# DIY Small Speakers Suggestions



## ovillegas (Jan 30, 2012)

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to decide which speakers to build. The speakers will be in a living room and they will be placed among other decorations on the shelves next to my fireplace, so they cannot be too big. I will be using an 8 in. sub-woofer that I have (not a really good one but is better than nothing). This will be my DIY practice run before I jump into a bigger project for the HT that I'm planning.

I've been looking at these: http://www.zaphaudio.com/ZBM4.html 
and these: http://www.zaphaudio.com/audio-speaker18.html

Has anyone heard any of these two or have any other cheap or reasonable suggestions?


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## DrDyna (Jul 21, 2011)

These are a good alternative as well. I have a pair upstairs in the bedroom and I like them.

https://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/diy-overnightsensations


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

I like the ZBM4. It would be good practice at box building and crossover design.

I have wanted to build the B3S speaker for a while (I have a boatload of B3N -- round -- sitting in my basement).

I just built a small pair of single driver speakers based on the ND65 driver. I only have prototypes and haven't built the real box or dialed in the crossover/filter yet.

But you have a good approach -- stick to an existing design, slowly buy tools and try new things. I have seen way too many people dive into expensive builds only to end up with a basement of drivers with no project. Wait, I think I just described myself there . . . 



Good luck.


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## fbov (Aug 28, 2008)

ovillegas said:


> ...The speakers will be in a living room and they will be placed among other decorations on the shelves next to my fireplace...


Lot of suggestions, too many in fact. The first is to read the top of this link, to find out what your intended placement will do the sound. Some folks don't notice, others do and if you're one of them, better to be forewarned. 
http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=28655

Zaph talks abou it, too (Except form ZBM4 write-up):
"The best sound will be had from stand mounting, 1.5 to 2 feet out from the back wall, and a minimum of 2-3 feet out from the side wall. ...The real problem with speakers this small is that people will be tempted to mount them on a wall or place them on a bookshelf or end table. Yes, that is possible, and the alternative reduced BSC crossover version will probably work better in that case. Just be aware that it is non-optimal and _early reflections from nearby boundaries or objects will take a serious bite out of the sound quality_(emphasis added, ed.). If that's your only placement option, then go for it. Just realize that the speakers are not sounding as good as they could be. This will be true for any speaker placed near a boundary or object." 

OK, forewarned. Of the two Zaph designs, ZBM4 is the one you'd prefer, I suspect, as the other's more of a desktop/computer speaker in my mind. (At least, I'm looking at 3-inchers for my desktop.) There are a lot of good, small TM options, but you need one designed for wall mounting. Zaph calls it "the alternative reduced BSC crossover version," which is more techincally correct, but requires knowledge of BSC. 

That said, there are a ton of little TM designs out there. You may want to look for recent DIY gathering events, to see if there were any clear winners that are getting popular with other builders. Paul Carmody's Speedsters are a step up from his ONS series. Jeff Bagby has a couple new kits, Piccolo and Triton, to go with the justifyably venerated Continuum. 

The rub is that all will sound boomy and bloated on a shelf as they're designed as free-standing speakers. The plus, that the designers are active on several forum, primarily Tech Talk at Parts Express.

Hope this helps!
Frank


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## pharoah (Jul 21, 2012)

ive always wanted to try this.fostex fe103en pdf

its a pdf it has a couple different enclosures.look at the smaller enclosure.


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## ovillegas (Jan 30, 2012)

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I saw the mounting suggestions on the Zaph speakers. That is why I was debating about those since I don't have the space to have them on stands away from the wall.


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