# Question on DIY setup



## KClark (Nov 24, 2009)

I hope this is the correct place, I've been doing some reading here and planning of a small system in a "family room" we have which is actually just bare concrete floors and walls as of now. My question is I would like DIY as much of this as possible and I have a set of vintage Bang & Olufsen Beovox 5700 series speakers that I picked up for free. These are mid 70's speakers that really sound quite amazing to me. I had planned to use the as my L&R units. If you are not familiar with them they have a driven woofer and a passive radiator along with a mid driver and a tweeter. My thought at first was to build a custom "stage" and remove the speakers and radiator from the factory enclosure and install in my custom stage. Is that a bad idea? or should I build the stage around the factory enclosure and try to blend it all together? Here is a pic of the speakers I am talking about. http://www.beoworld.org/assets/thumbnails/beovox5700bab.jpg


----------



## fbov (Aug 28, 2008)

Don't mess with the nice vintage speakers because, unless something is broken, there's little you can easily do to improve them. however, you can improve on them. Speaker technology has advanced quite a bit and the older stuff just can't keep up. 

If you are really starting a theater from scratch, do the same with the speakers. Two excellent references are:
Floyd Toole's book on loudspeakers and rooms
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Reproduction-Acoustics-Psychoacoustics-Loudspeakers/dp/0240520092/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258396229&sr=1-3[/ame]

the master DIY design list
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/showthread.php?t=211558

In your position, I would ask myself a few questions, like how small is "small," and how radical do I want - is this a HT we play in or a family room with big-screen TV and surround sound? While asking what you want out of the room, read Toole's book so you know what your options are. 

HAve fun,
Frank


----------



## KClark (Nov 24, 2009)

Frank,

Thanks for your reply, there is nothing "broken" about the B&O's. They are hooked up currently in that room with an old sony receiver and plain old TV. It just blows my mind every day how these speakers that are as old as I am can sound so amazing. I still have alot of planning to do on the room its self. I need to get exact measurements and draw up some plans. It will include a projector, and will NOT be a dedicated movie room as we have children that sometimes play in there or watch TV. I'll check out the links you posted and continue on my planning. Thanks! :wave:


----------



## JCD (Apr 20, 2006)

A properly designed speaker takes into account the speaker "box" itself, so I wouldn't mess with it either. Also, "enclosing" them wouldn't be a good idea either for the same reason. Speakers TYPICALLY like to be away from walls altogether, much less in them.

And a nice fine for free... I love free stuff.


----------

