Has anyone here ever built their own speakers?

[Creepusmaximus]

Just found the plans.

Came from Audio review- DIY Speaker kit.

Built these in 2001 so that's probably why I can't find a link.

 

[Creepusmaximus]

Okay tracked this post with all the info to get you going. Looks like peerless stopped making the woofer and the cabinet maker stop making the cabinets. I built the croosover and all that but apparently madisound started making one for the speakers.


AR.com DIY Speakers by Ed Frias

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for the kind words from all of you who have been supportive of me over the years, I'll always appreciate it!

The DIY has been a great little speaker that has made a lot music lovers happy over the last 7 years, and it's unfortunate that Peerless will not be manufacturing the woofer any longer. That particular woofer was not very popular and actually disliked by some speaker builders until they discovered how good it could sound with the right crossover design, the DIY made it famous!

I have received many e-mails from customers all around the country thanking me for the kit and asking if I will be designing anything to take its place. Of course Madisound has benefited greatly from this little speaker and they hate to see it disappear also. The manufacturer of the DIY cabinets has also gone out of business and that makes it even harder to replace the kit until they find another.

I originally designed and posted the kit here on AR.com back in the late 1990's after receiving an overwhelming number of audio enthusiast asking if they could buy EFE speakers in kit form. I don't sell any of my speakers as kits but since the requests were made by so many (what I consider) "little guys" who couldn't afford audiophile speakers, I thought the DIY would be my contribution to this forum and the audio community at large. I never expected it to reach around the world with so much popularity, but it has and I'm thrilled so many music lovers appreciate it. The DIY also drew a lot of criticism from other speaker builders (and still does) but that hasn't stopped Madisound from listing it as their number "1" selling kit for the last several years, what does that say?

As mentioned by one poster who contacted me a couple of weeks ago, I'm now working on a replacement with Madisound's generosity, they have sent me a couple of their last cabinets (different colors ) along with a Seas woofer (and same Peerless tweeter) to hopefully take the place of the discontinued Peerless driver. I've spent a lot of time measuring and listening to the new woofer to see if it will perform as good as the Peerless, and I'm revealing it here at AR.com first before I even let Madisound know the results. I'm very pleased with the sound and the crossover will need only a minor change to meet the standard that many have come to know from the DIY!

Monday I'll notify Madisound, and as soon as they can have some new cabinets built the DIY should be up and running again! For those that may have been thinking of building it but didn't buy before Madisound's stock ran out, you'll soon have another chance!

Thanks again for all your support and friendships!

All the best,
Ed Frias
EFE TECHNOLOGY Speakers

 

[Creepusmaximus]

That post was from 2007 so you should have enough info to go search madisound.

I have to go to bed so I'll look around at what's going on when I get the chance but you guys are Google enabled so go at it.

 

[Creepusmaximus]

Here this is where that post came from.

No more EFE AudioREVIEW DIY Speakers at Madisound - AudioReview Forums

 

[Creepusmaximus]

For those interested, here are the AR.com Kit Cabinet specs:

¾ inch MDF material

Outside dimensions are
13 inches high x 8 ¾ inches wide x 9 ¼ inches deep

Inside dimensions are
11 ½ inches high x 7 ¼ inches wide x 7 ¾ deep

Port size is 2 inches in diameter (ID) x 6 inches deep from rear surface.
Rear Port hole is centered (widthwise) and 3 inches from top to center of port.

Speaker input terminal hole is 1 15/16 inches in diameter. It is countersunk for the flange 1/8 inch deep x 3 inches in diameter. This can be changed if you desire another type or size speaker terminal. Rear Speaker terminal hole is centered (widthwise) and 3 inches from bottom to center of hole.

Front Tweeter hole is 3 5/16 in diameter. Front tweeter hole is also centered widthwise and also 3 inches from top of cabinet to center of hole. If you opt to countersink the tweeter, cut 1/8 inch deep x 4 1/8 inches in diameter.

Front woofer hole is 5 5/8 inches in diameter. If you opt to countersink, use 3/16 inches deep x 6 15/16 inches in diameter. This will now change with the new Seas driver.

Front woofer is centered 4 ¼ inches from bottom of cabinet to center of hole.

If you choose to increase the cabinet thickness to 1 inch, increase all the outer dimensions (WxHxD) by 1/2 inch and compensate for centering all holes!

Although the discontinued Peerless and the new Seas driver used in the kit allow for a larger cabinet, I designed the DIY specifically to produce a very tight, clean upper bass and lower midrange and felt most builders would use a separate subwoofer for the deeper bass frequencies. This also is the reason why the speaker is able to play extremely loud and clean without distortion, figuring a good high current amp is used.

Success!

Ed Frias
EFE TECHNOLOGY Speakers
[email protected]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last edited by EFE Speakers : 03-24-2007 at 12:01 PM.

 

[Creepusmaximus]

Crossover and parts list coming if I can find it.

Looks like you can get a kit but I enjoyed building the whole thing. Also you can fool with the resistor etc if you build the whole crossover yourself. Also I just glued everything toa piece of MDF board and screwed it into the bottom of the cabinet which let me take it out and change things unlike having a premade board.

 

[Creepusmaximus]

Well shit, just read the whole link which I didn't. All info there.

If you have a questions ask me. I think these speakers with a good sub are all you need. For HT you need a center which you can build a third one of these.

 

[walliwalibus]

I made my cabs, for my bass.... one with 4 10" aluminum cone..... also made one with 2 10" and a 15"..... I run a modified Line 6 amp (300 watts) into the 4 10". When jamming with friends, I run stereo with line 6 amp for each cab. Yes, it's quite a nice set up, and it's low, very deep with the 15". I do not know how line 6 gets a sound like that, but damn man.... sheot is crazy low. Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom.

 

[Mr. dB]

Well shit, just read the whole link which I didn't. All info there.

That should be more than sufficient, thanks much for digging all that up!

 

[rsnoble-im-back]

Yes, a long time ago. I found that if you mathematically design your boxes they tend to be much larger than what you may find on the shelf for sale. The tuned ports are also a science. Theres more to it than building a box, throwing in some big speakers, and sticking a cardboard tube in a hole. Personally I prefer to just buy the crap now a days.