So I built a speaker....
Discussion
....well, a soundbar to be more precise.
Moved recently and one of the living rooms was always going to be a compromise!
Current setup was a Philips 48OLED, Denon AVR, pair of B&Ws 606s and an SVS 3000. I was able to position the 606s either side of the TV and the MLP gave perfect stereo imaging, so was happy running it 2.1 with a phantom centre. In the new house, there was no room for the 606s, so just used the native Philips speakers. Which were surprisingly good! However, I missed the sub integration but there was no way to add the sub directly to the TV, so I had to use either an active soundbar or my AVR.
As I already had the AVR, I didn't really want to pay for an active soundbar just to run a sub. But I still needed speakers for the AVR and I didn't think much of the passive soundbars available, especially at the prices!
So I've built a bespoke one. I was conscious that I didn't want to spend more than a retail option but figured I could probably make a much better one for the same price. Other concerns were the size and complexity. Obviously though, building my own, I could have any size and configuration I wanted. So I've chosen a 3 channel L-C-R configuration. I'm using 4" woofer, as these were the largest I could employ whilst keeping the size sensible. I went with FaitalPRO 4FE32-8F full range speakers. I didn't want the complexity of building crossovers, so that's why I went with the full range speakers. The amp will provide the low pass filter. However, I also included Dayton ND16FA-6 tweeters. These act as a supertweeter to help with the top end. No crossover as said, instead I'm using a resistor and capacitor to create a filter for the tweeters (Dayton Audio DMPC-1.5, 1.5 µF polypropylene capacitor and Dayton Audio DNR-4.7 | 4.7 Ω | 10 W | 2% resistor).
I used 15mm mdf throughout. All glued, no screws. Basically a long box with 3 chambers:
The L&R chambers are toed 7 degrees in, to account for the distance from speaker to MLP. The end chambers are longer than the centre to try and match internal volumes (4l was optimum for the speakers but that would have made it too big, so I aim for 3l and figured I could sacrifice a lit low end as I had the sub for that).
Used a roundover to chamfer all the edges and rear of speakers holes, to try and smooth the transitions.
Resistor & capacitor:
Speaker and wiring done, just awaiting the top cover:
I mounted the tweeters as close to the woofers as was practical:
Finished:
As you can see, still need to get a better cabinet or something to put it on. Also, I had to replace Philips stand with a adjustable Vogel one. However, the TV has a little IR receiver on the bottom right of the frame that sits slightly proud, so I can't get the TV perfectly flush above the soundbar.
I used the latest version of A1 EVO AcoustiX to configure the crossovers, EQ and bass management for the Denon. It set the LPF at 120hz for each speaker, which is really good as I was aiming for 100hz but knew that would be a stretch given the internal volumes I had to accept and the SVS 3000 can easily play 150hz +.
I'm very happy with the resulting sound. Bass is really well integrated and it doesn't have an obvious vices. Obviously as you move away from the MLP you experience some odd effects but we only have 1 big sofa in this room, so hardly an issue. Plays plenty loud enough. Not the last word in musical finesse but for TV & films, the clarity is superb across the whole range, especially speech and the was the brief after all.
Total cost for parts and materiel = <£300.
I probably spent that again on tools and bits but they can obviously be used again and I have a lot of MDF left!
For less than £300, I'm very pleased with the result and learnt a lot along the way (like how surprisingly difficult it is to cut straight edges!) and also quite a few design changes if I was ever to build something similar.
Moved recently and one of the living rooms was always going to be a compromise!
Current setup was a Philips 48OLED, Denon AVR, pair of B&Ws 606s and an SVS 3000. I was able to position the 606s either side of the TV and the MLP gave perfect stereo imaging, so was happy running it 2.1 with a phantom centre. In the new house, there was no room for the 606s, so just used the native Philips speakers. Which were surprisingly good! However, I missed the sub integration but there was no way to add the sub directly to the TV, so I had to use either an active soundbar or my AVR.
As I already had the AVR, I didn't really want to pay for an active soundbar just to run a sub. But I still needed speakers for the AVR and I didn't think much of the passive soundbars available, especially at the prices!
So I've built a bespoke one. I was conscious that I didn't want to spend more than a retail option but figured I could probably make a much better one for the same price. Other concerns were the size and complexity. Obviously though, building my own, I could have any size and configuration I wanted. So I've chosen a 3 channel L-C-R configuration. I'm using 4" woofer, as these were the largest I could employ whilst keeping the size sensible. I went with FaitalPRO 4FE32-8F full range speakers. I didn't want the complexity of building crossovers, so that's why I went with the full range speakers. The amp will provide the low pass filter. However, I also included Dayton ND16FA-6 tweeters. These act as a supertweeter to help with the top end. No crossover as said, instead I'm using a resistor and capacitor to create a filter for the tweeters (Dayton Audio DMPC-1.5, 1.5 µF polypropylene capacitor and Dayton Audio DNR-4.7 | 4.7 Ω | 10 W | 2% resistor).
I used 15mm mdf throughout. All glued, no screws. Basically a long box with 3 chambers:
The L&R chambers are toed 7 degrees in, to account for the distance from speaker to MLP. The end chambers are longer than the centre to try and match internal volumes (4l was optimum for the speakers but that would have made it too big, so I aim for 3l and figured I could sacrifice a lit low end as I had the sub for that).
Used a roundover to chamfer all the edges and rear of speakers holes, to try and smooth the transitions.
Resistor & capacitor:
Speaker and wiring done, just awaiting the top cover:
I mounted the tweeters as close to the woofers as was practical:
Finished:
As you can see, still need to get a better cabinet or something to put it on. Also, I had to replace Philips stand with a adjustable Vogel one. However, the TV has a little IR receiver on the bottom right of the frame that sits slightly proud, so I can't get the TV perfectly flush above the soundbar.
I used the latest version of A1 EVO AcoustiX to configure the crossovers, EQ and bass management for the Denon. It set the LPF at 120hz for each speaker, which is really good as I was aiming for 100hz but knew that would be a stretch given the internal volumes I had to accept and the SVS 3000 can easily play 150hz +.
I'm very happy with the resulting sound. Bass is really well integrated and it doesn't have an obvious vices. Obviously as you move away from the MLP you experience some odd effects but we only have 1 big sofa in this room, so hardly an issue. Plays plenty loud enough. Not the last word in musical finesse but for TV & films, the clarity is superb across the whole range, especially speech and the was the brief after all.
Total cost for parts and materiel = <£300.
I probably spent that again on tools and bits but they can obviously be used again and I have a lot of MDF left!
For less than £300, I'm very pleased with the result and learnt a lot along the way (like how surprisingly difficult it is to cut straight edges!) and also quite a few design changes if I was ever to build something similar.
This looks brilliant, great job!
I expect it performs really well too. How do you find it compared to the previous setup? I've actually foudn some soundbars quite good and can appreciate them as a good comprimise, this must be a level above that though.
I'm going off topic a bit now (sorry!), but I was looking at speakers for my old mini to try and fit in small sealed enclosures mounted under the dash, but all teh car audio stuff is designed for infinite baffle, door cars etc and not brilliantly suited.
Had never considered manafactures like this for speakers, so now I'm back looking again, thank you!
I expect it performs really well too. How do you find it compared to the previous setup? I've actually foudn some soundbars quite good and can appreciate them as a good comprimise, this must be a level above that though.
I'm going off topic a bit now (sorry!), but I was looking at speakers for my old mini to try and fit in small sealed enclosures mounted under the dash, but all teh car audio stuff is designed for infinite baffle, door cars etc and not brilliantly suited.
Had never considered manafactures like this for speakers, so now I'm back looking again, thank you!
Previous set up had a wider soundstage (purely because the speakers were physically further apart) but this one has better clarity and bass integration (the sub is directly behind the TV now).
I got all the parts from SoundImports:
https://www.soundimports.eu/en/?_gl=1*12ze4xx*_up*...
I got all the parts from SoundImports:
https://www.soundimports.eu/en/?_gl=1*12ze4xx*_up*...
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