good video. I bought one home theater dvd and it finally broke down, the speakers are ok though. could you make a video explaining how to disassamble it and make a sound bar? that would be nice!
If I may I'd like to chime in with an observation about plywood. The greater the number of plies, the stiffer the board. I noticed that you had some nice 11 ply along with some thinner 3 and 5 ply boards. While the thickness of the wood does contribute to the overall stiffness of the board you can sometimes get away with using a thinner board with a greater number of plies to the same effect as using a thicker board of lower ply density. Example: 1/2" 11 ply would be at least as stiff as 3/4" 5 ply. This is if both are void free. 1/2" void free would be stiffer than 3/4" 5 ply with voids. At any rate, keep up the good work. I enjoy seeing what you come up with.
The points you make about form versus function are very very good. I had been on the high end audio merry-go-round for many years, and have spent way too much money in the hobby. I am really enjoying your videos from the standpoint of aesthetic design knowing full well the sonic compromises some of your designs might have. But really, who cares about compromises? You are creating great videos of awesome audio projects that are inexpensive, and within the reach of most people's skill set to build. It's fun to have expensive audio gear in your home that you worked your butt off to afford. But in many ways it's probably more rewarding to build your own speakers with your own hands without breaking the bank. Keep up the great work, Kirby!
If you go for solid wood, expansion and contraction due to variations in temperature and humidity should be considered. Especially if you plan to build larger cabinets for e.g. subwoofers.
just out of curiosity, have you ever done a test of building a set of basic boxes to test the effect of materials on the sound, like same woofer and tweeter and amp, same room, same day test. I do know that's easy said and harder to do being that your running a business, but could be interesting. Cheers and thanks for your work.
Great channel...I would like to thank you for some great information 👍 I love EDM and ambient music (soundscapes) and my personal favorite material is extra dense concrete because a lot of other materials create more harmonics. Very best wishes to you...and to all the other music lovers out there 🙏
This channel really makes me want to finally get going, Allways wanted to build speakers. What do you think about making a sealed 2way out of MDF and have some kind of reinforcement inside with the help of high density epoxy?
Probably gonna get at home depot. "1 in. x 12 in. x 8 ft. Premium Kiln-Dried Square Edge Whitewood Common Board" 1 inch is thick enough and its a solid piece, Whitewood is pretty hard, yeah you can spend time finding a better wood at a specialty wood shop if you'd like.
Watching this is difficult when it looks like you're having a seizure, or a baby throwing a tantrum.. Turn off the sound and watch this, It's even funnier!
ummmm the pine board was sitting next to red oak that you didn't mention ... that red oak is one of the hardest densest woods i've worked with the exception of maple.... i was just searching around for designs and found this ...i have a challenge ... build one from mdf and one from red oak and do a unbiassed blind test after wards ...i'm betting the oak will be punchier and will carry transients clearly and the bracing will be less important to boot everything has a resonance point ... they make great guitars but are hard on your tooling i have 1982 Technics sgb900 (top of the line ) speakers that are literally crumbling to the touch delaminating ...not a fan of it.... get it wet ...game over way early
A friend of mine traded me a box with 4x 10" subs in it,but I want to split the size . 2 for my yukon and 2 for my house. Any recommendations on how to build a box for the Yukon would be appreciated
Hi Kirby thanks for the awesome video. Can you please suggest the type of glue I need to use if I have to stick the speaker to wood. I have 2 3W 4 ohm speakers.
jeez no no no no! its dense materials that you are looking for "MDF". They do not use it because it's cheap. they use it because it's the best stuff. put veneer or even clad it in wood! plywood is crap you will need to double layer it at the least metal and glass are reflective... jeez
Mdf is cheap which is good but i had both a cupboard and bed made of mdf And it was infested with wood larves and termites It was horrible So i am kinda skeptical to use it What material can i use that bugs won't get in again ?
Hi - I have a Tannoy silver 15 dual concentric driver with crossover, and would like to ask if ANYBODY could suggest a suitable size enclosure for this type of driver? I am thinking from 150-200 litres and up? Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated, cheers.
There are several types of MDF. 1. Home store quality 2. Industrial MDF The second type comes in sheets 97 x 49 inches, Is much heavier and denser. Go with Industrial MDF. Cons of MDF - Water absorption - don't use it near water.
Hey I'm actually making a blowthrough box in my 86 f-150 for 2 18's right now. Have you had experience with waterproofing an mdf box? You think rustoleum and a clear coat is enough?
Im using 9 ply 15/32 baltic birch on a small car sub box for 2 Sundown SA6.5 SW. Drivers arent loaded yet, but this thing is pretty solid. I felt like I didnt need 3/4 because its 9 ply and small dimensions with lots of 45s and a port for support. Is the difference really that noticeable?
Dont tell people that a certain material "wont dull ur tools" as if it gives said material an advantage. If you use the right fucking tools for the material you're working with there will be no problem.
COOL VIDE, very helpful - BUT ... maybe you or somebody could steer me in the right directuion here ........... Im gonna build a 2x12 Speaker enclosure for my new Amp I just got. ........ 2watts but Im gonna use Eminence Swampthing 12s, which, for guitar speakers have some tight punchy bass. My idea was 1/2 Plywood and braced inside. .... Now youre video has me thinking maybe 3/4 Pine or even 3/4 MdF ?
I've built some out of all three options and you'll definitely want to go with 3/4" plywood, ideally 13ply baltic birch. Mdf kills transients and turns the bass into mud, pine works well but is very resonant, it's better for lower volumes and clean tones.
@@redredredredhair3 cant really afford Birch now. camnt really afford to build the cabinet at all, but im gonna do it. ..... I was thinking ....... add a 1x2 brace joining the front panel to the rear panel inside glued & screwed so theres no flexing or vibration there.
Yo Kirby. It's a good thing when you say: Build YOUR speakers the way YOU wanna do it...that's the best advice you can give! The second best advice, I haven't heard you say, but that's okay ( ;-) ) , is: Do NOT be afraid to make a mistake....wood is very forgiving, mistakes are most of the time, fixable! Keep up the tutorials man, it helps! Thanks :-)
You didn't mention veneered plywood with pre applied oak , cherry , or other .Is this type of plywood not used for speakers ? Also if you double up two sheets of 3/4" to 1 1/2" ply wouldn't it be more ridged then 3/4" of MDF for about the same Weight ? Where do you guys buy your speakers from ?
What if budget is no problem of mine? I want to build a custom enclosure that will either house 2 12’s or 2 13.5’s and I think solid wood is better than voidless plywood. What’s the best hardwood to work with without my box weighing 400lbs?
im thinking about bluetooth speaker w/ 4 drivers an 1 sub from old computer sound system and i dont want it to be heavy. Box should be 25x25x25cm. Autodesk inventor shows me that mdf enclosure will weight 2.5kg w/ 1cm wall. Any alternative materials?
What speakers should i use for DIY Floor standing? Like JBL FOCAl Car component and midranges will do ? Can you help me with sizes of chambers and design please. Thanks
Lazy man's speaker building... take a pair of already finished speakers (that have nice "boxes"), and just upgrade the drivers (and maybe the crossover too). Optionally you can restain them or just leave them as is. Remember the simpler something is, the quicker it can usually be done. Also, by upgrading, I don't always mean replacing. Doping (coating) a paper woofer with silicone sealer on the front side only may make it sound better to your ears. If there is room in a 3 way speaker box, perhaps add a passive radiator on the rear. These are fun tweaks and they don't cost much and you wont need any carpentry skills or make any sawdust.
...and then there are veneers. Good way to make real wooden and even look over cheap and not so good looking base material (e.g. spruce plywood used in construction sites). Not all of the veneers are expensive, but it might be bit difficult to find suppliers that are glad to serve also customers with small quantity needs. But luckily there are those also! Okay, veneering does need more work (defining assembly sequence and which parts are veneered before drilling/milling of holes and assembly of enclosure and which not, gluing with even pressure and trimming) and tools (especially clamps), but once you get used to it, it is not that difficult to work with.
Voided can cause gaskets to leak if you don't fill the holes with glue. They don't tend to leak from top to bottom but through the board edges. Most stores only have the cheap stuff and the cheapest Baltic birch is usually about 60 quid for a half inch or even 3/8 4 * 8. Also cheap stuff splits more easily and becomes delaminate and is still 25 quid a 4 X 8 sheet of half inch
too bad finding plywood in my country is almost impossible and way too expensive (a quarter of a months minimum wage for a full sheet), but we can get prefinished particle board in any color, some places even cut it up for you, still not cheap in fact it's probably even more expensive than plywood but it's already finished and you can find it everywhere and in smaller sizes, and even in the trash if you're lucky (and first to find it)
I'd say MDF isn't the easiest material to work with, all screw holes have to be pre-drilled or it'll split and it creates a ridiculous amount of dust when you cut it, it has good acoustic properties though. One material you didn't mention that I like and that is quite common is particle board, it's not quite as "dead" as MDF, but it's really cheap and quite strong and relatively easy to work with. As one sound guru on a car stereo forum once said "it doesn't matter which material you use, as long as the box is rigid and strong it'll sound good".
I have been in the cabinet business for about 50 years. Solid wood is going to be a bit tricky for anyone without a well equipped shop. The panels wood need to be glued up panels to help with dimensional stability and warping. I did see a video recently about the resonance of various plywoods and MDF(actually wood fibers glued under pressure, particle board is made of sawdust). I have used a lot of MDF over the years. I think it is easier to either spray paint or veneer it than cope with the raw edges of plywood. Particleboard, while quite dead is not really a good product to use unless you have access to industrial board not readily available to an individual. MDF does wear your tools faster than wood or plywood due to the adhesive resins.
One quetion tho, you havent said anything about weight. If the weight is the problem for example portable blouetooh speaker, what is the best compromise between weight and quality. For example is it better to use 1cm MDF od 2cm solid light wood. Btw, great videos! Keep up the good work! ☺
Sir i want to make 5.1 home theater with good base.please can u tell me all spare part which are required like woofer ,speakers,tweeters,board.i want to use like home theater.directly connect to plug board in home.if u tell me i will go to electrician to connect them.please tell me sir.please sir
Funny thing, look at how Harbeth design their speakers, they are build to flex, using thin materials, just an interesting observation.. Thanks for all the good videos :)
Well, this is actually a good video because were discussing the issue and it's a big one! MDF, Highdht, plywood,Corrian, and many more examples of speaker building material all have good and bad points. Panel resonance is actually the big problem. Increasing stiffness and creating stiffness is what needs to be achieved. It cannot be done just by increasing the mass of the panels although its a good place to start....sometimes. Damping or "pushing" resonance out of the problem area is the best solution. Developing a critical material and killing off resonance altogether, by reducing panel masses to a low/no level and preventing energy storage in the first place is the right way to approach this subject. There seems to be real interest in this area so i will be making some videos soon to explain the maths and how to do this cheaply and quickly.
I some times prefer to use particle board. There's some upsides and downsides, but otherwise its a really good material to use. Here are the downsides first: Downsides: -Heavy -Not very easy to work with as its a really hard material. I broke a hole saw bit i was using cause the board was so hard. -Not easy to finish cause the edges aren't like the top and doesn't really have any grain. -Its not as forgiving as some other stuff, because If you put a screw too close to an edge it'll crack the edge of the board -Can be costly Now for the upsides: Upsides: -It is a very strong material -It has good sound reverb even if its thin -It is really sturdy so if your making a speaker thats gonna possibly get bounced around a lot, its good for that. -It can be made water proof if u seal it with wax or a clear coat
Very true. I built an experimental open baffle tower using an actual cardboard box from Home Depot and it sounded fantastic! Even the bass from the 15in woofer was thoroughly satisfying. No vibration issues whatsoever, for the sound, which was quite shocking to me. But because the cardboard was so soft it wouldn't hold the larger woofers for more than a week.
What about making a build video or diy about surround sound systems? Some sweet custom built surround speakers could really tie a room together :p I'm starting to rip out my bedroom this weekend. Wanting to do everything diy, well as much as I can anyway lol
Hey Kirby, I was wanting to know if you have any knowledge of a googlecast or chromecast amp that i can build a speaker with? Same concept of bluetooth speaker but the ability to cast over wifi. Thanks :-)
Hey Kirby! I was wondering if it was possible to mix the material used for the enclosure. I was thinking of using MDF for the entire enclosure beside the front, which I was planning to use hard maple. This way I could have a nice shinny black finish on the MDF and a nice stained for the front of the speaker. TIA
hi kirby meets audio its AKI BASS here and i was just wondering which is the best material to make a boombox so that the i can get the most sound quality and bass.thank you have a nice day
I'm with you looks first then sound. Off topic question I brought the plans and built one of your elder speakers. Super happy with it sounds great looks amazing. However I had a small gathering of about 15-20 ish people and and had some sound issues with loss of signal, would that just be the people causing interference. hasn't happen since and didn't happen before. Any ideas
If you're connected via bluetooth I think the people in the room could have been the problem. They recommend line of sight for the connection. So walls, appliances, and I guess people can interfere with the signal. Thanks so much for your support in buying the plans!
Hi, I’m currently looking into making some speakers as buying isn’t an option, due to costs, but all I have worked out is size, how would you recommend working out what speakers to actually use for medium to good quality sound and volume as wanting to use for mobile djing when not in use at mine 😂, cheers in advance for any advice
I have to 6x9 speakers that i will build in two separate boxes but, i don't know if they should be ported or sealed. Can you help me? By the way they are 2x80w rms power
It depends on the thiele small parameters although as a general catch all case I would go about 1 cubic foot and 50 Hz port per speaker unless you are using subwoofer then you can go with a smaller sealed box or a 80/90 Hz port tune. With subs I would rather use 6.5" pa mid bass like a faital pro 6fe200 and separate tweeter
Oak plywood doesn't flex at all if you use the really thick oak plywood that is I've built a subwoofer enclosure out of oak plywood and it did not flex at all
I like to use threaded inserts, you basically just drill, countersink, put glue on the threads and screw them in. Works really well if you’re ever gonna take the speaker out.
Love you and your videos man! keep at it. And love the way you think about everything in general. Also, you make me think of a younger Jeffrey Donovan :P
I want to build 2 18 inch tapped horn subwoofers, the design is made for 18mm birch plywood but the total weight would be huge, i wonder if i can use an lighter plywood like poplar or okoume (of course with some extra bracing), or would that affect the sound (and spl) a lot? Thanks.
