Building DIY Loudspeakers - Tuning and Sound Quality

Tuning the Boxes for Optimum Frequency Response

Warren, the author of the Perfect Box program, brought his test equipment over and helped me tune the boxes to 26 Hz. I used a rear port only for aesthetic reasons. After recently learning how much sound is actually generated through the port, I would have used a front port instead.

The drivers were flush mounted to further reduce diffraction from the flange which was a little tricky with the Formica. I used gold plated binding posts and 10 gauge oxygen free copper wire to connect the crossovers and drivers. I've been amazed to see people use big expensive speaker cables when their mass produced speakers use thin, higher resistance 16 or 18 gauge wire internally.

Design Risks

There were several risks involved with designing and building my own speakers. The high level risk included a large monetary investment in drivers and materials plus all of the hours of labor for speakers that I have never heard. Additionally, a low level risk, is the uncertainty of whether these drivers would compliment each other or not. Also, with DIY speakers, most people including myself do not have all of the proper test equipment for taking measurements to verify all of the modeling. Some speaker companies are known to use test equipment along with an anechoic chamber which is pretty unlikely in ones home. While computer modeling is a must for the design it does not guarantee good sound nor does it account for personal tastes. One more risk to mention was that I put my trust in Madisound to properly model my drivers in LEAP for the crossover design but I am not sure if they used all of the parameters I supplied. One such parameter is the center to center distance between the drivers.

The Benefits of the DIY Speaker Approach

The biggest benefit is that I did it myself. It has been very rewarding to play these speakers for friends and all of them have been very impressed. Another great benefit is the price. I spent just under $1000 at the time for speakers that sounded like others in the range of $3000 to $4000. This project was don e before Dynaudio started making their own complete speakers and now that I see what that cost is, I am very happy with my decision. A less noticed benefit is that if I have problems with the speaker, which I haven't, I am the authorized repair center. The only part I may have to ship would be the driver itself, not the whole speaker.

Sound Quality and Performance

When the time came to first listen to them I was very anxious. The entire project from design to finish took a year and a half and now it was time to turn them on. I put on some familiar jazz and I was so pleasantly surprised. I have already mentioned that the imaging and sound staging is excellent. The clarity and detail are also exceptional. The quality I was not expecting was their openness. These speakers are so open for standard driver speakers they are on the verge of sounding like electrostatic speakers. They do have a couple of down sides to them though. I compared my speakers to a friend's Scan Speak two-way kit that he bought and built. The two were very close in sound. Mine had better imaging but his had smoother midrange which is much more important for male vocals. Although the bass plays down to 26 Hz and it is fairly tight, it doesn't have a lot of punch to it. I am in the process of investigating this weakness but it hasn't stopped me from enjoying them.

As I mentioned before I don 't consider myself an expert at speaker design but I do have a good ear for sound. I have been listening to these speakers for over five years and so far I have not heard any other speakers to encourage me to replace mine. I'm sure that I will continue to enjoy these for several years to come. If you are interested in building your own but are not ready for all of the research, there are many good kits you can start with at many different price ranges.

Enjoy!