DIY Speakers

[Whitneyville]

Since I've been around alot, I've pick-up yet another hobby, speaker building. The cabinet building I could handle from working on an old house, but I had to learn the complexities of cross-over building. Thank goodness for some smart people providing freeware computer programs! I've completed one pair and have two more pairs "cooking". Just like with turntables and cartridges, you can do better than a factory for your purposes and tastes. Don't think you'll "save money" building your own speakers any more than building your own turntable, you'll likely spend more, because you have higher expectations. It's still fun to make some sawdust, and listen to something that IF you could buy, would cost three or four times as much as you spent (if your time and effort are free!)

[bauzace50]

Hi Whitneyville,

as a former Speaker Builder, it is great to read all related input. I want to share one important warning: the ears MUST be protected from the loud volumes generated by the related equipment! There is a huge amount of damaging noise in the hobby of building speakers. Effective ear protectors come in various styles. One which I found convenient looks like a pair of headphones, but only have absorbent material inside. Some people like the protectors that are worn inside the ear canal, but I prefer the headphone-like alternative. I find them easier to put on or remove.

Regards,
bauzace50

[Whitneyville]

I have really good hearing protectors for shooting black powder revolvers and tuning motorcycles (I like things that are loud...), but the caution is an excellent one. At 58 my hearing isn't like it was when I was 18, or 18 months! My ortorenthologist (Whew!) says we lose 80% of our hearing before we are three years old, mostly due to infant ear infections and tonsillitis. One thing I was sure to protect my ears from during that "interdiction" in SE Asia I got to play in back in '72 was a 5000lb "Daisy Cutter". One of those going off mid-air a 1/2 km away from you isn't up there as far on the dB scale as the muzzle blast of a broadside of 12, 16" naval guns, but when it knocks the wind out of you, does it really matter? The screaming jets I worked on would have deafened me except for my "Mickey Mouse Ears" helmet and an extra pair of ear plugs. I usually wear the "headphones" with a pair of ear canal plugs my Dr. made up for me too, even when using power tools in the shop. The table saw or router can make some racket too. I've been teaching a friend and his wife to shoot their new 9mm pistols and I took my "smoke pole" last time. They both had on earmuffs but Larry was surprised when I unleashed 70 grains of fffG (black powder) behind a 235 grain Meinie bullet. The 9's go "pop-pop" my Whitneyville Walker Colt's Pattern Revolver goes "BOOM!" (Earth-shaking,fire-belching,smoke-throwing, cloud-moving, scaring women and children for miles.) Now you know the secret of my nomme de guerre too. Tripoli must have been a VERY LOUD place. (Google Major Hiram Walker and the Barbary Pirates and the United States Marines, and it should tell you of my famous "Hoss Pistol"!)

[pivot]

...... -belching,smoke-throwing, cloud-moving, scaring women and children for miles.) Now you know the secret of my nomme de guerre too. Tripoli must have been a VERY LOUD place. (Google Major Hiram Walker and the Barbary Pirates and the United States Marines, and it should tell you of my famous "Hoss Pistol"!)

UM......
Hiram Walker?
Barbary Pirates?
Walker/Colt Pistol?

As far as I know Hiram Walker was a distiller. The Second Barabary war ended in 1815, pistols at the time would have been flintlocks. The Walker/Colt was designed in the 1840s at the urging of Captain Samuel Walker of the Texas Rangers(born after the Barbary wars I think).

So I am guessing that Hiram Walker never shot at Barbary Pirates with a Colt revolver. He may have had a shot of wiskey while talking about pirates with Sam Colt however.

[KenCalgary]

It seems it was Samuel Walker who was involved in the creation of that Colt. Wikipedia mentions that: "The Colt Walker was the largest and most powerful black powder repeating handgun ever made." and "Only 1100 of these guns were originally made, which makes originals extremely difficult and expensive to obtain. On October 9, 2008, one specimen that had been handed down from a Mexican War veteran sold at auction for US$920,000." Wow.

[Whitneyville]

Wiki, once again, is terribly wrong. Ask any ex-Marine. Major Hiram Walker (his name is rolled into the cylinder of my pistol) requested the United States Armory to contract with Eli Whitney to produce 1100 Colt's Pattern Revolvers at Eli Whitney's Whitneyville Works in Conn. with INTERCHANGEABLE PARTS! This was a first for any fire-arm in use in any military in the world. Col. Hiram Walker's son was the famous distiller. That's what why it says "Hiram Walker Jr." on the label. I toured the distillery and Jack Daniel's and more than a dozen more on "Wing-Ding XII" that ended-up at "Dolly-Wood" with over 6500 other motorcyclists, most of them being Honda Gold Wings. The Revolutionary War was fought with some Lefebre percussion capped muskets. The first paper rolled caps date back to the 16th Century Spain. Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton with a Berden capped dueling pistol. All of the Alamo defenders used Berden primed rifles, which is why they inflicted such grievous losses on Santa Anna's troops equipped with flintlock muskets. Eli Whitney died in 1825, so it'd be darned hard for him to set-up the world first small-arms mass-production line after his death... Military cavalry saddles were first equipped with with pommels for mounting the Walkercolt during the Barbary War as it was too powerful for a man to hand-hold. The Marines quickly abandoned their carbines for a pair of the powerful pistols that could kill a man's horse at 100 yards. They put a pistol in each boot-top, and carried two spare cylinders on their belts loaded and capped that they could change on horse-back, giving the Marines over-powering fire-power at "the shores of Tripoli". With sabre and pistols, the Marines were the deadliest force on Earth in the early 19th Century. "The President's Own" BTW, Wiki has claimed the automobile was invented by the Duryea Bros. several times.

[kelvinMunson]

Well, I haven't checked Wiki but it's generally "believed" that in 1893, the Duryea brothers built the first successful gasoline-powered automobile in the United States.

[Whitneyville]

Kelvin, that's not even accurate. I was at the Griffin-Leake Car Show and Auction today, and the first US. made automobile was up for auction. A 1892 Upton. There were over 500 built so that qualifies it as a "production" automobile. Two men from Boston bought parts from Upton,England and had them assembled in the U.S. The reserve on it (not met) was $21,500,000. It was #11 and it ran fine on 75 octane leaded benzene. On display was a Diezel compression ignition coal powder burning automobile, that no one wanted to see run! That's what killed Diezel and his two assistants, from the incredibly greater pressure in the cylinders burning powdered coal instead of heavy heating oil in his engine. Clarke Gabel's 1937 Boat-Tailed chopped Dusenburg SJ Supercharged Roadster was on exhibit also. The 141" wheelbase 4980 lb. (dry) auto is equipted with a three-speed manual gear-box and a 3.21 final axle ratio giving it a top speed with it's Bendix supercharged 10.7 Liter Miller straight 8 of 154 MPH. It's driven daily by the owner of Harrah's Casino in Tahoe, Nevada, about 150 miles 'round trip. It's 100% original except for bulbs, belts, brake shoes, hoses, tires, etc. Priceless.

[PeterW.]

Since I've been around alot, I've pick-up yet another hobby, speaker building. The cabinet building I could handle from working on an old house, but I had to learn the complexities of cross-over building. Thank goodness for some smart people providing freeware computer programs! I've completed one pair and have two more pairs "cooking". Just like with turntables and cartridges, you can do better than a factory for your purposes and tastes. Don't think you'll "save money" building your own speakers any more than building your own turntable, you'll likely spend more, because you have higher expectations. It's still fun to make some sawdust, and listen to something that IF you could buy, would cost three or four times as much as you spent (if your time and effort are free!)

The key is "if your time and effort are free!"

When Dynaco (as one 100% "by others" brand) went to SEAS for their drivers they purchased by the freight-car load. And their fabricator purchased wood products at the same level. With that type of purchasing power, they got what they wanted at the price-point they wanted delivered how they wanted. And never had to employ a designer or operate a warehouse in the process. When Acoustic Research started in the business, they farmed out some of their drivers but very quickly became completely vertically integrated (as one 100% "by us" brand). And in that way they could do exactly what they wanted the way they wanted it. Each brand sold many, many of thousands of speakers over time.

Individuals purchasing everything from drivers to glue at retail cannot compete with that. Nor do they have the engineering capacity to run thousands of tests within a relatively brief period under many different conditions.

Doesn't change the fact that these individuals turn out some wonderful stuff. And I see those efforts as a necessary part of the hobby - as individuals are willing to take chances that no manufacturer (at least these days) can afford to take, and "do-overs" remain free.

Keep up the good work! And try to track and memorialize everything you do! Speakers designed by committee and approved by accountants will all pretty much sound the same. Speakers designed by talented, thoughtful individuals will continue to represent the best that there is to be had.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[pivot]

Wiki, once again, is terribly wrong. Ask any ex-Marine. Major Hiram Walker (his name is rolled into the cylinder of my pistol) requested the United States Armory to contract with Eli Whitney to produce 1100 Colt's Pattern Revolvers at Eli Whitney's Whitneyville Works in Conn. with INTERCHANGEABLE PARTS! This was a first for any fire-arm in use in any military in the world. Col. Hiram Walker's son was the famous distiller. That's what why it says "Hiram Walker Jr." on the label..... Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton with a Berden capped dueling pistol. All of the Alamo defenders used Berden primed rifles, which is why they inflicted such grievous losses on Santa Anna's troops equipped with flintlock muskets. Eli Whitney died in 1825, so it'd be darned hard for him to set-up the world first small-arms mass-production line after his death... Military cavalry saddles were first equipped with with pommels for mounting the Walkercolt during the Barbary War as it was too powerful for a man to hand-hold........

Egad but I don't know where to start.

Eli Witney DID NOT build the first "Walker Colt" as he was long dead in 1847 when the "Walker" was made. The guns Eli Whitney made with interchangable parts were FLINTLOCKS. He was hardly the first to advance the concept. The French arms makers had been working toward it for decades.

The dueling pistols used in the Hamilton Burr duel were MATCHED FLITLOCKS when used in the fight. One was converted to percussion MUCH LATER.

http://www.aaronburrassociation.org/Smithsonian.htm

The Witneyville Walker was not used the Babary War - it not not exist at the time...and Marines on horseback attacking Barbary pirates???? Give me a first person qoute on that 'cause I ain't buying it otherwise.

Please research the Scottish Rev. Alexander John Forsyth who patented fulmate caps 1807. However the type of metal cap used on Colt revolvers were not made until after 1830.

Forget "Wiki" anything but crack some books.

http://www.amazon.com/Colt-Single-Actio ... pd_sim_b_2

http://www.amazon.com/Duel-Alexander-Ha ... 0465017363

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Barbar ... 0809028115

[rewfew]

Hello, I've built a few speakers myself over the years with real good results. I've used plans from some very competent amateurs and some well regarded professionals with a generous sharing of their proprietary designs. I never had the gumption to try cooking out an entire speaker design and crossover of my own. The net is full of diy speakers though. Some good sites that seem to be above the average Joe's mash up are Zalph Audio http://www.zaphaudio.com/index.html . This guy know's his stuff, no nonsense kind of guy. And a fellow who does the most beautiful, skilled craftsmanship and very high end stuff from Denmark, http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Diy_Loudsp ... ojects.htm . Whew! This guy's a consummate professional. For me, my speaker building peaked when I discovered Wayne Parham of Pi Speakers. http://www.pispeakers.com/contents.html . I've been satisfied with any urges to refine or redefine my listening experience. Good luck, scour the net and check out all the myriad diy stuff out there. Just follow your good sense and enjoy building your own speakers. It's very satisfying and you can make some very enviable boxes to listen to.

[rewfew]

P.S. I just noticed you live in Tulsa. That's where Mr. Parham resides. You might want to visit http://audioroundtable.com/forum/index. ... &frm_id=33 . He is about the most generous and helpful individual you could ever ask a question of. His knowledge of loudspeakers, especially horn augmented as his are is world class. And if interested, would arrange a listen to his fine creations for you.

[Whitneyville]

Yes, he's a sometimes contributor to the Parts-Express "Tech-Talk" speaker forum, and to a couple of other speaker boards. Zaph is one of the great ones, and Jeff Bagby developed his fantastic Passive Crossover Design software to let "Joe Average" take (good) consumer drivers and out perform OEM spec'd drivers. We may spend more than a factory on a crossover and a lot more time and effort listening and "tweeking" it to our room, but us crazy TT guys try lots of cartridges and pre-amps and stylii too. Everything makes everything a difference to everything. I've actually built a set of speakers just for playing 78's. One of the smartest things I've ever done.

[1200y3]

I'd like to learn more about designs specialized for 78's and ancient recording from pre 1955 (H.Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, blues artists, etc).

I'm happy to hear KC and Tulsa are still alive and well.