Loudspeaker Building
Home speaker building can be rewarding and gratifying whether it is a one time undertaking or a full blown hobby. Warning: Many who tackle a loudspeaker building project for the first time become hooked and develop a serious dependency on do-it-yourself (DIY) speaker building. These people can often have speakers in every room of their home. A large percentage of the loudspeaker building community believes assembling a speaker system from various components and a DIY cabinet or enclosure will offer a better sound quality than a retail speaker costing an equal amount. The enjoyment of creating speakers is another factor which draws many to the hobby. Building speaker enclosures allows the builder to tailor the finish of the cabinet to suit their taste. The more advanced loudspeaker building hobbyist can tweak the crossover to reach a specific design goal. A more pronounce midbass may be desired, for example. The experienced builder can alter the response of the speaker to suit their desired outcome.
The scope of this writing is not to be a tutorial for speaker building. Basic electronics and beyond, woodworking skills, plus other abilities will serve the DIYer in assembling a speaker. The internet has many forums and sites which will be of help to a beginner. The best path for learning the hobby may be to read some of the books that are dedicated to the subject. Many hobbyist recommend Speaker Building 201. Besides learning the concepts for home speaker building, you will have eleven tested and proven speaker designs included in the book to choose from.
A vital part of a speaker is its crossover network. If a speaker has multiple drivers, in most all cases electronic components are used to divide the audio frequencies and send them to the appropriate driver. For instance, tweeters receive high frequencies, mid-range drivers receive the middle frequencies and the bass driver receives the lows. Designing the crossover network to perform with the selected drivers and its parameters is at the heart of creating a quality speaker many enthusiasts believe. One final thing to add, loudspeaker building need not be an endeavor which entails constructing everything from scratch. Speaker kits can be purchased. If you would rather avoid building a speaker cabinet, speaker kits that include the enclosures may be your best option. Kits can also provide pre-assembled crossover networks. If you are uncomfortable with your soldering skills, a kit with a pre-assembled crossover may be an option also.
Tags: Electronics, Loudspeaker, Speaker Building