Datagor Practical Electronics Magazine. Do-it-yourself acoustic system: selection of speakers, acoustic design, manufacturing

Before a detailed consideration of the problem, we will outline the range of tasks; knowing the final goal, it will be easier to choose the right direction. Making speaker systems with your own hands is a rare occurrence. Practiced by professionals and novice musicians when store-bought options are not satisfactory. The problem arises of integrating into furniture or high-quality listening to existing media. These are typical examples that can be solved using a set of generally accepted methods. We'll take a look at it. We do not recommend scrolling diagonally through the speaker system, delve into it!

Acoustic system design

There is no chance of making an acoustic system yourself without understanding the theory. Music lovers should know that the biological species Homo Sapiens hears sound vibrations with frequencies of 16-20,000 Hz through the inner ear. When it comes to classical masterpieces, the variation is high. The lower edge is 40 Hz, the upper edge is 20,000 Hz (20 kHz). The physical meaning of this fact is that not all speakers are capable of reproducing the full spectrum at once. Relatively slow frequencies are better handled by massive subwoofers, and squeaking at the lower edge is reproduced by smaller speakers. It is clear that for most people this means nothing. And even if part of the signal disappears or is not reproduced, no one will notice it.

We believe that those who set the goal of making their own acoustic system should critically evaluate the sound. It will be useful to know that a suitable speaker has two or more speakers in order to be able to reflect the sound of a wide swath of the audible spectrum. But even in complex systems there is only one subwoofer. This is due to the fact that low frequencies cause the environment to vibrate, even penetrating through walls. It becomes unclear where exactly the bass is coming from. Consequently, there is only one low-frequency speaker – a subwoofer. But as for other things, a person will confidently say from which direction this or that special effect came (the ultrasound beam is blocked by the palm).

In connection with the above, we will divide the acoustic systems:

Sound in Mono format is unpopular, so we avoid touching on historical excursions.
Stereo sound is provided by two channels. Both contain low and high frequencies. Equal speakers equipped with a pair of speakers (bass and squeak) are better suited.
Surround Sound is distinguished by the presence of a larger number of channels, creating a surround sound effect. We avoid getting carried away with subtleties; traditionally, 5 speakers plus a subwoofer convey the range to music lovers. The design is varied. Research is still underway to improve the quality of acoustic transmission. The traditional arrangement is as follows: in the four corners of the room (roughly speaking) there is a speaker, the subwoofer is on the floor to the left or in the center, the front speaker is placed under the TV. The latter is in any case equipped with two or more speakers.

It is important to create the correct enclosure for each speaker. Low frequencies will require a wooden resonator, but for the upper end of the range it doesn’t matter. In the first case, the sides of the box serve as additional emitters. You will find a video demonstrating the overall dimensions corresponding to the wavelengths of low frequencies according to science, practically all that remains is to copy ready-made designs; the topic is devoid of relevant literature.

The range of tasks is outlined, readers understand that a homemade acoustic system is built with the following elements:

a set of frequency speakers according to the number of channels;
plywood, veneer, body boards;
decorative elements, paint, varnish, stain.

Acoustics design

Initially, select the number of columns, type, location. Obviously, producing more channels than a home theater has is an unwise tactical move. A cassette recorder will only need two speakers. At least six buildings will be released for the home theater (there will be more speakers). According to the needs, accessories are built into the furniture, the quality of low frequency reproduction is poor. Now the question of choosing speakers: in the publication by Naidenko and Karpov the nomenclature is given:

Low frequencies - CA21RE (H397) head with an 8-inch fit.
Mid range - MP14RCY/P (H522) 5" head.
High frequencies – head 27TDC (H1149) by 27 mm.

They presented the basic principles of designing acoustic systems, proposed an electrical circuit of a filter that cuts the flow into two parts (a list of three subranges is given above), and gave the name of purchased speakers that solve the problem of creating two stereo speakers. We avoid repetition; readers can take the trouble to look through the section and find specific titles.

The next question will be the filter. We believe that National Semiconductor will not be offended if we screenshot the drawing of the Ridico translation amplifier. The figure shows an active filter with a power supply of +15, -15 volts, 5 identical microcircuits (operational amplifiers), the cutoff frequency of the subbands is calculated by the formula shown in the image (duplicated in text):

P – number Pi, known to schoolchildren (3.14); R, C – resistor and capacitance values. In the figure, R = 24 kOhm, C is silent.

Active filter powered by electric current

Taking into account the capabilities of the selected speakers, the reader will be able to select a parameter. The characteristics of the speaker's playback band are taken, the overlap junction between them is found, and the cutoff frequency is placed there. Thanks to the formula, we calculate the value of the capacitance. Avoid touching the resistance value, reason: it can (disputed fact) set the operating point of the amplifier, the transmission coefficient. On the frequency response given in the translation, which we omit, the limit is 1 kHz. Let's calculate the capacity of the specified case:

C = 1/2P Rf = 1/2 x 3.14 x 24000 x 1000 = 6.6 pF.

It’s not that big of a capacitance; it’s selected based on the maximum permissible voltage. In a circuit with sources of +15 and -15 V, it is unlikely that the nominal value exceeds the total level (30 volts), take a breakdown voltage (the reference book will help) of at least 50 volts. Do not try to install DC electrolytic capacitors; the circuit has a chance of blowing up. There is no point in looking for the original circuit diagram of the LM833 chip due to Sisyphean labor. Some readers will find a replacement chip that is different... we hope for your understanding.

Regarding the relatively small capacitance of the capacitors (retail and total), the description of the filter says: due to the low impedance of the heads without active components, the ratings would have to be increased. Naturally causing the appearance of distortions due to the presence of electrolytic capacitors and coils with a ferromagnetic core. Feel free to move the range division boundary, the total throughput remains the same.

Passive filters will be assembled with your own hands by anyone trained in soldering in a school physics course. As a last resort, enlist the help of Gonorovsky; there is no better description of the intricacies of the passage of signals through radio-electronic lines that have nonlinear properties. The presented material interested the authors in low and high frequency filters. Those wishing to divide the signal into three parts should read works that reveal the basis of bandpass filters. The maximum permissible (or breakdown) voltage will be scanty, the nominal value will become significant. Matching the mentioned electrolytic capacitors are capacitances with a nominal value of tens of microfarads (three orders of magnitude higher than those used by an active filter).

Beginners are concerned about the issue of obtaining a voltage of +15, -15 V to power speaker systems. Wind a transformer (an example was given, PC program Trans50Hz), equip it with a full-wave rectifier (diode bridge), filter, enjoy. Finally, buy an active or passive filter. This thing is called a crossover, carefully select the speakers, correlate the ranges more accurately with the filter parameters.

For passive speaker crossovers, you will find many calculators on the Internet (http://ccs.exl.info/calc_cr.html). The calculation program takes the input impedances of the speakers and the division frequency as the initial numbers. Enter the data, the robot program will quickly provide the values of capacitances and inductances. On the page below, specify the filter type (Bessel, Butterworth, Linkwitz-Riley). In our opinion, this is a task for the pros. The above active stage is formed by 2nd order Butterworth filters (rate of frequency response reduction 12 dB per octave). It concerns the frequency response (frequency response) of the system, understandable only to professionals. When in doubt, choose the golden mean. Literally check the third circle (Bessel).

Acoustics of computer speakers

I happened to watch a video on YouTube: a young man announced that he would make an acoustic system with his own hands. The boy is talented: he ripped out the speakers of his personal computer - well, none at all - brought out an amplifier with a regulator, placed it in a matchbox (speaker system housing). Computer speakers are notorious for poor bass response. The devices themselves are small, lightweight, and secondly, the bourgeoisie saves on materials. Where does bass come from in a speaker system? The young man took... read on!

The most expensive component of a music center. Hi-end acoustics cost less than a cheap apartment. Repairing and assembling speakers is a good business.

The low-frequency amplifier of the speaker system will be assembled by an advanced radio amateur; no Kulibins are needed. The volume control knob sticks out of the matchbox, the input is on one side, the output is on the other. The speakers of the old sound system are small. The young man got hold of an old loudspeaker, not of fabulous size, but solid. From a Soviet-era speaker system.

To prevent the sound from disturbing the air with squeaking, the clever youth nailed together one-inch boards into a box. The speaker of the old acoustic system was placed in the size of a mailbox, moved, as is done by the manufacturers of modern home theater subwoofers. I was too lazy to decorate the inside of the speaker with soundproofing. Anyone can use batting or other similar material for the acoustic system. Small speakers are placed inside oblong boxes that just contain a loudspeaker at the end. The proud youth connected one channel of the speaker system to two small speakers, the second to one large one. Works.

The young man is a fabulous fellow, he doesn’t drink in the gateway, like his peers, he doesn’t spoil future brides in his free time, he’s busy with business. As one acquaintance said: “The younger generation is forgiven for a lack of knowledge and experience, not an excess of arrogance, strengthened by indifference.”

Improvements

We decided to improve the method; we sincerely hope that the addition will help make the acoustic system itself somewhat better. Problem? The concept was invented by radio engineers and creators of acoustic systems - frequency. The vibration of the Universe has a frequency. They say that it is even inherent in a person’s aura. It’s not for nothing that every good speaker can accommodate several speakers. Large ones are for low frequencies, bass; others - for medium and high. Not only the size, but also their structure is different. We have already discussed this issue and refer those interested to the written reviews, which provide a classification of acoustic systems and reveal the operating principles of the most popular ones.

Computer scientists know the system buzzer, which operates via a BIOS interrupt, which seems to be capable of producing one sound, but talented programmers wrote elaborate melodies on it, even with an attempt at digital synthesis and voice reproduction. However, such a tweeter cannot produce bass if desired.

Why this conversation... A large speaker should not just be adapted to one of the channels, but should be given a specialization for bass. As you know, most modern compositions (We don’t take Sound Around) are designed for two channels (stereo playback). It turns out that two identical speakers (small) play the same notes, this makes little sense. At the same time, from the same channel, the bass is lost, and the high frequencies die on a large speaker. What should I do? We propose to introduce passive bandpass filters into the circuit, which will help split the flow into two parts. We take the diagram from a foreign publication for the simple reason that it was the first one that caught our eye. Here is a link to the original site chegdomyn.narod.ru. The radio amateur copied it from the book, we apologize to the author for not indicating the original source. This happens for the simple reason that he is unknown to us.

So, here's the picture. The words Woofer and Tweeter immediately catch your eye. As you might guess, this is, respectively, a subwoofer for low frequencies and a speaker for high frequencies. The range of musical works is covered from 50-20000 Hz, with the subwoofer accounting for the low frequency band. Radio amateurs themselves can calculate the bandwidth using well-known formulas; for comparison, A of the first octave, as is known, is 440 Hz. We believe that such a division is suitable for our case. I would just like to find two large speakers, one for each channel. Let's look at the diagram...

Not exactly a musical scheme. In the position occupied by the system, the voice is filtered. Range 300-3000 Hz. The switch is signed Narrow, translated as a strip. To get Wide playback, lower the terminals. Music fans may want to throw out the Narrow bandpass filter; those who like to surf Skype should avoid a hasty decision. The circuit will completely eliminate the microphone loop effect, which is known everywhere: a high-pitched buzz due to over-amplification (positive feedback). A valuable effect, even a military man knows the difficulties of using a speakerphone. The owner of the laptop is aware...

To eliminate the feedback effect, study the issue, find at what frequency the system resonates, cut off the excess with a filter. Very comfortably. Regarding popular music, we turn off the microphone, move it away from the speakers (in the case of karaoke), and start singing. We will leave the high and low pass filters unchanged, the products were calculated by unknown Western friends. For those who have difficulty reading foreign drawings, we explain that the diagram depicts (the Narrow bandpass filter is discarded):

Capacitance 4 µF.
Non-inductive resistances R1, R2 with a nominal value of 2.4 Ohm, 20 Ohm.
Inductance (coil) 0.27 mH.
Resistance R3 8 Ohms.
Capacitor C4 17 uF.

The speakers must match. Advice from this site. The subwoofer will be MSM 1853, the tweeter (the word has not been written off) will be PE 270-175. You can calculate the bandwidth yourself. The capital letter Ω means kOhm - no big deal, change the value. We remind you that the capacitances of parallel-connected capacitors add up, like series-connected resistors. In case it is difficult to get suitable denominations. It is unlikely that you will be able to make speakers with your own hands; it is realistic to obtain small resistance values. Do not use coils; we cut out plates of nichrome or similar alloys. After manufacturing, the resistor is varnished, a large current is not planned, and the element should not be protected.

It is easier to wind inductors yourself. It is logical to use an online calculator, by setting the capacitance, we will get the parameters: number of turns, diameter, core material, core thickness. Let's give an example, avoiding being unfounded. We visit Yandex, type something like “online inductance calculator”. We receive a number of output responses. We choose the site we like, and begin to think about how to wind the inductance of an acoustic system with a nominal value of 0.27 mH. We liked the site coil32.narod.ru, let's get started.

Initial information: inductance 0.27 mH, frame diameter 15 mm, PEL wire 0.2, winding length 40 millimeters.

The question immediately arises, seeing the calculator, where to get the nominal diameter of the insulated wire... We worked hard, found a table on the website servomotors.ru, taken from the reference book, which we present in the review, consider it for your health. The diameter of the copper is 0.2 mm, the insulated core is 0.225 mm. We boldly feed the values to the calculator, calculating the required values.

The result was a two-layer coil with 226 turns. The length of the wire was 10.88 meters with a resistance of about 6 ohms. The main parameters have been found, we begin to wind. The homemade speaker system is made in a hand-made housing; there is room to attach a filter. We connect a tweeter to one output, and a subwoofer to the other. A few words about amplification. It may happen that the amplifier stage will not support four speakers. Each circuit is characterized by a certain load capacity; you cannot jump higher. The speaker system is designed with a fixed headroom in mind; to match the load, an emitter follower is often used. The cascade that makes the circuit work, full impact on any speaker.

Parting words for beginning designers

We believe that we have helped readers understand how to properly design an acoustic system. Passive elements (capacitors, resistors, inductors) can be obtained and manufactured by anyone. All that remains is to assemble the speaker system body with your own hands. And we believe that this will not be the case. It is important to understand that music is formed by a range of frequencies that are cut off by improper manufacturing of the device. When you are planning to make a speaker system, think about it and look for the components. It is important to convey the magnificence of the melody, there will be a strong confidence: the work was not in vain. The speaker system will last a long time and will give you joy.

We believe that readers will enjoy making speaker systems with their own hands. The coming time is unique. Believe me, at the beginning of the 20th century it was impossible to obtain tons of information every day. Training resulted in hard, painstaking work. I had to rummage through the dusty shelves of libraries. Enjoy the Internet. Stradivarius impregnated the wood of his violins with a unique composition. Modern violinists continue to choose Italian examples. Think about it, 30 years have passed, the cart has been left behind.

The current generation knows the brands of adhesives and the names of materials. Necessities are sold in stores. The USSR took away the abundance of people, providing them with relative stability. Today, advantage is described by the ability to invent unique ways to earn money. A self-taught professional will cut down cabbages everywhere.

Dedicated to the acoustics of a room, we found out that any room is a kind of resonator that dramatically affects the sound character of the system. Now it’s time to talk directly about the sources of this very sound, that is, about speaker systems.

In order to properly understand the processes occurring in a box on the wall of which one or more speakers are mounted, you need to thoughtfully read a couple of books, each of which contains more formulas than the entire school physics course. I won’t go into such depths, so this material is not worth it as a comprehensive analysis or guide to building audiophile speakers. However, I really hope that it will help beginning music lovers (and some chronic ones too) to properly navigate the variety of acoustic solutions, each of which its developers, of course, call the only correct one.

For some time after the invention of the electrodynamic emitter with a conical diffuser (okay, just dynamics) in 1924, its wooden frame served primarily decorative and protective functions. This is understandable - after many years of listening to records through mica membranes and gramophone bells, the sound of the new device, even without any acoustic modifications, seemed simply the apotheosis of euphony.

Gramophone membranes were most often made of aluminum or mica

However, recording technologies quickly improved and it became clear that it was extremely problematic to more or less plausibly reproduce the audible range with a speaker simply mounted on some kind of stand. The fact is that the dynamic head, left to its own devices, is in a state of acoustic short circuit. That is, the waves from the front and rear surfaces of the diffuser, emitted, of course, in antiphase, seamlessly overlap each other, which most sadly affects the efficiency of operation, and primarily on the transmission of bass.

By the way, in the course of this story I will most often talk about low frequencies, since their reproduction is a key point in the operation of any speaker cabinet. Due to the short length of the emitted waves, HF drivers do not need to interact with the internal volume of the speaker at all, and are most often completely isolated from it.

Soul wide open

The easiest way to separate the front radiation of a speaker from the rear is to mount it on a shield as large as possible. From this simple idea, the first acoustic systems were born, which were a box with an open back wall, since for compactness the edges of the shield were simply taken and bent at a right angle. However, in terms of bass reproduction, the success of such designs was not very impressive. In addition to the imperfection of the body, the problem was also in the suspension travel of the diffusers, which was very small by modern standards. To somehow get out of the situation, speakers were used as large as possible, capable of developing acceptable sound pressure with a small vibration amplitude.

PureAudioProject Trio 15TB with 15" LF drivers on three-layer bamboo panels

Despite the seeming primitiveness of such designs, they also had some advantages, and they were so specific and interesting that adherents of open speakers have not died out to this day.

To begin with, the absence of any obstacles in the path of sound waves is the best way to increase sensitivity. This point is especially valuable for audiophile tube amplifiers, especially single-ended or feedbackless ones. Large-diameter paper diffusers, even at a power of about four to five watts, are capable of creating a rather impressive, and at the same time surprisingly open and free sound.

With a height of 1.2 m in the world of open acoustics, the Jamo R907 are considered almost compact

As for the rear radiation, in order not to introduce distortion into the direct sound, it must arrive to the listener with a noticeable delay (over 12-15 ms) - in this case, its influence is felt as a slight reverberation, only adding air to the sound and expanding the musical space . The subtlety is that to create this very “noticeable delay”, the speakers, of course, must be located at a fair distance from the walls. In addition, the large area of the front panel and the impressive size of the bass drivers have a corresponding impact on the overall dimensions of the speakers. In a word, owners of small and even medium-sized living rooms, please do not worry.

By the way, a special case of open systems is acoustics built on electrostatic emitters. Only due to the almost weightless diaphragm of a large area, in addition to all the advantages described above, electrostats add the ability to delicately transmit even the sharpest dynamic contrasts, and due to the lack of signal separation in the midrange and treble zones, they also have enviable timbral accuracy.

Open design

Pros: High-end open-back speakers are a great way to get a real kick out of listening to purist tube single-ended speakers.

Minuses: It’s better to forget about fat compression bass right away. The entire sound path must be subordinated to the idea of open acoustics, and the speakers themselves will have to be chosen from an extremely limited number of proposals.

Locked in a box

With the increase in power and improvement in amplifier parameters, the ultra-high sensitivity of acoustics has ceased to be the main stumbling block, but the problems of uneven frequency response, and especially the correct reproduction of bass, have become even more pressing.

A giant step towards progress in this direction was made in 1954 by the American engineer Edgar Vilchur. He patented a closed-type speaker system, and it was by no means a gimmick in the style of today's patent trolls.

Edgar Vilchur's patent application for speakers is closed

By that time, the bass reflex had already been invented and, of course, a speaker was also tried on a box with a bottom more than once, but nothing good came of it. Due to the elasticity of the enclosed volume of air, it was necessary either to lose a significant part of the energy of the diffuser, or to make the body prohibitively large in order to reduce the pressure gradient. Vilchur decided to turn evil into good. He greatly reduced the elasticity of the suspension, thus transferring control of the movement of the diffuser to the volume of air - a spring that is much more linear and stable than a corrugation or rubber ring.

In a closed box, the diffuser's movements are controlled by air - unlike paper or rubber, it does not age or wear out

In this way, it was possible not only to completely get rid of the acoustic short circuit and increase the output at low frequencies, but also to significantly smooth out the frequency response throughout its entire length. However, a minor point also emerged. It turned out that damping with a closed volume of air leads to an increase in the resonant frequency of the moving system and a sharp deterioration in the reproduction of frequencies below this threshold. To combat this problem, it was necessary to increase the mass of the diffuser, which logically led to a decrease in sensitivity. Plus, the absorption of almost half of the acoustic energy inside the “black box” could not but contribute to the reduction in sound pressure. In a word, the new type of speakers required amplifiers of quite serious power. Fortunately, at that time they already existed.

Subwoofer SVS SB13-Ultra with closed acoustic design

Today, closed design is used mostly in subwoofers, especially in those that claim serious musical performance. The fact is that for home theaters, energetic development of the lowest bass is often more important than dynamic and phase accuracy throughout the low-frequency range. But by combining a relatively compact closed sub with decent satellites, you can achieve a much more correct sound - albeit not filled with super-deep bass, but extremely fast, collected and clear. All of the above can also be attributed to full-range speakers, “closed” models of which occasionally appear on the market.

Closed box

Pros: Exemplary attack speed and low-frequency resolution. Relatively compact design.

Minuses: A fairly powerful amplifier is required. Ultra-deep bass on the verge of infrasound is very difficult to achieve.

The case is a pipe

Another way to curb anti-phase rear radiation was the phase inverter, in Russian literally “phase reversal”. Most often it is a hollow tube mounted on the front or rear surface of the housing. The principle of operation is clear from the name and is simple: since it is difficult and irrational to get rid of radiation from the back side of the diffuser, it means that it needs to be synchronized in phase with the front waves and used for the benefit of listeners.

The amplitude and phase of air movement in the phase inverter change depending on the oscillation frequency of the diffuser

In fact, a pipe with air is an independent oscillatory system that receives impulse from the movement of air inside the housing. Possessing a very specific resonance frequency, the bass reflex works more efficiently the closer the diffuser oscillations are to its tuning frequency. Sound waves of higher frequencies simply do not have time to move the air in the pipe, and although lower frequencies do, the lower they are, the more the phase of the bass reflex radiation shifts, and, accordingly, its efficiency. When the phase rotation reaches 180 degrees, the tunnel begins to frankly and very effectively muffle the sound of the bass driver. This is what explains the very steep drop in speaker sound pressure below the bass reflex tuning frequency - 24 dB/oct.

In the fight against turbulent overtones, bass reflex designers are constantly experimenting

In a closed box, by the way, at frequencies below the resonant frequency response decay is much smoother - 12 dB/oct. However, unlike a blank box, a box with a pipe in the side wall does not force designers to go to any lengths to minimize the resonant frequency of the speaker itself, which is quite troublesome and expensive. Setting up a bass reflex tunnel is much easier - just select its internal volume. This is, however, in theory. In practice, as always, unforeseen difficulties arise, for example, at high volume levels, the air exiting the hole can make a noise almost like the wind in a stove chimney. In addition, the inertia of the system often causes a drop in attack speed and deterioration of articulation in the bass. In a word, the scope for experimentation and optimization before the designers of bass reflex systems is simply incredible.

Bass reflex

Pros: Energetic low-frequency response, the ability to reproduce the deepest bass, relative simplicity and low cost of production (with considerable complexity of calculation).

Minuses: In most implementations it is inferior to a closed box in terms of attack speed and clarity of articulation.

Let's do without a reel

Attempts to get rid of the genetic problems of the bass reflex, and at the same time save on the volume of the cabinet without compromising the depth of the bass, gave the developers the idea of replacing the hollow pipe with a membrane driven by vibrations of the same working volume of air. Simply put, another low-frequency driver was installed in a closed box, only without a magnet and voice coil.

A passive radiator can double the effective surface of the diffuser, or even triple it if they are installed in pairs in one column

The design was called “passive radiator”, which is often not very correctly translated from English as “passive radiator”. Unlike a subwoofer pipe, a passive diffuser takes up much less space in the case, is not so critical to the location, and besides, like the air inside a closed box, it dampens the leading driver, smoothing its frequency response.

Passive radiator subwoofer REL S/5. The main driver is directed to the floor

Another plus is that with an increase in the area of the radiating surface, to achieve the desired sound pressure, a smaller amplitude of vibrations is required, which means that the consequences of nonlinear operation of the suspension are reduced. Both diffusers vibrate in phase, and the resonant frequency of the free membrane is adjusted by precise adjustment of the mass - a weight is simply glued to it.

Passive radiator

Pros: Compact design with impressive bass depth. Lack of bass-reflex overtones.

Minuses: An increase in the mass of emitting elements leads to an increase in transient distortions and a slower impulse response.

Exit from the maze

Acoustics, armed with bass reflexes and passive radiators, reproduce deep bass thanks to resonators operating through the mediation of air inside the speakers. However, who said that the volume of the speaker cannot play the role of a low-frequency emitter in itself? Of course it can, and the corresponding design is called an acoustic labyrinth. In essence, it is a waveguide with a length of half or a quarter of the wavelength at which it is planned to achieve resonance of the system. In other words, the design is adjusted to the lower limit of the speaker frequency range. Of course, using a full-wavelength waveguide would be even more efficient, but then for a frequency of, say, 30 Hz, it would have to be made 11 meters long.

The acoustic labyrinth is a favorite design among DIY acousticians. But if you wish, the case of the most intricate shape can be ordered ready-made

In order to fit even a structure twice as compact into a column of reasonable dimensions, partitions are installed in the housing to form the most compact curved waveguide, with a cross section approximately equal to the area of the diffuser.

The labyrinth differs from the bass reflex primarily in its less “resonant” (that is, not accentuated at a certain frequency) sound. The relatively low speed and laminarity of air movement in a wide waveguide prevents the occurrence of turbulence, which, as we remember, generates unwanted overtones. In addition, in this case the driver is free from compression, which increases the resonant frequency, because its rear radiation encounters virtually no obstacles.

Scheme for calculating the body at dbdynamixaudio.com

There is an opinion that acoustic labyrinths create fewer problems with standing waves in the room. However, with the slightest miscalculations in development or manufacturing, standing waves can arise in the waveguide itself, which, unlike a bass reflex, has a much more complex structure of resonances.

In general, it must be said that competent calculation and fine-tuning of an acoustic labyrinth are very difficult and labor-intensive processes. It is for this reason that this type of case is rarely found, and only in speakers of a very serious price level.

Acoustic labyrinth

Pros: Not only good response, but also high tonal accuracy of the bass.

Minuses: Serious dimensions, very high complexity (read - cost) of creating a properly functioning structure.

Hey, on the ferry!

The horn is the oldest and, perhaps, the most provocative type of acoustic design. It looks cool, if not shocking, it sounds bright, and at times... In old films, characters sometimes shout something into each other's mouthpieces, and the characteristic coloring of such a sound has long become a meme in both the music and film worlds.

Avantgarde Acoustics Trio with 2.25m Basshorn XD horn array

Of course, today's acoustics have moved very far from the tin funnel with a handle, but the principle of operation is still the same - the horn increases the air resistance for better coordination with the relatively high mechanical resistance of the moving speaker system. Thus, its efficiency increases, and at the same time a clear directionality of radiation is formed. Unlike all previously described designs, the horn is most often used in high-frequency speaker sections. The reason is simple - its cross-section increases exponentially, and the lower the reproduced frequency, the larger the size of the output hole should be - already at 60 Hz a bell with a diameter of 1.8 m will be required. It is clear that such monstrous designs are more suitable for stadium concerts, where they really can be found periodically.

The main trump card of adherents of horn playback is that acoustic amplification allows, for a given sound output, to reduce the membrane stroke, and therefore increase sensitivity and improve musical resolution. Yes, yes, again a nod to the owners of single-ended tube circuits. In addition, with proper calculation, bells can play the role of acoustic filters, sharply cutting off sound outside their band and allowing you to limit yourself to the simplest, and therefore introduce minimal distortion, electric crossovers, and sometimes even do without them.

Realhorns systems - special acoustics for special occasions

Skeptics never tire of reminding us of the characteristic horn coloring, which is especially noticeable on vocals and gives it a characteristic nasal quality. It’s really not easy to overcome this problem, although judging by the way the best examples of High-End horns play, it’s quite possible.

Horn

Pros: High acoustic efficiency, which means excellent sensitivity and good musical resolution of the system.

Minuses: Characteristic, difficult-to-remove sound coloration, non-childish sizes of mid- and especially low-frequency structures.

Circles on the water

It is with this analogy that it is easiest to describe the nature of the radiation of counter-aperture acoustic systems, first developed in the Soviet Union in the 80s of the last century. The principle of operation is non-trivial: a pair of identical speakers are mounted so that their diffusers are located opposite each other in a horizontal plane and move symmetrically, either compressing or decompressing the air layer. As a result, annular air waves are created that diverge evenly in all directions. Moreover, the characteristics of these waves during their propagation are minimally distorted, and their energy decays slowly - in proportion to the distance, and not its square, as in the case of conventional speakers.

Duevel Sirius combines elements of horn and counter-aperture designs

In addition to long-range and omnidirectionality, counter-aperture systems are interesting due to their surprisingly wide vertical dispersion (about 30 degrees versus standard 4-8 degrees), as well as the absence of the Doppler effect. For speakers, it manifests itself in signal beats caused by a constant change in the distance from the sound source to the listener due to vibrations of the diffuser. True, the actual audibility of these distortions still causes a lot of controversy.

The mutual penetration of the concentric sound fields of the right and left speakers creates a very wide and uniform zone of surround perception, that is, in essence, the issue of precise positioning of the speakers relative to the listener becomes irrelevant.

Italian-Russian counter-aperture acoustics Bolzano Villetri

A characteristic feature of counter-aperture is that the sound coming to the listener from virtually all directions, although it creates an impressive presence effect, cannot fully convey information about the sound stage. Hence the stories from listeners about the feeling of a piano flying around the room and other wonders of virtual spaces.

Counterperture

Pros: A wide zone of spectacular volumetric perception, naturalistic timbres thanks to the non-trivial use of wave acoustic effects.

Minuses: The acoustic space is noticeably different from the sound stage conceived when recording the phonogram.

And others...

If you think that this is the end of the list of speaker design options, then you greatly underestimate the design enthusiasm of electroacoustic speakers. I described only the most popular solutions, leaving behind the scenes a close relative of the labyrinth - the transmission line, the bandpass resonator, the housing with the acoustic resistance panel, the load pipes...

Nautilus from Bowers & Wilkins is one of the most unusual, expensive and reputable speaker systems. Design type - loading pipes

This kind of exoticism is quite rare, but sometimes it materializes in a design with a truly unique sound. And sometimes not. The main thing is not to forget that masterpieces, like mediocrity, are found in all designs, no matter what the ideologists of a particular brand say.

Gramophone membranes were most often made of aluminum or mica

Soul wide open

PureAudioProject Trio 15TB with 15" LF drivers on three-layer bamboo panels

Despite the seeming primitiveness of such designs, they also had some advantages, and they were so specific and interesting that adherents of open speakers have not died out to this day.

With a height of 1.2 m in the world of open acoustics, the Jamo R907 are considered almost compact

Open design

Pros: High-end open-back speakers are a great way to get a real kick out of listening to purist tube single-ended speakers.

Locked in a box

Edgar Vilchur's patent application for speakers is closed

In a closed box, the diffuser's movements are controlled by air - unlike paper or rubber, it does not age or wear out

Subwoofer SVS SB13-Ultra with closed acoustic design

Closed box

Pros: Exemplary attack speed and low-frequency resolution. Relatively compact design.

Minuses: A fairly powerful amplifier is required. Ultra-deep bass on the verge of infrasound is very difficult to achieve.

The case is a pipe

The amplitude and phase of air movement in the phase inverter change depending on the oscillation frequency of the diffuser

In the fight against turbulent overtones, bass reflex designers are constantly experimenting

Bass reflex

Pros: Energetic low-frequency response, the ability to reproduce the deepest bass, relative simplicity and low cost of production (with considerable complexity of calculation).

Minuses: In most implementations it is inferior to a closed box in terms of attack speed and clarity of articulation.

Let's do without a reel

A passive radiator can double the effective surface of the diffuser, or even triple it if they are installed in pairs in one column

Passive radiator subwoofer REL S/5. The main driver is directed to the floor

Passive radiator

Pros: Compact design with impressive bass depth. Lack of bass-reflex overtones.

Minuses: An increase in the mass of emitting elements leads to an increase in transient distortions and a slower impulse response.

Exit from the maze

The acoustic labyrinth is a favorite design among DIY acousticians. But if you wish, the case of the most intricate shape can be ordered ready-made

Scheme for calculating the body at dbdynamixaudio.com

Acoustic labyrinth

Pros: Not only good response, but also high tonal accuracy of the bass.

Minuses: Serious dimensions, very high complexity (read - cost) of creating a properly functioning structure.

Hey, on the ferry!

Avantgarde Acoustics Trio with 2.25m Basshorn XD horn array

Realhorns systems - special acoustics for special occasions

Horn

Pros: High acoustic efficiency, which means excellent sensitivity and good musical resolution of the system.

Minuses: Characteristic, difficult-to-remove sound coloration, non-childish sizes of mid- and especially low-frequency structures.

Circles on the water

Duevel Sirius combines elements of horn and counter-aperture designs

Italian-Russian counter-aperture acoustics Bolzano Villetri

Counterperture

Pros: A wide zone of spectacular volumetric perception, naturalistic timbres thanks to the non-trivial use of wave acoustic effects.

Minuses: The acoustic space is noticeably different from the sound stage conceived when recording the phonogram.

And others...

Nautilus from Bowers & Wilkins is one of the most unusual, expensive and reputable speaker systems. Design type - loading pipes

Prepared based on materials from the magazine "Stereo & Video", June 2016.

Unfortunately, not every one of us can afford to have a high-quality speaker system in the house. Now even the cheapest option will cost at least 10 thousand rubles. However, why not buy low-quality speakers that make a squeaking sound? If you are so eager to have your own in your home, you can make it yourself.

Moreover, all suitable parts and elements can be purchased almost anywhere, and their cost will certainly not be 10 thousand rubles. How to do it yourself? You will learn about this from our article today.

Preparing tools

So, during the work we will need the following materials and tools:

screwdriver;
sheet of chipboard or MDF (for making the speaker system housing);
marker;
jigsaw;
400 W PC power supply;
radio;
Bulgarian;
a pair of acoustic speakers;
furniture screws and self-tapping screws;
sealant (it is best to use silicone based);
voltmeter and glue.

Before assembling, first check the operation of the radio and find out whether it can be powered or not. It is also necessary to test the speakers for sound quality. After this, you can safely begin manufacturing the housing and other elements of the speaker system.

Case manufacturing

As walls for the column, you can use a regular sheet of MDF or chipboard. In this case, it is unacceptable to use plywood, since according to its characteristics it is very flexible and produces a strong resonance. When making a housing for the speaker system, also take into account the fact that the more air remains inside the box, the softer the bass will be. Therefore, leave as much free space as possible, but everything should be in moderation (otherwise such speakers will simply be impossible to transport).

Place the shelf so that the maximum amount of air reaches the speakers. Next, mark the places for cutting with a marker. Now you can safely cut a sheet of chipboard with a jigsaw. We also note that the edges of the cut parts of the tree should be carefully aligned. To do this, use a small construction grinder. Please note that it can work with several discs - for metal and wood. We need the latter option, since when processing such materials, the cutting element of the first type simply wears out and even smokes. Experts recommend using a petal circle.

Now the matter remains small. On the body, mark places for screwing in furniture screws and use a screwdriver to screw them in completely. In the case of screws, first make markings for them and drill through holes. That's it, the housing for the speaker system has been successfully manufactured.

Wall fasteners

Emphasis should be placed on the strength of the wall fasteners. Don't skimp on screws and self-tapping screws. The design of the speaker housing should be as strong and durable as possible. If the number of screws is insufficient, the system walls will rattle heavily under heavy load, thereby only worsening the sound quality.

Thorough assembly

How do you make a three-lane with your own hands? After you have made the case (the so-called “monoblock”), you can begin to thoroughly assemble the structure. Here it is best to use a cordless screwdriver with a 4mm hexagon to tighten the screws. Remember that inside the speaker its own sound load is distributed from minimum to maximum - bottom wall, top, front and side.

How to do it yourself next? At the next stage, the joints should be treated with silicone sealant. This is necessary in order to prevent excess from penetrating out of the case through the cracks. Thus, the level of music playback will become even better. How then do you make an acoustic system with your own hands? After lubricating all the cracks with sealant, you will need to install the speakers and radio. The latter is best purchased assembled. The speakers, together with the radio, are installed through holes made in the bottom wall of the monoblock.

When everything is ready, the final design should look like this: on the back of the monoblock there is a power supply, two speakers on the sides (with each of them located in a separate column) and a car radio in the middle. Making speaker systems with your own hands occurs in a certain order of actions - first the power supply is mounted, and then the radio tape recorder. This will make it much more convenient for you to screw fasteners. But at this stage, the PC has not yet been completely assembled. Next, you will need to reinforce the corners. We will tell you about this in the next section.

How to make a speaker system with your own hands? Strengthening corners

The whole point of the work is to paste over certain parts of the monoblock and then install square or triangular glazing beads on them. It is not necessary to use Moment as an adhesive. Regular PVA will do the job quite well. Before applying glue to the surface of the material, make sure that it is dry and that its surface is free of cracks and bends.

What needs to be done in order for the power supply to work?

To do this, you will need to put a jumper on the wide, large connector (in other words, short it). Here it is enough to use a regular paper clip. Use it to connect two wires (green to black) and check the functionality of the device with a voltmeter.

To ensure that these elements have greater conductivity, after installing the contact, thoroughly solder their connection points. Now insert the block body inside the monoblock and attach it with self-tapping screws. Also treat any resulting cracks with sealant.

About sound-permeable material

At the next stage, the acoustic system, made by yourself, is filled with a special sound-permeable material (here you can use ordinary padding polyester). They need to fill the entire volume of the columns.

However, you cannot apply it to the diaphragm. This sound-permeable material significantly reduces the load on the walls of the system and reduces the speed of sound waves. So, when playing a melody, the speaker design will practically not vibrate. However, you should not follow the principle “the more, the better.” If you overfill the speaker with synthetic padding, it may lose bass and, accordingly, the sound quality will deteriorate significantly.

Fan

If your TV or computer speaker system is designed for high playback power, consider additional cooling elements.

Indeed, under high load, the elements of the speakers become very hot, which can cause their premature failure. And you need to install the fan in such a way that it blows from the inside to the outside, that is, the hot air is brought out into the street (or room). If heat is removed from the radio, overheating of system parts will be prevented, and your speakers will last for a very long time. At this stage, the question of how to make a three-way speaker system with your own hands can be considered closed.

Do-it-yourself bookshelf acoustics

DIY or Do It Yourself

One day I decided to build myself high-quality acoustics for sounding a small room, as well as for use as near-field monitors when working with sound on a computer (hobby). The main requirement is adequate sound in relation to the source. It’s not so much that “the lows are wobbling” or that “the cymbals are ringing,” but rather an adequate natural sound. So, we collect high-quality “shelf holders”.

Number of lanes

In theory, the ideal system is single-band. But, like everything ideal, such a system does not exist in nature. Yes, there are very high-quality broadband speakers from the same "Visaton", but for some reason all well-known manufacturers make two-way bookshelf systems. And when it comes to the floor option, then 3 stripes are not uncommon. There wasn’t much of a question here – the classic two-band version: low-frequency and high-frequency.

Speaker selection

The main requirement for speakers is an optimal price/quality ratio. Those. it shouldn’t be “cheap” for 500 rubles, but also not a mind-blowing “high-end” for $1000. Besides, I was in no hurry. The idea of assembling “shelf speakers” with my own hands came quite a long time ago, and I threw the bait in advance to my good friend, “sick” with sound, with whom we have been constantly and fruitfully communicating on this topic for a long time.

The first to appear was the HF - Vifa XT19SD-00/04 ring-rad. These are high-quality 4-ohm tweeters, quite popular among audiophiles. They were planned for one set, but for some reason they didn’t work out and ended up in my set.

LF arrived second. They turned out to be very decent midbass from the Soundstream Exact 5.3 kit. Here you can read a little about them. It so happened that the tweeters burned out during installation, and the lone woofers themselves turned out to be unnecessary. 4-ohm 5.5" midbass mounted in a cast aluminum basket were immediately purchased.

Now that you have the speakers, you can start creating acoustics.

Active/passive?

Each option has its pros and cons. Firstly, you need to take into account the compactness of the speakers themselves and the associated difficulties in layout in limited space. There is no point in installing it outside. Secondly, individual modules as independent components can be combined in the future, and it is also easier to repair if something happens. And thirdly, active speakers are quite expensive. Because if you make a decent amplifier (and sometimes there is one in each case), then it will turn out to be more expensive than the acoustics themselves. Besides, I already had an amplifier. But in any case, I am in favor of the scheme - passive acoustics + amplifier, it is more universal.

Calculation of housing dimensions

We have decided on the speakers, now we need to understand which housing is optimal for them. Dimensions are calculated based on the sound characteristics of the woofer. There are no recommendations on the manufacturer's website, because... The speaker was intended primarily for car audio. There is no point in keeping special equipment for these purposes unless it is your job. Therefore, a smart guy with a special stand comes to the rescue. As a result of laboratory tests, we obtain a calculated housing size of 310 x 210 x 270 mm. During the measurement process, the bass reflex parameters were also calculated.

By the way, many manufacturers publish recommended housing sizes for speakers on their websites. When such information is available, it is logical to use it, but in this case I did not have such data, so I had to do laboratory research.

Housing material

In my opinion, the most optimal material for the case is MDF. It is acoustically neutral and also performs slightly better than chipboard. Plywood is also good, but quality plywood is not easy to find and is more expensive and difficult to process. 22mm MDF sheet was chosen as the source material for the body. In principle, standard 18-20mm is quite enough, but I decided to make a little extra. There is no such thing as too much rigidity.

Housing construction and design

One of the most important stages. Before going for MDF, I advise you to decide on the design so that you can immediately ask the seller to cut the sheet in parts, and at a normal point of sale there are always good machines with accurate and even cuts. It is difficult to obtain such a cut at home.

So, design. The speakers should look at least as good as “industrial” ones, so that there is no feeling of a club of crazy hands. We make not only high-quality, but also beautiful acoustics. In general, there are practically no beautiful, interesting and at the same time structurally simple acoustic systems. Beautiful acoustics are made by the Italian Sonus Faber, stunning in beauty - Magico Mini. But they are all made using precision machines, which, by definition, are not available at home. As an option, you can order the cases from a good “cabinet maker” with hands and CNC. Depending on where and what you order, such work will cost from 10,000 rubles. up to 30,000 rub. along with materials. If the specialist is good, then the speakers will look no worse, or even better, than store-bought ones. In this case, I decided that I would do everything completely myself. Therefore, we look at things realistically and make a design without any bevels, curly cuts, etc. Those. it will be a parallelepiped. The calculated dimensions give a fairly pleasant proportion, and proportion in the design is already half the battle.

What to design in? Although I am related to design by line of work, my knowledge of 3D packages is, to put it mildly, superficial. In this case, the program should be more engineering than rendering. Specialized "Kads" for this purpose are heavy and unnecessary. A solution was found quickly enough - the frivolous SketchUp is more than suitable for this purpose. It is so simple and intuitive that I was completely mastered in about an hour. The main thing he can do is: quickly create any shapes, set dimensions, use simple textures. I believe that such a program is ideal for “home” purposes. You can easily use it, for example, to design a kitchen or even a small house.

Here is the body design:

Based on the drawing, a diagram of cutting the sheet emerges:

In general, the options are not bad in appearance, but purely structurally they cause difficulties. As a result, it was decided to trim the side walls with ash veneer, and cover the remaining 4 walls around the circumference with leather, or rather with high-quality automotive leatherette. The arquebus is beautiful in itself, but the woofer has a structural overlay on the front side of the housing that will not look very nice. Therefore, it was decided to make an additional decorative overlay (ring) for it, which will press it to the body, and at the same time add beauty to the speaker itself. The construction and design have been decided.

Tools

Before moving on to the next stage, I’ll outline what basic tools are needed for the job:

Circular.

Jigsaw.

Sanding machine.

Straight arms.

Without this kit, it is better to order the cases from a good craftsman.

Sawing

So, we cut the budget MDF sheet. I have already written that it is better to saw on special machines - it is inexpensive, but the results are accurate. But because I decided to make the body myself inside and out, then for the purity of the experiment I sawed it myself with a manual circular saw, and small pieces with a jigsaw with a guide. As expected, the perfect cut did not work out. After the cut, pairs of walls (left-right, front-back, etc.) are installed in pairs, adjusted with a grinder and/or electric planer and checked for perpendicularity with a square. And later during assembly they are finally adjusted after gluing. A loss of 2-3 mm is insignificant. But I still recommend sawing right away “at the base”, you will save a lot of time.

Housing assembly

The walls are glued together with PVA and tightened with screws. First we glue the body without the front wall.

Now there is a hole for the terminal block, as well as a chamfer in order to “sink” it. Initially, according to the design, the terminal block was supposed to be placed at the bottom. But during the process, it became clear that mounting the crossover in the center through the hole for the woofer would not be very convenient, so I moved the hole for the terminal block higher, and the place for the crossover lower.

You can close the box.

Now one of the very important stages is cutting out the holes for the speakers on the front panel. I have already said that the ideal speaker system is a single-way one. Why? Because sound propagates from one source to the listener without a time mismatch due to the (tiny) difference in distance that occurs when using a multi-band system. Therefore, it is best to place the speakers as close to each other as possible. This makes the sound image “dense.” We calculate the holes so that the distance between the edges of the speakers will be approximately 1 cm. The holes are cut with a jigsaw with a circular guide.

After the chamfers are removed, we attach the terminal block and speakers, and then drill holes for future self-tapping screws with a thin drill. Without them, firstly, the MDF itself may “spread open” when screwing in the screws, and secondly, during the final installation the speakers will be more difficult to position evenly. I thought for a very long time about how to position the speakers relative to each other, and came up with the following scheme:

Screw holes on external surfaces must be repaired before final finishing. I used epoxy. In order not to wait for one surface to harden, I sealed each surface with tape and moved on to the next one. When the epoxy had dried, I sanded it with a sander.

The veneer needs to be protected. I coated it with clear yacht varnish.

Now you need to cover the body with leatherette. There are many options for how to do this. I decided to do it as follows. A strip is cut 20 mm larger than the width of the case and slightly longer than the circumference of the case. On each side it is folded by 10 mm, the hem is glued with “special glue 88”. Then, using the same glue, the strip is glued around the circumference to the body. First the bottom (partially), then the back wall, then the top, then the front and the bottom again. At the last stage before gluing, the strip is cut in place and glued end-to-end. I glued all sides at once, i.e. didn't wait for each side to dry. After each side I took a short break (the glue sets quite quickly) and started on the next one.

If you really want to, then the phasic can be somehow refined.

Then holes are cut on the terminal block, “woofer” and “tweeter”. The skin on the terminal block and RF will be recessed downwards, so the diameter of the cutout can be left 5-10 mm smaller. The skin on the woofer will be pressed against the decorative ring, so you need to trim it so that it is not visible.

Final editing

First of all, we mount the crossover. The cross is home-made, based on a good element base. Air-core coils, tweeter film capacitors and MOX resistors are used. I didn’t solder it myself, but ordered it from smart guys.

Now we solder the required pair of wires to the terminal block and fix it on the body. The terminal block and speakers are screwed on with decorative black self-tapping screws with an asterisk head. The cover on the “squeaks” is screwed with similar screws, so it would be logical to use the same ones for the rest. The back wall is ready.

The midbass needs to be slipped under the skin, and pressed down on top with a decorative ring. Solder the remaining couple of wires and mount the speaker.

All? All. We screw the acoustic cable to the terminal block and begin testing.

Tests

The system was tested in the following configurations:

1. Receiver Sherwood VR-758R + acoustics.

2. Computer + Unicorn (USB-DAC) + Homemade stereo amplifier + acoustics.

3. Computer + E-mu 0204 (USB-DAC) + Sherwood VR-758R + acoustics.

A little about the configurations themselves. I personally think that at the moment the ideal option for a home music center is: computer + USB DAC + amplifier + acoustics. Digital sound without distortion is captured via USB and sent to a high-quality DAC, from which it is transmitted to a high-quality amplifier and then to the acoustics. In such a chain the amount of distortion is minimal. In addition, you can use completely different soundtracks: 44000/16, 48000/24, 96000/24, etc. Everything is limited by the capabilities of the driver and DAC. Receivers in this regard are a less flexible and obsolete option. The size of modern hard drives allows you to store almost your entire media library on them. And trends towards subscription to Internet content may eliminate this option, although this is not in the near future and is not suitable for everyone.

I will say right away that in all three configurations the acoustics sounded great. To be honest, I didn't even expect it. Here are some subjective aspects.

1. Adequate and natural sound. What is recorded is what is played back. There are no distortions in any direction. Just as I wanted.

2. Greater sensitivity to the source material. All recording flaws, if any, are clearly audible. High-quality mixed tracks are listened to perfectly.

3. Well-readable bass for such sizes. Of course, you can’t fully appreciate organ music on bookshelf speakers (it’s generally difficult to appreciate it on acoustics), but most of the material can be “digested” without problems. It's hard to expect more from such babies.

4. Very good attention to detail. You can hear every instrument. Even with a rich sound image and decent volume, the sound does not turn into a mess (the amplifier plays an important role here).

5. I would like to make it louder;) That is. The acoustics do not scream, but play smoothly. Although this is also not a small merit of the amplifier itself, because As the load increases, a good amplifier maintains linearity.

6. Long listening does not give you a headache. Personally, this often happens to me, but here it plays all day and nothing happens.

7. Concerns about incorrect panorama and strong dependence of the sound on the position of the listener were not confirmed. As far as I know, car acoustics have a specific sound phasing due to the location of the speakers in the cabin. Namely, I read about this set that its midbass is more universal in this regard. Which was actually confirmed. You can sit in the center in front of the speakers, or stand next to them sideways - the sound is excellent. There is a dependence, but it is very small.

As for the configurations themselves, the highest quality sound was achieved with the second configuration.

Firstly, a very high quality Unicorn DAC was used.

Secondly, the “home-made amplifier” is the know-how of one smart Togliatti “sound specialist”. Here it is in a nice little aluminum case:

In a nutshell, we were able to find a circuit solution in which the amplifier retains its characteristics when the volume changes, i.e. does not distort the sound at any (constructively permissible) volume. Many amplifiers (even very expensive ones) suffer from this. It was amazing to hear how such an amplifier brought many speakers to life, i.e. made them sound the way they should sound. By the way, some industrial amplifiers (in particular, the Xindak, which is quite good in itself), were also rebuilt according to this scheme, and they got a “second wind”.

Have you compared acoustics with something else, you ask? Yes, for example, with ProAC Studio 110 – these are quite high-quality bookshelf acoustics, here’s a little about them. We compared them and realized that they definitely sound no worse. The “Proaks” may have a slightly lesser dependence of the sound on the position of the listener due to the specific placement of the inverter and the “tweeter”; somehow they cleverly calculated all this. As for the rest, it’s absolutely no worse, even I personally liked my homemade products better, but we’ll chalk that up to subjectivity;) I also put on headphones (quite good Koss) and compared them by panorama, highs and lows. Absolutely identical sound. Even at the bottom. In general, complete delight.

Costing by materials

Mid/bass speakers (pair): 3,000 rub.

HF speakers (pair): RUR 3,000.

Crossover (pair): 3,000 rub.

Sintepon: 160 rub.

Terminal (terminal block): 700 rub.

Screws: 80 rub.

MDF sheet, 22mm: RUR 2,750.

Scotch tape: 30 rub.

PVA: 120 rub.

Special glue 88: 120 rub.

Vibration isolation: 200 rub.

Figured ring-onlay: 500 rub.

Cable: 500r.

Total: 14,160 rub.

Some materials were or were received free of charge and accordingly are not taken into account here.

In custody

In any more or less complex device or complete functional system, absolutely everything is important. When it comes to a music system, the final result is influenced by a large number of factors:

Soundtrack quality.

A device for playing a phonogram.

Digital-to-analog converter.

Signal amplifier.

Wires.

Speakers installed in the acoustic system housing.

Correctly designed for speakers and high-quality assembled housings.

Diagram and accessories for the crossover.

This is a basic, but not complete list.

It is wrong to think that the main thing is the amplifier, or the main thing is the wires, or the main thing is the speakers. A home music system is like an orchestra. And if in this orchestra some people play poorly and others play brilliantly, then overall the result will be average. Or, as they said in a very precise example: if you mix a barrel of shit with a barrel of jam, you get two barrels of shit.

There is another extreme. A good system costs incredible amounts of money. This means that each component should cost half a million. And phonograms must be exclusively on Super Audio CDs or branded records. Like a closed society of elite audiophiles. This is all bullshit.

I came to the conclusion that it is quite possible to assemble your own relatively budget system, which can be described in one word “Sounds”. And if, due to its specific features, it is better to use real existing solutions as a DAC or amplifier, of which there are a lot now. Then a correctly made (either independently or to order) acoustic system will sound better than a “branded” one purchased for the same money. Nowadays almost all components can be ordered online. Moreover, many manufacturers publish enclosure diagrams for their respective speakers. There is a lot of software for calculating housing parameters. There are many specialized forums online, and offline there are people with hands. Of course, it is impossible to be an expert in everything. As in any field, the main thing is to know the general principles.

The article does not claim to be the ultimate truth, but I hope that my thoughts and my experience will be useful to someone else.
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