another member on the forum asked about PA speakers and http://billfitzmaurice.com was mentioned so to maybe cut out the middle man. my question is, Does anyone know of any guides like this but more for a home soundbar by any chances? it would be great for parties and watching movies in my thinking just like a conventional soundbar just a DIY one. thanks
I have the cd with all the plans on it. There are plans for home systems, yes. One style you can mount on the walls in the corners and is supposed to cost well under $100 to make. They also have plans for coffee table/end table subs that blend in with the rest of your furniture. I’m away from my computer right now, but I can give you more info when I get home.
would love that thanks
This one. TLAH
These are pretty sweet looking, I know I’m not skilled enough at woodworking and don’t have the space to build and produce cabinets to the level of quality I would want though. Some pics of peoples bill fitz builds I have seen look kind of ghetto and I wouldn’t be happy with them unless the cabinets were flawless. I also prefer self powered speakers, has anyone made powered versions of these? Can you even make powered versions of these?
If you want to want to install a plate amplifier, I really like parts express and their forums http://www.parts-express.com/wizards/searchResults.cfm?srchExt=CAT&srchCat=505 One thing you should remember is that most of these projects have high sensitivity speakers and only require minimal power. In most cases, an 8watt tube amplifier is more than sufficient.
I plan to use a small audio processor like the mini dsp to split the signal between my tops and subs. http://www.minidsp.com/
8 watts?
Oh, yes. I’ve read many stories of people showing off their projects to their friends, then showing them the tiny tube amp powering them. Really puts the icing on the cake.
How the hell is that possible? What makes them different from 1000 watt speakers?
You should check out his site and forums. Bill is the ultimate audiophile and goes in depth on how big speaker companies sell people on “wattage” but are just selling them crap speakers for high prices.
Yeah I heard that but it seems crazy a big speaker can run on 8 watts. Got any links to good reads?
Not all speakers have the same sensitivity. For every 3db gain in volume, one must double the power. If you start with a highly sensitive speaker, not much power is required before things get stupid loud.
Most guys that build the dr250 tops and tuba 30 subs will bi amp them with one crown amp (good for around 250 people or more) and still need to set limiters to keep things in check.
One 1000w amp
Here’s a review from someone that used the lesser performing otops(compared to the dr’s) OT 12 Review - DJ Use - BillFitzmaurice.info
From what I have heard, one tuba 60 has enough bass to make a gym full of kids vomit in unison.
i’m not after bass my self. it’s more mids and highs. I live in a 1 up 1 down flat building and bass just travels. my krk 8’s are too powerful as it is. I’m after sound ambience really for watching movies and playing game 90% of the time. and just cranking the tunes another 3% really. I like the new small electromagnetic speakers even. I know they may not be to the taste of an audiophile but they do their job. I agree that sensitive speakers only need low wattage, which is great. i just can’t stand the price of semi-premium home theatre kit (around the £1250 mark) when i know it could be done for way less. I read an article about digital dsp’s and how pioneer tried to screw one of the inventors out of his worth in his design with copyrights and bogus agreements with himself and pioneer. basically they tried to make him bankrupt and have no ownership of his IP. well to cut the story he ended up screwing them by selling them to some Chinese manufacture. Who now sell these dsp’s on ebay sub 100$ if my memory serves me correctly. this bloke had something to do with the invent of HQ cd codecs originally. he now sells this sick cd player with built in dsp’s for way under anything any of the big brands offer, with superior sound quality.
Pioneer trying to screw someone out of their money? Gasp!
Do you remember what the brand of that cd player is, or if they have any other dsp products?
I just don’t really like to mess with cd’s anymore and would rather cut them out if my life.
I have big plans for the minidsp. You can save multiple speaker configurations and it even runs on dc. So what I was thinking about doing for my car’s system is, instead of a cd player in the dash, I was just going to have a 3.5mm audio jack running to a mini dsp in the trunk. Then split the signal between a 4 channel amp for the highs, and a 2 channel amp for little tuba sub.
They have an all digital version of the dsp as well, and I have been trying to come up with a way to make my dj system as digital as possible. (short of the record players)
unfortunately i don’t. this “sound guru” basically invented the original stuff with sony in the 70’s. Sony released the first cd’s all orchestras recordings out putting every frequency performed originally. and the disks were almost scratch proof. But sony cut costs and such as they needed cd’s more marketable. They dropped the quality of the recording codecs and scratch resistance of the disks and increased the capacity. thus making them more useful for albums. This “sound guru” still had his codecs and tried it with pioneer who tried to shaft him. Like i said he managed to sell/licence is IP to the chinese. He tutored at some college i believe after which made a following of his work and a some audiophile chap had a blog i came across about 3 years ago when i was thinking about buying an amp and some dali speakers.
I’ll try to search for the blog but it was rather homemade and basic so don’t have much beliefe i’ll come across it to be fare. as for you car idea i agree. perhaps a tablet or large smart phone could be the head unit for controls
Exactly what I was thinking. I have a Galaxy S Vibrant that I like to flash custom voodoo roms to. My favorite app is the Voodoo Control Sound. It turned my output levels from sub-par to damn! This thing has a nice little amp! Before, it didn’t have the power to even make my over the ear headphones listenable. Now, I wouldn’t consider using anything else. I’ve got 16gigs internal and 32gigs external space, so more than plenty of space for music and musical apps to play with.