Easing into DIY speaker building

[uplander]

Greetings all:

I've been lurking here for a while and am quite impressed with how knowledgeable and helpful ya'll are.

I have a vintage pair of large, sealed "bookshelf" speakers that sound outstanding IMHO (ADS L710's), but I really want to turn them into sealed towers. So I am considering building new (small footprint) tower cabinets, duplicating the interior volume of the current cabinets. I understand that I may have issues with baffle diffraction, so I could place the mids and tweeters off-center, the same distance from the edge as they are now. Any opinions or predictions if this concept would work?

Also, what advantages are there with ADS' design of keeping the two 7" woofers in individual sealed enclosures, rather than sharing a larger space?

Is this a ludicrous plan? I would be grateful for any insights and opinions.

Thanks in advance!

[ThomasW]

I have a vintage pair of large, sealed "bookshelf" speakers that sound outstanding IMHO (ADS L710's), but I really want to turn them into sealed towers.

Sell them to a collector. There's a pretty good market for stock (unmodified) vintage systems.

Use the money from the sale to buy or build your small sealed towers.

[Chris7]

I have a vintage pair of large, sealed "bookshelf" speakers that sound outstanding IMHO (ADS L710's), but I really want to turn them into sealed towers. So I am considering building new (small footprint) tower cabinets, duplicating the interior volume of the current cabinets. I understand that I may have issues with baffle diffraction, so I could place the mids and tweeters off-center, the same distance from the edge as they are now. Any opinions or predictions if this concept would work?

This isn't a bad project... it's a good idea actually if you really like the current sound and want to learn how to build cabinets. But the only dimensions you'll want to vary are the cabinet depth and height... you shouldn't change the baffle width or the location of the drivers or their relation to one another. Doing any of that will change the sound of the speakers. You can (and probably should) add 3/4 inch roundovers on the edges though if you like.

Also, what advantages are there with ADS' design of keeping the two 7" woofers in individual sealed enclosures, rather than sharing a larger space?

It used to be thought that this was a big deal, but Zaph did a test and found it makes no real difference:

http://zaphaudio.com/commonenclosuretest.html

[uplander]

Sell them to a collector. There's a pretty good market for stock (unmodified) vintage systems.

Use the money from the sale to buy or build your small sealed towers.

Thanks for a straight-forward answer. :T

[uplander]

[QUOTE=Chris7]This isn't a bad project... it's a good idea actually if you really like the current sound and want to learn how to build cabinets. But the only dimensions you'll want to vary are the cabinet depth and height... you shouldn't change the baffle width or the location of the drivers or their relation to one another. Doing any of that will change the sound of the speakers. You can (and probably should) add 3/4 inch roundovers on the edges though if you like.



Thanks for the reply. Actually, the one dimension that I wanted most to change was the width of the baffle. ADS made a small footprint tower (L1090)with the same drivers in a later model, which is what got me thinking in this direction. My L710's are laid out with two vertically stacked 7" woofers, and the midrange and tweeter side x side above that. The later L1090 used the same drivers all vertically aligned, and is said to image much better. I guess they must have made changes in the crossover to reflect the change in driver placement? I do have the crossover design for the bookshelf L710's, but not for the tower L1090.

ThomasW probably gave the most common sense advice, to sell them and start fresh. I just love their sound and dislike their looks.

[Curt C]

ThomasW probably gave the most common sense advice, to sell them and start fresh. I just love their sound and dislike their looks.

I concur. changing the baffle shape would necessitate a new crossover, and by the time you did all that, you might as well start fresh.

C

[uplander]

Thanks for all the input, guys. I'm glad you've saved me from investing a lot of time in a dud project.

I've looked at the Mini Statements as a possible build, and may attempt it down the road. Is that the best option for a full range speaker with the smallest footprint?

Thanks again.

[Operandi]

I've looked at the Mini Statements as a possible build, and may attempt it down the road. Is that the best option for a full range speaker with the smallest footprint?

Check out Jed's kits too (Clearwave banner on this page).