DIY Sound Group The 893 & Volt 8 Build Thread

ah sorry, I was looking at the fusion 8 (re sensitivity)

anyway IMV 94dB or 98dB is not that important a difference unless you want to use a receiver to power them or are trying to drive them to extreme levels, IIRC you have a meaty ATi amp so you're not short of power (unless you want to sell that as part of the change of course)
 
Apologies if this isn't really relevant in this thread but why do most of the TD10M/TD12M speaker builds just go 2 way into a tweeter/CD. Is it purely because the TD drivers are so good? Easier to make?

Wondering given the potential improvements you mentioned that the little celestions or something similar aren't used by the DIY fraternity.
 
ah sorry, I was looking at the fusion 8 (re sensitivity)(unless you want to sell that as part of the change of course)

No chance! :)
 
Apologies if this isn't really relevant in this thread but why do most of the TD10M/TD12M speaker builds just go 2 way into a tweeter/CD. Is it purely because the TD drivers are so good? Easier to make?
by "most of the builds", do you mean builds on avs? if so, there aren't actually many distinct builds on there, it's mostly putting together diysg kits and subs and/or aiming at bang for buck. The sample of AE builds is even smaller because drivers take so long to arrive and they're much more expensive (so don't fit the bang for buck angle).

generally speaking though, I'd say cost (both in drivers and crossovers/amps) and difficulty (a 3 way is harder) are 2 major factors. If using a horn then it's also the case that bigger horn means the horn is covering more ground hence less need for a mid. This can often then become a coax cd on a really big horn or a mid horn under the upper frequency horn.
 
by "most of the builds", do you mean builds on avs? if so, there aren't actually many distinct builds on there, it's mostly putting together diysg kits and subs and/or aiming at bang for buck. The sample of AE builds is even smaller because drivers take so long to arrive and they're much more expensive (so don't fit the bang for buck angle).

generally speaking though, I'd say cost (both in drivers and crossovers/amps) and difficulty (a 3 way is harder) are 2 major factors. If using a horn then it's also the case that bigger horn means the horn is covering more ground hence less need for a mid. This can often then become a coax cd on a really big horn or a mid horn under the upper frequency horn.

Yeah just looking round the web, Diyaudio, AVS, HIFicircuit, other DIY sites, most designs seem to be 2 way that's all.

The celestion 4" drivers are also pretty cheap so was wondering why not used more often. Thanks that answers it.
 
Small Syns - diyAudio uses the celestion as well

remember that a lot of designs are american and a lot of audio companies are European (Celestion is British) hence things that cost not much here can be hard to get and/or expensive there

it is also the case that one of the big selling points of AE is they behave well over a fairly wide bandwidth though
 
After briefly flirting with the idea of selling these, I've more or less decided to rebuild them. First of all I'll rebuild the L/R and maybe the centre (but I'm not sure on that yet). I'll probably rebuild the Volt 8's also or may replace them with Volt 6's as I think the 8's are just too big.

This is what the L/C/R look like now except some of the mid's and woofers are damaged from the kids. In hindsight, it wasn't a good idea putting speakers like these in the sitting room with a 2 and 3 year old as they acted like a magnet for little fingers, chalk, pens and markers.

Wrps6hG.jpg


I'm in discussions with Erich on getting replacement speaker units and hopefully some baffles. If I can't get the baffles I may need to have them cloned if possible. The main reason I want new baffles is that I cut a corner of the tops and bottoms of the original and now I want them square to fit speaker grills. I've also slightly rounded the vertical edges. Perhaps I could repair them but they may never be right.

I'll rebuild as the original stand mounts rather than floor standers.

As for materials, I've found a wood working company that will essentially supply a flat pack. I send them the cut list and they'll cut all the pieces of wood I need. It's expensive but the cuts will be better than I can do myself. I'm going with Baltic Birch 36mm (2 x 18mm glued together) for all walls/sides and 18mm braces. Perhaps a 25mm dowel bracing the top and bottom.

I'm considering not staining, dying or painting the cabinets and leaving the natural plywood look. I will treat it somehow with oil or varnish/lacquer. The baffle will be painted if MDF but if I have to clone in Baltic Birch it may remain matural.

I believe the the original design cabinet was around 28" (711mm) x 10.25" (260mm) x 12" (305mm) which gave a volume of 40L. To achieve the same volume I'll need to build a 400mm depth so I'll build to 40L to 45L (about 450mm).

Those are my thoughts for now. Everything subject to change :D
 
Its been a while, is Erich still doing the kits, can't seem to find the site?
 
He's looking at re-introducing an updated version, though not any time soon.
 
Sorry, I thought you meant the 893.
 
Can we expect a new build thread in the near future? :)
No, still very happy with mine and probably wouldn't be able to sell them for much if I did want to change. But you know like to keep an eye on what's out there ;)
 
Here's perhaps a dumb question. Is baffle with calculated on the outer or inner face?

Considering the baffle on the 893's is 260mm and recommendation was to build with 3/4" (19mm) walls, should I increase the baffle width considering I'm building the cabinet 36mm thick? My plan was to build the speaker deeper to achieve the 40L.

In other words, was the crossover designed with a 260mm baffle (outer) or 222mm baffle (inner).
 
Edge diffraction is the thing that impacts the response, i.e outer in your terms. I don't think I would worry too much about a few cm though you can model it to see an approximation of the impact.

Why such thick walls btw?
 
Edge diffraction is the thing that impacts the response, i.e outer in your terms. I don't think I would worry too much about a few cm though you can model it to see an approximation of the impact.

Why such thick walls btw?

From a lot of reading on diyaudio it seems the thicker the walls, the more dead (if that's a term) the cabinet it. So why not build it thicker ans stronger while I'm rebuilding them. It probably won't hurt...

Just to decide to stick with the 260mm baffle width or go with 296mm.
 
From a lot of reading on diyaudio it seems the thicker the walls, the more dead (if that's a term) the cabinet it. So why not build it thicker ans stronger while I'm rebuilding them. It probably won't hurt...

Surely that's an inefficient way of adding rigidity? What it does add significantly is weight. I would have thought that a far more effective way would be to use dowels between opposing walls on the larger panels.
 
Practically speaking it can be quite difficult to brace a speaker (if the drivers are large relative to the baffle) but then that is one reason why you often find a thicker baffle on thinner walls.

Rigidity is one thing but for a speaker you would also be looking to damp any resonance as just pushing a resonant frequency higher is not going to help a full range speaker (hence the use of assorted cld techniques).

Personally I am sceptical any of this is audible for any decently constructed box but certainly lots of techniques to try out here.
 
FYI I found this website in France which seems to sell a huge range of speaker parts and accessories. Very reasonable shipping also (to Ireland anyway).


I've put in an order to see how it goes.
 
I think you guys are right and I've been completely over thinking/engineering the rebuild. I'll stick with 18mm Baltic Birch I think and perhaps add some additional braces.

Yesterday I ordered the following and have a shipment notification already:

6 new mids

A roll of speaker gasket

4 sheets of damping cotton

2 x 2 sheets of damping "wool"

A pack of bituminous board (because why not?). I'll need another pack though.
 
OK, I've had prices back from the wood company. It's going to cost €185 for the two "flat packs" in 18mm Baltic Birch (BB/BB) including new baffles (the CNC routing alone is over 33% of the total cost).

Between myself and my brother (an AutoCAD technician), we've measured and drawn the 893 baffle and can supply it to the wood cutters. I'm certain that it won't be perfect but close enough that I should be able to make work.
 

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