posted
I doubt you will every find any information on making your own speaker and I don't want to even think why you would wanna do that.
Companies invest millions in designing sound subwoofer designs you certainly wouldn't get much out of a home made loud speaker if you could get it to work at all.
lol....
Posts: 138 | From: London Ontario Canada | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
I disagree. who ever said company's invest millions? they make millions off speakers that cost them a few buck to make. you think it cost a manufacture a lot to make a good speaker? probaly between $10-15$ in material. mark up on speakers is insane. If you can get the parts and find a good machienist you could build a good woofer if you know what your doing. the hardest part is getting a tight magnetic gap and aligning the coil so it does'nt rub at high power. other than that you could use much better parts like 1.8 tesla field plates, and edgewound voice coils. I was told by a friend who used to build high quality subs out of his home until recently, that TDK is where he gets all his alloys and magnets. He also said that Harrison labs are the ones that published most of the math equations and graphs needed to design the subs. most people think woofers are super complicated. but they are really just that old damped spring and mass suff you learned in your first physics class.
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Posts: 1259 | From: Fullerton. CA ,USA | Registered: Oct 1999
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Speakers are very simple devices, one part electric field, one part magnetic field and boom you have a speaker. Well OK its not exactly that simple but there isn't anything magical about them. I have some designs for subs but I don't know where to buy spiders, voice coils, surrounds, and stuff like that in smaller amounts.
posted
There are actually sites on the web that will build your speakers for you. You simply give them the specs you want, and order a minimum of 500, and poof! Your in business!!!
------------------ STILL waiting to hear a GOOD pair of HLCD's!!
If it dont fit, force it... if it breaks, it needed to be replaced anyway...
posted
Thats what alot of companies do. Unlike Treo, which Griz makes in his basement with leftover parts from the lightning machine. (just kidding) TC sounds shows alot of speakers on their site that look real familiar. This is a good place for a smaller company to start out. But I still like to build stuff myself.
I meant that companies invest a lot of money researching subwoofer technology.
Do you think it cost Rockford Fosgate $15 to develop the power DVC 15", and design it specifically for small enclosures (well at least with some other punch models)?
What about Kicker's square sub? What about Plutonium subs or Nukes? They cost a lot of money to research to do what they do well. You can't just 'make' a woofer and expect to perform well, not to mention you have no T/S parameters on it, unless you wanna go out and buy 1000 bux worth of equipment...
JC2- I agree with you. There is nothing magical about a speaker, there is also nothing magical about a $5000.00 amplifier. Hey if I wanted to I could build one of those in my basement. The question is: is it feasable and and will it work as good as the one made in a high tech factory?
The only way you could do it is take the parts from one speaker, but detached from eachother, and assemble it, and that is pointless.
Maybe I took what this guy is saying the wrong way, maybe he wants to do it as a fun project for the hell of it. However since this is a serious board full of serious competitors run by some of the greatest minds in the industry you can see why I would not immediatly draw that conclusion.
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Posts: 138 | From: London Ontario Canada | Registered: Feb 2000
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I would have to say that a given company DOES do some research on speakers, but most of that research is based on modeling and tried-and-true methodology. However, when pushing the envelope (ultra high excursion drivers, pinhead drivers, etc.) a lot of research IS necessary... But most of it is "standing on the shoulders of giants" which happens in most scientific applications.
Just my two cents :-)
ShadowStar
------------------ Computers are a lot like air conditioners.. Open Windows and they become useless..
The day Microsoft makes something that doesn't suck is the day they make vacuums.
Posts: 2578 | From: Somewhere In the Northeast | Registered: May 1999
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and once you need a lot of cones you can call Pioneer and they'll make them for you
------------------ spydermann
Don't get caught in the WEB Gimmie some bass baby keep you RF and others, MTX for me Is that me in the top 10 now?? Do you smell what the BASS is cooking...
Posts: 6799 | From: cincinnati, oh, USA | Registered: Jun 1999
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I'd have to say go for it.. make your own speaker.. you never know what'll happen.. 4 years ago my pld-1 blew up... so i redesigned and made my own.. well 4 years later after lots of research/testing (no it didn't cost me a million bucks.. but after a couple grand) I have a good product that is ready to sell.. there are still things that could use improvement.. (enclosure/packaging) but all around it's as good or better than the pld-1 because I can afford to use better parts.. does Phoenix use Burr Brown or any other company for that mater.. some.. but only in their highest end stuff. I use it in everything, but I don't have a multi million dollar marketing/research team.. it's just me. but that doesn't mean 1 person can't make something to compete with the big boys. Good luck on that sub, I'd love to see how it turns out.
------------------ 9 12's in the hatch of a golf
Posts: 735 | From: Calgary AB | Registered: Oct 1999
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speaking of Richard.. here is a little interesting foot note-
did you know that if he would have used a traditional motor design on his 6' sub; if he wanted to have the same magnet to cone area ratio as a DD 9510; the magnet would weighed over 2100 pounds! and the power handling for the same ratio would have to be 64,000 watts! And if he wanted to play 80Hz he would have to had about half a megawatt of amplifier power which would take about 13 tones of batteries! Any guesses on SPL? Do I hear 180? 185?
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Posts: 140 | From: TEAM HERTZ C A N A D A | Registered: Oct 1999
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hey all, i was also hoping to make subwoofer/speaker
If we could all get some links and **** together to help the enthusist out that would be awesome. Thanks
Posts: 59 | From: Comox | Registered: Jan 2003
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I would build my own sub not only for the "fun and hell of it" but more as a learning experience. My understanding of how a speaker (or atleast a sub) worked and the different things that affect its sound would be greatly improved by such a "simple" project. Does it really matter what his motivation behind wanting to do the project were??
Side Note: I was also very interested in building my own amplifier for a great learning experience. I had a very, very good how-to link before my computer blew up Posts: 436 | From: Hollow Depths of Hell | Registered: Sep 2002
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In my opinion there is little harm in constructing your own speaker and there is a potential wealth of knowledge that can be gained. I reconed some drivers and then couldn't find a cone for one so I made one from kevlar and it sounded better than the original. I have made long term contacts with several speaker manufacturers and even filled a patent application for a special former tube as a result of what I was able to learn. Remember that those manufacturers make cost-based decisions on components that are available through their suppliers. Those suppliers may not know or have access to materials or processes to make parts that others do. In conclusion, the effort will make you wiser in the ways of the manufacturer and more critical in your buying decisions. My opinion - Scott
Posts: 26 | From: Anaheim,ca | Registered: Jun 2003
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bomb celica ~ more power to ya! (literally.lol) we should all be encouraging him! *thinks, maybe when he makes amazing stuff he'll kick us down some?*
don't let anyone discourage ya man! you don't hafta justify what you wanna do to anyone
there are DIY (do it yourself) websites, books, and on and on...
good way to start is tear apart used stuff you blew up...see what makes em tick *blown speakers make cool clocks*
keep us all posted on progress
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