When you look at a speaker page, think about what you can learn that will help you build your own:
- What kind of sound was the designer looking for?
- Which drivers did they use, and why did they pick them?
- What are the crossover slopes, and how complex/expensive do they look? Try to understand how the circuit works.
- What does the enclosure look like: Sealed, vented, dipole? (You can enter the driver and box parameters into Unibox to see what kind of bass response the designer was aiming for.)
Simulations/Programs
- Speaker Workshop (free crossover design program): You may be interested in this one if you want to play with speaker designs from home.
- Unibox: Thiele/Small bass enclosure modeling.
- Cara: Room acoustics modeling, unfortunately not free.
Manufacturers/Suppliers
- Parts Express: Our friendly sponsor, they carry bazillions of drivers and electronic components.
- Madisound: Another supplier with a different selection of drivers.
- Solen
- Digikey (Electronic parts)
- Acoustic Elegance: Used to be Stryke. Also a DIY woofer outlet.
- GR Research: Small supplier of drivers and DIY/commercial designs.
Speaker Projects
- Single driver TQWT speakers: This is an interesting type of enclosure design, do you want to try it?
- Dennis Murphy's page: Several easy to build speakers.
- Nice modern 8" 2-way.
- Using waveguide on tweeter.
- Dipole speakers by Linkwitz (ever heard of Linkwitz Riley?).
- Infinite-baffle Tempest.
Amplifier and Other Projects
- Lots of ideas with PCBs available
- Easy IC based amplifier kits
- Leach Amplifier
- Pass DIY (Nelson Pass is a famous amplifier designer and founder of Pass Labs, a very high end audio company)
- CD-player clock mod