Dream Room

[SpeakerBoy 64]

Alright, so I want to set a goal for myself, something to aim towards for my first project. Between saving for school and fixing my room (dog ate my carpet), i'd like to set aside a chunk of money for my 5.1 setup. If i had thought for two more seconds, i would have incorporated this into my previous thread, for the amp, but ehh.

I am looking to build either four bookshelf type speakers, and a center channel, or two towers, and two rear bookshelfs, plus a center channel.

I don't know anything at all about home audio. (M5 don't even post that i know nothing of car audio either, i see that coming) But, i do know my goals.

This system is purely for music. I use the speakers built into my dell monitor for movies because I can't focus on the movie otherwise (too distracted adjusting and tweaking settings).

I like my music very loud, to the point where it's only safe to play when the neighbors as well as the 'rents are at work. (10a-4p m-f =P)

I was thinking maybe, a 6.5" a 3" and a horn per bookshelf speaker, or for the towers, two 8" speakers, a 6.5", a 3" and a horn. Leaning towards passive crossovers (built by me) for simplicity.

I would like the midbass to have a strong punch to it, but not overwhelming.

The substage is very confusing for me. Every subwoofer i have owned, or used, was (or is) super cheap, non-standard, and performed well above my expectations for such a goofy and improper setup. I seem to be quite partial to bandpass enclosures, though i repeatedly hear they aren't optimal for home use. What has me excited the most is, I have never had a proper enclosure. All have been too small, and the bandpass enclosures were super ghetto. Like, duct tape and the side of my computer seal the port (the computer is a port wall for christs sake).

I was thinking, Four 12" subwoofers. They will have to be budget subs, $75ea including shipping. I love chopped and screwed/slowed music, Decaf is definitely a force to be reckoned with in my iTunes library. My favorite songs peak right around 28 hz, so i would like a ridiculous low end. I will most likely draw up a design and have the box made, due to my substantial lack of proper tools.

Lastly, i would like to try to have the speakers match. I'd like one color for all the speakers, preferably black. Tweeters and horns are excluded from this, as chrome and shiny stuff dominates the market apparently.

Thanks for the feedback, real excited to hear what you guys have to say.

I will be assembling the towers first, here is my idea for them:

8" Dayton Point-source (2 per tower)

6.5" Eminence sealed-back Mid-range (1 per tower)

Selenium Super tweeter (1 per tower)

Let me know what you think. I'm so tired i'm drooling on my keyboard. Time for sleep, and dreams of better setups!

Edited July 28, 2011 by SpeakerBoy

[SpeakerBoy 64]

Bump...

[Luke.H 33]

I would lean towards a two channel set up if the goal is mainly music. If you truly want a 5.1 this Hi-Vi B3S single driver system seems like a half way decent option. If you wanted to build towers this ZDT3.5 is worth looking into. Sub recommendations are going to depend on how much room you have to work with. In my opinion you're going to be much better off with a standard 4th order vented alignment rather than a bandpass.

[S.DeYoung 967]

Look at Partsexpress DIY projects. They have some cool ideas on there. I have tried a few with great results. I agree with ^^^, if its just for music, 2.1 is all you need. Is music recorded in surround sound?

[Shogen 325]

All I use is a 2.2 setup in my bedroom... TV room is only a 5.1, I haven't sold myself on a 7.1 setup still....

[///M5 2,833]

Lol, how are you going to design the crossovers for those drivers? If you truly are, first step is to go down to a 2 way and not a 3 way and no horns. You don't have the measurement equipment nor any part of the know how to even come close to that.

2nd bit of obvious advice is to scrap the 5.1. Completely USELESS for music as it isn't encoded that way (exceptions sure, but I bet that doesn't define your collection).

Definitely not bandpass. Your reasons for being partial to them is based on misinformation.

Why would you use 2 full range drivers? ...and then add mids and shitty bullet tweets?

In reality you should just buy something off CL. Either that or spend WAY more time reading about audio.

[SpeakerBoy 64]

I picked the drivers cuz they looked cool. I really don't know what i'm doin' here. 5.1 was just wishful thinking. 2.1 is fine.

[Luke.H 33]

If you hadn't considered crossover design, can't build enclosures, and are choosing drivers because they look cool you are much better off buying something from CL.

[SpeakerBoy 64]

Haha no, lol. I need to learn sometime.

[///M5 2,833]

You aren't going to learn anything from buying those drivers. Complete opposite of what a first timer should look into. Before making recommendations on drivers or setups though tell us how you expect the learning and crossover design to go. The amount of effort you put into the front end will FAR outweigh any driver selection or anything else. You cannot even consider drivers until this is defined either. If your idea of learning is to ask a few questions on the forum, then yes indeed you will need to shop CL. Also curious on the most advanced math class you have taken since you might need it....

[Luke.H 33]

Haha no, lol. I need to learn sometime.

That's fine if you understand the effort required to do so

[Bob345 39]

Sounds more like you are trying to make a pa system than a home theatre. I would never use those pro audio drivers for everyday use. Your best bet is probably the Dayton point source and a nice silk dome tweeter to help it out. And how will you make your x-over? Because you do not want to buy the pre made ones on Parts express

[eikm 0]

I would suggest checking a local high end audio shop for used equipment. If the store sells Bose, walk out, I can almost guarantee that it is not a real seller of high end audio. If you could buy a quality Adcom, Parasound,Rotel, ect. amp and maybe even some used speakers that are of good qualty, start with that... People trade good stuff in at my local store. A 3.5mm to RCA cable will plug right into a power amp, do it at the store-some of them hum. Buying good used equipment is what I did to save some money in my home theater. I have a 7 channel setup and I never listen to anything but 2 channel with music, well the 4 IB 318's are always on.

[SpeakerBoy 64]

I have taken as far as pre-calc, but I'm having some issues with memory retention and such, it's not a good point in time for a slew of classes quite yet. I'm hoping by fall I can be ready.

[duanebrow 6]

Buy the tritrix kit from parts express. Build it to spec. Use the TL box design. Total cost is 120 plus the box. Then try to find something that sounds as good for under a grand... I don't think you will. (if you want rap type bass you will need a sub. I bought these to use as rear channels. But they replaced my infinity rs4's up front. (rs4- $1000, ribbon tweeter, dome mid, two 8" woofers.)

Duane