I'm not really sure where to post this, as it spans quite a few topics.
I'm building an arcade cabinet from scratch, using a Raspberry Pi with RetroPie for the brains/front end of the cabinet. I would really like to include a solid sound system (for playing music as well), but I'm not well versed in speaker design, or general sound system design. As I understand it, I'll need the following ...
2 - Power supplies
1 - Two channel Class D amplifier for the mids/tweeters
1 - Two channel Class D amplifier for the sub modules (see below)
2 - Mid-range drivers
2 - Tweeters
2 - 3" sub-woofer modules with passive radiator
2 - Inline low-pass filters
2 - Inline high-pass filters
2 - Inline band-pass filters
(Maybe some bass reflex tubes as well.)
The sub-woofer modules are self contained, so they already have an enclosure. Same goes with the tweeters.
The mids however, will need an enclosure to function properly. This is where I'm running into a little issue, because I don't know how to determine the proper size of enclosure to allow the driver full functionality. Also, because of the odd shape and restricted space for he speaker enclosure within the arcade cabinet, I may have to make the enclosure an unorthodox shape. What kind of software is available for calculating this sort of thing? I've seen some, but it all looks very technical and confusing.
I'm also not entirely sure of crossovers. I know I need a high, low and band-pass to insure the speakers play the correct ranges ... but i'm not sure if I need to place the crossovers between the source and the amp ... or between the amp and the speakers?
One last thing, my mids and tweeters have different ohm ratings, 8 and 6 respectively. If i put both speakers in parallel on one terminal, it ends up being about 3.5 ohms instead of the 4 ohms that the amplifiers are rated for. Is this OK? Will it blow up my amp/speakers immediately? Or would it simply shorten their lifespan?
Anyway, a little clarification on these issues would be fantastic.
Thanks!
I'm building an arcade cabinet from scratch, using a Raspberry Pi with RetroPie for the brains/front end of the cabinet. I would really like to include a solid sound system (for playing music as well), but I'm not well versed in speaker design, or general sound system design. As I understand it, I'll need the following ...
2 - Power supplies
1 - Two channel Class D amplifier for the mids/tweeters
1 - Two channel Class D amplifier for the sub modules (see below)
2 - Mid-range drivers
2 - Tweeters
2 - 3" sub-woofer modules with passive radiator
2 - Inline low-pass filters
2 - Inline high-pass filters
2 - Inline band-pass filters
(Maybe some bass reflex tubes as well.)
The sub-woofer modules are self contained, so they already have an enclosure. Same goes with the tweeters.
The mids however, will need an enclosure to function properly. This is where I'm running into a little issue, because I don't know how to determine the proper size of enclosure to allow the driver full functionality. Also, because of the odd shape and restricted space for he speaker enclosure within the arcade cabinet, I may have to make the enclosure an unorthodox shape. What kind of software is available for calculating this sort of thing? I've seen some, but it all looks very technical and confusing.
I'm also not entirely sure of crossovers. I know I need a high, low and band-pass to insure the speakers play the correct ranges ... but i'm not sure if I need to place the crossovers between the source and the amp ... or between the amp and the speakers?
One last thing, my mids and tweeters have different ohm ratings, 8 and 6 respectively. If i put both speakers in parallel on one terminal, it ends up being about 3.5 ohms instead of the 4 ohms that the amplifiers are rated for. Is this OK? Will it blow up my amp/speakers immediately? Or would it simply shorten their lifespan?
Anyway, a little clarification on these issues would be fantastic.
Thanks!
I worked in an arcade in college, and built my first Mame cabinet in 1997. So I go way back with this stuff.
Great sound goes a loooong way with a Mame system.
Personally, I run Mame over my home theater. The sound from this is an order of magnitude better than you'll ever get from an arcade cabinet, it's just night and day. (And trust me, I've seen some crazy set ups, from working in an arcade.)
The biggest difference by far is the bass, it's really difficult to get good bass without using multiple subs.
If you absolutely must put the speakers in the cabinet, I'd make it mono and just use a simple two-way. Get a SB Acoustics SB 19 tweeter, and one of their 6.5" woofers, and make the arcade cabinet a ported box.
You'll never get any real stereo seperation when your head is one foot from the speakers, unless you're doing something like Ambiophonics.
Great sound goes a loooong way with a Mame system.
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Personally, I run Mame over my home theater. The sound from this is an order of magnitude better than you'll ever get from an arcade cabinet, it's just night and day. (And trust me, I've seen some crazy set ups, from working in an arcade.)
The biggest difference by far is the bass, it's really difficult to get good bass without using multiple subs.
If you absolutely must put the speakers in the cabinet, I'd make it mono and just use a simple two-way. Get a SB Acoustics SB 19 tweeter, and one of their 6.5" woofers, and make the arcade cabinet a ported box.
You'll never get any real stereo seperation when your head is one foot from the speakers, unless you're doing something like Ambiophonics.
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