My DIY Component SET!

[fujio001 10+ year member]

I am thinking about building my own 3 way comopnent set. The problem is I am pretty darn new to this......

This is what I am thinking......

DAYTON DC28F-8 1-1/8" SILK DOME TWEETER

DAYTON RS52AN-8 2" DOME MIDRANGE

DAYTON RS225-4 8" REFERENCE SERIES WOOFER 4 OHM

DAYTON XO3W-500/4K 3-WAY CROSSOVER 500/4,000 Hz

In theory this should all work pretty well together even though the tweeter and the midrange are 8 ohm. I am pretty sure a 100 watts at 4 ohms going into the crossover should be enought to power the 3 way component system. I am also planning on completely remaking the fron door panels on my 04 F150. At this point in time I think this is the easist way of making a quality sealed enclosure big enough in each door for the 8" woofer. Probably make everything out of MDF and plywood.

The other possible substitution is a Fostex FT7RP ribbon for the tweeter.

How does this sound to you guys? Never made my own components so any help would be greatly appreciated.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

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[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

2" dome midrange and a 8" midwoofer? I'd go a little bigger on the midrange if you can fit it, so you'll be assured of it dropping low enough...

And I'd nix the pre-built crossover, and go active...although three way active will take six channels of amplification. Go 2-way instead, makes things simpler //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[mobilesndfx 10+ year member]

I agree, I would go with a minimum of a 4" Mid. Although Im all about building your own components, Never go with a pre built passive crossover, unless its part of a component system, designed for that particular component set up. Building your own passive network, in my opinion, is fun, but a lot of work and trial and error. If your not prepared to spend a lot of time and probably more money than an electronic crossover, go with the electronic crossover. You can take some serious pride in building your own passive network, if done right, but thats probably the major advantage over electronic.

 

[OlogyAudio 10+ year member]

I agree, I would go with a minimum of a 4" Mid. Although Im all about building your own components, Never go with a pre built passive crossover, unless its part of a component system, designed for that particular component set up. Building your own passive network, in my opinion, is fun, but a lot of work and trial and error. If your not prepared to spend a lot of time and probably more money than an electronic crossover, go with the electronic crossover. You can take some serious pride in building your own passive network, if done right, but thats probably the major advantage over electronic.

That dome mid is great, however I would defiantly avoid that passive xover (go active or build your own, or pay someone else to)... If you want to do it right get the RS28 dome tweeter too or a seas unit... Or make up your own mind:

http://206.13.113.199/ncdiyaudio/mark/Testing/testing.htm

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=7

http://www.zaphaudio.com/

 

[fujio001 10+ year member]

I have read the RS28 was a great tweeter. As for the active crossovers, I will look into those. Any sugggestions on companies? I know audiocontrol makes units.

As for the passive crossover, what is the reason it would not work well? A RS28 for example should take care of the frequencies above 4000, the RS52 is supposed to sound good excellent between 500 and 4000, and the RS225 should easily handle the midbass. THe power ratings and sensitivities are similar taking in account the 4 ohm vs 8ohm difference. If I am supplying it with 100w it should be enough power.

Thoughts, comments?

 

[Decipha 10+ year member]

if you've never set up a 3 way comp set you may not like the way it sounds for a while... make sure you have lots of time to devote to the project

 

[fujio001 10+ year member]

Compared to lets say a pair of EDI 6500, do you think the speaker components I have layed out will sound better with some careful tweaking?

 

[alphakenny1 10+ year member]

i say with some dedication and some tuning diy IMO is a better bang for the buck than any comp set out there as long you tune to the way your ears like it.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

What impedance is the passive designed for? Use the wrong impedance and you shift the crossover point and mess up the slope. Unless it is designed for an 8ohm mid and tweet and a 4 ohm woofer it will not end up sounding right.

 

[fujio001 10+ year member]

Good point about the ohms, the Dayton premade crossover is very intersting. The low end speaker is made for 4 ohm and the upper two are made for 8 ohm. The only thing I am kind of concerned about is the rs28 tweeter one other previous writers made a suggestion about. The RMS is 100watts or so at 8 ohms. My amp puts out about 100 watts at 4 ohms or in other words about 50 watts. I wonder if this is going to be enought to properly power the tweeter and make it sound good.

I guess my question is, do I need to actually aim for the RMS of a speaker to make it sound good?

This is the same question with a component set like the edi 6500 set fromElemental Designs. It is rated at 150rms at 4 ohms. What happens if you only give it 100watts?

Thoughts, comments?

 

[alphakenny1 10+ year member]

give as much power to your front stage as you can. headroom is always nice to have and can bring out a lot of dynamics to your front stage.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

You don't need to provide RMS for it to sound good. More will allow for more headroom as mentioned but it will get plenty loud and sound plenty good with 50W. 50W is a lot of power for a tweet or a mid. 100W is nice for a midbass. Midbasses need more power for the dynamic parts than the mids or tweets. I'm actually considering running a whole 12.5W to each of my mids and tweets and 50W to the midbasses.

 

[GordonW 10+ year member]

Best sounding front setup I had, I had an Altec 70w/ch amp running JUST the 4" mid and tweeter, and TWO amps bridged (one left and one right) to give the midbass 120w/ch. And this was with drivers that were rated at 92 dB/1w and more (ie, VERY efficient)!

Front stage power is a GOOD thing, if you want to play it loud. You never want the front stage amp to come anywhere NEAR clipping!

The suggestion to put more power on the midbass, than the highs, is also good. It's usually hard to get good midbass in a car, unless your willing to put something BIG in for a front midbass. The 8" woofer will help a lot... so it may work out OK on the 100w/ch amp. However, be prepared to run it "semi-active"... with the dome mid and tweeter on an amp, and the midbasses on another amp, with an active crossover between them... that's always sounded better, IME...

Regards,

Gordon.