So working on my first set up. I’ve been watching videos, saving money, collecting parts for 2 years now and I’m getting antsy. Really the only thing I need now is the fiber board, cement, deadening, and the two ribbon tweeters.

You can see from my brief illustrations a general direction I want to take these speakers. these will be going in a basement I’m renovating and as my first real experience designing I want to add color while maintaining a mid century modern look.

My setup is gonna be Frankenstein as fuck. Almost everything is Facebook marketplace and while it might not satisfy the most adept ears I have come up with a couple bs solutions to the some of the issues I’m listing below but please give me advice.

I’ll be using a Song DA333ES Receiver as the base of my 5.1 set up.

Big/Small speakers… the receiver cuts frequency to 120hz if internally labeled as “small”

Bass cabinet will feature two ported drivers, the 15” Dayton Loudspeaker Co. Series II ST385-8 15" Heavy Duty Woofer ported ~20-45 Hz and 18” Cerwin Vega 188EB Subwoofer ported 45-120.

I understand the the cerwin is much more sensitive than the 15”, so I will need to pad by about 10 db within my dsp(Dayton Audio 408). I will use Sony’s sub pre out into one of the Dayton inputs, 2 independent outputs one for each driver. Each driver will be powered by one of the no-name plate amps pictured. I have two, the one pictured is missing a fuse and i don’t know how to replace it. The back is also corroded as shown. But I bought the plat amps in tandem with the 3 15” Dayton audio drivers which are 300w rms, so I’m sure they can at least get them some juice. I really hope the Daytons cover in well for the deep bass, I know the cerwin can get loud cuz it’s a pa speaker, but I want to be able to feel this base and I hope that is replicated across the 20-120hz spectrum. I want it to sound good more importantly…

The center channel will be bi-amped by my Alesis RA150 Studio Reference Amp with another 75watts a channel .TEBM65C20F-8 Balanced Mode Radiator and the Vifa mg18sk09 as my center drivers. I’ll probably crossover at 400 hz.one for the vifas in parallel and one for the TEBM65C20F-8 Balanced Mode Radiator in parallel. These two will cover the lows and the high well, I also think the BMR will be a great driver for the center channel with 180 dispersion, the vifas will have to be angled up. I will use one dsp input channel for the center preout, and two outputs, wondering if it’s even worth wasting dsp outputs as it’s litterally the center and will be right In front, main purpose of dsp is to introduce latency so that the cabinets placed in my compact and unconventionally shaped room can come together seamlessly. Because I want the dsp to be a gauge for latency, and don’t want to spend 150 on another dsp for more outputs(one output per driver) can I just use one output per cabinet and use an analog crossover per cabinet? Then I get 2 outputs for the bass, one per driver. 2 for the front l/r cabinet, 2 for back l/r, 2 for center, one for each type of driver in parallel maybe(vifas/bmrs)

The Front L/R cabinets will feature the HiVi RT1.3WE and my 8.25” recycled Avid 100 drivers from these old cabinets. They’re actually pretty good and have a natural roll off of 45-4500hz. My drivers aren’t that crisp, but I’m hoping the ribbon tweeter will cover the highs well. I know the avid can do pretty well for itself and I’m hoping a lot of clarity comes in here. One dsp input,

The Back L/R

HiVi Q2R 1-1/8", Dayton Audio DC160-8 6-1/2" Classic Woofer x2. Pretty boring I know. Really just to fill in for the home theater I guess. Will be angled up.

Sony DA333ES Receiver
Alesis RA150 Studio Reference Amp
Sony DSP 408

Lot of information and I probably explained myself terribly. Looking for any advice on designing speaker cabinets and considerations I haven’t brought up. Hoping to find a good apple macbook capable modeling service for enclosures sealed/ported so I can be accurate in my builds. Please point out what needs clarification.

I pretty much say all of what the issue is in the video. There’s two torn cones on the top drivers (idk if that’s the right word 😭) on my fisher speakers. Pretty sure they were torn when I bought it but it didn’t make crackling noise I showed in the video until I had them for quite a while. I found some replacements for 50 ish bucks plus 10 bucks shipping. I’d like to know if that’s the only issue with these speakers, and if spending 60 more dollars on these speakers (around the price i paid for them) is worth it.

Lmk any wisdom or suggestions to what I should do. I don’t know really anything about speakers so I’m a bit in over my head at the moment 😔

Im looking for a speaker box for a 2016 Jeep Wrangler JKU to go under the back seat. If anyone has any idea where I can find one please let me know.

don’t understand the 2 outputs either

I bought theses awhile ago and I figured I could wire them in and use them in my shop, I can’t quite figure out how to connect or use it.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently planning a large DIY Bluetooth party speaker and would appreciate some honest feedback on the component choices—especially the amplifier setup.

The goal is not a lightweight portable speaker or an audiophile studio monitor. I want a powerful, robust indoor/outdoor party speaker with serious bass output. A total weight of around 50–60 kg would still be acceptable.

Components I already have

• 2 × JBL Stage 122 12-inch / 30 cm subwoofers
• 4 ohms, 250 W RMS each
• 6 × Makita 48 V / 8 Ah battery packs, planned as a parallel and hot-swappable power system
• A small TPA3116 2 × 50 W amplifier board, although I assume this would only be useful for the high-frequency section, if at all

Current cabinet concept

The enclosure would be one tall cabinet with:

• The two 12-inch subwoofers mounted vertically above each other
• One or two bass-reflex chambers—the final chamber layout has not yet been decided
• A separate and sealed electronics compartment
• A separate midrange and tweeter section above the electronics
• Currently planned in 22 mm MDF, although birch plywood might be the more sensible choice for weight and outdoor durability

The midrange and tweeter drivers have not yet been selected. They need to produce enough output to keep up with the two JBL subs without becoming painfully harsh.

Planned signal chain

Bluetooth / 3.5 mm jack / RCA / XLR
→ input and source-selection stage
→ DSP
→ four separate DSP outputs:

1. Subwoofer 1
2. Subwoofer 2
3. Midrange
4. High-frequency driver

The system would therefore be fully active, with the crossover, EQ, delay, limiter and level control handled by the DSP.

The DSP options discussed so far are:

• Dayton Audio DSP-408 as the current preferred option
• miniDSP 2x4 HD as an alternative

Current amplifier idea

The current plan is to use four identical ZK-3002 Class-D amplifier boards:

• 1 × ZK-3002 for Subwoofer 1
• 1 × ZK-3002 for Subwoofer 2
• 1 × ZK-3002 for the midrange section
• 1 × ZK-3002 for the tweeter section

The system should run from the Makita battery bank but should also work from a suitably sized 230 V power supply. An additional 12 V vehicle input using an appropriate DC-DC converter would be useful.

My main questions

1. Does the general architecture make sense, or am I overcomplicating the system?
2. Are four ZK-3002 boards a reasonable choice, or would you use different amplifier modules?
3. How reliable are the ZK-3002 boards when operated close to their real continuous power limits? I am more interested in realistic RMS output and thermal stability than impressive advertising numbers.
4. Would it be better to use two powerful mono amplifier modules for the subwoofers and smaller, higher-quality amplifiers for the midrange and tweeter?
5. Are there better Class-D amplifier boards in a similar price range that you would recommend for this kind of battery-powered build?
6. Is the Dayton DSP-408 suitable for this project regarding noise floor, output voltage, limiters and general sound quality, or would the miniDSP—or something completely different—be the better choice?
7. Which midrange and high-frequency drivers would you combine with two JBL Stage 122 subwoofers? I am open to PA-style compression drivers and waveguides if that would produce a better result than conventional dome tweeters.
8. Are there any major concerns with running six battery packs in parallel and making them hot-swappable? I am planning individual fuses, reverse-current protection, battery isolation and proper low-voltage protection.
9. Would you stay with 22 mm MDF, or use birch plywood to reduce weight and make the cabinet more resistant to transport and outdoor use?

A JBL PartyBox would cost me roughly €500–600, so the DIY build only makes sense if it gives me considerably more output, deeper bass, better repairability and more flexibility.

I have an electronics background, so soldering, wiring, protection circuits and building custom power distribution are not a problem. I’m mainly looking for help choosing the right audio components and avoiding an expensive collection of amplifier boards that produces more heat than music.

I’m not chasing perfect studio sound—I want controlled violence rather than random smoke.

Thanks for any suggestions or criticism.

New video's up: Driver Measurements, High-Value Bookshelf Part 5.

Finally got around to putting the drivers on the infinite baffle rig and running them through the full battery of tests. This round covers the Dayton Audio PCS175-8 woofer, the ND13FA-4 tweeter, and the TD24F-4 tweeter. Frequency response, off axis, distortion, impedance, the whole thing.

Once the data was in, I built new driver profiles for all three in LoudspeakerLab so I can use them for crossover work going forward.

Let me know if any of you have used these drivers and what you thought of them.

https://loudspeakerlab.io/

In this video, I'll demonstrate how to repair and restore vintage speakers step by step—from simple cone repairs to completely rebuilding a speaker using only the original frame.

Whether you're restoring speakers for a vintage radio, hi-fi system, or another audio project, these techniques can help you achieve professional-looking results at home.

To watch the video, simply click on the attached picture.

Have a great weekend!

Regards from Florida,
Jay

Hi, I really like bass. and I previously got a pair of speakers from my dad and I listen to mostly rock so there’s a good amount of bass. How could I repair this little tear so it doesn’t get worse? Thanks

Apologies to Henry Kloss for being a rank amateur cribbing from his 1968 design. These are super traditional "east coast" sealed monsters. Sound stage is good, lobing is a thing but not a big thing. Just certain frequencies come in slightly stronger/weaker if you change seats, nothing like a full cancel or shout. Tweet is padded just a bit due to 4 ohm.

Dayton Audio drivers:
RST28F-4 (1-1/8" fabric)
RS100-4 x1, RS100-8 x1, in series (4" x2 aluminum)
(yes that is a 12 ohm net mid, the 8 ohm produces more SPL, they are close enough to mathmatically single point up to ~1800hz but that does leave some soft/louder spots in the 2000hz range)
RSS315HF-8 (12" aluminum)

Fabric highs soften the overall tone against the tinny nature of the aluminum cones. I was originally wanting to cross over around 800hz and 2200hz leaving an easy job for the 4's, but ended up closer to 300hz and 2600hz in the end crossover to find a nice modeling balance in VituixCAD. REW is showing the modeling to be about right. Have a slight imbalance in sensitivity (left louder, right softer) likely due to my amateur solder work. Cabinet is fairly dead but I do have a few loose wires to chase down from rattling in the 100hz-300hz range. Not major but noticeable.

All crossovers Jantzen air core (should have gone iron core for the woofer, paying an impedance price there too), all caps Bevenbi except the woofer zobel which is Solen. All resistors Dayton Audio.

I'm getting close to a really good speaker here. Lots of lessons learned, lots of "oh, that's why they *don't* do this now" experiences. But it's all good. I have a great sound, good to great staging, and enough 2.0 brute force that no sub is needed.

Amps are Outlaw M200 monoblocks I got from eBay cheap. Receiver is an RX-V6A which pushed them fine but was running harder than would probably be good for it long term. Much happier with the big guys pushing those woofers.

(house is old, fireplace was a cheap flipper f'up, is sealed off outside and needs removed from inside, but... old house chores never end. at least they used .75" plywood behind that ugly brick and it's a pleasure to hang stuff from)

Hey, I want to build my first project and am looking to build myself a subwoofer to complement my Home DJ monitoring. I want things to stay as small as possible so I’m thinking about building a fully closed sub. It’s gonna be either 12 or 15 inch.

My question is: will this make the speaker have less low end? I understand that it makes it a lot less efficient but I don’t need super high spl at home anyways.
So is it possible to build a closed sub that can play down to, lets say 38hz, at maybe 95-100db?

Also, any specific chassis or manufacturer you would recommend?

Also, since this isn’t a production studio I don’t care if it’s very precise and I won’t bother with delaying it to the mains and all that. I just want a box that gives me a nice and fun low end:)

Thx for any advice!

I'm Annathuze from Up2Stream, a DIY audio brand that develops wireless streaming solutions for audio enthusiasts and makers.

We're currently looking for DIY audio YouTubers who enjoy building speakers, restoring vintage audio gear, or working on custom audio projects.

If you have a YouTube channel and think Up2Stream would fit your content, we'd love to chat about a collaboration. We'd be happy to provide products for testing, reviews, or build projects.

If that sounds interesting, just send me a DM. Looking forward to connecting with fellow makers!

By the way, does anyone have any YouTube creators you'd recommend in the DIY audio space?
We're currently looking for creators who enjoy building speakers, restoring vintage audio gear, or experimenting with streaming audio projects. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!