I'm desigining a pair of 2-way speakers for my wife. For the tweeter, that's still up in the air but I do love these Usher 9950's and feel they're worth the money. I just haven't thought out the crossover design for them with whatever woofer I end up choosing. I'm pretty sure I'll keep the 9950's in this design.
For the woofers.... My problem is that I normally like larger than optimal (or just at "optimal") enclosure volumes for a given woofer. I guess I could say that I like a Qt lower than .707 because it sounds more natural, and, well.. I like more bass in the mains so I can have more flexibility in subwoofer xover points (and localization). My wife, although she understands the purpose of larger airspace to get the most bottom end out of any woofer, wants a compromise: Something that isn't visually obtrusive. I am already thinking "scratch the 3/4 MDF" standard haha. I'll use 5/8" and use dowel rods for bracing I guess. As for cabinet dimensions, I'm thinking it should be no taller than 11", no deeper than 6 or 7", and the width needs to stay under 7". I know that I can use a roundover bit to make the box appear smaller and might be able to get away with more size hehe.
So.. it seems that with 5/8" MDF and some losses due to bracing, I'm lookin' at around .21 cu. ft. max. I read in another thread here about some guy wanting to make Dayton RS-150 drivers work in .25 cu. ft., and some people flamed him for wanting to do it. Well, I took a look at both the 8 and 4ohm versions on the RS-125's and I get different results for recommended airspace. The 4ohm's would work in a smaller box (due to lower vas and qts) compared to the 8ohm versions. However, the 4 ohm version seemed to have a higher Fb. Lower inductance on the 4's too.. less power handling? Although the 4's seemed to be more sensitive based on looking at the Sensitivity spec, I was told by a tech at PE that you really have to take off 6dB when using an 8ohm amp.. then it comes to about the same sensitivity as 8ohm. I assume they made the 4's just for the car audio ppl. I'm understanding that 4ohm drivers may cause more cost on the xover components too... depending. So I guess I'll want 8ohm.
I looked at the RS-125's and RS-150's. I can't decide whether I should try stuffing the RS-150's into .21-.25 cu. ft. and use EQ to compensate for bass rolloff, or if it would be better to use the RS-125 in .21-.25 and get better natural enclosure-produced bass (I'm assuming ported is the way to go since EBP is higher than 100 for either of these drivers.. but there goes more extra volume needed for the port!). In either case, I'll be using a Tymphany LAT250 for the sub, powered by a Dayton 100w plate amp (which I have yet to purchase both, nor any of this stuff), so it's not ABSOLUTELY critical to get the MOST from a woofer, however, the more, the better. I'm open to suggestions on the sub amp. I do want to use the LAT250 since it is something I've never heard and I'd love to see how such a slim box would sound in an unobtrusive office space.
I guess I want to hear opinions on how you like the sound of a larger woofer in a smaller box vs. a smaller woofer in an optimal box and if the pros/cons outweigh whatever... especially if not running the speakers as "large".
Has anyone designed something like this which they took more time trying to make compromises between woofer diameter and small-space?
Oh! I will be using some sort of bass management with either a receiver's high-pass options or an active high-pass before some sort of amplification. I was really disappointed that PE didn't have those older, 2-way plate amps that I used to see in their flyers. I was hoping to be able to use something like that for these 2-way mains instead of some huge bulky receiver.
If you have any other recommendations for some good woofers at least 5" diameter that don't need much box volume, I'm open to anything.
For the woofers.... My problem is that I normally like larger than optimal (or just at "optimal") enclosure volumes for a given woofer. I guess I could say that I like a Qt lower than .707 because it sounds more natural, and, well.. I like more bass in the mains so I can have more flexibility in subwoofer xover points (and localization). My wife, although she understands the purpose of larger airspace to get the most bottom end out of any woofer, wants a compromise: Something that isn't visually obtrusive. I am already thinking "scratch the 3/4 MDF" standard haha. I'll use 5/8" and use dowel rods for bracing I guess. As for cabinet dimensions, I'm thinking it should be no taller than 11", no deeper than 6 or 7", and the width needs to stay under 7". I know that I can use a roundover bit to make the box appear smaller and might be able to get away with more size hehe.
So.. it seems that with 5/8" MDF and some losses due to bracing, I'm lookin' at around .21 cu. ft. max. I read in another thread here about some guy wanting to make Dayton RS-150 drivers work in .25 cu. ft., and some people flamed him for wanting to do it. Well, I took a look at both the 8 and 4ohm versions on the RS-125's and I get different results for recommended airspace. The 4ohm's would work in a smaller box (due to lower vas and qts) compared to the 8ohm versions. However, the 4 ohm version seemed to have a higher Fb. Lower inductance on the 4's too.. less power handling? Although the 4's seemed to be more sensitive based on looking at the Sensitivity spec, I was told by a tech at PE that you really have to take off 6dB when using an 8ohm amp.. then it comes to about the same sensitivity as 8ohm. I assume they made the 4's just for the car audio ppl. I'm understanding that 4ohm drivers may cause more cost on the xover components too... depending. So I guess I'll want 8ohm.
I looked at the RS-125's and RS-150's. I can't decide whether I should try stuffing the RS-150's into .21-.25 cu. ft. and use EQ to compensate for bass rolloff, or if it would be better to use the RS-125 in .21-.25 and get better natural enclosure-produced bass (I'm assuming ported is the way to go since EBP is higher than 100 for either of these drivers.. but there goes more extra volume needed for the port!). In either case, I'll be using a Tymphany LAT250 for the sub, powered by a Dayton 100w plate amp (which I have yet to purchase both, nor any of this stuff), so it's not ABSOLUTELY critical to get the MOST from a woofer, however, the more, the better. I'm open to suggestions on the sub amp. I do want to use the LAT250 since it is something I've never heard and I'd love to see how such a slim box would sound in an unobtrusive office space.
I guess I want to hear opinions on how you like the sound of a larger woofer in a smaller box vs. a smaller woofer in an optimal box and if the pros/cons outweigh whatever... especially if not running the speakers as "large".
Has anyone designed something like this which they took more time trying to make compromises between woofer diameter and small-space?
Oh! I will be using some sort of bass management with either a receiver's high-pass options or an active high-pass before some sort of amplification. I was really disappointed that PE didn't have those older, 2-way plate amps that I used to see in their flyers. I was hoping to be able to use something like that for these 2-way mains instead of some huge bulky receiver.
If you have any other recommendations for some good woofers at least 5" diameter that don't need much box volume, I'm open to anything.
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