1.618 - DIY 3-Way Hi-Vi Tower Speaker Project
Adam McCall  
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Page 1: Design Goals, Driver Selection, Enclosure Design, Enclosure Construction
Page 2: 3-Way Crossover
Page 3: Conclusion, Parts List and Costs
Design Goals - 3-Way Hi-Vi Tower Speaker
My goal was to design a loudspeaker that sounds and performs beautifully across the whole bandwidth. I was looking for crystal clear highs, an open and warm midrange and deep, accurate bass. Nothing sticking out, making one think, "Ouch... those highs are harsh!" Clear and accurate response was key.
Other than that, I was bored and really wanted to see what I could pull off.
Driver Selection - 3-Way Hi-Vi Tower Speaker
I came across the HiVi F5s mid-woofers on eBay and bought them up thinking I'd find some use for them one day. I searched and searched for woofers and tweeters to go with these for months. Punching in the driver specs in the box and x-over programs really to only come up with the other Hi-Vi drivers. I figured why not keep with the same manufacture. The simulated graphs looked good and so it was, the Hi-Vi F8 woofers and the Hi-Vi SD1.1A tweeters.
UPDATE - 17 May 2010. The SD1.1A tweeters have been discontinued by HiVi. I have had someone use the Q1R as a substitute and they have reported excellent results. Modeling shows no issues with using the Q1R as a substitution.
Enclosure Design - 3-Way Hi-Vi Tower Speaker
I wanted to keep it looking good, yet fulfill its duty. I instantly decided to go with 1.5" thick walls all around. Slightly over kill, but figured might as well. The cabinet itself is divided into two chambers. One chamber housing the woofer and the other housing the mids and tweeter. The Enclosure Drawing shows it best. The port is 3" in diameter and 4" in length.
Hi-Vi Tower Enclosure Plan
The frequency response for the bass enclosure was calculated using BassBox Pro and is shown below.
Frequency Response - Hi-Vi Tower Enclosure
Enclosure Construction - 3-Way Hi-Vi Tower Speaker
The photographs below show the construction of the enclosure. I used MDF and lots of wood glue, screws, and caulking.
Hi-Vi Tower Enclosure - MDF and Bracing
Hi-Vi Speaker Box - Pre-Primer and Paint
The finished cabinet is primed and painted in oil based epoxy paint. I lost count of how many coats I did. The rest of the cabinet is trimmed out in red oak.
Oak Trim and Painted Speaker Cabinet
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3-Way Crossover |