Hello everyone, I thought I should post something to say Hi to everyone here. I am new to this forum, but I posted on S&V randomly back in the day (neo_densetsu). When I went back there recently I was sad to see everything dead, but then I found this place. Thanks to everyone there, I learned a lot about my Altec A7s that my grandfather gave me.
The Altecs were amazing speakers, but I was forced to move to a much smaller living space, where I could not use them. This lead me to build something with a high efficiency with a small foot print, a set of line arrays. I found some really inexpensive Sony neodymium 5.25" woofers (.69 cents each), which had very surprising performance for something that was designed to be used in one of those UFO like boom-boxes. At 12 drivers per side, this put the theoretical efficiency at 96 DB. Paired with an inexpensive set of Vifa tweeters, this sounded quite good for the money ( I just ordered some Vifa DX25 soft domes to replace the cheaper ones). The crossover is a simple 1st order design, crossed over at 2.5K. This is probably the weak link of the whole setup, but some day I plan to build a four channel LM3886 chipamp to use with an active crossover. I built the cabinets out of 1/2" MDF (I will never cheap out again), with a lot of bracing.
Parts pricing:
Woofers: $0.69 each, $16.56 total
Tweeters: ~$11 each, $22 total
Crossover: $20 a side, $40 total
MDF, wood glue and other random bits: $75
Total Price: $153.56
They don't sound nearly as good as my Altecs, but for $150 I am not complaining. Much better than my Def Tech Pro-Cinema 60 satellites, although they do lack a lot of low end. The mids are quite smooth. I am very curious to see how these will sound with the DX25 tweeters and a good crossover. One issue that I found with such tall speakers, is that it makes my TV look smaller.
Someone on the parts-express forums built something very similar, but it is an open baffle. Eventually I would like to try and use his design. ( I have enough left over drivers to build another set)
Here are some pics:
This is me standing next to these for a size reference (I am 5' 9" tall)
Quite happy with the results of the baffles, considering this was my first time using a router.
This is showing the internal bracing, and I also tried using some of that tar mat stuff on the inside to add some more mass to the thin MDF. This was also my first attempt at a screw-less build, glue and clamps only.
The Altecs were amazing speakers, but I was forced to move to a much smaller living space, where I could not use them. This lead me to build something with a high efficiency with a small foot print, a set of line arrays. I found some really inexpensive Sony neodymium 5.25" woofers (.69 cents each), which had very surprising performance for something that was designed to be used in one of those UFO like boom-boxes. At 12 drivers per side, this put the theoretical efficiency at 96 DB. Paired with an inexpensive set of Vifa tweeters, this sounded quite good for the money ( I just ordered some Vifa DX25 soft domes to replace the cheaper ones). The crossover is a simple 1st order design, crossed over at 2.5K. This is probably the weak link of the whole setup, but some day I plan to build a four channel LM3886 chipamp to use with an active crossover. I built the cabinets out of 1/2" MDF (I will never cheap out again), with a lot of bracing.
Parts pricing:
Woofers: $0.69 each, $16.56 total
Tweeters: ~$11 each, $22 total
Crossover: $20 a side, $40 total
MDF, wood glue and other random bits: $75
Total Price: $153.56
They don't sound nearly as good as my Altecs, but for $150 I am not complaining. Much better than my Def Tech Pro-Cinema 60 satellites, although they do lack a lot of low end. The mids are quite smooth. I am very curious to see how these will sound with the DX25 tweeters and a good crossover. One issue that I found with such tall speakers, is that it makes my TV look smaller.
Someone on the parts-express forums built something very similar, but it is an open baffle. Eventually I would like to try and use his design. ( I have enough left over drivers to build another set)
Here are some pics:
This is me standing next to these for a size reference (I am 5' 9" tall)
Quite happy with the results of the baffles, considering this was my first time using a router.
This is showing the internal bracing, and I also tried using some of that tar mat stuff on the inside to add some more mass to the thin MDF. This was also my first attempt at a screw-less build, glue and clamps only.
bscene-drinkingcheers: 
