Trying a simple, low budget bookshelf DIY

[jgarcia9102 10+ year member]

i have some nice speakers in my room, so i dont need anything amazing, but im thinking about replacing these crappy ones on my PC here with something halfway decent.

i have a couple different ideas, and keep in mind, these dont have to be very loud, its just for while im on the computer.

i like the sound of a full range speaker, but i dont know anything about them. im sure their are some out there that are nice, but would i be better off with say a 4" woofer and a tweet?

i was looking at parts express, basically not knowing what im doing, just looking, and i found dayton 3/4" neo tweets cheap, but im looking at the woofers, and the lowest they go is a 5", im really trying to save space, so i was looking for 4" if possible. now i know they exist, because i have a set of klipch bookshelfs with a great 4" woofer.

also, i am looking for an amp for these, but ive never shoped home amps before. i will only need like 30 watts im assuming. and do plate amps have built in crossovers? or what am i looking for? a 30 W single channel amp for each speaker if they exist, or a 2 channel that i could mount on the back of one and run a wire to the other. IDK, im basically just thinking out loud here.

i could always run my PC through my reciever if i had to, but im trying to get something compact for my desk, and a reciever isnt gonna cut it.

anyone have some ideas, or at least some thing to push me in the right direction?

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[saywhat? 5,000+ posts]

are computer speakers amped externally? why couldnt u get some efficient full range speakers to run off the computer alone? maybe? i dunno though, just think out loud as u are.

 

[thadman 10+ year member]

M-Audio Revolution 5.1 sound card is $60 shipped off zipzoomfly amazing sound card for music, movies everything

Im not sure on the amp

I'd look into a single 6.5" fullrange speaker with really high efficiency for each satellite

(fostex, audio nirvana)

 

[jgarcia9102 10+ year member]

i was thinking a small fullrange might work, but i figured that the PC power was far to low to push anything decent.

i actually saw those 2" and 1" drivers in the headphones and thought i could use them, but then i figured if i was gonna DIY some speakers to at least get somehting that wouldnt sound like a 30$ boom box.

 

[thadman 10+ year member]

Your computer does not have an on-board amplifier

If you're looking for something small and cheap Id recommend Aurasound 2" Whispers

 

[jgarcia9102 10+ year member]

i know those 2" speakers had good bass in the headphones, but how would they sound from 2 feet away from my ears, rather than right on them? thats what i was thinking.

if thats gonna sound better than the usual crappy computer speakers i may give it a try. i suppose i could always make a mini sub box if the bass was really bad.

 

[Beat_Dominator 5,000+ posts]

If you want to save space but have a wide dynamic range, try building something in a 3"-4" MTM or TMM design and build a nice small dual 6.5" or dual 8" sub box, and power it all with the 25w x2 +50w x1 (I think?) plate amp that PE sells.

 

[jgarcia9102 10+ year member]

im liking the idea of those aura sound 2" whispers.

i may get 2-4 of those, not sure if 2 per channel is nessesary or not, but i think i start out with 2 pair, because even if i decide to go with only one on each side, im sure i can find use for the other pair.

then ill get a 6" sub, make a small ported box for it.

do you have a link to the amp? i could only find sub amps on PE. this seems like a nice cheap setup though.

ill have a 1/8 to RCA going to a plate amp on the mini-sub box, and run those up to the speakers.

Edit: and the amp will need to be 4 ohm stable too, incase i run the 2 speakers per channel.

 

[Beat_Dominator 5,000+ posts]

Hmm, can't findit on PE... it was like this one...

http://www.madisound.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?cart_id=3441228.6492&pid=1621

 

[jgarcia9102 10+ year member]

**** thats expensive for something that small.

all of the small amps on PE are under $50

 

[Beat_Dominator 5,000+ posts]

Yeah, it was pretty cheap on PE..... maybe call em up? Hope they didn't stop carrying it....

 

[jgarcia9102 10+ year member]

on a usual Subwoofer amp, what kind of watts do the satelite speakers usually get?

the amp you keep referring too says 25 for each channel, but what about a regular plate amp designed for a subwoofer, but has speaker outputs? since im using the Aura 2" drivers, im sure i dont need much power at all.

 

[Beat_Dominator 5,000+ posts]

My Klipsche system is 60 per Satellite.

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

you aren't giving any satellite 60 watts //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

i'd recomment two bookshelf speakers with the TB 871s

 

[jgarcia9102 10+ year member]

well i dont mean from a reciever. i mean, all of the plate sub amps ive seen have speaker imputs and outputs on the back. how much are these powered?

and whats so wrong with 60 watts a satelite from a reciever? my buddy just upgraded his system to a new yamaha reciever and all paradigm speakers, and he is giving each channel 110W. the satelites may be rated at 100W but i cant remember....

but thats besides the point. Question is, if my sound card isnt amped at all, how am i getting sound from my non active speakers? its loud too, loud enough. dosent sound good, but thats why im replacing them.

If i were to attempt to run the 2" whispers off of PC power w/e amp, would they be loud enough? im assuming no, but i dont know how many watts sound cards put out or how efficient the drivers are.