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Last night, as things are wont to happen, I kept playing more stuff louder and louder. Things were really impressive (to me) toward the end of "Flim & The BBs -Big Notes", when they kind of pull out all the stops. The recorded levels go way up (the VU meters were peaking) and the bass was fantastic. In fact I was really happy until I heard the Fostexes going "crinkle-crunch". 1mm of Xmax ain't what it used to be, even at 97 dB/W. No damage done, but now I'm thinking there's an MTM arangement in my future.
I watched 'Lord of the Rings/Return of the King' the other night and the SPL was peaking around 115dB. It sounded so good that the wife didn't even complain. This using 87 cent 4 inch drivers in my mains, and they have only a millimeter XMax. But I've got eight of them per side.
Are those the Part's Express close-out drivers? Seems like a lot of experimentation is going on with those. I did have an alternative thought driving to work this morning - I'll see how a higher crossover point works - maybe take some of the load of the mids. I'm afraid what might happen if I start contemplating arrays next...
Yes, total cost $60 for the pair including the lumber.
Well, see, that's not exactly what I meant....
I could multiply $0.87 by 8 and get something less than $10 ;) You are in the professional ranks now, which means that you've acquired the ability to look at these things somewhat dispassionately. On the other hand, I’m a life long obsessive-compulsive with tendencies toward audiophilia nervosa. Consequently, refocusing on arrays could lead to rather negative financial consequences. For some, this is a hobby; for me, it's closer to a sickness.
when you consider what a pair of arrays can do for a build price less than that of a single Fostex driver. The main advantage to DIY is how good a sound you can get for, in this case, peanuts. Plus: no complaint over size from the wife, which is worth at least ten times the speaker cost. BTW, I built these as my personal HT speakers to get something that could match the SPL of my newest horn-loaded sub. My prior speakers had been in place since 1993, the ones before than I built in 1978, so I'm not exactly prone to changing them a lot. On the other hand I seldom get more than three years at best from my electric bass rig before I tire of it and come up with something better.
Quote:"It sounded so good that the wife didn't even complain." Are you sure the poor woman still have her full hearing ability? After all, she did spent a lot of time with you... ;-) Btw., where did you get those cheapo 4" drivers, and what brand are they? Same with the HF-units... What amp are you using for surround?
Those drivers came from Parts Express, both the midwoofs and tweeters. I think they still have some. Check in their specials listing. They're shielded Chinese drivers; some batches have Pioneer logo. The tweeters are Onkyo auto sound, they have a post for coaxial mounting on an auto driver that you chop off. I used 8 midwoofs per side as I can run 4 ohms no problem, and the 38" TL length is fine for the Fc of 100 Hz. If you need 8 ohms you can go with 16 drivers, but with an Fs of 105Hz you still won't get below 80 Hz, so you'll need a sub in either case. I use three homebuilt stereo amps for the mains and surrounds and a plate amp on my sub.