[Keith D]

Hey everyone,
I'm thinking of building some new speakers to use in my dorm next year. I'm trying to decide whether I should DIY them from scratch by having someone measure my choice in drivers, or if I should stick with an existing kit, proably the AV1 at this point.

Reason I'd like to do my own design is so I can build them to integrate better than most speakers do at close distances, less than 1 meter. I actually like my current speakers, which I designed from scratch with some help, but the tweeters don't have enough xmax to keep up with the woofers at full volume, they get grainy. They're audax tm025f1 tweeters, which have a reputation for low xmax, and the woofers are peerless 850106, the same as 850108 minus the shorting ring, which I hear are very good.

Here's what I'm considering:
A shielded M-130 SH, with a self shielding morel mdt-39(specs available from www.partsexpress.com) or similar tweeter. The small tweeter would let me get a very small ctc distance, which would serve several purposes. First off, it would maximize intrgration at close range, where it would resemble a point source more. My current ctc is exactly the diameter of a CD(I don't have a ruler on hand, 6" maybe?), and I can easily tell which driver sounds come from. Secondly, the small ctc means I have the option of using a higher xo point without having to worry about anything, maybe 2.5K 12db electrical slopes. I want to stay away from higher order designs or higher frequency points. No higher frequencie crossovers because that would rely on the woofer for the upper midrange(2-3K), and off axis the woofer has started rolling off by tha point, so I'd get a dip. The tweeter should have enough xmax for an XO at 2K if possible, I hope. Oh, and since these are for a dorm room, they should be as small as possible in volume, I'll use all the tricks to do this with a sealed box without getting a high Q, maybe aperiodic venting, or an electricl filter? I don't need to port them since I have a sub, but who knows, maybe I'll put a sealable port and shove a rubber ball in it to close it off if that sounds better.

Now that I've explained one possibility, does anyone have any other recomendations for shielded tweeters with relatively small face plates? And why would you choose that over the morel mdt-39? I think I'm set on the M-130 SH woofers just because of it's reputation for smooth vocals. Good price too. And I'll probably just mail whatever tweeters I end up with to Danny so he can measure them for me to the same standards as his woofers are measured, just for the sake of consistancy, and then I'll design from there in Speaker Workshop.

Thanks,
Keith D

[Danny Richie]

When is comes to driver integration the driver spacing is not even half the battle.

Keeping the drivers phase relationship in sink is every bit if not more important.

Best driver integration of any speaker we offer is the A/V-1.

But it is not because of the close 4.75" center to center driver spacing. It is due to the series network used and the lesser shift in phase due to the use of this type of network.

The drivers share the same network, and appear to play as one unit in this configuration.

[Keith D]

Thanks for clearing that up, I guess I was getting too ambitious. I might still try using those morels with my peerless woofers. I think my current speakers have potential, but the tweeter's are just not up to the task, they'd be good surround speakers I think.

I had overlooked the fact that the t2 tweeters are shielded, that's one reason I was asking about neodymium tweeters. I found a review (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_10_2/gr-research-av1-speakers-5-2003.html), based on an older version, which is saying that they sound best placed a little bit away from the walls. If they're put on a bookshelf, with books on either side, would I need to modify anything to avoid screwing up the sound? Any resistors to be changed to lower the BSC?
Thanks,
Keith

PS: I'll be ordering them sometime next week, I need to transfer my paypal money to my bank account.

[merc]

Best driver integration of any speaker we offer is the A/V-1.

Danny,
Better than the Alpha LS?

BTW, congrats Gary!