Making my own Studiomonitors! (amplifier, soundcard)

[fjettolf]

Hi! After reading on the internet i was rly confused about what to buy. But i decided that since i allrdy got decent studio headphones, what i rly need is some great speakers. i will make my own using these two components. i guess the result will be worth lets say 5 times more than what i will invest, and it will be fun too. Smart? After making a pair of theese i will upload photos for you to see. Do you have any further suggestions. I will need a amplifier, soundcard and maybe something for the sub frequenzies. Any suggestions here? Am i stupid?

http://www.seas.no/index.php?option=com ... Itemid=119
http://www.seas.no/index.php?option=com ... Itemid=128

https://soundcloud.com/finn-pinn

Cheers!

https://soundcloud.com/finn-pinn

[re:dream]

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-wa ... itors.html

[Angstrom]

I'm guessing the result will certainly NOT be worth 5 times what you invest. These first time projects rarely go to plan, and looking at this one I'm just seeing lumpy hifi speakers.

A large part of any "speaker" is the enclosure design. It's not just a box holding the imortant bits in position, it is an active part of the unified system. Whether you have a ported box designed to help balance the low end, or a closed box to help out phase issues ( " infinite baffle" is still amusing to me after all these years ). The volume of air in the box is important, as is the resistance and damping.

of course, a crossover needs to be designed to suit both the drivers and the enclosure, two drivers with a tasty overlap at 2k? What is your filter choice? 6db per octave, 12? how are you handling the phase on that?

So, follow the above links provided by the Finn, but also pay close attention to pages like this : http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/Calculator/Box/

Now, if you really want to do it I'd say find somebody elses tried and tested design and see what results have been reported. Do a tested design. Even then, consider this money that may go down the drain.

IMO it will only be worth making your own monitors if you are creating giant floorstanders. If you are making something with that 5 inch cone? Nah. Pointless. A a 90% chance of creating two honking rattling boxes that sound worse than cheap hifi speakers.


Voice of doom / experience

[fjettolf]

Well, I know how to solder wires. When looking at modern speakers, they aint bigger than lets say ((25-35)*(30-40)*(30-50))cm ((front*hight*depth)). Ill just make them in wood and place them on some solide spikes on some gummy or whatever. It will be success i can tell you for sure. And it will be fun.

http://org.ntnu.no/byggverksted/wp-cont ... tubolt.jpg

something like this i guess.

[fjettolf]

appreciate the fair warning.

Now, what soundcard and what amplifier can you reccomand (its called amplifier, the box that adjust power and stuff.

Ive seen Dj vespers tutorials on youtube and he reccomands som rather advanced soundcards for doing gigs and stuff. Im just assuming that i will need someting stronger than whats built into my ASUS K55V laptop. Dont you think?

[jestermgee]

I have built many speaker projects in my time for personal and DJ use and I can tell you that if you want to achieve something that sounds great, there is some decent maths involved to get the box size, resonant frequencies, port and size (if ported... If not it gets trickier to get good bass) etc etc.

For DJ and high volume stuff, it's much easier. But if you are talking something that will not colour the sound too much and offer you a good reference, you would have to be mad to think you will do a good job. I admire your drive but doubt it would work very well at all.

By the time you invest in a good reference amp, the wood for the boxes (or even pre-built boxes), drivers, time spent to put together you would be better spent buying a cheap pair of $500 monitors like KRKs or something. With all I know and all I have learned and the dozens of speaker projects I have completed over the years I still wouldn't build my own reference monitors.

[fjettolf]

Ok, Im mad then. Bet it will sound good. Not studiomonitor good. But i think it will be a decent pair of speakers. Im not to worrid they will suck. Studiomonitors are weak and not neccecery for me ass i live in a apartment with ppl around me and shouldnt search for kick samples all day on speakers. When it comes to coloring, If im able to hear such things i will fix it on headphones. But again, thanks for the fair warning. What i need answered is if i will need a new soundcard or if i can connect the amplifier and speakers directly to my laptop. Why would i get a stronger soundcard anyways? And pls try to explane to me what to coloured is like. And what perfect colouring should be like.

Thanks

[TomViolenz]

[fjettolf]

Ive allrdy ordered. In the near future i will find out whether the speakers will work. I just need an amplifier. Cheep and good (small?). I dont know anything about speakers and im not sure if i need a new external soundcard. Maybe you know and have time to tell me. Those amplifiers exist in all price ranges.

overkill?

http://nadelectronics.com/products/digi ... -Amplifier
http://www.richersounds.com/product/amp ... ca-fmj-a19

can i get something smaller and cheeper?

Thanks

[TomViolenz]

Ive allrdy ordered. In the near future i will find out whether the speakers will work. I just need an amplifier. Cheep and good (small?). I dont know anything about speakers and im not sure if i need a new external soundcard. Maybe you know and have time to tell me. Those amplifiers exist in all price ranges.

overkill?

http://nadelectronics.com/products/digi ... -Amplifier
http://www.richersounds.com/product/amp ... ca-fmj-a19

can i get something smaller and cheeper?

Thanks

Sorry for the snarky post above, but without trying to be a dick: The way you write about your plan and the questions you are asking indicate that you don't know the first thing about the project you are planning to undertake. Overconfidence can be quite costly!
Sorry!

[102455]

I agree with the others.

If you know nothing about designing speakers, no concept of all the calculations required, the end result will not be worth 5x what you paid out. You can't just randomly stick drivers in a box and expect a good sound to come out.

You might be able to save some money by purchasing a pre-designed kit and assembling it yourself, but diving in at the deep end with no knowledge of speaker design will be a waste of money.

[fjettolf]

to me it seems super easy to make a decent pair of speakers. Is there a built in soundcard in amplifiers? Why would my sound be to colourd. My speaker box will be the right volume with the right measurments, im following a complete guide, in right material. It will also be dense. ive got all the right components. And im capable of putting everything together. Does it exist a small, good amplifier with power. Most amplifiers ive seen is 2x a dvd player.

[TomViolenz]

to me it seems super easy to make a decent pair of speakers. Is there a built in soundcard in amplifiers? Why would my sound be to colourd. My speaker box will be the right volume with the right measurments, im following a complete guide, in right material. It will also be dense. ive got all the right components. And im capable of putting everything together. Does it exist a small, good amplifier with power. Most amplifiers ive seen is 2x a dvd player.

Do you know what the difference is between a "speaker" and a "monitor"? (This is not clear from your post and it seems you don't.)
Yes most monitors have adjustments for frequency response and volume in their amplifiers, but this is not adequately described as a sound card. A sound card is something different, it has multiple ins and outs and AD/DA circuitry....
Many new bees come here to clarify this sort of terminology, none of them try to build their own monitors. I doubt many of even the most established users do. There are reasons for this! It is likely that you will achieve a 1/5 ratio in cost and value. Most here seem to doubt that this ratio will be in your favor though.

Edit to add:
Just so you see how difficult I think designing your own GOOD monitors is: I would rather try to make my own Midi controllers by learning how to design and spec and then program my own Ardunio boards, then finding all the parts, CNC mill the case and do the electrical wiring for this....than think I could make a decent monitor... It's like an art (based on math )
There are reasons why the cheapest Chinese monitors are still above 300€ for the pair, while a pair of just powered speakers is significantly cheaper!

[fjettolf]

yeah, dont know what im doing. But im following a list, and the result should be ok acording to several ppl. Now, when it comes to the mm and cm on the box... and the material and angles and all that I have no clue. But all i know is that i dont know what colouring is and Im pretty sure i will be happy. After what i have heard the room im sitting in, temperature and even the materials my wall floor and roof is made of is far more important than my speakers (monitors are for studio creating a true picture of the sound?) speakers should play the sound with some more bass and stuff. Thats my understanding. But shouldnt have to teach me all this stuff. I just wanna know about a amplifier that would suit my speakers (monitors?) I would be very happy if you could tell me when im going to need a new soundcard to.

[AustinThumper]

You could buy a cheep SoundBlaster card and run that to your speakers and it should sound super good.
Amps are to expensive, you dont need it much.