A good pair of hi-fi speakers

[white exec]

I know several of us here enjoy music, hi-fi and a good audio-visual set-up.

I've been putting together sound and speaker systems for yonks now, and have a reasonably good main system at home (KEF Reference, Audiolab, 4kTV, etc), and have used this for some time to listen/watch tv with some decent sound - not least BBC Proms, Blue Planet, and all sorts.

To give the big system a bit of a rest from daily use (Classic fm most of the day), I decided to build a couple of not-too-large speakers for all this routine stuff. Wanted to keep cost down, but also to achieve really good quality sound.

The result is in this PDF document, which gives all the details of construction and parts...
https://mega.nz/#!HhoQWYKL!cp9kO-5HXjz- ... kvxb20A0Kc.

Cost was under €90 all-in. All the main woodwork is in 19mm MDF, with dimensions of the cabinet and ports taken from web-published formulæ to match the chosen drive units.

It is unusual for piezo tweeters to be used in better-quality systems, on account of their reputation for harshness. However, a couple of web authors have reviewed this, and come up with a simple crossover circuit to smooth out the HF transition, and to present a better load on the amplifier. This simple circuit replaces the single resistor traditionally used to limit the piezo output.

I must say, the proof was always going to be in the pudding, and the finished units offer a really rewarding stereo image, an open sound with plenty of presence, but not fatiguing, and some really excellent bass - not something you'd obviously expect from 5" drivers.

The units sound far better than the cost would suggest. For cd, broadcast, online and dvd video, I find it possible to completely forget what it is that's actually relaying the sound: it's just there, and very enjoyable - listen to the sound, not the system! Cinema levels of sound (increasingly used in good tv drama) power through nicely . . . and all I'm driving the pair with is a 12+12Wrms amp.

Essential to lift the units off the floor (one suggestion in the paper), and not park them in a corner. Open-space jobbies they are.

I hope someone else might have some fun and enjoyment from this little project.

[Gibbo2286]

Ebay for me I've got a very old Amstrad Mx300 audio stack and a couple of Monitor speakers £20 the lot, does all I want...………….Philistine

Plays 45s, LPs and cassettes + radio.

[GiveMeABreak]

OMG - That looks like something off the conveyor belt from 'The Generation Game'

[CitroJim]

Excellent Chris I've built a few speaker systems in my time and have always been delighted with the results...

These days, sadly, I rarely listen to music as whatever has happened in my brain has done damage to my appreciation of music and I no longer enjoy it so nowadays it's mainly the spoken word I listen to where good speakers are not of the highest priority...

On those occasions I do enjoy a bit of music I still have my Leak Sandwiches and my B&Ws depending upon which amp I'm listening to...

They still sound jolly good to my addled ears - especially with a nice vinyl source

[Zelandeth]

It's astonishing what you can do with a properly designed enclosure.

I made up a set of bookshelf speakers for a friend a few years ago using bog standard automotive drivers, and that sounded as good as anything I've bought off the shelf.

My main system is still using a pair of Pioneer CS-585 speakers with an automotive sub stuffed away in the corner just helping round out the bottom end (my logic being that a sub is a sub, seems to do the job just fine), and it sounds just as good as the multi thousand quid setup a friend has.

The party trick is still being able to make the sofa walk across the (concrete) floor if I really crank it up, though there's really no need.

I think that's what sets apart a really decent system, the ability to make the sound fully immersive even at relatively low volumes.

Elsewhere in the house I'm increasingly using the little portable Bluetooth speaker though. I still want to know what witchcraft Bose use to get such a big sound from such a tiny device. I know it's a case of very detailed driver characterisation, good quality materials and extremely clever DSP, but it's still impressive.

It's always fun seeing people looking around trying to figure out where the music is coming from before they realise this is the source.

Not as though it's a small space that's being filled either.

[Hell Razor5543]

Bose use rare earth magnets, which can grab hold of iron more ferociously than a starving crocodile grabbing hold of a wildebeest!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare-earth_magnet

[EDC5]

I've got a pair of Q Acoustic bookshelf speakers.



Pretty good from what I can tell (I'm no audiophile) and they look nice and smart too.

[CitroJim]

Zel, your little red Bose thing is unbelievable!!!

Bose use rare earth magnets, which can grab hold of iron more ferociously than a starving crocodile grabbing hold of a wildebeest!

James, I love the simile - one of the best I've heard in a long time!