dbg@ihldt.UUCP (08/13/83)
I agree that Speakerlab prices have tended to be a little high in the past. When I had an account with CTS, I found that the same tweeter I could get for $2.25 would cost $13.00 from SL. Regarding Loudspeaker and crossover design: I did some (extensive?) experiments when I was in college on loudspeaker design. I have to admit they tended more toward trial and error than anything else, but I also, at that time, was reading everything I could get my hands on about loudspeaker design. I kept all the Thiele and Small and Novak stuff in the back of my head while I went about thumping woofers and listening to music on just tweeters, etc. I tried a wide variety of passive crossovers and finally decided on a simple 6db/o type as the standard I would work around. I also decided that a simple 8" or 10" two way system would become my standard system type. I also spent some time looking for a woofer with a regular roll off at about 2K so I could use just a high pass cap on the tweeter for the crossover. I found one and the resulting loudspeaker became the most popular I had built. It sounded surprisingly good. About 60 to 70 pair (sold for $140/pr) later the drivers became no longer available due to a strike at CTS. The rest is a sad story. Anyway, if you are designing your own, I would recommend a simple system (8" or 10" two way ported) with 6db passive crossover. Check out the McGee Radio catalogue (1901 McGee St. Kansas City, Mo) for drivers. And don't forget that the final (and only real) test is your ears. ihldt!dbg