Designer:
Yogi

Project Category:
Subwoofers

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
20+ Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
Updating the subwoofer for the small home theater system.

Design Goals:
Good bass for a small home theater with something other than the typical cube subwoofer in the corner.

Driver Selection:
Two Dayton Audio DSA215-8 woofers 295-530

Enclosure Design:
Two 8″ woofers in 1.2 cubic ft. ported enclosure tuned to 35Hz.

Rear firing woofers, down firing port.

Enclosure Assembly:
.75″ MDF, 10″ diameter Sonotube, 4″i.d. ABS tube, liquid nail, poly fill, primer, texture, paint.

Crossover Design:
LFE output from receiver and crossover in SA100.

Tips & Tricks:
cut Sonotube lengthwise and laminated together for added thickness and rigidity

Conclusion:
Good bass, matches with room gain, great dynamic response. Aesthetically blends with room.

About the Designer:
Went to school for audio engineering 25+years ago. Still like to do projects when the opportunity arises.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Dan

Project Category:
Subwoofers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
20+ Hours

Project Cost:
$500 – $1,000

Project Description:
I had to build a new sub to fit my new house’s decor.

Design Goals:
Aesthetically pleasing with wall shaking bass.

Driver Selection:
15″ D.A Reference HF 4 OHM. P/N 295-468

Enclosure Design:
Denovo 3 cu ft knockdown box. P/N 300-7078. I covered this box with pine wainscotting (face down) to simulate the “farmhouse” style. I kept the box sealed as it was made for the HO version of the driver I selected.

Enclosure Assembly:
I glued and screwed together the knockdown box then sealed the inside seams with silicon. I used wood glue to glue the front baffle onto the front for the dual baffle design of the box. I cut various lengths of pine wainscotting and, using construction adhesive, glue them to the top, and both sides. Due to the rounded edges of the baffle, I aligned the wood boards with the face of the baffle and filled the space between the boards and the baffle fully with the construction adhesive. I used the same technique for the front but cut the boards to coarsely fit the speaker cut out before gluing them in place. I used a combination of wood clamps and weight to ensure the wood boards were firmly glued to the box. I sanded out the speaker cut out portion of the boards with a Dremel to finely line the board edges with the cut out. I did a quick sanding with 80 grit then glued trim pieces to the top and front (sanding them down by 1/2 after dried). I applied stain and finished the box with a coat of satin clear coat. I used 12 gauge wire from the terminal to the driver, soldering the wire to the terminal. The box was lightly filled with polyfill before the driver was screwed into place.

Crossover Design:
Externally controlled w/ D.A SA1000 subwoofer amp. P/N 300-811

Conclusion:
I got the look I wanted – although if I had planned better I would not have used the trim. The bass is as expected; clear, deep, tight, and powerful. Using the D.A sub amp gives me all the control I want (and the wife needs!). I am very happy with how this turned out and will be covering my front speakers (also in Denovo knockdowns) with the same materials.

About the Designer:
I have been into stereos for 30 years but am not very technically knowledgeable. I use only my ears to determine if my systems sound good so can’t post all the technical stuff everybody seems to like.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Trash into treasure

Project Category:
Freestyle Speakers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
I found my speaker boxes in my child good barn, and the atv axles from my wife’s friends mini atvs.

Design Goals:
I wanted to be creative but stay true to my self, I love the Chicago bulls and also love music and have always been a wanna be gear monkey. So wanted to incorporate all these things and stay on budget

Driver Selection:
DC250-8 10″ classic part # 295 315 from Dayton audio, 1 1/8 ” silk dome tweeters from Dayton audio and 6 1/2 ” I had previously purchased

Enclosure Design:
I used expand a foam around all the edges on the inside of the box, I used insulation also, for the paint I used an oil based paint and for the aluminum covers I used sky scrapper window parts. The rear ends for the stands were from mini atv along with springs, the stickers I actually printed at a previous job

Crossover Design:
I used the original cross over design that was in the boxes to begin with.

Tips & Tricks:
Use oil based paint and think outside the box, you don’t need a lot of money to be creative and make something ure own in ure own way.

Conclusion:
Really loved watching all the pieces come to life, and I enjoyed using things that others see past. Sounds are perfect for my listening pleasure really matched up well.

About the Designer:
I am from a great city in Merrill, so grew up on a beef farm have a wonderful wife and a little dog named Boomer. I love bass and clear sound for my movies and music. My mom always said i could turn a elephant ear into a purse lol

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Paul

Project Category:
Portable Speakers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
1-8 Hours

Project Cost:
Under $100

Project Description:
All weather, knock-around bluetooth portable

Design Goals:
I wanted this portable to be able to fit on my bike rack, and it needs to get loud when you’re on the open road. Also perfect for back yard and garage

Driver Selection:
A pair of marine grade, 4″ full range speakers. Part Number 292-514

Enclosure Design:
I wanted a wedge design that could both stand up or be flat on the bike rack. Space is really limited on the bike, it’s 12″ tall, 6″ wide and 5″ at the deepest, tapering to 2.5″.

Enclosure Assembly:
I used 5/16″ thick plywood for the face, sides and bottom, and aluminum sheet metal for the back and top. The wood is perfect for screwing into, and the sheet (one piece, folded) works well for mounting all of the controls and inputs.

Crossover Design:
thankfully, none.

Tips & Tricks:
I used 1/4″ tapered rubber plumbing fittings for the feet, just right.

Goop glue is good for securing the battery to the wood, and I used VHB tape to connect the metal back to the wood.

A used bike tube is perfect for a handle.

The battery is really impressive, no issue driving the amp. and they are cheap on ebay

Conclusion:
Very successful! This thing is loud, probably could have gotten by with the 15 watt amp. Very portable, it weighs in at 3.75 lbs.

About the Designer:
I have a mechanical engineering background, and have very little aptitude for electronics. I like to tinker, was very happy how this worked out.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Brian B

Project Category:
Tower Speakers

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
20+ Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
This is my second speaker design, the first also being a 3-Way that utilized low cost drivers no longer available. In this design, I used medium cost drivers that are currently available (as of April, 2018).

There are numerous excellent 2-Way designs available to build, so I set my mind on building a 3-Way (at least for this project). To me it always seemed a stretch for the low frequency driver in a 2-Way to produce excellent bass, good midrange, and provide good dispersion up to the tweeter crossover. Obviously, that has been accomplished in many 2-Way designs, but typically at the expense of driver cost (high), low efficency, and/or high crossover cost.

So a 3-Way seemed like it might be a better approach (or at least as good anyway at this price point). Of course, with a 3-Way you add a third driver and another (bandpass) crossover, which means they may not be any cheaper than a 2-Way with high cost drivers and fancy crossovers. But they still (in my judgment) offer some benefits regarding what’s expected of each driver.

I always liked the idea of the driver producing the critical midrange frequencies not being tasked with producing low frequencies that require large cone exercursions with a smaller driver. Plus, lower mass and better dispersion characteristics of a midrange driver would seem to be much better suited as you get close to the tweeter frequencies. And a larger driver seems much better suited to produce the low frequencies, especially if it doesn’t need to stretch much into the midrange.

That’s how I arrived at my (perceived) need and desire to design a 3-Way. For better or worse.

Design Goals:
I wanted to use mid priced drivers, because they tend to sound better, and tend to make the crossovers a little less complex. I also hoped to keep both the driver cost and the crossover cost below $100 each for each speaker. That would mean a total cost of electrical parts of less than $400 per pair.

I generally prefer speakers without stands, which meant tower type enclosures would be needed to accommodate the enclosure volume required by a large woofer. I also wanted the enclosure to be fairly easy to build, and wanted to avoid sloped or curved panels, and mitered corners.

I also wanted a system SLP in the upper 80dB range so that volume levels filling a larger room wouldn’t require a high power amplifier. And with that higher sensitivity, I was also hoping for a dynamic speaker that was nice and lively.

Lastly, I wanted a speaker that produced a full sound, at least as far as most recorded music. To suit my needs, I wanted good, but not necessarily very low bass. Other sonic characteristics were more important to me than producing very low frequency bass. To that end, I decided to use a sealed enclosure for the bass driver. I generally prefer the sound of sealed enclosures even though they give up some bass on the low end. I find them somewhat more musical, and since the roll off is more gradual, they don’t give up quite as much bass below the rolloff frequency.

Driver Selection:
Since I wanted the midrange driver to handle frequencies down to at least 300Hz, I thought a midrange driver of about 5” would be appropriate. And since the midrange and tweeter would be in their own internal enclosure, I wanted the midrange driver to be well suited to a very small sealed enclosure. HiVi’s F5 seemed to fit the bill, had favorable reviews, and had been used in some very good designs already, so I chose it for the midrange.

I probably spent the most time selecting the woofer. I wanted a woofer with a sensitivity of at least 87dB, and one that would work well in a sealed cabinet of less than 2 cubic feet. I wanted to use a 10” driver if I could find one, with an 8” or 9” as possible back-ups. Dayton’s DA270-8 appeared suitable.

For the high frequencies I wanted a driver that would be sweet without being harsh. And I also wanted one I could cross over fairly low if needed. With good reviews, dual chamber and low resonant frequency, the Peerless XT25TG30-04 seemed like it might be a good fit for this design.

Enclosure Design:
To keep the enclosure design simple, it’s just a tall rectangular box measuring (outside dimensions) 38 1/2” tall by 11 1/4” wide by 10 3/8” deep. The upper front of the cabinet is blocked off internally creating a sealed enclosure for the midrange and tweeter. The midrange/tweeter enclosure’s internal dimensions are 8 1/2” tall by 9 3/4” wide by 3” deep. MDF was used for all cabinet panels and braces.

A 4’X8′ sheet of MDF is barely enough to construct a pair of the enclosures. This should allow enough for one window brace and one or two of shelf braces. If you want to add more braces, you’ll likely need more than just the one sheet of MDF. I made a small mistake cutting out the sides and had to buy some additional material.

I flush mounted the drivers. Doing so makes for a tight mounting of the F5 midrange (as far as depth). The internal 3” depth of the mid/tweeter box is just enough to accommodate the F5. If you countersink the midrange too deep, there will be interference at the back of the internal enclosure. You may want to move the mid/tweeter enclosure back rearward another 1/8” -1/4” to avoid this possibility if flush mounting the drivers.

I used screws (no glue) to secure the bottom panel of the enclosure since I mounted the crossover there. The crossover could possibly be mounted in an area behind or below the woofer instead, if desired.

The size of the enclosure and the use of 3/4” MDF makes for a heavy speaker. According to my scales, the completed speakers weigh 54 lbs. each.

Enclosure Assembly:
I used 1 1/2” convoluted foam inside the mid/tweeter box behind the tweeter and on the sides where there was room without interfering with the drivers. I used some left over 1/8” auto headliner material to line the remaining parts of the mid/tweeter box. I suppose thin foam or mattress pad would work as well as the headliner material. Then I added some loose polyfill as well.

I also used the headliner material in the main enclosure in the areas beside, behind, and immediately above the woofer. Then the woofer box was also stuffed loosely with polyfill.

I mounted the crossover to the bottom panel of the enclosure, and the terminal cup was mounted on the back about 7” or so off the bottom.

Iron-on cherry veneer (Cedan brand) was used to cover the MDF cabinet on the front, top, and sides, and a few coats of polyurethane completed the finish of the cabinets. I found the iron-on veneer somewhat difficult to work with. The adhesive didn’t seem to stick well and I had to reheat/reglue and in some cases add additional glue to areas along the edges.

Crossover Design:
To keep the design as simple as possible and keep the crossover cost down, I elected to use simple 2nd order filters. Resistive padding was added to the midrange and tweeter to balance them to the woofer output.

I used WinPSD for the crossover design, along with FPGraphTracer and Microsoft Paint as needed to create FRD and ZMA files for the drivers.

Crossover frequencies are approximately 300 Hz and 2000 Hz. A better crossover might include a notch filter around the peak in the F5 response at 1.5kHz. But since I was satisfied with the sound achieved without it, I didn’t try one.

The modeled on-axis frequency response looks somewhat hot on top. However, the off axis response of the tweeter is attenuated more than many drivers. With the 30 degree off axis response of the tweeter substituted into the model, the modeled frequency response appears much flatter.

The modeled system impedance is between 4 and 5 ohms over much of the range, but doesn’t dip below that anywhere. So most amps should be able to drive this speaker without any issues.

The 4 ohm resistors in the tweeter crossover and the 5.6 ohm resistors in the midrange crossover are connected in parallel to achieve the desired padding along with adequate power dissipation. I haven’t had any issues with the resistors overheating during my listening. If you enjoy taxing your hearing, you might want to increase the power dissipation of those padding resistors.

Tips & Tricks:
I’m not aware of many ways to reduce the cost of the design, except for possibly replacing the 22uF poly cap in the midrange crossover with an electrolytic. That would save about $8 per speaker. I generally like to include some poly capacitance in the midrange high pass since electrolytics aren’t always very effective over a thousand hertz. Using the poly cap may reduce midrange roll off of what would otherwise be a strictly electrolytic series capacitor up to, and somewhat beyond, the tweeter crossover frequency.

If I were building these again, I might consider relocating the drivers somewhat, putting the midrange and tweeter more in line vertically. Their current placement allowed a simpler mid/tweeter enclosure, with just two inner panels, a full width back panel and a shallow bottom panel. Lining them up more vertically would require a third side panel for the mid/tweeter enclosure. It would also require locating the woofer a few inches lower in the front panel. If I were to pursue this change, I would still maintain a non-symmetrical location of the tweeter and midrange relative to the cabinet edges. They would not be centered exactly over each other, nor in the middle of the front panel.

I listed the time for the project at over 20 hours. I had over 20 hours in them, but if you are good at woodworking and choose a simpler finish, perhaps a pair can be built in less than 20 hours.

Conclusion:
I’m very happy with the results of this project. Most of the goals were met and I consider the sound of these speakers very good (given the cost). The cost of the drivers is a little over $200 per pair, and the crossover cost is $160 per pair. So total material costs are about $400 per pair, including the enclosure wood, plus the enclosure finish. The cherry veneer and finish I chose for the enclosures added about $80 for the pair.

The one area where I didn’t meet my design goals was sensitivity. While I was hoping for a sensitivity in the mid to upper 80s, the design ended up in the low to mid 80s.

I didn’t realize how much I was enjoying the sound of these speakers until I took the apart and started the veneering and finishing the cabinets. I couldn’t wait to get them back together. To me the speakers sound very natural and I find myself enjoying the music itself when listening to them. I chose the name “Lumotas” from the Finnish word “lumota” which means enchant or charm.

The speakers seem very good at clearly reproducing the various instruments and voices, both separating them and making them sound very natural. However the locations of the variousinstruments and voices on the soundstage aren’t as quite as well defined on these as on good small monitor type speakers. They seem capable of easily filling a medium size room with sound, at least the 13′ X 21′ one they currently occupy. However, I seldom listen at high volumes so they might not be a good choice for high volume listening in larger rooms. Keep in mind that the F5 midrange isn’t a high power driver, being rated at 45 Watts RMS.

About the Designer:
I’m a retired EE, and spent most of my 35 years of employment designing circuits for plane, train, and automotive products.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Karthik Ravi

Project Category:
Bookshelf Speakers

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
20+ Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
Bookshelf speaker build.

Real Speakers have real curves!

Design Goals:
Build bookshelf speakers within 150-200$

A non-linear design

Good clean drivers for crisp sound

Driver Selection:
297-436 HiVi M5N 5″ Aluminum/Magnesium Midbass

264-1040 Peerless BC25TG15-04 1″ Silk Dome Tweeter

Enclosure Design:
I loved the stripes look on the Curly Maple Speaker Build by David Hall. Kudos to David!

I also wanted to try a non-linear design and wanted to give kerfing a try.

The enclosure is entirely 3/4″ MDF with Cherry Veneer and Paint to finish.

Enclosure Assembly:
Wood glue and pocket holes with bolstering behind the front panel

Crossover Design:
Simple 2nd order crossover.

Tips & Tricks:
It’s all about the order of operations

Conclusion:
Speaker box construction:

As always with any project, it did cost way more that I initially expected. Had to play around quite a bit with kerfing to get a sturdy one. Kerfing is by far easiest with MDF and very tricky with hardwood. Finally it was a combination of a good rip blade and lot of steaming that provided a sturdy kerf. Also had a chance to work with wood veneer for the first time for me. Veneering was much easier than expected. Once again, credits to David Hall for the stripe accent that inspired a similar feature in my design.

Electrical:

I dont have any problems with the crossover design right now. However I haven’t considered half the stuff that I believe goes into crossover design (The crossover design cookbook – Mark Lawrence). There’s much learning to do for me in that regard.

It was quite a lot of fun (and frustration) building these speakers.

About the Designer:
Autonomous Vehicle Engineer during the week, Amateur woodworker in the weekend.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Ohaple

Project Category:
Home Theater

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
Under $100

Project Description:
This project is a pair of small surround speakers for home theater utilizing Dayton Audio drivers, plywood, maple, and walnut.

The drivers will be the Dayton Audio RS100*4 4″ Reference Full*Range Driver 4 Ohm. These will be driven with a 5.1 receiver. Full range was chosen to keep cost down (one less driver and no crossover parts) and to allow the boxes to be very small for surrounds.

Since we have a laser cutter and CNC available, I was not going to be satisfied with a plain box with rounded corners. This design can definitely be made without CNC assistance, but the CNC helped save us the effort of creating jigs and templates. Even simple cuts will be made on the CNC just to simplify the tools and process. I decided that a 3D-carved baffle and rotational feet would give the impression of more complexity but still only requires 90 degree joints. The initial mock-up reminded me of a TIE fighter, which is why I am naming the system the IONs (TIE = Twin ION Engine).

The full build log can be found here:

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/forum/speaker-project-gallery/1372828-ion-micro-full-range-surrounds-dayton-audio

Design Goals:
To create a pair of great sounding and great looking surround speakers for under $100.

Driver Selection:
The drivers will be the Dayton Audio RS100*4 4″ Part # 295-378 Reference Full Range Driver 4 Ohm. These will be driven with a 5.1 receiver. Full range was chosen to keep cost down (one less driver and no crossover parts) and to allow the boxes to be very small for surrounds.

Enclosure Design:
This project is built using half inch birch ply for the five sides, 3/4″ solid maple for the front, and 1/2″ solid walnut for the wings. Vivvid+ automotive vinyl was used to finish the plywood.

The side panels are each 4.5″x 3.6″. The baffle and back plate are both 5″x5″ to cap off the square created by the sides. Wings are approximately 6″ tall and can be whatever shape you would like as long as the speakers don’t topple over.

Enclosure Assembly:
The wings are attached using threaded inserts and machine screws. The rest of the box is assembled simply by using wood glue and clamps.

Crossover Design:
No crossover is needed since these are full range drivers. The drivers do not perform well under 200hz in such a small sealed enclosure so eq may be beneficial.

Conclusion:
These sound great in the 200hz-2000hz range. Outside of that range the low bass output and poor off-axis response mean that these benefit from a smile-shaped eq. Many will not find this necessary since they are to be used as surrounds rather than the primary speakers in the system. They will look great in most living spaces.

About the Designer:
I am fairly new to speaker design but have recently built 4 pair of speakers with my father. Most of our speakers are 2 way and 3 way designs intended for stereo music listening but these surrounds will form the start of a 5.1 system we are designing.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Rick P

Project Category:
Home Electronics

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
Combined 2 old medical devices for the cabinet, used 30 watt bluetooth package from PE for guts…

Design Goals:
First project, wanted to make a cool looking piece for my son

Driver Selection:
Used a kit – simpler for a newbie: 30 Watt Powered Bluetooth Speaker Package with 2-1/2″ Full-Range Drivers….Part #300-7304

Enclosure Design:
Case is a medical device from 30’s called an Electrotherm and a Galvinometer – used for measuring current.

Enclosure Assembly:
Most of the dials and guts were missing – mostly just a case with the black bakelite top panel. Speaker grills shown were original to the case – for what purpose I do not know. The piece needed more dials and knobs on the panel so I Frankensteined in another device – a Galvinometer – used for measuring current

Crossover Design:
not applicable

Conclusion:
Sound isn’t super as it has to pass through the old, partially occluded metal grills but i really wanted to keep the look. Son thinks it’s awesome

About the Designer:
Bored middleager picking up a hobby….

Project Parts List:

Designer:
aaronmt

Project Category:
Subwoofers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
1-8 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
Paul Carmody Voxel Subwoofer inspired design. I was looking for a passive subwoofer to add to my 2.1 amplifier (Dayton Audio DTA-2.1BT 100W Class D 2.1 Amplifier with Bluetooth and Power Supply) setup. After purchasing a poor quality powered speaker from another online retailer I figured I would try my hand at building my own subwoofer to add to the 2.1 amp plus Dayton Audio MK402 4″ 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair.

Design Goals:
Redesigned retaining the 7 liter enclosure with the port on the same face as the woofer.

Enclosure Design:
3/4″ plywood. 10.5″ H x 7.5″ W x 9.5″ D

Tips & Tricks:
I still want to try adding poly fill to see what affect it will make.

Conclusion:
This design delivers great bass. Reproduces bass guitar rather well for listening to music.

I am new to the technical details of speaker building but I am interested in learning more.

About the Designer:
This is my first attempt at building speakers. More of a woodworking challenge as I based the design and hardware on an existing design.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Bryan J

Project Category:
Furniture

Project Level:
Advanced

Project Time:
20+ Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
After cleaning my basement and finding an old, water damaged pair of JC Penney Speakers, (and watching some Kirby Meets Audio on YouTube) I thought I would try my hand at making them into something else. I had always wanted to build my own Frankenstein speaker enclosure and thought, why not up the stakes and learn how to build an amp to power the drivers? And then I found Parts Express and stumbled across the Sure Electronics class D line of products. I went a bit crazy and decided on a 2x100W amp and Bluetooth adapter with a Mean Well 200W power supply to make it all run!

Design Goals:
I decided that I wanted to make the speakers into a bench that I could eventually use for a space to listen to my growing collection of vinyl. I wanted to make something that had a vintage look but hid all the latest technology inside.

Driver Selection:
For starters I used a pair of JC Penney MCS Series linear phase speakers. I have been collecting speakers since I was a kid and had a few extra pairs lying around. The enclosure had been damaged in a basement flood and they were the only 3-way pair I had on hand, so I went with them. As I went through the build, I discovered that one of the tweeters wasn’t working so I purchased a pair of Tang Band (264-822) tweeters to replace them. I picked them solely on size (already had the holes cut) and they sound great!

Enclosure Design:
I decided to make the speakers into a bench. I am new to speaker building I didn’t want to take a chance at messing up the math when designing the interior of the cabinets, so I measured the old enclosures and turn them on their sides, leaving a space in the middle to run the volume control knob. The speaker enclosures were very narrow and would not make for a great seating area, so I built a frame off the back of the new enclosure to make the bench deeper. I used this space to hide all the electronics. I wanted the bench to feel like it was built in the 70s, so I went with a dark oak stain and turquoise grill cloth (261-825)

Enclosure Assembly:
The main speaker enclosure is built out of 3/4in flakeboard. This is a bit overkill (and added a lot to the weight), but I wanted this to function as a bench so I needed it to be extra strong. The back of the bench is made from three 2x3s ripped in half and built into a frame to extend the size of the bench. The whole enclosure is then wrapped in 1/2in oak hobby boards from Home Depot. The face and back of the bench were made from a sheet of 1/2in finished grade plywood.

Crossover Design:
As I am new to speaker building, I thought I would reuse the crossovers from the old enclosures. Once I started building, I realized that they had none. So, I purchased a pair of pre-built 100W crossovers from Parts Express (260-210)

Tips & Tricks:
Wood is very expensive, so to cut down on cost I got creative with hobby boards. Laying out the electronics was probably the most time-consuming portion of the build. Layout and wire management were key I keeping the back of the bench nice and clean. I learned a lot about soldering on this build. Spend the money on a good soldering iron and a good solder wick is your friend.

Conclusion:
The project turned out great. The speaker sounds amazing and is very loud (and I haven’t turned it up the whole way yet). The drivers sound much better than they ever have, thanks to the new crossovers and a bit of insulation. I like the look of the bench and even my wife was impressed with how nice the finish turned out. It was I fun project and I learned a lot along the way. Thanks to the folks at Parts Express for steering me in the right direction when I had questions.

About the Designer:
I’m a computer programmer and graphics producer for local TV station. In my free time I like to build computers and I have been collecting speakers since I was old enough to ride my bike to the record store. I grew up working with my father, who owns his own remodeling business. I was always encouraged to take things apart and rebuild them. Don’t tell my wife, but I think I found a new hobby!

Project Parts List:

Designer:
BigPig

Project Category:
Furniture

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
1-8 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
I inherited an old Philco radio console from my grandparents. For years it has sat unused because it didn’t work. Finally refurbished it with a fresh speaker design and small amplifier.

Design Goals:
Keep the console looking original, but add current technology (ability to play music from an iPod or laptop).

Driver Selection:
Peerless by Tymphany OC25SC65-04 1″ Textile Dome Tweeters Part # 264-1018

Dayton Audio RS150-4 6″ Reference Woofer 4 Ohm Part # 295-372

I originally ordered these speakers for a car audio project but ultimately settled on something different, so I had these sitting on the shelf. I decided they would work perfect for this little project I have had on my mind. My goal was clear, undistorted audio for playing music. I knew they probably wouldn’t have a ton of bass, but I can add a subwoofer later if I decide.

Enclosure Design:
I used a piece of 3/4” MDF as a baffle for the speakers. This is an open baffle design.

Enclosure Assembly:
No need to do much with the enclosure besides measuring the baffle to fit in the existing speaker location of the console. I removed the non-working record player so I could have a way to easily mount the Lepai 2020ti amp. I added a 3.5mm jack on the front to hook to an iPod. It almost looks like it’s part of the original design.

Crossover Design:
I decided on a 2900Hz crossover point using a 12db / octave Linkwitz Riley design, utilizing the Dayton Audio precision grade caps and Jentzen Inductors.

Conclusion:
Overall I enjoy the sound. It’s clear and gets loud without distortion. It’s a little bit lacking in bass, which I attribute to the open baffle design. I may add a small down firing sub to the console in the future, but for now I am enjoying the clear sound from a classic look.

About the Designer:
I am an audio enthusiast, with most of my experience in car audio DIY projects. I’m venturing into the world of home audio projects and having fun doing so!

Project Parts List:

Designer:
GregM

Project Category:
Subwoofers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
1-8 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
I wanted to give a little thump to my friends living room. He didn’t require/expect much, and didn’t want to pay a lot, so I figured this would get the job done. He wanted something that would be relatively small, and blend in with his dark wood furniture so his wife would be on board.

Design Goals:
I wanted to make it efficient as possible to get the most thump out of a meager amp (200 watts) and a lower end/budget subwoofer. I got the sub on sale, but paid full price for the amp (both from parts express). I decided to use Baltic Birch because it would take stain better, although there were some problems filling the holes and matching the staining of the saw dust/glue fill with the wood (I’ll discuss that later).

Driver Selection:
Dual DLS12 DLS Series 12″ Car Audio Subwoofer

Part # 267-5055 ($36.05)

Enclosure Design:
I designed the box using this website:

http://www.bcae1.com/spboxnew2.htm

I will include a jpeg of the dimensions, and the port length for the tuning of 30hz. It includes the thickness of the wood, and the dimensions of each piece of wood for it to properly fit together. I sunk the screws a few mm in so I could fill the holes with a mix of saw dust and wood glue.

Enclosure Assembly:
The above section, I think, properly describes the assembly. Here I will discuss the attachment of the port. I cut the dimensions of the front of the box to the size of the INSIDE dimension of the PVC. This is important. I took a small square that covers the diameter of the PVC and cut that to the OUTSIDE dimension of the PVC. I then glued the PVC flush with that piece…. then attached the square to the inside side of the front piece. This made it easier to attach, and made it look nice. Initially there was chuffing from the box. So I sanded the front piece so that it was wider on the outside. Pics will show you what I mean. This eliminated chuffing almost entirely (except for when a very loud part of a movie is on and it is turned up louder than I thought it was).

Crossover Design:
None

Tips & Tricks:
Sand out the opening of the port to stop the chuffing, and attach the port the way I explained, and it will be solid and easy to attach.

Conclusion:
After a few weeks of break-in and widening the opening of the port everyone is happy, and quite impressed with this subwoofer. It was cheap, looks decent, and sounds quite good.

The glue and sawdust sections, when stained and finished, didn’t match up well with the stained and finished sections of the wood. Common problem that most people can’t really solve. I took the mixwax pen and dabbed those sections and it looked OK. The pics show what I mean. It wasn’t terrible and dark stain comes out better than light stain IMO. It’s a homemade project that took little time, everyone was ok with a few flaws.

All the home depot supplies and the parts express sub and amp together cost around 180-200 dollars.

About the Designer:
I’ve build a few small ported and sealed home subs. This was my largest build. I have designed many sealed custom designs for my cars through the years too. I still consider myself a beginner, but I take my time to research my amp/sub pairings, and make sure I build boxes the correct size. It’s a fun hobby, and very rewarding indeed.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Michael Murray

Project Category:
Guitar and Bass Speakers

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
Under $100

Project Description:
Built the Footnote Amplifier Combo Kit which included the SKB Footnote Amplifier and Eminence 6 1/2″ Speaker. 18mm Baltic Birch Plywood was used in the build. The finish is Duplicolor Truck Bed Spray Liner. The Back is currently closed but was built with an option to run open depending on the needs.

Design Goals:
Build a very inexpensive Guitar Practice Amp Combo that still sounds very good. The small cheap practice amps out there are built with cheap parts and don’t sound very good.

Driver Selection:
Eminence 6-1/2″ Guitar Speaker 20W 4 Ohm PE #299-402

Enclosure Design:
18mm Baltic Birch Plywood on all panels. The Back is currently a closed back design but have also made it with a removable panel. A small panel is then fitted to back to make it an open back design. One side, the bottom, and back panel are lined for absorption of the rear sound wave to keep it from going out through the speaker cone and affecting the midrange frequencies.

Enclosure Assembly:
A Kreg Pocket Hole Jig was used to drill panels and Kreg Pocket Hole Screws were used for assembly. All panels were also glued with Tightbond Wood Glue, Except the Front and Rear Panels which were made to be removable.

Conclusion:
This Guitar Amp Combo turned out to be a very well built and great sounding. The total cost was around $60.00 and even the cheap commercial amps on the market are around the $100.00 dollar mark. This sounds much better than those $100.00 amp combos!

About the Designer:
I am an Electronics Technician in the Semiconductor Industry. I also have worked in a Custom Woodworking/Cabinet Shop during my college days. Avid Woodworker, Speaker Builder, Electronics Geek.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
GoofBoy

Project Category:
Freestyle

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
20+ Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
IMplementation of Paul Carmody’s Isetta 2.1 Enclosure with an added built in amp.

Design Goals:
Make a small box that doesn’t look like something you can buy cheaply in a store. Also, to have fun.

Driver Selection:
1 – Tang-Band W5-1138SMF

2 – Fountek FE85

Enclosure Design:
Solid Santos Mahogany, African Mahogany Veneer, Solid Wenge, and 1/2in MDF were used for the enclosure.

Enclosure Assembly:
Hardwood and veneered MDF so it does require some thought on wood movement. There is a full annotated gallery of the build with some wood working tips here – https://imgur.com/a/mFRAiLh

Crossover Design:
Staight from Paul Carmody’s Isetta design – (https://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/isetta)

Conclusion:
Really like the sound and the look of the end product. Fun build.

About the Designer:
A woodworker and recovering engineer just getting into making speakers, because… well, it is just fun.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
clif friese

Project Category:
Bookshelf Speakers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
After a month of researching and watching speaker builds, I decided to try one. I liked styles with angled sides and front baffles. I was not sure I could even cut a straight line, I am a mechanic by trade, with maybe an hour of wood working skills. I saw kits with premade boxes, but did not care for the speakers much. So I decided to pick out speakers and build my own box. used a plate amp with Bluetooth and aux input for using with my phone and computer.

Design Goals:
goals were to build a speaker to put out by my grill, just to chill to while cooking diner, or relaxing by the bonfire with friends and family.

Driver Selection:
292-554 , 295-563, 290-209

Enclosure Design:
PR radiator was used in bookshelf speaker. Used a plate amp 310-4000, so when I build second speaker it can be used by amp for stereo sound.

Crossover Design:
Dayton Audio XO2W-3K 2-Way Crossover 3,000 Hz was used for crossover, I wanted to try soldering a crossover as I learn more in a future project.

Conclusion:
speaker sounds better than expected. Friends are surprised of the clean sound from a small speaker.

About the Designer:
I wanted to make a speaker for relaxing by the grill or bonfire, I wanted it to be abstract and different, my wife used a pour paint style to paint speaker box. I wanted it to be edgy and represent a metal genre for music. A favorite band of mine is Demon Hunter, so I used there logo and my router and engraved it in each side

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Antpink

Project Category:
Tower Speakers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
20+ Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
Wanted floorstanders and figured I could build some – longtime dream, finally realised! Used online calculators for speaker volume, crossover, bass tube and basic carpentry and soldering skills to put it all together. Great learning experience.

Design Goals:
Unique floorstanders that would both look and sound good.

Driver Selection:
HiVi M5N 5″ Midbass #297-417

HiVi Q1R 1-1/8″ Textile Dome Tweeter #297-417

Enclosure Design:
Own design based upon speaker volumes calculated online and recommended by the PE product pages

Enclosure Assembly:
MDF (never again!), cut to size, with speaker cutouts using a router. Wanted to be able to disassemble easily to access drivers, so box design much more complicated than it needs to be.

Crossover Design:
Used the very awesome XSim to select the components and make a custom crossover.

Tips & Tricks:
Keep it simple. My original speaker design was too complex, looked great on paper, but gave many headaches in the actual build process. Have the right tools.

Conclusion:
Won’t use MDF again – too much dust that gets everywhere. My second set will be all wood.

Sounds good but amp specific – FX Audio amp delivers good sound across the whole range, very good mid, decent treble and bass – the M5N is a very good driver I think. Using a home built gainclone (another project) loses quite a bit of the bass.

I learned a lot of how not to do the next set – don’t over complicate the box, it makes it very difficult to build, and get the right tools – long straight edges are difficult (I now have a table saw).

As a learning experience, it taught me a lot – the next one will be better and quicker as a result.

About the Designer:
Complete amateur, general manager by day, family man all other times – hope to teach my kids that there is value in “I made that!”, which makes it fantastic, no matter what.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
MT Woodworking

Project Category:
Freestyle Speakers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
The exterior (top and sides) is made of American cherry and the baffle board is made of maple. All construction was done with cabinet wood screws. A router was used to chamfer the speaker hole and tweeter cut outs. Additional features include Bluetooth and a USB outlet.

Design Goals:
The idea for this project was to create a better sounding boombox for a workshop rather than purchase a cheap plastic constructed one that would not produce quality sound. I wanted to be able to hear music over machinery.

Driver Selection:
Quantity: 2 Item: 292-554

Quantity: 2 Item: 027-340

Quantity: 2 Item: 295-309

Enclosure Design:
A sealed boxed speaker

Enclosure Assembly:
The unit consists of 2 Dayton Audio DC160-4 6 1/2″ mid bass and 2 Visaton DT94-4 polycarbonate tweeters. This is powered by a Pioneer car stereo and that is powered by a radio Shack 13 volt power supply.

Crossover Design:
This is a two-way design with a simple a 10 uF 100V non-polarized capacitors.

Conclusion:
The final product is a high quality sounding boombox with an appearance that fits in nicely in a carpentry workshop.

About the Designer:
Hobbyist interested in various woodworking projects. This is my first audio project and I plan to do more. My next project will consist of higher quality speakers with more woodworking details.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Herman

Project Category:
Portable Speakers

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
Let me introduce a pair of portable speakers. This is not my first work, but one of the best, to my mind.

One of the speakers, the one of light and dark wood color, is built with the use of typical Dayton components. The second speaker, of light wood color, is built with custom components.

The speakers are made in retro style. They are made of solid ash. As far as I know, ash is one of the best materials for acoustic systems. The speakers are completely portable, with battery life around 20 hours at medium volume. The functional of these portable speakers is not inferior to most of popular speaker brands, like Bose, Marshall, JBL and so on.

Below is a list of functions of each speaker:

Light wood speaker:

• Two input signals: wire connection – mini jack or Bluetooth 4.2. Wire connection is recommended.

• Bluetooth connection LED indicator, with two colors in one hole.

• Three control buttons: fist – Play\Pause, second – next track or long press volume up, third – previous track or long press volume down.

• On the back side, battery level indicator (4 LEDs).

• On the back side, USB port for an external charging device (like powerbank), with maximum output current 2A.

• Support of NFC connection.

• Abilit to connect a second same speaker, for joint work of the two speakers, like left channel and right channel.

• Ability to connect two Bluetooth devices at the same time.

• Support of control by mobile application, examples are in the pictures attached.

• Support of audio codec apt-X.

• Output power – 2 x 15w.

• Battery capacity 5200 mAh.

Light and dark wood speaker:

• Two input signals: wire connection – mini jack or Bluetooth 4.2. Wire connection is recommended.

• Three LED indicators on the front side: First LED (blue) – BT connection, Second LED (red) – device turned on, Third LED (green) – battery check.

• The volume knob.

• On the back side, battery level indicator (4 LEDs).

• On the back side, USB port for external charging device (like powerbank), with maximum output current 2A.

• Support of NFC connection.

• Support of audio codec apt-X.

• Output power – 2 x 30w

• Battery capacity 5200 mAh.

Design Goals:
My design goal is building portable speakers with good sound quality, beautiful design, high functionality and low final cost. On top of that, I get great pleasure from designing and building these speakers. And music that comes from these speakers gives me more enjoyment when I realize that I built them myself.

Driver Selection:
Light wood speaker:

Peerless by Tymphany 830878 3-1/2″ Passive Radiator

Part # 264-1060

Dayton Audio ND16FA-6 5/8″ Soft Dome Neodymium Tweeter

Part # 275-025

Dayton Audio ND90-8 3-1/2″ Aluminum Cone Full-Range Neo Driver 8 Ohm

Part # 290-210

_____________

Light and dark wood speaker:

Peerless by Tymphany 830878 3-1/2″ Passive Radiator

Part # 264-1060

Dayton Audio ND16FA-6 5/8″ Soft Dome Neodymium Tweeter

Part # 275-025

Dayton Audio ND91-4 3-1/2″ Aluminum Cone Full-Range Driver 4 Ohm

Part # 290-224

Enclosure Design:
Enclosure design in both speakers – passive radiator. In my opinion, the use of passive radiators saves space and makes the final speaker of smaller size when compared with the type of reflex port enclosure. The material of manufacture is solid ash thickness 15 mm. Speakers size: Light and dark wood – 30x21x15 cm; Light wood – 31x22x15 cm. Each speaker weight is 3 kg. The design and drawing was developed by myself from scratch.

Enclosure Assembly:
The body was glued with PVC glue, in order to strengthen the design in each corner of the body was inserted spacer. The surfaces of the hulls were polished and treated with oil. For tightness, all holes were sealed with sealing tape or filled with hot melt glue.

Crossover Design:
I used passive crossover. Crossover frequency of light and dark wood speaker is 3200Hz, of light wood speaker is 3500Hz.

Conclusion:
First of all, I gained huge experience in building portable speakers. In second, my opinion is my speakers look great, have good sound quality and high functional. I will be very interested to hear your opinion about my work.

About the Designer:
My name is Herman. And I am 26 years old. I am an IT engineer. Sound and acoustic systems are my hobby, and that hobby gives me a lot of fun. I don’t have a lot of experience in building speakers, in fact, this is my second big project, so do not judge strictly. At this moment, I have a lot of ideas for speakers design, and I hope you will see it. I consider selling this kind of acoustics. If you are interested, please write to me, I will be glad.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Lou H.

Project Category:
Bookshelf Speakers

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
Under $100

Project Description:
Its a bass reflex MTM bookshelf speaker. It utilizes two four inch woofers and a small dome tweeter.

Design Goals:
I designed these speakers in my high school Advanced Audio Systems course, with the help of my teacher Mr. Grant Gustavsen. as a replacement to the sold out C-Notes. They needed to be around $100 and have a similar size and performance.

Driver Selection:
Dayton Audio TCP115-4 4″ Treated Paper Cone Midbass Woofer 4 Ohm – 295-415

Dayton Audio ND20FB-4 Rear-Mount 3/4″ Soft Dome Neodymium Tweeter – 275-035

Enclosure Design:
It is a bass reflex box with .2ft^3 volume and is tuned to 76 Hz.

Enclosure Assembly:
Particle board construction capped in poplar for aesthetic value. I sectioned off the bottom to make them taller and keep the internal volume constant.

Crossover Design:
The crossover is a two-way third-order Butterworth with a Zobel on the woofer.

Tips & Tricks:
Have Fun!!

Conclusion:
A couple of kids in my class built the C-Note kits, and I feel like these met or even exceeded their performance. I think that these are great speakers to build on a budget.

About the Designer:
I’m a high school student who took tech class for the fun of it and my teacher Grant Gustavsen introduced me to the wide world of speaker designing. Through this I found a passion for sound quality and music appreciation.
Project Parts List:

Designer:
Gordontownman

Project Category:
Portable Speakers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
1-8 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
Furniture grade high quality portable speaker

Design Goals:
Excellent sound quality, complement to living room, bedrooms, den use, Bluetooth for easy connectivity battery operated with at least 10 hours of playing

Driver Selection:
290-224

275-025

290-213

Enclosure Design:
Solid mahogany, 7/8 inch, 2 chambers, seperates with passive radiators, compact, aesthetically pleasing, no grille design, 18x6x8 inches, cabinet opens on the bottom, uses a plate in the back for volume control, charge port and Bluetooth antenna, easy open Because of battery power

Enclosure Assembly:
Screwed and glued, furniture finish, had a carpenter custom made it to my specs

Crossover Design:
Minidsp kit (changed midstream from a passive x/over as I wanted a flexible tone control option)

Tips & Tricks:
Double sided tape to mount electronic parts, plug ins between components for easy removing and upgrading / servicing

Conclusion:
Sound quality is excellent to my ears, volume is very satisfying, love the looks of this projectm, alsways been a titanium dome tweeter fan, first time using soft domes and really enjoy them, overall am very pleased with the results

About the Designer:
Car salesman by day, hobbyists by night, love high quality sound output in music reproduction, early 50’s dad
Project Parts List: