# Parts supplier other than P.E. for speaker building?



## E-A-G-L-E-S (Sep 15, 2007)

Along with my slowly moving sub build I am gutting and remaking some full range speakers for my father as a present.
I have a whole package of tweeters, hors, woofers, x-overs and l-pad's for the horn's put together on P.E., but before purchasing I was wondering if there are other companies that would give me more options to choose from?


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## JCD (Apr 20, 2006)

Madisound
Zalytron
Solen
Speaker City

I'd say those would be the big guys. There are a lot of other sites, but generally they only carry the drivers they build or they're REALLY small and handle only the uber hi-end stuff.

Madisound offers better prices than PE for the same items, but doesn't have the overall breadth that Parts Express.

Zalytron is even better when it comes to cost, but they carry fewer brands, their website is awful and dealing with the guy running the show can be a little offputting. He comes across a little gruff on the phone. That being said, I'm a cheapskate, so I would buy from here first if they carried all of the items I needed.

I haven't purchased anything from Solen or Speakercity.

JCD


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## E-A-G-L-E-S (Sep 15, 2007)

I couldn't tell you guys what speakers they were as there are no markings other than "RGX IV" on the front fabric which comes up empty on a google search.
I have them gutted already so I could start with a clean slate.
They are 4cu. ft. each.
11" hole for 12" woofer
3" hole for piezo tweeter
4" x 10" hole for horn mid
I was all set to buy a whole set-up when I was told on avs that the 3-way prebuilt x-overs I was going to buy would be 'completely worthless' and that I would have to build my own? I'm not looking for great performance just decent as these were unusable and stored.
So are they right about the x-overs? Or can I use them and would just be sacrificing performance?
I'm not sure I could build my own and I have no gear to test to see how it should be built either.
They will be powered by a Marantz stereo receiver which is amazingly listed as 20w/rms x 2ch.(It seems much, much more powerful when operating)

Thanks for any and all help.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

JCD said:


> I'd say those would be the big guys. There are a lot of other sites, but generally they only carry the drivers they build or they're REALLY small and handle only the uber hi-end stuff.
> JCD


WHAT??? Ya mean Radio Shack is not a preferred supplier and does not carry drivers and other odds and ends anymore :hide::joke:


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## BrianAbington (Mar 19, 2008)

ebay


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## Brian Walter (Aug 11, 2006)

You might also want to try Meniscus Audio or MCM Electronics. I know MCM used to sell speakers, but I haven't been to their website in ages so I can't say for certain.

As far as crossovers go, the pre-made generic ones don't work very well, but they will likely protect the drivers from over excursion. They typically don't provide any means of matching sound levels between drivers of differing sensitivities, so if your tweeter is more sensitive (likely) than the other drivers in the system it will sound louder than the others resulting in a screachy irritating speaker. They also don't provide any baffle step compensation or response contouring and they are made to work with ideal drivers with a constant impedance, not real world drivers with varying impedance and a non-linear frequency response.

Brian Walter


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## E-A-G-L-E-S (Sep 15, 2007)

I am in the process of sinding and choosing a "known" 2-way design.
I have given up on rebuilding the old big towers.

Any reccomendations on shielded speakers(ported or sealed) that are 2-way and are ~$100 or less each speaker total?(I have a short list, mostly from PE website and speakerbuilder.net)


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## Brian Walter (Aug 11, 2006)

So Matt, what are you looking for in a speaker? What size drivers? What's more important to you, lots of bass, good midrange, sparkling highs. etc. Also what are they going to be used for, in what size room and how loud do you want them to play?

I'm not an expert, but I've heard a lot of DIY speakers over the years at the Iowa DIY events, so I've got a few that I really like. But they may not be to your liking.

Brian Walter


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## E-A-G-L-E-S (Sep 15, 2007)

Not for me, for my pops and I guess my mom as well.
I am slowly converting them to HD video and audio.
First step was getting them an AVR that would do what they need now and in the future, bought an Onkyo TX-SR506.
Next step is building a front stage of identical two-ways that are shielded(currently have an crt) and the ywill be used with thewir 10" Infinity Sub10. They will be crossed at or above 100Hz.
He listens to classick rock only. Doobie Broothers are his favorite.
He LOVES overbearing midrange, so I want the mids to at least be strong.
Size...as small as possible while accomplishing goals.
Price...would like to stick to $100 or less per speaker for components only.(shipped preferred)
I will build the enclosures and put together the x-overs. Simpler the better as these will be my first speaker build. I am building myself a subwoofer right now so will have all supplies for enclosure on hand.
Last two steps will be HDTV(plasma) and then a BR player possibly at some point down the road.


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## Brian Walter (Aug 11, 2006)

In your general price and size range I would suggest the following: Go to the Iowa DIY2007 website and under budget category, look up the RS150/Neo3 PDR speaker. It is a remarkable sounding speaker for the price. I would also suggest the RJB Audio - Microbe speaker, it is a little smaller but is a very lively fun speaker. I would also suggest Dennis Murphy's MB20 speaker, you can find it at the Murphy Blaster Productions website. I'm not sure if he used the shielded version of the M130 or not, but they may be interchangeable. It is a very smooth, listen all day speaker with reasonably good detail. It's probably not quite as detailed as the other two, so it would be better for rock or poorly recorded music.

None of these speakers are kits so to speak, but all the necessary information to build the speakers is on the respective websites (Google is your friend). Typically the parts can be had from either PE, Madisound or a combination of the two.

Brian Walter


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## E-A-G-L-E-S (Sep 15, 2007)

Thank you! 
Off to choose the best for their needs.
They both love watching sports. That is the major majority of their viewing.


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