# DIY HLCD tower speaker box



## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Hi everyone,
I'm Stephane from France.

I would like to build a new tower speaker box using HLCD.

Here is my actual setup :



















Here is how I buit it : Building your own tower speaker

It's using BOSS MR695 6x9 marine speakers. It works perfectly, but now I want HLCD. Wet Sounds and others are way too expensive, so it will be a DIY project.

Here are speakers I chose :

woofer : FAITAL PRO 8FE200 - 4 Ohms x2, paralleled for 2 Ohms load
Tweeter : SICA CD78.26/N92 - 8 Ohms
Waveguide : B&C ME10

Here are all the files (pdf, .frd .zma) : HLCD 1

What it should look like : 










I use Passive crossover design 7 to get this :



















Questions are :
- Is it a nice cuvre ? Something clear and soft to listen ?
- Do you get same results with other crossover simulators ?

Amplifier is a class-D, 2x80wrms @ 2 Ohms


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Up

I'm open to any suggestion, includding speaker choice, limited to $250 for 4 woofers 8" and 2 compression drivers.


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## YukonXL04 (Mar 6, 2014)

cant help on your current driver selection as I know nothing about them.
However when i did my old hlcd tower setup it had the following:

2 Eminence Beta 8cx's
2 Eminence ASD1001 CD's
and 2 passive crossovers.

I had Lpads on the CD's so I could tweak them from super clean to all out loudness. If we were hanging out behind the boat I would turn the CD's down some to clean them up and blend better with the woofers.

I threw about 800 watts to the pair and they jammed. Easily sounded better than the kicker and other low end HLCD setups. They sounded better than the Wetsounds Pro80's, but the Rev8's easily played cleaner.

You could hear them at 80ft out at 25mph no problem. sitting still 300+ feet away and you were still jamming out pretty good.

I think I will do those again when I buy another boat but add another pair of 8" woofers for some more mid/low end.

Hope this helps


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Thanks for your answer,
Yes I have seen at least 2 DIY HLCDs with Eminence. I actually thought this project because of the Eminence ones. Is the Bzooka tubbies yours ?

I firstly search for Eminence Beta / Alpha 8", but curves and specs didn't keep my interrest, especialy Eminence tweeters that all have a big hole in frequencies around 10K. That's why I started to search for speakers with better curves, higher SPL, and even lower price.

I still search for an efficent high quality compression driver. Right now I'm more on a Selenium D220Ti, but still too expensive for my budget project. Anyway my theorically response curve is almost flat with 2x Faital 8FE200-4 Ohms wired parallel and the Selenium, with a 18dB LP/12dB HP crossover.

Here are results. It's perfectly flat with R1 = 8.2 Ohm. Speakers are in phase, I also added speaker positionning in this simulation (it wasn't on the first upper simulation) :





























Regards


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## YukonXL04 (Mar 6, 2014)

so are you looking to hear it behind the boat? or just good loud tunes?

Cause I dont know if those Faital's are gonna cut it. Those ASD1001's I used easily overpowered the Beta's if I turned the L-pad up too much. Usually I kept it to a nice even level which was great because the out of the box options dont give you that adjust-ability which is why I think mine sounded so good.

No, I ended up buying some chrome bullet pods from bulletlines.com and used them. I widened the hole some to fit them though.

Your response looks great to me, however you seem to know more about response and efficiency than I do.

Having run the Eminence setup before, and not ever using any of the other ones suggested, I would reuse them in a heartbeat, however I was very happy with my setup, just needed another pair of them


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Hi Yukon,
I would like both, good sound not headache in the boat, and good sound on the Wake.
I know that on the Wake the sound will not be as acurate as in the boat anyway.

I'm not worry about tweeter/woofer level difference on the wake, as I'm almost at 100dB /1w/1m. It's beacause of the woofer choice.
They are 95dB each. That means 95+3 = 98dB for each side of the speaker box.
Eminence Beta 8CX are 92.9dB. You can compare it this way : you need 4 Beta 8 to beat 2 Faital 8FE200, or, you need 4 times more power to get same SPL.

I thnik I found the good tweeter choice for this setup : FANE CD-131. Nice curve, only $30, no change to my filter (only resitor values).
I will go for that setup and post results and feeback.


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## YukonXL04 (Mar 6, 2014)

Well cool. Sounds like you have it mostly figured out! Please report back and let me know how you like it. It looks like it will be cheaper than my eminence setup, and should sound better and louder.


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Hi !
Every parts are ordered. I will start to receive it at the end of the week. I will post the construction phases and details.

The final setup is a MTM with 2x FAITAL 8FE200 4 ohm and a FANE CD 131 comp for each side. It's a $250 system for a pair.
I should hit 100dB/w/m with all speakers in phase, a nice flat curve from 100Hz to 20KHz, a good tweeter angle of 90° with the B&C ME10 horn.

I've also drawn 5 more systems, if I get good results, I will post them.
There will be 6 systems :
- single 8" + comp + horn @ 4ohm / 96dB ~ $200 a pair
- single 10" + comp + horn @ 4ohm / 97dB ~ $215 a pair
- twin 8" + comp + horn (MTM) @ 4 ohm / 99dB ~ $250 a pair
- twin 10" + comp + horn (MTM) @ 4 ohm / 100dB ~ $265 a pair
- twin 8" + comp + horn (MTM) @ 2 ohm / 100dB ~ $250 a pair (my system)
- twin 10" + comp + horn (MTM) @ 2 ohm / 101dB ~ $265 a pair


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## YukonXL04 (Mar 6, 2014)

Personally, I think 10's look too big on a tower. I say go with your planned setup.

Cant wait to see how this turns out


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Just received stuff. I'm now waiting for CNC frame, and working on filters.










Here is my last file, including 6 different systems. I'm building system 5.

http://sdch2o.free.fr/perso/bateau/supra/HLCD/HLCD project.pdf

All designs in this pdf are free for non-commercial use


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## YukonXL04 (Mar 6, 2014)

Awesome! Can't wait to see how this turns out! What amp setup are you running?


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Hi Yukon,
I run a soundstream pn5.640d for the complete installation.
1 channel for 4 interior speakers, parallel connexion, 2 ohm load, Boss MR650
1 channel for the HLCD, parallel connexion, 2 ohm load (system 5)
The mono channel for the subwoofer, MTX RT12-04

As the amp is also stable on 2 ohm load for the sub channel, I think about adding another MTX RT12-04 or even a MTX RT15-04, but trying to figure out where to put it in this boat.


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## YukonXL04 (Mar 6, 2014)

Sdc77 said:


> Hi Yukon,
> I run a soundstream pn5.640d for the complete installation.
> 1 channel for 4 interior speakers, parallel connexion, 2 ohm load, Boss MR650
> 1 channel for the HLCD, parallel connexion, 2 ohm load (system 5)
> ...


So thats a 5ch amp... what are you using the other 2 channels for?

How are you wiring 4 woofers and 2 horns for a single 2 ohm load?


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

hum, I explain badly :
2 channels for 4 Inside speakers
2 channels for HLCD
1 channel for the sub


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

For the wiring of the HLCD, I use only 2 channels :
left + & -
right + & -

Then take a look at the system 5 filter wiring, you will understand how and why it loads 2 ohms :
2 woofers 4 ohm paralleled. The tweeter impedance doesn't matter on a system


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

A friend just did the same simulation with another soft and found the same response curve (system 5), so I'm pretty excited about how it will sound !


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Hi,
Just receive the frame, it's PVC material, 1/2" thickness, a friend CNC it.

Starting construction of the box :


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

First speakers mounting, to see if everything's right.
It looks great, hope it sounds good


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## Fivinte (Mar 30, 2015)

Good Job.


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Thanks


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Installing clamps and clamp supports :


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## YukonXL04 (Mar 6, 2014)

So yea... Your more than welcome to send me one of those pvc frames too! Ill even do the assembly and fiberglass, just send it as is! man that is awesome. too bad I dont have any friends with access to those kinds of tools

Cant wait to see this all said and done.


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Thanks man 

You can get Forex all around the world I think. I can get some at my local house construction dealer. Maybe it can be found in the USA as well.

FOREX is a brand, but it also has many more names (Komacel, Palight etc.), it's 3/4 thickness PVC sheet.

Here is the link : FOREX

The I give a DXF drawing (done with Autocad) to a friend who's got a CNC machine and did the cutting.

You can do this in MDF wood the same way, I just preferred Forex as it resists to water


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Fleece in place, Resin is for monday :


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## YukonXL04 (Mar 6, 2014)

I wonder what a cnc place would charge to cut that up... I need to talk with a buddy of mine and see how big his 3d printer can print


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Resin is dry Inside/outside, add stuff Inside for rear absorbtion, built filter, mount filter, mount speakers and test it for the first time :


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

First notes of the HLCD :

http://vimeo.com/132618248


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## YukonXL04 (Mar 6, 2014)

Looks great. Curious how it sounds once really amped up. Also distance sound too.

Great work man


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Thanks man. Can't wait to test it on the boat.
Probably end of the week.

It needs finishing now. Vinyling will be a pain. The aluminium face is already done, cut by CNC machine. I will keep it brushed, I don't want to lose more time polishing it, I will do that next winter.

I also need to build a cover for this Box as speakers are not marine grade, and it often rains here ...


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Vinyl in place :




























It should be on the boat this weekend


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## YukonXL04 (Mar 6, 2014)

Looking good! Your making much faster progress than I would be lol


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Thanks man ! And I work only 2 hours a day on it.
I think this thing can be completly done from scratch in only 2 off days, it's pretty easy to build, you just need to think it ahead


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Here we are, the new tower speaker box HLCD is finished  Next step is mounting on the boat.





































It looks good with brushed aluminium face, don't know if I will polish it this winter. Let's see how it looks on the boat now.


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## YukonXL04 (Mar 6, 2014)

Looks Great man! Might I recommend maybe adding these speaker grills to finish it off? Parts Express Steel Mesh 2-Piece Grill for 8" Speaker Black
Also maybe coat the speakers in Wet Look 4 oz. Black

Here they are on my boat


And here is the best pic I have of them painted silver


Looks great though man. Excellent work!


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

Thanks for comment man 

I've already treated speakers with clothes waterproofing spray. I did a test on an old speaker, it's very efficient. It's not audio type spray, but it's same composition, for 4x lower price ...
And it's perfectly invisible once dry.

I will let it this way, as I prefer without grill, and I have no more budget for this project.
Anyway, I will probably go for those grills but next season if people tend to touch it :










or those :


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## YukonXL04 (Mar 6, 2014)

Sdc77 said:


> Thanks for comment man
> 
> I've already treated speakers with clothes waterproofing spray. I did a test on an old speaker, it's very efficient. It's not audio type spray, but it's same composition, for 4x lower price ...
> And it's perfectly invisible once dry.
> ...


I had bought these to begin with









But they are WAY bigger than the speakers for some reason. They looked huge and out of place on pro audio speakers. But they looked good on some 8" subs I had. Look into it before you spring for them


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## Sdc77 (Mar 11, 2012)

The box is in place since yesterday. What a good surprise ! This thing is loud and the sound is cristal clear. We can hear it far away from 80Ft. Very good opening on the sides of the boat, clean and very audible détails. I'm proud of this setup.
I really would like to compare it to the best HLCD aftermarket speakers now.


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