Hey all I'm trying to put together some cheap speakers for general listening in my garage. So far this is what I've landed on for the components
My question is what is the correct ohm rating crossovers I need? The frequency response for those mid ranges are like 100hz to 4k. I'm gonna put the crossover before the midrange to block out 250hz and below and then wire the tweeter and mid in series for an 8 ohm load. Do I need an 8 or 4 ohm?
Also plan on adding mid bass speakers for 80hz to ~ 300hz. Anyone have any recommendations for cheap woofers under $40
My question is what is the correct ohm rating crossovers I need? The frequency response for those mid ranges are like 100hz to 4k. I'm gonna put the crossover before the midrange to block out 250hz and below and then wire the tweeter and mid in series for an 8 ohm load. Do I need an 8 or 4 ohm?
Also plan on adding mid bass speakers for 80hz to ~ 300hz. Anyone have any recommendations for cheap woofers under $40
Welcome to the forum! It's best to make your own crossover to match the distinct specifications (presently unknown) of your chosen drivers.
Your idea of wiring the midrange and tweeter in series is non-standard, so I will assume your knowledge of crossover networks is minimal.
To run a 3-way woofer/midrange/tweeter system, you would use a 3-way crossover layout like the simple one shown in the attachment.
You can wire the crossover up using individual capacitors (C) and inductors (L) that are obtainable from Part Express.
If no one else chimes in with a suggestion, I can suggest component values to suit 4 ohm drivers and crossover frequencies close to those you mention.
Your idea of wiring the midrange and tweeter in series is non-standard, so I will assume your knowledge of crossover networks is minimal.
To run a 3-way woofer/midrange/tweeter system, you would use a 3-way crossover layout like the simple one shown in the attachment.
You can wire the crossover up using individual capacitors (C) and inductors (L) that are obtainable from Part Express.
If no one else chimes in with a suggestion, I can suggest component values to suit 4 ohm drivers and crossover frequencies close to those you mention.
Attachments
My high school buddy built 2 speakers, 4 ways, out of the best drivers that Allied Radio catalog offered in 1969. Sounded awful.
In that price class, I would do better buying some used boxes from Salvation Army resale. When my good stuff was carried off by the burglar, I got two 3 ways for $5. 6.5", 2", 1" drivers in 24"x12"x7" boxes. Sound pretty decent. I'd have thrown them away & tried again if they didn't. Lots of CD players & radios go south due to bad e-caps in the amp, or a shorted wire that blew the OutputTransistors. The surviving speakers get donated. My tuner now is a resale unit with blown speaker drivers, but the earphone output works fine to drive a real stereo amplifier. I paid $4 for the radio, $180 for the amp + $40 capacitors, $500 for the speakers.
I've also made 2 decent full range from 2 whizzer cone 6.5" salvaged from a Mitsubishi projection TV on the curb. Screw one on the end of 14"x14"x7" cardboard box with a 1" hole in the back for base reflex action. I used those in the TV room driven by a toslink-line level converter & a PV4 power amp. Burglar stole all those too.
So have fun, but don't expect much IMHO. 3 ways are way more difficult to do right than 2 ways or full rangers. For some guidance, pick up Designing Building & Testing Your Own Speaker System, David B. Weems. My 4th edition cost $12 from ebay. Or read some threads on this forum.
In that price class, I would do better buying some used boxes from Salvation Army resale. When my good stuff was carried off by the burglar, I got two 3 ways for $5. 6.5", 2", 1" drivers in 24"x12"x7" boxes. Sound pretty decent. I'd have thrown them away & tried again if they didn't. Lots of CD players & radios go south due to bad e-caps in the amp, or a shorted wire that blew the OutputTransistors. The surviving speakers get donated. My tuner now is a resale unit with blown speaker drivers, but the earphone output works fine to drive a real stereo amplifier. I paid $4 for the radio, $180 for the amp + $40 capacitors, $500 for the speakers.
I've also made 2 decent full range from 2 whizzer cone 6.5" salvaged from a Mitsubishi projection TV on the curb. Screw one on the end of 14"x14"x7" cardboard box with a 1" hole in the back for base reflex action. I used those in the TV room driven by a toslink-line level converter & a PV4 power amp. Burglar stole all those too.
So have fun, but don't expect much IMHO. 3 ways are way more difficult to do right than 2 ways or full rangers. For some guidance, pick up Designing Building & Testing Your Own Speaker System, David B. Weems. My 4th edition cost $12 from ebay. Or read some threads on this forum.
+1 for Weems' book. It is an excellent primer.
+1 also for Indianajo's suggestions of considering a full range driver for your garage system (no crossover required), or a 2-way woofer/tweeter combination (simple L/C crossover required).
+1 also for Indianajo's suggestions of considering a full range driver for your garage system (no crossover required), or a 2-way woofer/tweeter combination (simple L/C crossover required).
Most members would not use off the shelf crossovers
since the outcome is usually rather poor and unpredictable.
But otherwise support the Diy process.
Also recommend fullrange / wideband designs
with no crossover.
Or starting with pre designed kit.
Simple answer 8 ohm drivers use 8 ohm crossover / 4 ohm use 4 ohm
off the shelf usually for parallel connection not series.
Tweeter shown would have rather high output and need additional padding.
or inline resistor to match output to woofer.
Suggest numerous kits from parts express
C note
C sharp
Samba MT
which includes speaker, crossover and enclosure.
some even plate amp
Or try numerous pre designs from Visaton
You buy speakers/crossover components.
enclosure and crossover already designed
and provided for free
More budget designs are
Alto I
Alto II
Clou
Starlet
Vib200 GF
Stella Light
Otherwise learn Crossover design and how to
Use FRD and ZMA files in modern computer design
including baffle step / baffle diffraction simulation.
Since a crossover would include and compensate for all this
and there is no " off the shelf" which gives good
results for hifi
Common Freeware VirtuixCad
since the outcome is usually rather poor and unpredictable.
But otherwise support the Diy process.
Also recommend fullrange / wideband designs
with no crossover.
Or starting with pre designed kit.
Simple answer 8 ohm drivers use 8 ohm crossover / 4 ohm use 4 ohm
off the shelf usually for parallel connection not series.
Tweeter shown would have rather high output and need additional padding.
or inline resistor to match output to woofer.
Suggest numerous kits from parts express
C note
C sharp
Samba MT
which includes speaker, crossover and enclosure.
some even plate amp
Or try numerous pre designs from Visaton
You buy speakers/crossover components.
enclosure and crossover already designed
and provided for free
More budget designs are
Alto I
Alto II
Clou
Starlet
Vib200 GF
Stella Light
Otherwise learn Crossover design and how to
Use FRD and ZMA files in modern computer design
including baffle step / baffle diffraction simulation.
Since a crossover would include and compensate for all this
and there is no " off the shelf" which gives good
results for hifi
Common Freeware VirtuixCad
A new full range equivalent to the projection TV ones I salvaged is the Visaton BG17-8 . $38 on ebay or parts-express.com . I put one of those in the ceiling of the back of the church. The visiton is rated 40 watts, the salvage mitubishi were rated 13 watts.
I'm not looking for audiophile sound I'm going for cheap diy for my garage so I can listen to music while I work. All I'm trying to do is eliminate low frequencies that the mid should not be playing. I'm not looking for a 3 way set up that's why I'm wiring them in series to get the 8 ohm load for my amp. The mid bass will be in a separate enclosure and on a separate channel.
Wiring the lows and highs in series doesn't increase the impedance. Once you cut the frequencies away, they don't see each other any more.
Therefore, using an 8 ohm woofer and an 8 ohm tweeter doesn't make a 4 ohm speaker.. it will be 8 ohms.
In any case you seem to put more concern into impedance ratings in general than is usually necessary. There are other more important things.
Therefore, using an 8 ohm woofer and an 8 ohm tweeter doesn't make a 4 ohm speaker.. it will be 8 ohms.
In any case you seem to put more concern into impedance ratings in general than is usually necessary. There are other more important things.
I’m from an extensive car audio background and I think you should consider looking elsewhere from skar. A super simple and super effective garage stereo to me would be the tectonics 3.5” bmr and the Dayton Audio dsa135 designer series passive radiator in the denovo .23cf knock down enclosure. I had a surprisingly good result with the bmr 3.5” in a .52cf cabinet with a 6.5” pr. Super easy and way better sounding than the skar stuff for various reasons.
This is one powered speaker per box that will play from around 60hz to 16,000hz with the aid of the passive radiator. The passive radiator reinforces the low end similarly to a port but can be adjusted with washers that change the tuning frequency. I had mine tuned in the 30’s at the expense of loudness. Basically mine would play low but not loud. A good way to learn with adjustable speakers.
https://www.parts-express.com/Tectonic-TEBM65C20F-8-3-1-2-BMR-Full-Range-Speaker-297-2156
https://www.parts-express.com/Dayto...Series-Aluminum-Cone-Passive-Radiator-295-546
https://www.parts-express.com/Knock-Down-MDF-0.23-ft-Mini-Bookshelf-Cabinet-300-7062
This is one powered speaker per box that will play from around 60hz to 16,000hz with the aid of the passive radiator. The passive radiator reinforces the low end similarly to a port but can be adjusted with washers that change the tuning frequency. I had mine tuned in the 30’s at the expense of loudness. Basically mine would play low but not loud. A good way to learn with adjustable speakers.
https://www.parts-express.com/Tectonic-TEBM65C20F-8-3-1-2-BMR-Full-Range-Speaker-297-2156
https://www.parts-express.com/Dayto...Series-Aluminum-Cone-Passive-Radiator-295-546
https://www.parts-express.com/Knock-Down-MDF-0.23-ft-Mini-Bookshelf-Cabinet-300-7062
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Blackout, have some fun poking around the parts express site. The value on some of the offerings are phenomenal.
I did poke around on there to find some crossovers but I didn't know the right one to get so I figured I'd just run them in series to match the out out resistance on my receiver which is rated for 8 ohms. In my car I had a component set of Alpine S series that I wired in parallel with the in line cross over that is included and I figured it would work the same way. Wire the 250hz lpf first then from there to the woofer, then to the included capacitor in the tweeter.
That picture and links got my attention tho. What's the high end frequency response on that Dayton driver? Would you say that it's ample enough to not need a tweeter? I bet the bass response is right and deep with that pr
That picture and links got my attention tho. What's the high end frequency response on that Dayton driver? Would you say that it's ample enough to not need a tweeter? I bet the bass response is right and deep with that pr
Don't wire them in series.
Wire a 150 uF NP electrolytic capacitor in-line between your amplifier positive terminal and your midrange driver positive terminal:
https://www.parts-express.com/150uF-100V-Non-Polarized-Capacitor-027-364?quantity=1
Wire a 10 uF NP electrolytic capacitor in-line between your amplifier positive terminal and your tweeter positive terminal:
https://www.parts-express.com/10uF-100V-Non-Polarized-Capacitor-027-340?quantity=1
(Each driver's negative terminal is wired directly back to the amplifier negative terminal.)
Crude, but should be effective enough for background listening levels in a garage.
EDIT: I'm assuming 4 ohm drivers - half the capacitor values for 8 ohm drivers.
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Treble performance is actually a little bright and would possibly need to have the treble knob backed off a hair. In my house, where I’d be very seriously listening on occasion, I would be looking for something a little higher end than this particular bmr. But, in a shop where you have rattling tools, all kinds of other distractions, this fullrange driver in my opinion about the best for the job. To jumble up a bunch of car audio speakers and then try to figure out crossovers would be a shot in the dark compared to a set of beefy and capable fullrangers. Here’s the manufacturer response data which is pretty realistic to my ears.
I love my 2” bmr as a mid tweet in my shop with the Anarchy 7” woofers and Dayton Reference 8” pr’s. I would still be running the bmr 3.5” in these enclosures but I wanted some major bass extension so I went with a long throw woofer and a ridiculously long throw pr (20mm) 🤯
Just a quick run through in winsld to show the basic bass charectistics of the bmr 3.5 in sealed and pr enclosures. Both present the 2db bump around 150 hertz which may or may not be audible in my opinion especially in a shop environment. With the pr I suggested useable response can be had down to the mid 40’s. If you’re planning on using a separate subwoofer then the sealed cabinet is probably better and these speakers and a sub would probably be fantastic.
