New Line Array, Advice and Input wanted

swegyptian

I will have them do everything, including the braces, flush mount recesses, and rounding of the front of the cabinet on each side. I am using 1" so they can round the front with a decent radius, without needing to involve the side panel. I still need to wait until I have the drivers to do the actual box design, as the driver volume is not listed on the website.

ben62670

swegyptian wrote: »

I will have them do everything, including the braces, flush mount recesses, and rounding of the front of the cabinet on each side. I am using 1" so they can round the front with a decent radius, without needing to involve the side panel. I still need to wait until I have the drivers to do the actual box design, as the driver volume is not listed on the website.

If you are using the 4 ohm version the volume in box is next to nil due to the cone being far forward. Also the 4's are not shielded.

swegyptian

There isn't a whole lot of mass there with the smaller magnet structure I guess. I don't know that the cones are different, but the lack of a bucking magnet sure makes it smaller. I think the volume of the enclosure should be .21 cubic feet or something similar, but I will go oversize like we discussed.

I actually wanted the non-shielded version, as I don't see a CRT display in my future, they weigh less, and end up being more efficient.

swegyptian

Well, I am now waiting on a nice big box from parts express!

swegyptian

I got all of my goodies from PE. Does anyone want to help me with figuring out how big to make the box based on the specs? Is there a good online calculator, or should I get a book or some software for the best results?

Systems

According to your first post you are only using them from 100hz and above so I assume you will be using a sealed box.
Here is a simple box calculator program you can try.http://www.mhsoft.nl/default1.asp

If you want something more involved try the free downloadable Win ISD http://www.linearteam.dk/default.aspx?pageid=winisd

swegyptian

Thanks, I'll give those a shot. And yes, I am going all sealed.

Systems

swegyptian wrote: »

And yes, I am going all sealed.

You probably already know this but you should aim for a box volume that will result in a Q of about .7.This will give you maximum flat response without any peaking in the bass response.

swegyptian

Thanks for the tips. I used .707, and it gave me roughly .21 cubes per driver. Per Ben's advice and a bit of my personal experience, I will be adding somewhere near 20% to the overall volume. It will be somewhere near 2.2ish cubic feet, but they need to be at least 60" tall. I don't really know how to guess, but at this point I hope the bracing takes up a good amount of my volume.

And regarding the Q, I'm pretty sure the design should be down 3db at something like 94hz, and the resonant frequency is pretty close too. Maybe I should raise the crossover frequency a bit, or increase the volume of the enclosure in an attempt to get rid of the spike that could occur. While right now I plan on using these with 2 12" subs, I might want to go full range in the future. Something to think about I guess.

nik_martinov

Those "Dayton" look nice and might even have decent Thiele/Small but you really have to be careful with them because the final result is not great. I would suggest either purchasing something more respectable (Scanspeak/Vifa/Seas or especially Fostex) and staying away from less expensive drivers. I know it is a question of price but it is also a question of sound quality.
Check out the quality of the build on these Scanspeak subs that will I will be using to build the low freq. part of a satellite system. The rest of the drivers are Dynaudio.
http://picasaweb.google.com/nmartinov/Scanspeak26W10Subwoofers
This Aura sub was used to make a subwoofer:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nmartinov/AuraNS125134A12Suboowfer
http://picasaweb.google.com/nmartinov/Subwoofer
Note the satellites on all the way on top, that is what will be used in conjunction with the new Scanspeak low freq speakers:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nmartinov/OurCollection/photo#5076455979724020066

Best of luck.

P.S. Make sure you use proper software to design the enclosures:
http://www.linearx.com/products/software/LEAP5/LEAP5_01.htm

swegyptian

I know they are not the best, but cost certainly is a factor.

swegyptian

Thanks nik, but we are in two different worlds. More than anything I am building a really large, fun, rocking speakers. I care about fidelity, but not as much for this application. I wouldn't mind spening $100+ on four drivers, but I just can't do it when I am buying 26 drivers.

This is also my first speaker project. I don't want to go over the top just yet. I am just getting my feet wet here. Thanks for the tips on th software too, but again it's just not something I can do. $800-$1500 on software just can't happen. Maybe in the future with a different project, but not on this one.