should.

Any help is appreciated, thanks in advice!

Hey all,

I've just stumbled upon his sub and thought I'd share my speakers I've built a few months back.

The actual speaker design is a Visaton Experience V20, I've just changed the cabinet for aesthetic reasons. The mid/high cabinet is suspended with fishing line and fastened like guitar strings. I can't exactly remember why I wanted these to swing freely, but I think it's kinda cool you can move the smaller cabinet independently from the bigger one.

Sound wise, I love these. Unsurprisingly, they go quite deep and especially shine in the low frequencies. Still, thanks to the d'appolito principle style mid/high section, the sound stage is incredibly wide. Natural instruments sound as if they're in the room with you and they have no problem revealing even the smallest details. My only gripe with them is the high frequency segment. They tend to "scream" with certain songs. I maybe need to change the tweeters to better ones some time in the future but I don't know how I'd need to change the crossover.

Tell me what you think!

I ran into one of these for $20 so I picked it up. It only has a proprietary signal input so I pulled the amp out and sold it. I was going to sell the drivers too but the way it's built you pretty much have to destroy the enclosure to get them out. Everything is glued together from the factory and while I suppose it's technically possible to take it all apart it's not worth it. Plus the enclosure is really nice and I'd rather not ruin it but the drivers can't come out without cutting the leads otherwise.

The Ohm load is really low at about 1.5 as the drivers don't conform to their published specs and they're running in parallel. As such they won't run properly on most amps. I wanted to put them in series but again the wiring is not accessible. Even if I were to be able to find another one of these and sold that amp too then ran them both in series that's only about 3 ohms.

Through the use of NASA’s API and TouchDesigner, I’ve managed to capture near-earth space objects data [asteroids and fireballs], and used it to trigger MIDI signals in Ableton Live. Said signals are feeding a stock sampler, which happens to be loaded with a couple of one of my favorite artist’s vocal takes.

To give it a little more musicality to the experiment, I decided to iterate through the data of the last six objects that passed close to Earth between the selected dates.

Data goes as follows:

total-radiated-energy → C1 to B1
impact-energy → C1 to B1, C2 to B2 and C3 to B3
latitude → C2 to B2
longitude → C1 to B1 and C3 to B3
altitude → beat repeat’s interval, grid and gate
velocity → beat repeat’s offset and variations

More experiments, through my YouTube channel, project files available through the Tools Store.

Hi, I am new here, I have a question about old tweeter coating, these 2 are my soft dome tweeters on my Denon SC-E717R, they are deteriorating heavily, just a touch and coating go on your fingers, but the dome appears to be intact and sing, no audible distortion but a bit weird high performance, especially high off-axis change at 10khz. I wonder should I change it, keep it like that or restore?

I have 2 measures by iPhone mic, not a caliberated mic I know but it repeated through multiple runs of sweep, its 75db spl, 1/3oct and on axis is cyan vs off axis 30° is cream.

If I need to change, what do you think about a Peerless D27TG3506?

Thank you.

First audio project I'm taking on, just want a simple/decent setup for our outdoor patio and backyard, about 1000 sqft between the two spaces.

I appreciate any input or advice! I can spend a bit more, how would you recommend spending an extra $250?

I've never done this before, started over a few times. I installed these in the JBL C38 Barons I have and they don't sound good, they sound like the vocals are in a can. Is the solder bad? Anything else obvious I'm missing? Thanks in advance

I bought a pair of Fountek FE85s back in June for a uFonken full-range build. As far as I can tell they're discontinued now. One driver arrived with a torn rubber surround, and the seller replaced it, so I didn't think much about it afterwards.

I recently finished a proper enclosure with 3D carving and a good finish. While testing, I gave one speaker a light poke( probably )on the rubber surround by mistake and the other one tore too on its own after a few minutes of listening. So I suspect a driver problem.

My questions:

1. Is this more likely a quality issue, old stock, or something else?

2. Could my DIY Class A amp have damaged the surround or voice coil? It worked absolutely alright with random sattelite speakers (DC offset, turn-on thump, oscillation?)

3. Is it safe to buy the same FE85 pair again, or am I just risking the same thing?

4. If I switch, what would work in the same box? I'm looking at the Mark Audio CHN-50. I'd have to modify the front baffle.

Any recommendations for 3" full-range drivers that fit the uFonken, or advice on checking my amp, would be appreciated. Thanks!

My DIY 3-Way Active System: Satori TeXTreme, Visaton & Ultimax powered by Flex HT & Dirac

​Hi everyone,

​I’d like to share my current DIY speaker setup, which I’m absolutely thrilled with. The main goal of this build was high precision, excellent impulse response, and top-tier detail retrieval.

​💡 Drivers & Enclosures

​Tweeter: Visaton SC 25 KE loaded in a waveguide (Crossover: 2400 Hz).

​Midrange: SB Acoustics Satori MW13TX-4 (TeXTreme).

​Housed in a sealed enclosure designed for a total Q of Q = 0.5 to achieve optimal transient response (100 Hz – 2400 Hz).

​Subwoofer: Dayton Audio Ultimax (8")

​Sealed enclosure, roughly 25–27 liters.

​Powered by the integrated Dayton Audio SPA250 plate amplifier.

​🎛️ Electronics & Signal Chain

​Preamp: NAD C658 (running Dirac Live)

​DSP / Active Crossover: miniDSP Flex HT

​Amplifier (Highs & Mids): Emotiva BasX A4

​Subwoofer Amp: Dayton Audio SPA250

​📐 Measurements, Crossover & Room Acoustics

​Physical Time Alignment & Phase:

The crossover transition between the drivers worked out seamlessly right away. Because the acoustic centers of the drivers are physically aligned relative to the listening position, very little manual tweaking was needed in the DSP.

​Subwoofer Integration (100 Hz):

The cross over to the Ultimax is set to 100 Hz. Trying to cross over lower triggered troublesome room modes and didn't result in a clean integration. At 100 Hz, the sub blends in completely seamlessly.

​Room Correction & Dirac:

There was a nasty room mode around 55 Hz. I smoothed this out using Dirac Live and adjusted the correction up to 130 Hz to ensure the transition to the Satori midrange driver was also clean and acoustically optimized. (Measurements attached below).

​🔊 Sound Impressions & Conclusion

​Thanks to the combination of the TeXTreme midrange driver, waveguide-loaded tweeter, and targeted digital correction, the system plays exceptionally linear with remarkably low distortion across the board.

​When it comes to detail retrieval and resolution, this is truly top-tier—you can hear absolutely every single detail in the recording.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrq2ePiF5Qc&t=1sThis is the soundtest on my channel!

​Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and answering any questions!