I am updating all the drivers in my towers, my crossovers died so I went with what I could afford, some parts express 800hz/5000hz three way crossovers.

I have a basic active crossover for the towers so they'll only need to reach down to 60-80hz at most, the BTL reaches high enough to meet them.

Just replaced the dead five inch mids with sealed back GRS mids which sound far better than the price tag suggested. With that in mind, i'm planning on replacing the flimsy plastic coned 10" midbass drivers, and am not sure what to get. I was eyeing up a pair of selenium tens, as I want it to sound clean and clear, but I also would like to be able to get loud.

http://www.parts-express.com/selenium-10pw3-slf-10-driver--264-332

Those are what look nice to me, but since I'm not sure what to look for specs wise, could I get a few suggestions? I'm looking for something that can get real rough and gritty for dubstep or metal, but still be smooth and level for easier musics. My cabinets are 2.25cu and I have plugs for them, and several different ports between 30hz and 80hz. My budget is sixty per driver or less, not including shipping.

I have about 100rms per channel for the time being.

Edited April 8, 201510 yr by SpeakerBoy

Yikes, no.

You already bought crossovers?? If so, you are going to have a hell of a time determining actual cross over points on particular drivers and get anywhere near close.

Need to know exact specs of everything and even then it is going to be a major compromise.

That would be like grabbing a 1.5ohm 60Hz 12dB filter and using it on a 3ohm sub. If you can't calculate what that means you better learn darn quick.

And btw, it is REALLY, REALLY obvious you didn't model those Selenium's before you picked them.

I don't have a computer, not to mention, never modeled anything before. 99% of the time I'm on the Web I'm on my HTC.

These won't be anything spectacular, but I'd like them to be as good as my current situation allows. If all else fails, ill just pair them with GRS 10's as well, and call it a day til I can build some from scratch.

Just trying to make do for now.

If you can show me how to achieve better SQ at a fairly high level (its only perhaps, 14x14 room) for <$300 I'm all ears.

Edited April 8, 201510 yr by SpeakerBoy

why not take the 120$ and buy some shit on craigslist? 

Nothing appealing locally =[

Edit: I take that back. Well shit now I have some thinking to do.

I'll listen to these for a few weeks and try to identify what exactly I'm missing then I'll come back to it. They sound good, but it's not invisible like I'm after.

Edited April 8, 201510 yr by SpeakerBoy

$300 would be WAY better spent buying something used. WAY, WAY.

If you do this you HAVE to learn.

If I'm looking for transparent, immersive soundstage, is that doable without breaking the bank?

I promise, I only post with the intent to learn and improve lol.

This 2.1 is my music setup, I have a smaller 5.1 logitech system for tv, movies and games, since I rarely use my speakers for anything but music.

Edited April 8, 201510 yr by SpeakerBoy

If I'm looking for transparent, immersive soundstage, is that doable without breaking the bank?

It would be WAY cheaper to buy something used than fix what you have. Also 1000% impossible with the current crossover you have.

Perhaps I could say this differently. You have nothing of value for building into anything else at the moment.

i build the tritrix kit from partsexpress recently. something like that could be an option for you. 

Perhaps I could say this differently. You have nothing of value for building into anything else at the moment.

I'm okay with this.

Not opposed to going down a different path if it means better results. Do you have any recommendations or brands to look out for used? My budget doesn't include shipping, and if the gains are significant, I don't mind spending slightly more, but three or four hundred is a lot to me right now. I just want it to be wisely spent.

Edited April 9, 201510 yr by SpeakerBoy

i build the tritrix kit from partsexpress recently. something like that could be an option for you.

Been eyeing those for a year or so now, how are they output wise?

plenty for my taste. i'm using them in my apartment so I have not cranked them past a quarter on my dayton dta120. I choose them because they can cover 40hz-20khz (pass on the sub for now). 

 

if you need more output there are other options. perhaps these would be more up your alley.

plenty for my taste. i'm using them in my apartment so I have not cranked them past a quarter on my dayton dta120. I choose them because they can cover 40hz-20khz (pass on the sub for now).

if you need more output there are other options. perhaps these would be more up your alley.

I have a BTL on 500rms I'm planning on swapping out for a pair of Dayton 18's later on, so being able to utilize every part of my system is something I'm after.

Bookmarked that page though, I'm super hungover right now but I like how those kits look.

To put things in perspective, for a real set of speakers you should allocate what you have for budget just in crossovers. That does not include engineering time if required to design them either. The other aspect is the more exotic or specialized or high sensitivity etc the driver is the harder it will be to make a crossover for.

Budget systems require simple to execute designs which then require drivers with very easy frequency response anomalies to tame.

The other reality with this is, it is far from trivial to execute a crossover. Building a kit while still a compromise is probably the least of the evils if you are building your own. Of course buying something used may still be a better value. As for what brands, well, they are your ears. Don't you go audio shopping ever? What do you like? Figure below 50% of store price for a 8-10 year old pair. So shop for things in the $800-1000 realm and determine what you like.

Thank you =]