Building a system.

[no case]

OK, I had a look at the sticky thread explaing, in detail, how to build a system but. In simple trems (think system building for idiots) what drivers would you suggest I use for my bass cabinets, mid and tweeter and which amp should I go for. I'm think about picking this stuff up from eBay BTW....
Cheers for any answers.

[joshd96320]

well you need a budget first

then you gotta decide whats best for your money, you can never have a perfect system..

for drivers, that also depends on which amp you use... or do you want brand names etc

again it all depends on budget, what type of music u want and ruggedness / movability

[DaftFader]

i like celestion personaly ... but it's really down to personal preferance

[TEK Tonic]

Its all about the budget and personal needs/preferences.

Get yourself down to Speakerplans.com Forums - Powered by Web Wiz Forums (http://speakerplans.com/forum) for lots of advice on buiding speakers from scratch or which ready-built speakers to buy and which are the best amps to power them.

They even have a noobie section too =)

[noname]

What kit you decide to use is going to be based on your design parameters and what you want the system to do (as well as your budget obviously). Just saying "I want to build a system" is going to result in you wasting your cash - what do you want it to be able to do? What might you want it to do in future? Where are you going to use it? Does it need to be easily mobile or is it for a fixed install? How is it going to be powered?

Being as thorough as possible with these questions will help you to draw up the basic parameters - the things it has to be capable of, and will give you some idea of the shape the finished system will need (ie wether you go for active crossovers or passives, how much power the amps can be allowed to draw, how much output power it will need etc).

When you've done that then you can start thinking about which amps/speakers to use and which you can afford (these are decisions for the final part of the design process, not the start). Doing all this stuff will save you from some costly errors and should hopefully give you a system fit for the purpose you will use it for.

If you want to post the list of things you want it to do, I'll give you some recommendations as to what you'll need to do what you want to do (and some advice on what kit you might want to consider...)

The article isn't finished yet either - it's taking me a good deal longer than expected... There will be a section on speaker design, driver types etc, but I skipped ahead because all the theory was making me go a little strange in the head :wink:

[rumpus rhythm]

there seems to be quite a lot of ground covered in the technical guides post (in the culture section) by noname and dr b.

surely it would be best to build on what is already in place.

It would be good to have a few more visual / diagramatic layouts as the text is a bit heavy to read through (although very good i hasten to add!)

[noname]

Yeah - I keep telling myself I need to do some of it in pictures (because it makes the text much easier to write as well as read)... Trouble is I get started and get carried away :lol_crash, and then just forget about diagrams etc. I will be revising and editing it as it goes along though, so I will insert more diagrams when I do that...

Still only half way through at most though, so still plenty for me to do :sign0082:

[joshd96320]

but what your doing is bloody excellent ive found it proper helpful ;)

[noname]

:sign0092: :biggreen:

[p0ly]

i blew a really expensive speaker on the weekend, is it pretty much fucked?

[DaftFader]

i blew a really expensive speaker on the weekend, is it pretty much fucked?
mby you can get it re-coned? but i guess it depends on what is actualy wrong with it ... it could be the crossover or any number of things that went wrong .. what actualy happened?

[p0ly]

i put some hard trance song on really loud 'Kidd Kaos - like i said' (i had been playing other music full blast all weekend, didnt like this paticular song for some reason)

and it stopped working, now when i play audio through it you can hear it really quietly like a hiss... helppppppppp give me some good news plzzz

[no case]

We want the system for techno and acid house parties outdoors. At the moment there is no budget...just the desire but we have got the music sorted, a small collection of 12" bass drivers, turntables, mixers and probably some of the best quarries moors in the country...

[p0ly]

help me someone!!!!!

[joshd96320]

did u put ur willy in it

[p0ly]

nooooo

[joshd96320]

ahaha

[no case]

...oh and I will have a van in a couple of months. We have talked about the system and have come to the conclusion that we need 1/2 K....Does that help?...

[joshd96320]

...oh and I will have a van in a couple of months. We have talked about the system and have come to the conclusion that we need 1/2 K....Does that help?...

a little.. this helps to determine what kind of generator you will need.

since youve got decks etc thats not an issue

and your getting a van - this will be big enough for a rig?

youll need cabinets, amps and drivers...
you can either make cabs or you can pick em up on the cheap if u find a bargain..
on the drivers side, me not so experienced there..

[noname]

@poly

You can test the driver - get a battery (any will do - AA or whatever). Open the cab, and connect the negative pole of the battery to one of the driver poles (doesn't matter which). Then connect the positive battery pole to the other connector on the driver. The battery should be just enough to activate the driver and you will get a small "pop" sound as you connect. If you don't then the driver is fucked and your best bet is to replace it (re-coning is possible, but only recommended for people who really know what they're at - lots of pit falls otherwise, and you will end up wasting cash)...


@no case

For outdoors you're going to need at the very least 2K, and that's only if you build the speakers yourself and make them really efficient. Outdoors will always require more power than in, as there are no reflections etc to reinforce the sound level. I wouldn't even think of using smaller than 18" bass drivers - the bass is what will need reinforcing the most - I would say power wise about 1/2 of the total power should be going to the frequency band under 120Hz. You can save a lot of power in the top end by using Constant Directivity horn flares - you sacrifice a little of the spread for a large increase in sound pressure. Use the 12'as for mid range, and get an active crossover matrix (don't forget to bypass the passive crossover in the speaker boxes if you buy them pre-made).

If you want to build the boxes yourself, look on the web for designs, or get a good book (the Fane big audio cookbook is a useful one if you can find a copy)... I haven't finished the section on speaker building for the guide yet (cos it's bursting my head), but it will be done at some point soon.... speakerbuilding.com (http://www.speakerbuilding.com/) has some good info for this, and JPO's speaker building link list (http://web.telia.com/%7Eu87124019/diy.html) is a good one for finding plans etc too...