Sound advice for a comp based stereo

U

uzor

Supreme [H]ardness
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So I'm at the local GoodWill the other day and I see an old console radio (kinda like this one, but much less ugly). I picked it up for cheap to mod into an mp3 server. Basic idea is that instead of hiding the mp3 server in a corner and running it to something else, why not make it a centerpiece unto itself.

I have most of the computer pieces here already (scavenged from my heap), aside from an M-Audio Revo for the pc, but wanted some input on a few points. The built in speakers are utter crap. I plan on pulling the guts out of the sides and replacing them.

1. Should I build my own custom speakers/boxes to mount into the space, or should I buy something prebuilt that is about the right size and mod them into the space available?

2. If I do the former, how would I go about building speaker cabinets and what is good to drive them, or should I not try, and just buy some to put in (in that case, what would you all suggest)?

3. In either event, what should I use (receiver or otherwise) to drive the built in speakers? Keep in mind that this is just going to be used for music, not movies or anything, so I would think that 2.1 is the most I am going to need.


Things to consider:
- I am on a budget, so price is important.
- I want to keep the unit as self contained as possible (will mod a 15" lcd, touchpad and keyboard into the top compartment for I/O).
- Aside from some new paint, and new fabric to cover the speakers, I want to keep the unit looking stock.

 
My opinion:

Rebuild the speakers in it, make it up to today's standards (measure out the cabinets for each side, and you can get some speaker repair shops to make customer crossovers for you when you buty the drivers there)

Then build in your receiver and MP3 server, and put it right dead center in the wall and have a retro-modern music center.

Something classic, but not classic sounding.


I loved those old consoles...I'm now half tempted to get one for my bedroom to mod up :cool:
 
That's more or less what I had in mind. I measured the speaker opening, and I have about 7.5" x 15" to work with. Given that, does anyone have any woofer/tweeter size recommendations? Did some searching for DIY speakers, and there's about 613000 pages....Anyone have a favorite? Not trying to sound whiney, but it really is an entire world that I know nothing about...just need a place to start.

Thanks

::edit:: Or is there another forum that someone can direct me to that would be a little better suited to speaker design and construction?

 
The open part, as I mentioned above, is about 7.5" wide by 15" tall. On the back side, the section the speakers are on is 15.5" high by 12" wide, but as it is now, the speakers are not separated from the main part of the console. I have about 13" of depth to work with. The current woofer is 8" and the tweeter is 3". Let me find my camera, and I will take a few pics and post them up here.

 
(sorry in advance for the double post)

Here is the front of the unit with the top open. I will be replacing this top with one that opens all the way across the console, instead of having the split.

front.jpg


Here is what the speaker section looks like from the front. Yes, the fabric will be changing.

cabinet_face.jpg


Here is an overall of the back.

back.jpg


Closeup of the left side.

left.jpg


Closeup of the right side.

right.jpg


And here's what's in the shelfy bit on the right side.

right_shelf.jpg



 
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some tan grille cloth might work well with that...but it's a pity the old cloth is going to go (it looks like it has some watermarks on it, but i'm not sure).

Overall very beautiful console right there.

If you felt adventurous, partsexpress, madisound, mcm electronics, and meniscus audio (all googleable) have quality speaker building parts for sale, as well as DIY crossover parts, damping foam, etc.

Myself, I'm fond of partsexpress since their site is easy to navigate andd they have pretty decent selection. Their house brand is Dayton....they aren't the greatest, but their price is rather nice.
 
Well, the cloth is actually in good condition still. I was mostly going to replace it to try to update the look a little bit. I suppose we can see how it turns out with that fabric still. Thanks for the leads, I'll look into them tomorrow or Monday when I have a little more time. Assuming I go with an 8" and a 3" like it has now, you have any idea what I might expect to pay for some decent drivers, from one of those sites?

One more thing. Do you think it would be better to separate the speaker sections internally from the rest of the enclosure, or to leave it all open as it is now? Or does it not really matter unless it is ported?

 
depends on the qts of your drivers...most of them will require an enclosure though.


hmm, an 8" and 3" you could do a very nice woofer/tweeter setup. I thought that woofer was a 12" at first.

Here is my idea for low buck drivers:

8" : http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=295-310
Reason I picked just one was price...8" woofers of good sound quality tend to not be found under the $40 price range usually...I've been impressed with Dayton's stuff for bang for the buck, especially their 6-1/2" that I am using in my current speakers....so their standard 8" can't be that bad ;)

tweeter choices (based on a 3" cutout, most of these should be top-mounted) :
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&PartNumber=275-070&DID=7
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=264-800
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=275-100
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=277-408


and if you wanted to get funky with your tweeters and go external-mount.... http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=297-409

I just went with partsexpress for this search since I'm familiar with their site...so searching was easy for me.

edit: btw the tweeter won't care if iit's in an enclosure or not, it's the woofer that will...and I suspect it will be smaller than the availble space in there...but you need to be sure what woofer you are going to use before hand to determine the enclosure's internal volume.
 
I hate you.

I got to looking around at Parts Express, at subs and things, thinking about mounting a sub to suppliment the mains that I was looking at already. Was thinking about how I could possibly mount the plate amp so that it was out of sight while still being able to adjust fairly easily. Almost escaped, then I saw this . This would allow me to mount the plate amp internally or to the back with a re-routed power cord (internaly routed to a *good* power strip that will act as the power cord for the unit, and still have sontrol of the sub via the secondary control plate, to be mounted in the top.

Damn my thin wallet!! :(

 
Hehe, audio isn't a cheap hobby man, I'll tell you that much. But it can be done somewhat affordably.


Yeah the plate amps are very popular, I've been tempted to build a few subs for a while...but I don't think apartment hunting due to eviction should become my next hobby...

....my BR-1s are doing a good enough job at that :D :p
 
I have an old house.

Double-wall brick.

Enormous lot.

:D

 
by the way, you could also go for a rack mount power strip.

I use one in my HT setup, made my Leviton, it has 10 outlets in the back and two on front. I just keep it under my TV stand, where it hides the wire mess, while still giving ready outlets for the times I do need a VCR or my friend insists on bringing his X-Box over.

I got mine for $5 at a company auction....they were closing down shop, so they had all kinds of used crap to sell...I only could wish they had some speakers...
 
So, how much breathing room on the front does a sub need, anyhow? (i.e. If I put this on feet and mounted the sub down, would it be effective? If I mounted it internally and ported it out the left and right sides? Somethign else?)

BTW, is anyone aside from mustang_steve even reading this?

 
For subs, downfiring is a popular choice. You probably need to make sure you have about 2-3" of clearance for that, and keep the same amount of clearance for the ports on the rear, so they have enough breathing room.

And I'm reading this thread, now and then :D
 
Cool. Thanks. Nice to know Steve and I aren't alone in here. Is there a rule of thumb with regards to sub size and port size (somewhere between 8" and 12" for the sub depending on how much space I end up having in the cabinet)?
 
In general so long as you have plenty of open air around the back of your amp you are all good.

Otherwise, get a few 120mm low rpm fans to get that puppy cold. Your choice at that point of AC or DC...DC would be easier to keep quiet.


port size and length are determined by what tuning you wish to achieve. Go to the librarry or bookstore and look for the loudspeaker cookbook by Vance Dickason...it's a pretty good book covering the concepts of various speaker designs...it's good stuff to know, even if you don't plan on building speakers, since once you know how to make one, it's easier to spot bad designs when shopping for some.
 
I'll look into it.

Ok, on to a different subject for a little bit. I have been wanting to upgrade my current/old stereo receiver (JVC rx-717, but don't bother googling it, there's next to no information about it online... Dolby Pro Logic, 5.1, 105watt per channel, etc.), to something that supports the newer sound formats found on movies these days (that's mostly what it gets used for currently).

Question arises: Would moving my current receiver over to this project to drive the speakers sound better/work better than getting someting new/cheap like this (or something affordable from ebay), or would they be about the same, since I won't be using most of the HT/surround features that my current receiver has?

If it would make enough of a difference that I ought to move it over, and spend my money on a new receiver for the HT setup, what does everyone think of something like this? I've heard good things about Onkyo lately,anyways, and besides, the have 7 of the top 10 slots at ecost in terms of popularity right now (1 sony, and 2 denon's slipped in there).

If not, does anyone have a favorite cheap receiver that will do what I need it to?

Thanks

::edit:: BTW, scroll back up for a minute, and let's see if anyone can figure out what kind of wood that looks to be made out of, so I can match it right when I replace the top.
 
looks almost like light or medium oak. Could be open-pore walnut though, since that was a popular finish...the side of it do look like oak, but the underside of that lid looked like my sansui speakers, which are open-pore walnut....pretty tough to be sure man.

I do reccomend taking the smaller of the two doors with you when you look for a replacement...or a small trim piece you can put back on. An actual lumber yard or carpenter would be the best place to go ask. On the other side you can buy a few cans of stain, and a pine board...use a bit of the stain on part of the board and match...that's how I done it.

Any of those stereo receivers will do it well. Just remeberr since you are running an 8", to be sure to use a receiver rated 20-20khz...since an 8 can hit pretty deep if power handling is sacrificed.
 
Got our tax refund. Going to see if I can talk the missus into the new HT receiver and using the hand-me-down instead of buying cheap specifically for this project. I know the JVC will do exactly what I need it to.

Wish me luck...

BTW, any reason a receiver wouldn't like being mounted vertically (so the controls are flush with the top surface under the lid)?

 
If your worried about cooling, you can always take the top cover off while it's vertical mounted (although it is warranty voiding, but has that ever stopped any of us :p )

The advantage to that is having more open air around it, possibly giving it better cooling.

My grandfather used to mess with his console system all the time...and he often hadd the amp insidne his running without the cover....but again he was running single ended triodes (tube gear), and some rather nice drivers....all hidden away stealthily in a stock looking GE console stereo...man I loved that system, I wish I could have gotten it from him instead of him selling it...by that time it was FM multiplex, Casette, Reel-to-reel, and Phonograph all in the same unit...it was pretty slick how he got the cassette deck in there as well as making the preamp fit with all that other crap....the record holder was long gone...he had a couple of bookshelves for that.

...on that onte, once I got into swing music, I really wished he didn't get rid of those with teh stereo as well :(

...damn the advent of CDs to hell...since that was why he sold them... :mad:
 
Sounds like your grandfather was an early early modder. :cool:

BTW, this is at least 10 years our of it's warranty, so it's all good. I was more wondering about internal components liking a certain orientation.
 
Pretty much all you have to worry about is airflow over the heatsink keeping your FETs cool. The sink on it is fine, don't mess with it, but removing that cover will help since most of these units are designed to be used upright, with vents going up.

If you find the thing thermalling, just get a nice quiet 12v 120mm fan and use it as a circualtion fan in there.


As far as my gramps...well him andmy dad both worked as engineers in audio companies...so they had a few tricks up their sleeves. Grandfather was more into amp design, my dad was more into driver design...I'm more into "I'd rather buy the stuff" design :p
 
threadnecro5cprd7.jpg


After way too long of gathering dust, I think I'm finally ready to start buying components and getting started on this.




Here's what I'm thinking of getting (aside from some grille cloth, polyfill, and other uninteresting bits):

Tweeters (x2): http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=275-075&CFID=6044330&CFTOKEN=32503534

Woofers (x2): http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/psho...295-100&ctab=10&CFID=6044330&CFTOKEN=32503534

Crossovers (x2): http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=260-142&CFID=6044330&CFTOKEN=32503534

Subwoofer (x1): http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/psho...295-550&ctab=10&CFID=6044330&CFTOKEN=32503534

The part I'm having trouble deciding on, is the plate amp to pair with the sub. Here are the ones I was looking at:

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&CATID=43&ObjectGroup_ID=505

Back when I started, there was a plate amp that had a "sub-panel"/remote thing that could be mounted elsewhere, and would have been really handy, but that has since been discontinued, and since I've not really come across a lot of plate amp reviews, I'm not sure what to go with.

Anyone with relevant knowledge have any input on amp or other choices? Anything you would change? Don't want to go too expensive, since I have other components to purchase for this project as well.

Thanks in advance!

 
Are you going to run the subwoofer in line with the speakers via the high level inputs, or will you be using a low-level signal plugged into the RCA jacks?
 
Not sure yet. I've never really been sure which one is the preferable connection method. The receiver that I'm currently looking at does have a sub out, and pretty much all the plate amps have pass throughs as well. Realizing beforehand that this question has probably incited riots in some online communities, I'll ask: Which method is preferable?

 
The low level connection is more standard nowadays, and since the receiver has it, why not use it? The high level inputs are really only for two-channel old-school folks.

If you're using the low-level input, I'd go with the Bash class-d amp. (Part Number 300-750)

They are very cool running amps, apparently.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread/t-73604.html

By the by, what receiver are you going to use?
 
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