https://www.htguide.com/forum/ Home Theater Guide forum where the DIY audio, speaker clubs, and interested come to collaborate. en Tue, 09 Jun 2026 21:34:25 GMT vBulletin 60 https://www.htguide.com/forum/images/misc/rss.png https://www.htguide.com/forum/ https://www.htguide.com/forum/forum/mission-possible-diy/960830-mystery-3-5-inch-subwoofer-shenanigans Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:13:10 GMT


Fs at around 108 Hz. Not very subwoofery, but given the cone is like an inch and a half I suppose we can accept that. I also have never done anything with drivers this small before so I don't have a real comparison. The Kartesian Sub120 is listed as having an Fs of 47 Hz, but that's a bit larger. Anyway, after the test I straight up played some music on it without a box and just resting on a neoprene sheet. Surprisingly, it actually sounded pretty good! Or perhaps this is actually unsurprising, there are dome mids that have significantly more cone area than this thing, heck some cone tweeters from back in the day probably do too. It's small size is probably a benefit for vocals and such. It is, however, extremely inefficient, especially with only one voice coil connected. Unibox says something around 74 dB/1m and I believe it.

Speaking of Unibox, I modeled the driver using the DATS data and a wild guess of xmax at 8mm. I'm not too happy with the closed box and ported was a challenge. I decided to try tuning the box well below the Fs of the driver. We're talking around 70 Hz or so. This is the best I could come up with.



Because of the aforementioned garage situation making a box to actually measure this little guy is a bit of a challenge. Except I'm not really limited to manufacturing outdoors anymore - at least for cute little drivers like this.



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Took maybe an hour of modeling. If this were a serious speaker I'd probably use PETG-CF (I hear the carbon fiber has some benefit to the stiffness of the walls) but for this test sample I'm just using black PLA as I have a fair amount of it and it's inexpensive - it'll be done in 12 hours. This is my first time using a high flow nozzle and higher print speeds so we'll see what kind of quality we get. The baffle I haven't decided on yet, I may print it but I also might try to find an hour or two to make one out of a scrap of plywood. If I print it, I'll use 'wood-like' PLA, probably rosewood. We shall see.]]> Mission Possible DIY technodanvan https://www.htguide.com/forum/forum/mission-possible-diy/960830-mystery-3-5-inch-subwoofer-shenanigans https://www.htguide.com/forum/forum/mission-possible-diy/960782-to-khan-or-not-to-khan Fri, 29 May 2026 21:11:15 GMT
I know that back then, I was also looking at the Statements or Anthologies, but didn't like the off-wall requirements they had. Also, I had already built the tritrix and thought it might be interesting to hear someone else's design. I briefly considered the Swope as well. I have built the Tritrix, Speedster TMM (with my son), Classix II MT, and the Swan HIVI 3.1a with mod 6.

My primary use will be front surround in my living room, replacing my Tritrix. Sometimes I will play music, Alternative and some '90s rap. When I do have music, I want the bass to thump in my chest. I believe I read that it is more the mids than the true low end. For movies, I have a large sub I built in the 20-teens that handles low-end, make-the-house-rattle effects. I like clear highs. I think ribbons have become my favorite tweeters, but I don't have a lot to compare them to.

So I am asking the time-honored question: what should I build? Keeping it under a thousand, but willing to go up to two thousand. I've looked at some of the kits at Madisound, but they all come with pre-soldered crossover, and that is part of the enjoyment I get from building.

Sincerely,

Wil

What's a Khanspire? Here is what Google's AI said

AI Overview
The "Khanspire" is a legendary, high-performance DIY tower speaker design originally developed in the mid-2000s by a prominent DIY audio enthusiast in the Parts Express Tech Talk community. It is highly regarded by audiophiles for offering high-end, clear acoustics at a fraction of the cost of commercial speakers.
Here is a link to the designer's page https://www.divine-audio.com/khanspire/

crossposted to PE and HTGuide]]> Mission Possible DIY WilZirkle https://www.htguide.com/forum/forum/mission-possible-diy/960782-to-khan-or-not-to-khan https://www.htguide.com/forum/forum/mission-possible-diy/960696-memorial-day-sales Fri, 22 May 2026 13:31:52 GMT
]]> Mission Possible DIY technodanvan https://www.htguide.com/forum/forum/mission-possible-diy/960696-memorial-day-sales