Designer:
Craig Lafferty

Project Category:
Tower Speakers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
Amiga Build using the Baffle only option

Design Goals:
Since I have a workshop, I was going to modify the build slightly by using a separate baffle made out of wood. The goal was to contrast a natural wood finish with white. (I got this idea from someone on Reddit – wish I remember his name, but he was very helpful with the plans).

Conclusion:
I used a CNC for the baffle which is made out of guanacaste wood. I plan on building several different kits and giving them out as gifts to family members.

About the Designer:
Amateur woodworker who is expanding his equipment in the audio world. Love my vinyl!

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Don P

Project Category:
Portable Speakers

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
Bluetooth Battery Powered Speaker

Design Goals:
Portable Bluetooth speaker in attractive hardwood case

Driver Selection:
uses MKBoom kit:
Model: MKBoom
Part # 300-7166

Enclosure Design:
Used back and bottom from included enclosure and made Walnut and Maple case. Used the front from the kit as a template for new front.

Crossover Design:
included in kit.

Conclusion:
Very pleased with the sound. Battery life is better than I expected.

About the Designer:
Home woodworker, thought this would be a good project.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Bobby Kinstle

Project Category:
Freestyle Speakers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
1-8 Hours

Project Cost:
Under $100

Project Description:
Create an ultra cheap garage sound system to kill time while we are all stuck at home on quarantine using only materials I had laying around. At some point it became a game to be as cheap as possible and somewhere this turned into a parody of itself.

Design Goals:
I needed a speaker that would not be in the way of my work spaces, require minimal effort

Driver Selection:
I used a pair of the famous Parts Express $6 6.5″ woofers (299-609) that I always keep a pair of handy and paired it with a Dayton 3/4″ tweeter (275-020) to supplement the high end.

Enclosure Design:
I found a sheet of 5/8″ plywood in my attic and cut it to fit across a couple of the rafters above my work space. When I want to impress my friends I tell them its “Infinite Baffle”. I also put a thick layer of foil backed fiberglass insulation on top to damped the sound coming off the back of the woofer and also to act as a radiant barrier so the IR radiating off my uninsulated garage roof doesn’t cook them.

Enclosure Assembly:
I cut and beveled some sloppy holes for the woofers with my router using my sloppy adjustable circle jig and drilled a hole for the tweeters. Next I coated them with some Minwax Polyshades finish to protect the wood and cut down on the number of splinters I was accumulating. After bolting down the drivers I mounted the high pass filter on the back. The enclosure was then screwed on top of the rafter beams with some automotive sound dampening material in between to minimize transfer vibrations. Lastly the I stapled the insulation on top.

Crossover Design:
Since the $6 woofer rolls off on it’s own, I didn’t filter it at all. I added a 12dB high pass filter before the tweeter at 4.5Khz which blends pretty well with that woofer.

Tips & Tricks:
Always use a tight fitting, high quality circle jig. Even if it means buying a new router to fit it. Adjustable jigs just wiggle too much.

Never use stain mixed with finish. That stuff is rubbish. Just no.

Conclusion:
Vocals sound great and highs are crisp. Those little tweeters are highly directional. Being down firing, I can play them pretty loud and I hardly hear anything by the sidewalk so they won’t annoy the neighborhood. Bass could be better. Maybe I’ll add a small sub later. Its still far better than a boom box radio.

About the Designer:
I grew up in the Mojave Desert in a small community of scientists, craftsmen, and engineers. We were the kind of people who didn’t accept “it’s impossible” or “you can’t do that”. If I want something that doesn’t exist, I’ll just make one. Now I’m a thermal engineer in the computer industry and I currently hold nine US patents.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
The Original Trailblazer

Project Category:
Subwoofers

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
1-8 Hours

Project Cost:
Under $100

Project Description:
We teardown and repurpose a BOSE Acoustimass 6 Series II subwoofer that we bought from Craig’s List, turning it into a usable and powerful 2.1 front firing powered subwoofer capable of also powering two decent sized satellite speakers with premium sound.

In this example we bought a BOSE sub woofer for $20! I went to my new favorite audiophile store, Parts Express and purchased a Dayton Audio MCA2250E Class D Plate Amplifier with 2.1 Surround capability for $65 and a pair of Dayton Audio B452 4-1/2″ Bookshelf Speakers for $27 to make a cool DIY desktop system to use in my office.

Design Goals:
To make something cool from what many people consider an inferior and overpriced speaker system. BOSE Acoustimass Surround Sound Systems are popular, and are not cheap systems when they are new. There are many of these expensive systems out there that have been broken up or have been replaced with something more simple or less expensive, they are out there and you can find them cheap!

Driver Selection:
The Acoustimas 6 has two very nice 8 ohm Dual Voice Coil DVC subwoofers inside that pump out a ton of bass and give you some flexibility of powering them as a 4 or 8 ohm system.

Enclosure Design:
Along with taking apart the BOSE Acoustimax 6 Series 2 subwoofer and replacing the electronics, I also had to remove the vinyl veneer that was coming apart and applied new iron on Band-it black melamine to refinish the outside of the particle board and replace the vinyl covering that was peeling off. Trimming melamine, as I find out is not as simple as it looks!

Conclusion:
This DIY Project was pretty easy and anyone who can use a screwdriver, a hand saw and a pair of wire cutters can likely follow my lead and do this project. All in all it turned out pretty cool. It’s a TON more than my home office can handle and the bass shakes the whole second floor of our home! The BOSE subwoofer has a new life, looks great and it worked out better than I expected. A cool rainy day project indeed!

Do a YouTube search for “DIY BOSE Acoustimass 6 Repurpose” to see the video I produced to show all the steps and details on how I put this project together.

About the Designer:
The Original Trailblazer is Bill G from Minneapolis Minnesota. I am an amateur handyman who was just looking for something to keep me busy during the Spring 2020 Shelter in Place order.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Jim Rogers

Project Category:
Subwoofers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
20+ Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
I wanted to build a speaker for our living room that is decorated in the Arts and Crafts style – this thing looks like the Bluetooth speaker my Great Grandma used to listen to Zeppelin on.

The pre-built kit wasn’t available when I ordered this so I ordered it piecemeal. What I didn’t know was that you needed to build crossovers. This added additional cost but what was once something I knew absolutely nothing about – now I know a little bit about.

Design Goals:
I wanted to build something that would have fit into our Arts and Crafts decorated living room, but could also melt some faces.

This piece is made of quarter-sawn white oak, with mortise and tenon joinery. Plus- I aged the wood using ammonia fuming. It ages the wood so it looks like it’s been on your Gramma’s mantle for decades. First discovered by someone who noticed wood stored in a horse barn was prematurely aged – from ammonia from horse urine. True story.

I used tongue and groove joinery – the only nails are cosmetic – I found some antique ones.

Driver Selection:
Dayton Audio TCP115-4 4″ Treated Paper Cone Midbass Woofer are incredible – $12??!!

Enclosure Design:
Since it is a box I had to put tweeters on the side – but the sound range is fantastic.

Crossover Design:

Conclusion:
Maybe I could have bought a system for less that sounds the same but I love that this is exactly how I wanted it to look. I learned something new and kept busy during the Coved19 quarantine.

About the Designer:
30-year woodworker with time off for raising kids. Failed calculus twice before I passed them with D’s in college. This crossover stuff is a challenge but if I could figure this out, so could anyone. Nothing better than getting super-focused in my workroom putting together clever projects.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Jon Laye

Project Category:
Subwoofers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
Over $1,000

Project Description:
While stuck here at home due to COVID-19 I was starting to drive the wife crazy. I needed a project so the Dayton Ultimax 18, Denovo flat pack and Dayton Audio SPA1200DSP fit the bill. Being my first build I placed the order over the phone and while waiting for the kit to arrive I bought some bar clamps, paint, screws, nuts and bolts and all sorts of little things I would need. I decided I did not like the typical Duratex paint so I came up with laminate. I ordered a sheet of flat black Formica and ordered a custom grill for the front, which has not arrived yet. I also came up with the idea of an accent on the top and bottom and thinking about the Vandersteen 2Ce speakers I have now and the previous set from Acoustic Research which both have a wood accent for the top and bottom, I first thought of granite or quartz counter top material. Well, that gets expensive, so I ordered two custom counter tops from an office furniture company and I ordered them 20×22 inches which gives me a 2 inch overhang on the front. I also put hard rubber feet on the bottom, parts from a DJ speaker supply company. I tried to be careful with each step and enlisted a friend to help with the laminate, a friend with experience refinishing boats and had the router and bits for laminate. The two issues I had were first, I relied on the gaskets that came on the driver and plate amp. I had a hard time getting them to seal while playing a steady 20hz test tone. I added another gasket to the plate amp which solved that problem and while bolting down the driver using 2″ bolts into tee nuts I hammered on, the last one I knocked the tee nut loose on the inside of the cabinet. I removed the plate amp and used a really long screw driver to hold the tee nut down while tightening the bolt and finally it caught the wood. I still had to go back and tighten all of the bolts down really tight to eliminate air leaks from around the 18″ driver. But with enough force, nothing broke and the driver is sealed. Now comes tuning and set up but I am happy with the look and how the entire project came out for my first try.

Design Goals:
Strong, tight musical bass to upgrade from an SVS SB-2000

Driver Selection:
Dayton Ultimax 18

Enclosure Design:
Denovo 4 cu.ft. MDF enclosure

Enclosure Assembly:
Lots of Titebond III, various nuts and bolt, time, effort and banged up fingers.

Crossover Design:
DSP in the amp

Tips & Tricks:
I got by with 4 36″ bar clamps, 6 would have made things easier. My T-square never left my side and even though the latest Ultimax driver and plate amp come with gaskets applied, adding your own seal will save time. Also, by lowering the plate amp a couple of inches from center I only had to cut through one brace instead of two. I ended up spray painting the front panel black and it tok me about 6 coats while sanding with 2000 grit sandpaper between coats to get a finish I liked. Perhaps someone with more experience and skill with a spray can could do it with fewer coats.

Conclusion:
I am happy with the way this came out. The enclosure was really well made and parts fit together perfectly. I have not had a chance to really put it through its paces but will over the next week

About the Designer:
I am a temporarily out of work photographer waiting for things to calm down from COVID-19. I enjoy music and movies and upgrading to a serious subwoofer was an ideal project.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
mike weatherill

Project Category:
Home Theater

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
20+ Hours

Project Cost:
$500 – $1,000

Project Description:
A nice TV stand with built in speakers.

Design Goals:
A single piece of furniture that houses the left, center and right speaker for the front stage, plus the ported subwoofer enclosure, the sub amplifier and be able to hold a large TV and the associated electronics.

Driver Selection:
I wanted to avoid having separate components for ease of design and construction, so I went with 6.5″ coaxials by HIVI for the front stage. The center speakers are in series and the left and right are run straight. It was going in a smaller room, so it wasn’t going to take much as far as bass reinforcement and that lead me to the Peerless 8″.

Enclosure Design:
There’s two main sections to the audio section of this piece, the 3 sealed chambers in the front for the front stage and then the ported section in the rear for the subwoofer. This is mainly being used for movies but will be doing some music as well. It is 1/2″ MDF for the enclosure and sub frame and then clad in 3.5″ pine slats that are .75″ thick.

Enclosure Assembly:
With the MDF sub-frame everything in glued and countersunk and pre-drilled with wood screws. All of the cladding was wood glued and clamped so no screws or nails would be seen. For the top cladding, I simply took each piece out to the longest edge and then cut a 45 degree and pieced it together like a puzzle. When I got to the center the was a 1 inch gap, so I ripped a 2″ piece down to 1 inch then split the last 3.5″ piece down the middle to give it that concentric effect. Then sand, sand and sand some more. Painted the MDF black and stained the cladding in light oak.

Crossover Design:
No passive crossovers were used. The sub amplifier was crossed over at 85hz for the Peerless 8″ sub.

Tips & Tricks:
Measure twice and cut once. Lay awake at night going over and over your design to make sure you didn’t miss anything.

Conclusion:
This was a project that I designed for a good friend of mine for his daughter. They were both very excited with the final result. I was impressed with the clarity and especially the volume this achieved. Bass was good, solid and room filling and went deep. The vocal and voices from the font stage were very impressive and it switches very easily from movies to music.

About the Designer:
Mike has been in the car and home audio scene for over 20 years, first professionally and now as a hobbyist. He enjoys audio, wood working, spending time with his family and brewing great beers.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Jim Rogers

Project Category:
Subwoofers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
20+ Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
I wanted to build a speaker for our living room that is decorated in the Arts and Crafts style – this thing looks like the Bluetooth speaker my Great Grandma used to listen to Zeppelin on.

The pre-built kit wasn’t available when I ordered this so I ordered it piecemeal. What I didn’t know was that you needed to build crossovers. This added additional cost but what was once something I knew absolutely nothing about – now I know a little bit about.

Design Goals:
I wanted to build something that would have fit into our Arts and Crafts decorated living room, but could also melt some faces.

This piece is made of quarter-sawn white oak, with mortise and tenon joinery. Plus- I aged the wood using ammonia fuming. It ages the wood so it looks like it’s been on your Gramma’s mantle for decades. First discovered by someone who noticed wood stored in a horse barn was prematurely aged – from ammonia from horse urine. True story.

I used tongue and groove joinery – the only nails are cosmetic – I found some antique ones.

Driver Selection:
Dayton Audio TCP115-4 4″ Treated Paper Cone Midbass Woofer are incredible – $12??!!

Enclosure Design:
Since it is a box I had to put tweeters on the side – but the sound range is fantastic.

Crossover Design:
N/A

Conclusion:
Maybe I could have bought a system for less that sounds the same but I love that this is exactly how I wanted it to look. I learned something new and kept busy during the Coved19 quarantine.

About the Designer:
30-year woodworker with time off for raising kids. Failed calculus twice before I passed them with D’s in college. This crossover stuff is a challenge but if I could figure this out, so could anyone. Nothing better than getting super-focused in my workroom putting together clever projects.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
1998 Lincoln Navigator

Project Category:
Subwoofers

Project Level:
Advanced

Project Time:
20+ Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
I wanted 18 inch subs on a budget.

Design Goals:
I wanted to design a ported box for efficiency and to match the interior. Used Parts Express gray carpet I had from 1996. Celestion B5218-190X 4 ohms, paralleled to 2 ohms with a Sound Cubed amp.

Enclosure Design:
3.5 CF per 18, ported to 50 hz, from Parts Express website. Double walled box.

Tips & Tricks:
Happy to have Parts Express as part of my team. I order often and receive great customer service.

Conclusion:
It shoves something fierce. Output is awesome, low frequency not as much. Still there, good amp helps so they don’t bottom out.

About the Designer:
Really like designing soeaker boxes. I like old school stereo stuff.
Enjoyed stereos in High School getting back to them 30 years later.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Bobby Kinstle

Project Category:
Freestyle Speakers

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
After making the Alarm Clock for my son, I noticed my daughter now spends a lot of time in her brother’s room listening to music, so I decided I’ll make one for her too and since we’re all stuck in our homes on quarantine, we have tons of time to create those “always wanted to” projects. This is a powered bluetooth speaker that runs from an Amazon Echo Input.

Design Goals:
The goal was to create a compact bookshelf speaker that not only sounds good, but also looks good in my daughter’s bedroom. More than usual consideration was given to aesthetics including selecting drivers based on appearance more than modeled performance which created some interesting design challenges. My wife requested a “shabby chic” visual style. I also wanted to try out the new DSP boards and build a bi-amp system without a crossover.

Driver Selection:
HiVi B4N 4″ Aluminum Midbass Round Frame 297-429
Dayton Audio DC28FT-8 1-1/8″ Silk Dome Truncated 275-076

Enclosure Design:
Originally I planned on using a smaller box but the HiVi B4N likes a larger box for bass reflex so I opted for a 7 liter ported design tuned to 57Hz. The enclosure is a drop in lid box from TilnicBox. When I saw they offered custom engraving I decided to have my daughter’s name engraved on the front. I later regretted this impulse decision as it meant it was no longer possible to put the woofers and tweeters on the front face. Looks like we are doing side firing tweeters again. As long as we’re talking tweeters, I was very concerned about my daughter shoving her 1 year old fingers into the tweeters and ruining them so I bought some heavy gauge copper mesh and hammered it over a Delrin sphere to make a dome shaped finger guard. I used copper to match the other color highlights of the speaker and the engraving, but also because it’s non magnetic and I didn’t want the powerful tweeter magnet to suck the screen into the dome like a black hole and ruin the thing it’s supposed to protect.

Enclosure Assembly:
First I used my router to cut out the holes for the speaker drivers and the bass port. Next after sanding the entire box I applied 2 coats of weathered wood accelerator which turned the wood grey. After that I applied 2 coats of whitewash, and on the second coat instead of wiping all the stain off, I only wiped off in certain random areas and then very lightly dragged a wide paint brush over the surface to conceal the marks I made. Next I injected copper paint onto the engraved letters. After that was allowed to dry for a couple days, I brushed on 3 coats of Old Masters clear finish which left thick chunky brush strokes all over the surface and also yellowed the white wash slightly to make it look older. Finally after a light sanding I applied thee coats of Minwax spray lacquer. Normally I shy away from Mixwax products but their spray lacquer is super easy to use and always gives me great results. Once that was all done it was just a matter of bolting everything down with generous amounts of gasket tape.

Crossover Design:
Initially the entire crossover was to reside in the DSP, however out of paranoia I decided to connect the woofers to the tweeter channels to verify the high pass was working OK and whenever I unplugged the amp from power the woofer cones visibly jumped forward so I decided I’ve better have a capacitor on the tweeters to protect them from that.

Tips & Tricks:
1. Use the highest voltage power adapter the amp can support to increase dynamic headroom on class D amps. Use the volume as a gain control by setting the source to it’s highest level playing music, then adjust the amp volume knob to be a little louder than you’d ever want it to be, and the only use the source’s volume control to adjust playback after that. This will give you the lowest idle hiss from the amp while supporting the range you want and not run the risk of clipping.
2. Use a good quality circle jig that has absolutely zero movement, wiggle, or flexibility. No matter how much it costs.
3. Spray the final coats in thin light layers and sand with light pressure every 1 or 2 coats.
4. If box building is too intimidating or time consuming, there are many great craftspersons out there who’d be happy to cut and glue some wood for you.
5. When removing material, it’s best to go slow and careful. Be patient because a mistake with 600 grit sand paper is a lot easier to fix than a mistake with a chisel.
6. When tuning a DSP, get a microphone and first tune the speaker as flat as you reasonably can and use a filter to block frequencies below the woofer’s capability. After that, tweak the final settings by ear to what you like the most.
7. DSPs allow the use of crazy exotic crossover topologies that would be very impractical to build in real life. Plus you don’t have to get everything right on the first attempt.
8. If your woofer comes with a gasket, you can use it as a hole alignment guide to pre drill the screw holes.

Conclusion:
In general I’m very happy with how it turned out. The box looks fantastic. I’m really blown away by the controls and flexibility of the DSP. Analog Devices releases the software tools for free and Dyaton provides several good templates to get you started.

About the Designer:
I grew up in the Mojave Desert in a small community of scientists, craftsmen, and engineers. We were the kind of people who didn’t accept “it’s impossible” or “you can’t do that”. If I want something that doesn’t exist, I’ll just make one. Now I’m a thermal engineer in the computer industry and I currently hold nine US patents.

Project Parts List:

Other Items Used:

Varathane Weathered Wood Accelerator
Varathane White Wash
Old Masters Semi Gloss Water based finish
Minwax Semi Gloss spray lacquer
24V 5.5A Meanwell power supply
Copper Wire Cloth, 6 x 6 Mesh Size, 0.132″ Opening Size
Jasper Tools Model 200 router circle cutting guide.

Designer:
James Audio

Project Category:
Loudspeakers/Cabinets

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
20+ Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
To make a good sounding speakers out of nice cabinets and deteriorating drivers.

Design Goals:
Rebuild with new drivers.

Driver Selection:
New 12″ woofer 51/4 Mid and 2inch Phenolic Ring tweeter.

Enclosure Design:
Original Pioneer CS-88A design

Enclosure Assembly:
Routed new front panel and recessed speakers flush with face.

Crossover Design:
Original 4 way crossover. Using it as a 3 way. All caps were changed to Dayton Film Caps.

Tips & Tricks:
Don’t try restoring the old original speakers. I did. There 50 years old and didn’t sound that good Cost me a lot of money to try, and ended selling them on Ebay for a loss.

Conclusion:
They sound great. Cabinets weight a ton and the are bullet proof. They can really thump.

About the Designer:
Retired and know enough to be dangerous.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Jim P

Project Category:
Portable Speakers

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
I was looking to build a Bluetooth speaker from scratch. Then I came across the Blast Box. For the price and the features I couldn’t pass it up.

Design Goals:
Build a Bluetooth speaker with some punch. And in the process learn something new.

Driver Selection:
Blast Box Kit

Enclosure Design:
Blast Box kit with Vinyl Alligator skin. Black truck bed liner paint on all the accents. Add grills for the sub and the passive radiator.

Enclosure Assembly:
Glued plywood, Vinyl skin applied with 3m contact glue.

Crossover Design:
Standard Blast Box crossovers

Tips & Tricks:
I upgraded the batteries and charger board to the Dayton Audio LBB-5 5 x 26650 Lithium Battery Charger Board / Module along with (5) PKCELL Flat Top 26650 3.7V 5000mAh Rechargeable Li-Ion Batteries. Nestled it on the sidewall instead of base of the box. Added the audio in jack and placed it in acrylic face plate with volume controls. I also added the wiring kit for the charger board. I added 2 lights in the back acrylic plate. Green for AC power Red shows when battery is charging, on the AMP face plate I also added from the wiring kit as well a button and lights to check battery level. Finally I upgraded the feet and added amp style handles as well.

Conclusion:
Great project for anyone interested in building a Bluetooth powered speaker. Sound far exceeds other Bluetooth speakers I’ve owned. And i’m super happy with the end results. I’ve already had friends and family asking me to make them one.

About the Designer:
Tech entrepreneur who loves music and woodworking.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Mark Bushinski

Project Category:
Freestyle Speakers

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
20+ Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
I was always intrigued by Mike V’s Top Hats Project from 2012. However the price of the crossover components and cabinet spikes put me off. However I watched for buyout crossover components sales and came up with a way to create the reflector from solid wood.

Design Goals:
The goal of this speaker was to build an omnidirection speaker at a low price.

Driver Selection:
This speaker uses the Dayton rs-100 4” full range.
295-378

Enclosure Design:
The main enclosure is a 12” long 4” pvc pipe with solid wood flanges at both ends. 12” is an inch longer than the original top hats but the local hardware stores sells pvc by the foot so and this allowed a hz or two lower f3 based on modeling. I used oak for the flanges and douglas fir for the reflector. I was lucky to find a full 4×4 chunk of douglas fir in a kindling bag I bought from a local lumberyard. My father helped me turn the reflector on the lathe. It was very time consuming to make from one piece.

Enclosure Assembly:
The enclosure was glued using silicone adhesive. The reflector bolts from the top down into the baffle. I tapped the oak baffle to receive #6-32 machine screws. The bolts were covered up by arrow shafts that I painted the same blue as the tube.

Crossover Design:
I used the crossover values from the original top hats. I tried changing the component values a little in a crossover modeling software xsim but didn’t see a reason to change anything.

Tips & Tricks:
I had an issue with the arrow shafts vibrating and had to add a ring of silicone around the top and bottom that is a little unsightly. If I do a similar build again I will look into using wood dowels or something denser.

Conclusion:
Bass is solid down to 60 hz. Upper bass 100-200 hz is somewhat elevated but in most music it brings the drums and bass guitar to life (see pink noise RTA). Upper bass is also very clean, attached is a 140 hz sine wave at 80db at 1 meter the 3rd harmonic is about -50db. Being a small single driver these speakers can’t get super loud but there are good enough for me. Comparing these to the apple homepod the top hats sound much more natural. The homepod only excels in low bass 40-60 hz.

About the Designer:
I’ve been building DIY speakers for 22 years and this project has opened my eyes to different speaker building styles. Don’t think I’ll every build standard two way bookshelf speakers again.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Garry Parker

Project Category:
Tower Speakers

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
$500 – $1,000

Project Description:
The Corona speaker system is a 3 way, floor standing WWMT using two 7″ Dayton Audio Esoteric woofers, a 5″ Dayton Audio Reference midrange, and a Fountek Ribbon tweeter. The enclosure is an AMLTL (mass-loaded transmission-line) cabinet designed using the “Accidental MLTL Technique” described here: https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/231951-accidental-mltl-technique.html.

Design Goals:
The goal was a full range speaker system large enough to not need a subwoofer. My old speakers were looking pretty bad after my daughters cats used them for scratching posts. I decided to replace them with cabinets that would look nice enough not to require grill cloth. My inspiration for the size of the cabinet and the driver layout was the Magico A3 speakers. The Magico A3 uses a pair of 7 inch woofers with the woofers at the lower portion of the front baffle and the midrange and tweeter at the top.

Driver Selection:
2 Dayton Audio ES180TiA-8 7″ woofers.
When the Dayton Audio ES180TiA drivers came out, I was very impressed with the specs. I noticed that Paul Kittinger got excellent results with these drivers in the “Clarinos”, and that AudioXpress had reviewed the ES180Ti drivers and seemed impressed.

Dayton Audio RS125-8 5″ midrange.
The Dayton Audio RS125-8 midrange was chosen for its extended and relatively smooth frequency response.

Fountek NeoCD3 ribbon tweeter
The Fountek NeoCD3 ribbon tweeter was chosen for the highs. The datasheet shows the frequency response of the Fountek NeoCD3 extending to 40KHz with good horizontal dispersion. Jim Holtz used this tweeter in the “Statements” and the “Mini Statements” with good results. In his words, “Cymbals sound like cymbals and the sound of triangles floats in the air… [ribbons] do a better job of realistically reproducing highs to my ears than any other type of tweeter. The highs are open and airy with great off-axis dispersion.” I agree!

Enclosure Design:
I chose a cabinet size of 36″H x 9.5″W * 13.5″D. For an AMLTL design, it needed to be constructed as a folded transmission line terminated with a port rather than a full opening. The 5″ midrange would be in a separate enclosure to isolate it from modulation by the woofers. The net internal volume is 1.86 cf (52.67 L).

According to the Accidental MLTL Technique you need to “design a vented bass reflex speaker enclosure using the default optimal case. That will give you the volume of the box and the vent cross sectional area and length.” Calculations for 2 ES180TiA woofers indicated a box volume of 1.8 cf tuned to 32 Hz would result in a QB3 alignment with a low frequency cut-off of 30 Hz.

A 2 inch diameter port cut to 3.15 inches was used. It was necessary to keep the port diameter small so the length of the port wouldn’t be too long to fit in the folded enclosure. Fortunately, no noticable port noise has been observed at loud listening levels. The first half of the enclosures were stuffed with 0.75 lbs. per cubic foot of polyester fiber and a 1.5 inch thick piece of convoluted foam was placed on the back wall of the enclosure directly behind the woofers, and another piece was placed at the top of the enclosure where the fold bends.

The midrange speaker is in a separate 0.04 cf sealed enclosure. This enclosure is 7.375″H x 5″W * 3″D. A layer of 1/2″ foam and a layer of 1/2″ felt were used to line midrange enclosure.

The ribbon tweeter is sealed and is in the main cabinet above the midrange.

Enclosure Assembly:
Two sheets of 4′ x 4′ 3/4 inch MDF were used to make the Coronas. A few pieces of 1/2 inch MDF were used in the interior for the folded transmission line. The folded transmission line creates a rock solid enclosure so no additional bracing was needed. The subenclosure for the 5″ midrange is made of 3/8″ wood. All pieces were cut using a circular saw and a straight edge as a guide.

I used Gorilla glue and small nails to assemble the back, the sides, and the top. Then assembled the ell shaped piece for the fold in the transmission line and glued it to the back and sides. Before attaching the front panel, I glued the midrange subenclosure to the back of the front panel. Then the front panel was attached and the speaker holes were cut out with a router. After this the hole for the port was cut using a hole saw, and the hole for the terminal cup was cut out using a jigsaw. The bottom is not installed at this time as it is the base for the speaker and is 1/4″ wider on all 4 sides than the speaker enclosure. The crossover will be attached to the base also. The base is removable to allow easy access to the crossover.

The enclosures, when fully assembled, were given a 1/2″ round over on the left and right sides of the front baffle and then walnut veneer was applied. No stain was used, but three coats of clear polyurethane were applied. Oil based polyurethane adds a slight amber color which I didn’t want, so water based was used.

Crossover Design:
XSIM software was used to design the crossover. All Parts Express Dayton drivers come with the FRD and ZMA files that XSIM needs to work with. The crossover rolls the woofers off at around 480 Hz which just happens to be the step frequency for speaker on a 9.5 inch baffle. The midrange crosses over to the tweeter at 3900 Hz. The minimum impedance is 3.5 Ohms at ~100 Hz which shouldn’t be a problem for most amps today. I gave the speakers a slight BBC dip between 1000 Hz and 5000 Hz, which many listeners prefer.

Tips & Tricks:
Trust your ears and spend a lot of time listening while tweaking your crossover network. It helps if you have a good selection of parts on hand when fine tuning your crossover.

Conclusion:
The completed speaker system looks beautiful and sounds excellent. The bass goes extremely low but is not over-emphasized. Live music is the standard by which a speaker should be measured and I think these speakers measure up quite well. We have a piano in the house, so I’m very familiar with the sound of live piano, and the Coronas reproduce piano recordings very well. My step-father is a jazz musician who plays the sax, and I have heard him practice in the living room many times. When listening to one of his CDs, it sounds like he is playing sax in the room with us.

My wife and I spent many hours listening to music and tweaking the crossover till we were satisfied the speakers sounded like live music. The crossovers went through 24 iterations until we were satisfied. Even with the help of software as good as XSIM, there is no substitute for the human ear.

About the Designer:
I have worked in the computer industry since the mid 1980s. I am currently working for NVIDIA in Failure Analysis of graphics chips. I have been with NVIDIA for 17 years. Building speakers has been a passion of mine since the 1970s. I inherited my passion for electronics and speaker building from my grandfather who was a Navy radar technician and an avid audiophile. Hearing his “Hifi” as he called it then, and the speakers he had built, was an experience I would never forget.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
David F Giroux

Project Category:
Furniture

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
1-8 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
I started with a vibrant 12×24″ metal print of fireworks over the Madison, Wis. city skyline — the “Shake the Lake” show over Lake Monona. This is my own photo, in a high-resolution professional print directly on a sheet of polished aluminum with1.5″ inset metal frame on the back. I installed a Dayton audio 15w/ch amp and 2 Dayton exciters behind the panel. Power switch, volume control, and aux audio input mounted discreetly on the side.

Print made by White House Custom Color

see video

Design Goals:
I wanted to conceal a stereo inside a piece of art. As a photographer and speaker builder, this is the convergence of my two hobbies!

Driver Selection:
Dayton Audio DAEX32EP-4 Thruster 32mm Exciter 40W 4 Ohm Model: DAEX32EP-4|Part # 295-230

Enclosure Design:
The Exciters are mounted directly to the back of the flat aluminum panel

Enclosure Assembly:
Exciters, amp bracket, and all wires glued or taped to the backside of the panel, concealed by the inset metal frame.

Crossover Design:
NA

Tips & Tricks:
Start with a really good photograph that people want to hang on the wall.

Conclusion:
This is more of a conversation piece than anything else. It’s a great photo with a party trick hidden inside.

About the Designer:
David Giroux is a full-time marketing professional, part-time photographer, aspiring speaker maker, beer snob, foodie, husband and father — Not in that order. See DaveGiroux.com

Project Parts List:

Designer:
4Matdesign

Project Category:
Loudspeakers/Cabinets

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
1-8 Hours

Project Cost:
Under $100

Project Description:
Paradigm 7se woofer replacement.

Design Goals:
Replace the the cheap ‘Replacement” drivers that had no surrounds left, to resurrect these classic 1980’s Canadian speakers I was given free in a CL deal that went sideways.

Driver Selection:
295-332

Enclosure Design:
Original factory

Enclosure Assembly:
Original factory

Crossover Design:
Original factory

Tips & Tricks:
Keep it simple but don’t cut corners. Had a thought to use zinc screws i had on hand, but took the time to run out and get the black screws.

Conclusion:
Did not want to invest more time and money than these deserved. Spent one hour popping the new 8″ woofers into the cases. Had to get #8 pan head screws at 5/8″ in black at the local hardware store. Plugged into a Yamaha RN303 I was selling and sounded so good they took the speakers too!

About the Designer:
Architect/Fabricator from New England that loves the 2 channel sound he “remembers” from his 1980’s childhood.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Ryan Clark

Project Category:
Bookshelf Speakers

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
1-8 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
I had a little play money and decided to give this kit a try based on great reviews. They are replacing some Polk T15 speakers, powered by a Yamaha R-N303 receiver.

Design Goals:
Just wanted great sounding bookshelf speakers for my bedroom for music. Wasn’t up for an extravagant finishing project so I just painted them white to match the bookshelves they sit on.

Driver Selection:
Kit –

Enclosure Design:
Prefab enclosure. I did use 1 sheet of ½” sonic barrier dampening which covered most of inside.

Enclosure Assembly:
Follow instructional video. Works perfectly.

Crossover Design:
One part of the instructional video I didn’t follow was using Gorilla glue to glob the crossover to the inside of the cabinet. What if I mis-wired it? I would be screwed trying to remove it to fix. Instead I used a pair of 3.5” x 5” perforated crossover boards ($4), secured the component with hot glue then zip tied some corrugated to the back. If I do another one of these kits, I will probably purchase the PC board for it you can buy on eBay. Also, in retrospect, I should have made one of the inductors vertical to avoid an electromagnetic interference, but I think they are close to 2 inches apart.

Tips & Tricks:
Make sure to consider the following items not including in the kit:
• Screws
• Terminals
• Crossover board (optional)
• Sonic barrier dampening (optional)
• Poly-fill / acousta-stuff
• Female connectors (0.205” and 0.110”) – way cheaper to get these on PE
Clamps – you will need at a minimum four 12” clamps. 6-8 is idea. You can get 12” screw clamps at Harbor Freight for $4 each. They should last you 100 years so a worthwhile investment.
Don’t fiddle to much with the crossover component leads. I bent one too many times laying out the crossover and it broke making it a tight reach to the next component.
Follow the enclosure gluing instructions.
I recommend dampening material for the inside walls, especially considering the ½” thickness. Because these speakers are so small, you will want to add this before gluing on the baffle as the woofer opening isn’t large enough to work through
I taped off the cabinet openings before doing the sanding to keep dust out of the cabinet.
Mark and drill the pilot holes prior to gluing all the panels on. This way you won’t have MDF dust in your speaker. Also, if you have a drill press you can get your pilot holes perfectly straight.
Finishing process:
1. after gluing added some wood filler to cover minor gaps
2. used palm sander with 80 grit, then 180
3. applied 1 coat of Kiltz primer
4. Hand sanded a little with 180
5. Applied 1 coat of interior latex paint
6. Stuffed with poly fill
7. Mounted components
8. Done!

Conclusion:
100% satisfied with this kit. I am blown away by how great it sounds. It was a fun and non-frustrating project. I would absolutely consider buying another kit for a gift or surround sound speakers. If I do another set, I will probably attempt a veneer or wrap the perimeter with 3/8” oak or something.

About the Designer:
I have been a want-a-be audiophile since I was a young teenager. I am just a guy that loves music (listening and making), movies, and building things out of wood. I still have my Infinity SM-62’s I bought out of a Crutchfield catalog in the early 90’s (at ~14 years old).

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Mark

Project Category:
Tower Speakers

Project Level:
Intermediate

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
I wanted to design a set of speakers that I could use without my sub and I had some veneer waiting for me to use up.

Design Goals:
I wanted pretty flat response down to 35 hz and all the way up to 20k. I wanted the drivers to clear my couch which they sit beside and I wanted to have some fun too.

Driver Selection:
I recently built the Amigas for a family member and enjoyed the sound of the RS-180 mids after they fully broke in. I prefer a slightly warmer sound, so I decided to go with dual RS-180P (295-375) drivers and the tried and true DC-28F (275-070) tweeters to balance out the high end.

Enclosure Design:
I wanted to try my hand at bending some plywood and make curved sides. I used two layers of 3/8 inch plywood glued together to provide the stiffness. The port is rectangular at the bottom to get a little more loading off the wall.

Enclosure Assembly:
having the flush-cut router bit made the frame pretty easy after I made the template. Bending the plywood was pretty time consuming and used a lot of wood glue. I used strap clamps to pull the plywood to the curve and used my nail gun and a lot of glue to secure it. After that, it was pretty standard.

Crossover Design:
I used X-sim to design the crossover with impedance correction and BSC to offset the 10″ wide front. I used l-pads on the tweeters for minor adjustments after they were in the room and broken in.

Tips & Tricks:
If you plan on bending wood, have a couple strap clamps handy and a nail gun ready to go. Before finishing with the veneer, leak check the seams. I used Audacity to run a lot of 20-100 hz signals to find and seal a few small leaks.
I have used the tweeters before and found that they are kind of sticky for a year or so, do not open them up in your dusty garage.

Conclusion:
I learned from the Amiga build that these mids need to be fully broken in. As these broke in, they really came to life. The vocals are superb and you can feel the bass in your chest. I’m really happy with the sound. I may re-finish them with a lighter veneer though, that is a lot of black.

About the Designer:
I’m an audio enthusiast who enjoys electronics and woodworking.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
Mc3DesignsbyMcGill

Project Category:
Bookshelf Speakers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
$100 – $500

Project Description:
First time making a speaker, although I have made several cutting boards.

Design Goals:
I initially had this type of a design in my head for quite a while. The concept actually came about from my girlfriend at the time, who really liked to play music in the bathroom. The mono speaker was because of space considerations of a small room.

Driver Selection:
I settled on this driver because of its wide spectrum and how well it paired with the tweeter on sound and looks.

Enclosure Design:
Basically its a cutting board hollowed out. There are about (I lost count) 14 2/3″ black walnut board stacked vertically and hollowed out.

Enclosure Assembly:
Lots of glue, and sanding which is never done. I used Minwax brand Dark Walnut stain with a tinted (Mixol Copper and Mixol Black) Varathane Clear Satin polyurethane finish. I found the Mixol tints at a guitar website. It was pretty cool coming up with my own custom tint. It actually has some metal flake look in certain lights.

Crossover Design:
I choose a Parts Express off the shelf one and confirmed the correct crossover with one of the techs at Parts Express. Kevin or Nick I can’t remember

Tips & Tricks:
Take your time.

Conclusion:
A fun little project that actually sounds really good for a mono speaker. I’ve worked with wood and finishing a fair bit, but between using reclaimed black walnut and trying to use a gloss urethane was a bit of a cluster. Satin definitely is the way to go for a less than pristine wood.

About the Designer:
I’ve built a few homes and have done a fair bit of finish work. Been into home theater for quite a while and appreciate a good sound system. Currently have a set of Paradigm Reference speakers which I love and a well love set of SVS barrel subs.

Project Parts List:

Designer:
ABoyd656

Project Category:
Bookshelf Speakers

Project Level:
Beginner

Project Time:
8-20 Hours

Project Cost:
Under $100

Project Description:
I built two enclosures around Tang Band W3-2141 drivers. The enclosures are .1ft3 each. I printed the port out of PETG. I also designed and printed a case for a KAB 2×30 amp. You can find this on thingiverse if interested, just search for Dayton KAB Case

Design Goals:
I wanted some good sounding speakers that would fit well on my bench at work. I wasn’t as concerned about appearances, as I knew they would get scratched up/dirty/used as a coaster…ect

Driver Selection:
264-956

Enclosure Design:
The enclosure was modeled in Speakerbox lite around a flat response.

Enclosure Assembly:
The enclosure is straight forward, it was cut from 5/8 pre-primed mdf from lowes.

Conclusion:
The W3s are great, I am very pleased overall with how they sound. For near field listening I haven’t felt the need to have a sub.

About the Designer:
I am an engineer specializing in industrial automation who enjoys building things more than actually using them.

Project Parts List: