# My multi-media computer speakers



## brandon75173 (Dec 13, 2009)

I have a fairly unique envirnment in our home. We have a loft style place with a computer area that is elevated and has a low wall that looks down on the living area and kitchen. Often times I will take my computer speakers (a single hivi tweeter and hivi 4" mid) and put them on the low wall top toward the living area. Also when we have people over. They do sound pretty good, but are lackingy the fullness and sensitivity I want. But again, this isnt a big tower either. I used (2) of the same HiVi SD1.1-A 1" dome tweeters, and (4) Tang Band W3-881SJ 3" per cabinet. If you are debating on a budget tweeter that performs I strongly recommend the listed HIVI tweeter. For reference the cabinets are 8" wide, 20" tall in the arc, and 7" deep. I have a mac 27" IMac quad core computer, and its one of my favorite things to play with. Between itunes, youtube, movies, and general media its a central part of entertainment here. I have most of the components here, just waiting on a few items from parts express tomorrow to bring it to life. I got the dayton APA 150 amp to power them. I will do the finish coat in rustoleum hammered light grey to compliment the apple grey. Very forgiving. In true nature, I also built what is really overkill for a sub. Dayton reference 12" subwoofer with (2) dayton PRs, and bash 500 watt amp. Box is basically 20.5" square, and tuning around 19hz as it will be. Sub cab is coated in stone finish grey. Should have finished pictures in the next day or so.


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## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

Those look very nice Brandon! :T :clap:


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## fusseli (May 1, 2007)

Very nice looking cabs! 

Are you going to post your modelled FR, I hope? Did you try to account for driver spacing with that artisitic layout of yours?

That does look like a good sub build, should play belos 20hz, although I'm worried the sub will be too much for thsoe PRs...


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## brandon75173 (Dec 13, 2009)

Thanks for the kind words. I got one of the speakers all wired and tested this afternoon. Quite a bit of work wiring them. Tested it loose from the cab, but the dynamic was nice. As you imagine, the high end of the tweets can cross your eyes wide open. I dont think more than 25% on the pad will be used. To be honest, I didnt put alot of thought in the arrangement from a tested audio sense. Its more a visual layout thing. I am a builder by nature and a metal fabricator by trade. Still trying to learn the finer aspects of setting up a design effectively. Using a pre-assembled PE crossover at 3500hz BTW. Speaking of a design sucking in a big way........... Got the sub done, its sitting on the floor to my left, sounds very nice. I am going to go back and tweek boost, but its good. The suck part is this bash 500 amp. Talking about a rattling tin can. I saw the comments on PE and hoped it was a fixed issue. NOPE. Very close to 100 hz it sets off wicked. I am going to use my fingermeter tomorrow and try and locate the issue. Hopefully I can get hot glue, rubber shim, something in there to fix it. As of now, I can not live with it.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Very unique looking speakers, i love'm. The curve gives them great character. You wouldn't happen to have build pics would you?


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## brandon75173 (Dec 13, 2009)

Sorry, I dont. They are really just a simple cabinet with spine curved sides. I laminated (2) pieces of 1/4" MDF with glue and a small brad in each corner. I blocked up each end of the 4 sides around 3 inchs off a worktable. I then clamped a piece of tubing perpendicular across the center of them and left over night with just under the full 3" of droop in the center. When I removed the clamp they were what they are. I squared off the long side and cut the inner (shorter radius) to give a square top and bottom. I will post pictures with the drivers in them tomorrow, I think it looks pretty slick. Especially considering I probably have more time in wiring than actual start to finish building and designing. I build ALOT of things with the idiot savant approach, "idiot" requiring emphasis. I SEE IT IN MY HEAD.......MUST CREATE.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

They are awesome and i look forward to seeing the finished product.:T


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## brandon75173 (Dec 13, 2009)

Well they are done. For a change I am happy the result more or less ended up as I expected. They have a nice full sound. I more often than not use this area for near field listening, and it accomplishes that much better than the last speakers. They are of course weak in the 100-150hz range, but not as bad as I would have thought. Compounding 4 drivers per side has to help. But loud, yes, throw some throttle at them and it can get silly enough to entertain a crowd. I am not so sure I am as excited about the performance of this tang band driver over the previous HIVI 4" I had. Maybe they need breaking in, but dont seem to have quite the performance. These will fill the bill for a while. I think they look pretty neat in the area.


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## fusseli (May 1, 2007)

They defininitely look great and I bet they're loud, probably pretty high sensitivity.

I'm guessing the missing spot you notice below 150Hz is because of baffle step, did you add a BSC circuit and tweeter attenuation with the textbook crossover? You could probably get a lot better sound out of them with a few small additions...


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

They definatly turned out great, and i'm glad they sound good too. That curved shape has my mind a goin.


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## FlashJim (May 6, 2006)

Nice!!

It reminds me of the curved dressers that I've seen.


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## brandon75173 (Dec 13, 2009)

fusseli said:


> They defininitely look great and I bet they're loud, probably pretty high sensitivity.
> 
> I'm guessing the missing spot you notice below 150Hz is because of baffle step, did you add a BSC circuit and tweeter attenuation with the textbook crossover? You could probably get a lot better sound out of them with a few small additions...


Thanks for the feedback. I didnt realize the baffle step had that effect. I am also alittle embarrassed that I dont even know what a BSC is. The crossover is box stock, no mods. With my limited knowledge I could do more damage than good. Which is why I used a shelf crossover. I will look into the BSC. One regret for sure, I can not get the crossover back out of the cab. So anything I add with have to be inline off whichever driver it is added to.


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## fusseli (May 1, 2007)

brandon75173 said:


> Thanks for the feedback. I didnt realize the baffle step had that effect. I am also alittle embarrassed that I dont even know what a BSC is. The crossover is box stock, no mods. With my limited knowledge I could do more damage than good. Which is why I used a shelf crossover. I will look into the BSC. One regret for sure, I can not get the crossover back out of the cab. So anything I add with have to be inline off whichever driver it is added to.


Most BSC is built into the Xover, but lucky for you there's the other approach of adding in a "shelving" filter to do the job. Play with the Excel calculator at this site and see what you can come up with: http://www.quarter-wave.com/General/General_Articles.html


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## activexp (Mar 11, 2011)

Super job Brandon  Makes some of my DIY efforts look quite amateurish!


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