HiFi 3 way | An Introduction to My Next Project 

i am shocked this guy only has 4.7k subs. what the hell? also you should do more vids on crossover builds,explain,how,etc. thank you i do high end car audio but learned a lot from guys like you

It would be interesting to just put a Zoom recorder or a pair of good mic in the room and play some royalty free music through them - I'd be really interested to hear the character differences between a regular midrange speaker and the domes!

That's an impressive setup. I'm actually really impressed to see how little you have to do to the woofer.

I own raven r1, which is an old, but high quality ribbon. I talked to the manufacturer, who now makes closer to point source ribbons. One problem with ribbons is the vertical height changes the frequency response with distance. So raven used an inductor in parallel, tuned for a particular distance, say 10ft. Otherwise the frequency response increases with distance, causing a wiry sound. Also protect with a series capacitor, as the matching transformer is close to a dc short. I have blown out ribbons when amplifiers have turn on or off thumps. I am very interested in your crossover with the 5". I never could get a flat response. Salute! RC

I would love to see a midrange video! Two suggestions: 1.) Tang Band 75-1558SE 3" Textile Dome Midrange. Impressive distortion numbers. Not as smooth F.R. though. 2.) Dayton Audio RS52AN-8 2" Reference Aluminum Dome Midrange. Rule flat F.R. with average harmonic distortion. With a steep enough slope, does the 12.5 KHz resonance need to be tamed? These two with the Morel (very excited to see its numbers) and the Scan Speak will make a great shoot-out!

I would like to see more on this and a finished product! Love the videos, please keep them coming!

Great project, Ryan! I'm envious of it as well! Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

If all goes well, I am looking to build a pair of larger diy speakers from some schematics off the web and spending time and money to finish them off nicely. It would be nice to see you go big with an expensive design and show your steps in a series of videos. I know it is a big ask and that it cost me nothing to ask. I really enjoy your videos btw and thanks

A whole other level. My mind is mush looking at your " crossover hookups". lmao! I wish I had your mind.

Morel for sure! They also come in round frame.

These are going to be really nice!

The vast majority of woofers come in at 86 dB sensitivity. Tweeters are almost always louder. The crossovers always get messy with a large disparity in sensitivity. Very good drivers you have chosen. Getting them to get along right will be a challenge.

yes those dome midranges are hard to build crossovers for. But with the mid bass its just like yeah I'll just cross it at 500 ish and that should be fine then find a tweeter good for 3000 or so and blaaaaam. LOL I have done two sets of speakers with domes and yeah at high volume they do distort unless you smash it.

Nice! Looking forward to more up dates. I would like to see test videos of the mids too.

I wonder if separating the woofer cabinet like you have done, and having another smaller cabinet for the mid/tweeter section that could be turned or moved separately… not quite like Bose sub and mini setup but something in between….

I really love those Motus, wish I could afford them, but I would need at least four of them to mate with my B&C midwoofers so they're out of my price range at this time. :(

Any chance these will end up as a kit on DIY Soundgroup?

3 ways can be improved by having more than just 2 dudes...(sorry couldn't help it). I would love to see the entire process from concept to design to testing/measuring, refining and finish. As a newb it would help me identify my where i need to focus my efforts. enjoyed the vid as always!

Cool project. Definitely keen to see test vids on both, especially the Morels.

Not familiar with those woofers, but 2 х 8" would sure provide more punch with less distortion and would add a feel of large scale speakers.

Yes, the Morel MDM55 or CAM58. Thanks!

A tad late perhaps, consider the date of the video... But consider the Aurum Cantus AMT/AST AST2560 , it can be used with an open back, or semi-closed back as it's an AMT. They can cross low and sound divine, they're a tad limited in vertical respons though... They're a match made in heaven with the accuton c158.. which is more like $250 and among the best midranges I've heard next to the Scanspeak Illuminator and the often overlooked Vifa NE123 or NE149 which are reinforced paper cones with neo magnet systems, and they also sound really really niice for the price. I use them in my mains and mid and they're hard to fault... They can also cross fairly high and have a pretty nice and flat response. Only bad thing about the Accuton is the early breakup point of the ceramic, which is why the AMT is nice as it can cross nice and low... Plus it's revealing as few drivers are, the NE's are more easy to listen to. Crossovers can be a bitch though, as they have to be fairly steep and voicing is not always what simulations show. Also, my go-to driver for bass reinforcement in towers these days is the Dayton RS225, I barely even look at other drivers after using them in two designs. They're pretty smooth higher up due to phase plug and a decently dampened cone, plus they have some silly down-low extension, decent enough distortion, good built quality and sound nice and dry in ported boxes. I've yet to find a better driver for even twice the cost, granted I've not tried all drivers there is. Another driver I'm really fond of is the Fountek NeoCD 3's, it has some issues sub 3k and weird breakup at 1.5k, but it can be handled with good crossovers... I prefer the AMTs due to flexibility but they're more costly...

Please test the Dayton Audio RS52AN-8, seems like an incredible price performance mid range winner!

Another interesting video. Looks like you have built a modern version of the 1977 Infinity Quantum 5 or Quantum 4 using modern parts and a ported woofer instead of the Dual Watkins drive woofer. Infinity used 1st order high pass for the dome and 2nd order on the dome and ribbon tweeter cross over nominally 600Hz and 4Khz on a 15" wide baffle almost like you have. The moving mass of the Motus at 36.55g is more than 10x the Morel at 2.8g and it looks like much power had to be thrown away to match the woofer's low efficiency. In higher models like the Quantum 3, Infinity used a 4.5" midbass coupler with a moving mass of ~5g to cover 200-600Hz and if you did that, then the bass could be handled by plate amp to match the rest of the system and fine tune to the room possibly using 10" to go lower. I am currently embarking on a modern version of the Quantum 3 using the Morel 55 dome and ribbon tweeter. Let me know if you want to collaborate, I am near Toronto.

plus 1 for the morel testing video

If using the morel mid w viawave its quite hard to find a not too big woofer with decent bass and sensitivity, as the placement wont get floor gain. SB23NRXS45-4 perhaps?

Yes to the video oh yes. Nice set up you need mono blocks to power those woofers. It would be great if you posted more on both sets or mixture of them wow what a set up to have so jealous. I like the offset on the baffle. can you hear the difference or is it just in the software.

When you run a driver frequency response test, do you use any caps on the tweeter for protection? Also, did you ever try ground plain testing outside? I noticed that you place the mic and speakers away from the ground in order to get a full frequency test. Great channel keep up the good work!

Sounds like you have the time been all wrapped up if you think you need what presents for the bass and don't want to add a second driver I would consider a passive radiator

Ryan I'd love to see a video on those mids. Is this a project to learn more or your high-end build? If it's going to be your long term high-end main listening setup, don't skimp and go for the best drivers and as many of them as it takes. On passive crossovers, the less parts you need, the less chance of muddying up the sound. Do the pro CD/woofer setups you have been working with sound harsher than the non pro drivers you have been working with? I'm going with a pro 3-way. Beyma TPL150H + B&C 6PEV13 + AE TD15M. I'll be bummed if yours sounds lots better. Family freaks whenever I play anything over 80dB SPL. So much for those 120dB dynamic capabilities. Steve H.

Ports seem to be somewhat on the smaller side. Usual recommedation for a port size is from 1/4 to 1 of woofer's Sd. Larger ports have less noise and turbulance and less compression at high sound levels. (from "Loudspeaker Design Cookbook" by Vance Dickason)

Viawave does not really need 2" midrange. Troels Gravesen in his ATiRi project is using it with 18 cm midbass driver crossing with LR2 at 2200 Hz.

It would be interesting to see Scan 15M test video.

Do you believe that the Morel can keep up with a SEAS Excel 6" woofer in terms of general sound quality? I got a great deal on a pair of SEAS woofers recently, but I am considering using them in a car audio situation where off axis response is important, necessitating a 3-way with a midrange. I can't seem to find many high end 2" midrange drivers on the market however, after the MDM 55, the next price point up is Accuton at $300+, which blows my budget.

Also did you consider removing the back cap f your tweeter and let it remain on top of the speaker?

sorry i just look at your answer ....the woofer is next to the mid .....just under it and the tweeter is above the woofer

What 8"woofers would you suggest for an approximate 30 litre bass reflex enclosure that are easy to work with for a beginner? I'm wanting to build some 3 ways and one been told that my monacor sph210 woofers are not so great and may be better suited for PA use

How's the life s5 sounding? really looking forward to hearing the review. great vids. awesome stuff

Is the plan to leave the tweeter and mid open baffle? I would definitely be up for a video on testing the mids. I'd like to know if you get what you pay for with Morel or Scanspeak (say versus Dayton RS series.)

Great vid...I have been following you for a while and checked out your vid on the Fountek verses the Viawave ribbons...I like the Viawave primarily because of the sensitivity...but the price over 500 US for the pair!..ouch...have you found a similar performer for a price around 300 US a pair (sensitivity 95 db plus and sound like a ribbon!!)...is that asking to much??...thanks!

Build a 4 foot waveguide for that dome mid :D

My project, that I need to get help on, is my "Entropy" tower. Details: EBB enclosure (exaggerated bass box). 2" flared port (inside flare and outside flare) HiVi F6 woofer. Peerless 19mm soft dome neo tweeter. (NE19VTS-04) The system needs tuning. Right now I'm using a second order at 2450 Hz crossover point, just a very simple one. They are good but I know they could be better. Can you recommend a good software for generating a crossover?

I'm looking to build this same 3 way setup, is there any chance we could have the crossover specs. Going to be buying these a pair at a time because of budgetary reasons. Or do you sell the plans for these 3 way. Let me know please

Another great video. Is there a reason you go for passive speakers over active?

You should look into AudioTechnology drivers and or sb acoustic satoris but I doubt you don’t know them already

i love seeing what you build and i have question about xsim new to it and how do i get a rival carbon woofer and a speak scan d2905 tweeter info that xsim needs

Scan speak 12mu for mids, any thoughts on these vs morel?

good morning thank you very much for this exceptionally interesting video. I am extremely interested in a 3-way speaker solution for my long term project. I read somewhere that 4 drivers are needed to cover the full range with conventional drivers ( i.e. no planar drivers) and that a 3 ways has some compromises. Anyway ... I have always clashed with a dilemma about the best cut frequency between woofer and midrange. I wonder what an ideal frequency could be for not having problems with the reproduction of the singers voice in particular. I was even thinking of a solution with a broadband midrange to be able to reproduce most of the voice range with the same driver. But in general it is basically about choosing either cone or dome midrange. In the market i see both solutions with cone midrange drivers more common ... maybe i am overrating the issue ? What do you think ? thanks again and best regards, gino

Try 2 JBL 2118h and 1 JBL 2202 bullet Tweeter sounds awesome with no x over on 2118 and 18 db on bullet super effeceint

i wonder i dont think anyone said any thing about it///is does the tweeter has to be placed next to the midrange in a 3way speaker ? or can it be woofer in the middle tweeter up and mid under the woofer..... thanks

yes go wild with 2w

BG Neo planars?

Really nice I'm working on a 2 way plus sub with active crossover /dsp. Beyma tpl 200 *2 Acoustic elegance tdm15 *2 Acoustic elegance ibht 18 *1 Does anyone know a good midrange dome that would match if I upgrade to 3 way?😊

Morel makes very good drivers, but scan speak is better.

Here's my question. Why are you still building crossovers instead of just say, mini dsp? I'm sure you have a good reason.

Hello from Russia! Happy new yeaR, my fRiend!

If you don't mind taking a listen,,,I recently uploaded a video of a speaker project I just finished,,,some feedback would be much appreciated.

2:17 You burdened the tweeter with a 4th Order crossover to get a flat response, but measuring the output of any speaker at a given frequency tells you NOTHING about what that speaker sounds like at that frequency. Some of the best sounding speakers in the world have a ragged uneven freq/spl graph line. Dump your computer testing and start using your ears !

Uhhh I thought that diffraction was caused by round corners and edges . Try a design with felt infront of the speaker to where the felt is flush with the tweeter and mid. Another thing , new science says that pink noise is not as accurate as a sweep bc of the noise floor. Apparently sweeping is closer results to what the human ear can hear.