# High SPL Low Cost Speaker Pair



## TK1990 (Dec 31, 2010)

I want to design a pair of speakers that would substitute for a pro audio system that can be used with an amp for home use that sounds decent and doesn't take up too much footprint. The idea is based off of two other systems, primarily "The Stentorians" (link below) but using the same speakers as the "Cabrini," found on Parts-Express. It composes of a two way system that covers the majority of the 

http://www.speakerdesignworks.com/NS6project_1.html

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=292-426

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=280-062

I am hoping to create a similar quality/cost design as the stentorians without using speakers that are only available for a limited time during a factory buyout.

Attached is a picture of what I plan on having the front baffle look like. It is six woofers in line with a single tweeter at the top. I was wondering if one or two tweeters would be better? Also, I noticed the stentorians had two woofers on either side of the tweeter that had slightly different cross overs from the lower four woofers, I was wondering if this design should have a similar setup? As of right now I was thinking of just using the same crossover for the filter and connecting the woofers in three paralleled systems of two wired in series to achieve around 5 ohms of resistance (again, similar to the stentorians)

So the purpose of this is to see what everyone else thinks of this build. Is it practical? Where could I improve? Any personal recommendations? (Remember, cheap is important!!!)

Thanks for all the help!

I hope to have very detailed plans on this after the build so that others can temp to build a high SPL system on a true budget.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

Thread moved to the DIY Speakers Forum.


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## fbov (Aug 28, 2008)

TK1990 said:


> ...I was thinking of just using the same crossover for the filter ....


I'm going to guess that this is your first try at speaker design... based on this statement, I don't think you're ready yet. 

I say that because you've made several noobie mistakes on your way to making a whole bunch more. If you are really interested in speaker design, read through the links at the right to find out what you're getting into. 
https://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/diy

Paul's answer to your post is likely:
"Can you build a speaker from them, probably. Will it rival the stuff you hear in the HiFi store, no."

I agree with his assessment. Read the rest as Pauls' got links to all the tools you need, as well as how to put them all together, if you're interested in learning speaker design. Then plan on a year's worth of work before you get the hang of it, plus $$$ in measurement equipment and $$ in parts you'll never need again. Then consider that learning to use the tools is only half the battle; you also need a good ear and talent to create teh equal of some proven designs. 

If you just want some kick- speakers, build a proven design. . 

HAve fun,
Frank


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## BoomieMCT (Dec 11, 2006)

I 100% agree with everything fbov said. . . . however. . .

If you want a (relatively) inexpensive, easy to work with and high SPL speaker pair to play with, learn on and use I recommend looking at the Emminence 10" beta-20cx with a APT-50 or ASD1001 tweeter. There are tools and calculators free online to help you with box design (I'd go ported) and crossover. Tweaking the latter would be a great learning experience as, deep down, this is a fairly simple 2-way speaker design. 

I've doodled around with this and I have a set that I like as HT mains in a 2 channel system and have done duty as monitor and light PA duty. $300ish in parts should get you going pretty good. Throw in another $100 for a microphone setup to plug into your computer, download REW and you've got a great start.


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## mdocod (Jul 25, 2013)

Both for HT and for portable PA rigs, compact dedicated bandwidth "tops" crossed over to a sub that can be located against a wall or in a corner is a better solution (acoustically speaking) than having the full bandwidth covered in the mains. 

I would suggest looking at the Karma-8 (MTG-08) kit over at diysoundgroup. With an 80hz high pass in place and a decent bass bin to back it up, that little PA top can play louder and cleaner than the sten (or similar) setup would. 

The sten build has a number of intelligent design decisions and a handful if known trade-offs. It's an intelligent compromise-implementation of inexpensive drivers resulting in a whole that can be judged as greater than the sum of parts. 

The characteristics of the drivers used in the stentorian project played a roll in making the build a success. In a way you could say that the drivers were "exploited" to fill a less than traditional configuration to good success. The GRS drivers you want to switch to have vastly different characteristics and no response data. I think in a "sten-like" build they would sound very boomy and cheesey. Paired to that piezo horn, they would have a very ragged response riddled with distortion. I would expect a fatiguing listening experience. 

There are a lot of very real _limitations_ to the way that a "tower" of drivers can actually be used to exact a desirable acoustic result.

Keep on researching!


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