# 3-Way Tower Speaker build--Budget $700



## m R g S r (Oct 1, 2009)

I am building my first pair of Tower speakers. I have built plenty of car subwoofer boxes in the past, MDF door speaker mounting rings etc etc, But I have never built a real "finished" speaker box. 

I sketched up a quick Maximum dimension sketch for the speakers, as per my uncles request. 

Components (as of now) are planned to be:

12" Dayton DCS305-4 Subwoofers
Dayton DCS305-4 12" Classic Subwoofer 4 Ohm | Parts-Express.com

6.5" Peerless HDS 830883 mids
Peerless 830883 6-1/2" Nomex Cone HDS Woofer | Parts-Express.com

Vifa DX25TG09 1" Fabric Dome tweeter
Vifa DX25TG09-04 1" Fabric Dome Tweeter | Parts-Express.com

Dayton 375/3k Crossovers
Dayton XO3W-375/3K 3-Way Crossover 375/3,000 Hz | Parts-Express.com

Rough figures are:
8" Wide
48" Tall
14" Deep

Side firing subs in lower portion of tower
Front firing tweeter and Mids in upper portion of tower

About 2 cu ft. Sealed for Sub
About .5 cu ft for Mid ported 1 3/4" x 4" port 

There will be 1 of each driver in each tower. (1 sub, 1 mid, 1 tweeter)

Towers will be wrapped not painted, filled with poly stuf, etc etc. 

As of now all I have is the MDF, So I am open to suggestions if you guys feel there are better components for the $. Budget is right at $700 right now, and I am not getting any $ for my time and labor, this is being done as a favor. So I would like to keep it at the current max budget. 

Any tips for construction? I have a Delta 10" contractors table saw, Sears Jig saw, sanders etc etc. I will need to grab some larger clamps, I only have smaller ones for my welding hobby currently lol I don't have a router, but I have never needed one before, If it really makes a difference I guess I'll go pick one up. 

I will post lots of D-SLR pics along the way. Thanks guys!

Also these will be powered by a Marantz Receiver, bridged for front two channels to provide about 250RMS to each.


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## brownmoses (Jul 23, 2008)

I honestly think those crossovers will hold the project back unless you are duplicating a build someone else has done and had good results.


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## m R g S r (Oct 1, 2009)

I know I should probably update, i changed some stuff around. I thought that bi-amping from the receiver meant that it was bridging the front channels and only one wire would go to each from speaker, but you can send two seperate signals to each front speaker. sooo im going to be using a single low pass 100hz crossover on the sub portion, then a 2.5k crossover on the mid/tweeter portion and then high pass that signal on the receiver at 90-100hz.

Here is the low pass crossover..
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=266-446

Here is the 2 way crossover..
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=260-142

Also switched to a peerless SLS subwoofer because the min. impedance on my onkyo 607 receiver is 6 ohms, so i need to run 8 ohm subs...
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=264-1118

Also, this was originally a project for my uncle, but he bailed on me and now im stuck with the speakers so for now i will be throwing in my mach5audio 6.5's and i'll purchase the peerless HDS later on.


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## m R g S r (Oct 1, 2009)

ohh and i didn;t feel like taking my digital camera into my basement so i just used my phone...here are a few crappy pics...


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## mitchjr (Mar 8, 2010)

I am not an expert but, I think when the guy mentioned the crossover he was onto something. Usually when building a home speaker the crossover is different for every mix of drivers. And you almost always need a baffle step correction. I have only started reaserching home audio about 6 months ago after a couple years on hear. But from what I've gathered so far home crossovers are very situation dependent. 

You may find a bit more info on this stuff at diyaudio.com. GL


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## DonutHands (Jan 27, 2006)

Find a design that has been designed and tested with specific drivers and custom crossovers. Otherwise you are just throwing stuff together and hoping for the best. I dont know what your financial situation is, but i wouldnt go throwing $700 around with no real direction.


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## Loudy (Nov 10, 2010)

internecine said:


> Find a design that has been designed and tested with specific drivers and custom crossovers. Otherwise you are just throwing stuff together and hoping for the best. I dont know what your financial situation is, but i wouldnt go throwing $700 around with no real direction.


Based on the pics, you guys are too late! He has decent components with average aftermarket crossovers. This combination will still sound better than most box store set-ups. I built a quick set of monitors and used similar Dayton crossovers and was quite surprised with the SQ.


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## m R g S r (Oct 1, 2009)

its a project, if they sound like **** i can try building my own crossover. i think they will sound okay to my uncle thou, a lot better than what he can get for the $ at best buy at least. we shall see!


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## fallbrookchris (Feb 13, 2009)

Zaph Audio has some really nice projects and so does the speaker project page on Parts Express, I have built over a dozen projects from these two sites with great results, both sites have great detail and show you everything you need to know including how to build the crossovers

I think you really need to invest in a router, you can find routers on E-bay for less than $50, there aren't contractor grade but they will get the job done, you need a router to countersink the speakers into the front baffle, a router also makes cutting the port holes real easy after gluing the port to the inside of the box and then using a flush trim bit
you can make your own circle jig or just buy one for $40 from Parts Express

good luck with whatever you decide to do


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## m R g S r (Oct 1, 2009)

I have a nice dewalt 621 plunge router that I bought after cutting these holes. I already trimmed one hole to flush mount the speakers. I also made my own circle cutting jig. 

I figure I'll try this combo of speakers and box size for now. With the Dayton 2 way crossovers I'll see how the mid/tweeter combo sounds. If it doesn't play nicely then I'll redesign the appropriate crossovers.


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## jimmy2345 (Jul 12, 2010)

Looking good so far. I probably would have made them a tad wider to shorten them up a little.


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## m R g S r (Oct 1, 2009)

thats my router and JIG i made

and here is the speaker after i flush mounted one of my test drivers...


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## m R g S r (Oct 1, 2009)

with the dayton crossovers the tweeters i used were too bright, i didn't like them. i swapped in some MB quart crossovers i had and enjoyed the sound much more. the components i wound up using were:
vifa d27tg tweeter
peerless hds 830883
dayton 12" DVC subwoofer
100hz low pass crossover on the sub portion
MB quart crossovers on the mid/tweet

the sub portion is sealed, and the mid is ported with a single 1.75" port

heres some more pics of the build:




















































btw my uncle is now taking these. i kind of want to keep them for my front speakers in my HT but i'll just build another pair. i will most likely go with a set of Zaph's speakers for my Fronts, i haven't decided which yet.


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Damn man, way to finish strong! I knew from the beginning that your crossover would be the weak point of the system. 

I'm very impressed with the finish on them. What did you use to wrap them? They look fantastic. Can you explain how you applied the wrap?


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## m R g S r (Oct 1, 2009)

Thanks!! I'm pleased with them for my first finished home speaker. You can see the painted tapped horn in the back which I did a few weeks before. 

I used the Dayton vinyl which parts express sells. It's nice it has a texture to it and looks like real wood (well pretty close to it) 
It is on the thinner side, so any slight imperfections will show through. It does crease easily too, so you need to be careful when putting it on. It has it's own adhesive so you just peel back The paper backing and pres it on by hand pulling it tight and working out any bubbles. 
I did sand the MDF first, but Didnt go crazy. Just hit it with 130 grit or something around that on the electric sander.


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## huckorris (Sep 2, 2009)

Good call crossing the subs lower. I found this review on partexpress:



> We've used with very satisfactory results. Low CMS with 9 MM xmax, 2.5" VC and 140 gr MMS allow this woofer to perform well in reasonably small enclosures. *Use below 100 Hz as there is a resonance, at about 150 Hz, that shows in 3D analysis.* Magnet weight should appear in PDF specs.
> 
> Good bang for the buck and a very well thought out design.


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