Diy Monitors - to build or not to build

[pucho812]

Has anybody tried to clone the NS-10's

NO but I once left a pair alone for a while and next thing you know there all these lil baby ns-10's around... all kidding aside

I have to ask why? Same question for modding them. IMO the Ns-10 is well an NS-10 good to some bad to some but fpund everywhere I see no need to clone or no need to mod. Next we will be hearing about how toilet paper over the tweeters makes them sound amazing. :green:

 

[SonsOfThunder]

And so can we come back to my comment about the Yammy NS-6390 (now NS-6490)? Anyone else try these yet? I mean, its only $100 to find out...:green:

[quote author="Kev"]no highs no lows must be ----[/quote] That company is a classic example of great "marketing", and not great product. (and believe me, they are held up many times as an example of just that at my day job!)

I think its not so hard to build a good sounding set of speakers from a kit or with some measure of technical knowhow, but I wouldn't want to #mix# on them. On my DIY speakers, a known "good" mix will sound great on them, but if I mix on them alone, that mix is very likely to sound bad when I listen in a car or boombox. It just doesn't translate well. Maybe I'm not skilled enough at mixing! :green:

HTH!
Charlie

 

[alk509]

[quote author="Kev"]no highs no lows must be ----[/quote]

LOL!!! I have a friend who works at Bose... Guess what the first thing out of my mouth is going to be next time I see him! :green:

[quote author="SonsOfThunder"]Maybe I'm not skilled enough at mixing![/quote]

Or maybe you're just not skilled enough at building speakers! :wink:

But most likely you simply haven't "learned your speakers" yet. That's really the key to having any degree of success mixing with any set of speakers.

Peace,
Al.

 

[PRR]

> Yammy NS-6390 (now NS-6490)? Anyone else try these yet?

I got a few for classrooms. They actually are not beefy enough, though they do have a pleasant sound for the price.

But one long narrow classroom, I fitted with four pairs of the Yammer 8-inch "3-way" thin particleboard boxes. Anywhere you sit, you get left-right separation, and the usable level is plenty high.

 

[SonsOfThunder]

[quote author="PRR"]I got a few for classrooms. They actually are not beefy enough, though they do have a pleasant sound for the price. [/quote]
AHA! Should have known that PRR was in this one with me... :razz::razz::razz:

You can stuff the suckers full of polyfil and help out the low end a bit, btw. I promised myself I would not mod mine, though I am so often tempted!! I'm betting that adding an inductor to the woofer and then padding down the mid and tweet would make a huge difference, but then they would not be what I bought them for. I should go and buy another pair to mod, they're so cheep.

PRR, do you have them standing upright or laying on their sides? If upright, try them on their sides with the tweeters on the outsides. It is the weirdest, out-of-phase mess I've ever heard, but turn one of them over and it makes all the diff in the world.

Peace!

 

[PRR]

> standing upright or laying on their sides?

Hanging upside down from the rafters.

After looking at driver placement and non-crossover, I didn't even try horizontal use.

I just remembered. I got the same thing in black (the school got grey) for home. I don't listen much at home, and not critically, but they sound fine and are a nice size and price. I was a little concerned about woofer blow-up, but sitting in corners they give ample boom and so far we have not killed them.

 

[NewYorkDave]

So they don't have that nasty, strident "Yamaha sound?" Maybe I'll check them out. I'm always interested in a decent set of cheap monitors :wink:

 

[PRR]

> So they don't have that nasty, strident "Yamaha sound?"

Well, I've heard a lot worse, and at higher prices.

> a decent set of cheap monitors

NO!, The cheap Yammers are not "monitors", except in the sense that you can tell you have (or don't have) audio and you don't (or do) have huge hum or hiss. You could tell if some fool turned EQ knobs all the way (they might sound better than normal). But reference-tools, they aren't.

 

[NewYorkDave]

In a noisy Master Control room, with air conditioning blasting and operators yelling, that's exactly what constitutes a "monitor." :wink: But your point is taken. I know you can't get away that cheap if you want something you can mix on.

 

[SonsOfThunder]

I've never heard a set of NS-10s (at least not in the last 20 years) so I can't compare these, but they really helped me learn to mix rock. Add a subwoofer and you are good as far as I am concerned. For me its one of those, "if I can get it sounding good on the NS-6390, then it sounds good everywhere" things.

Then again, maybe I'm messed up... :wink:

Seriously, I'm going to listen on my other speakers before I let it go out, but the 6390 is a good starting point for me.

Peace!
Charlie

 

[PatinaCreme]

Hey PRR
Where did you learn all of that info?
That's what I am after.



New to the game
Patina

 

[sigma]

Hi there,

Im new here "very interesting stuff to learn".

What about some large soffit mount 3 or 4 way speaker like M3-M4plus
would it be a mission impossible or is it woth the try?
I always think of the boxes is it possible to get the plans somewhere?

Any of you had any experience with main Speakers like these?

Thanks Mart

 

[Amo Audio]

Hi, another newbie here...

How viable is it to replace the drivers in monitors? I have a pair of these http://www.carvin.com/products/single.php?ItemNumber=SRS65-2&CID=SPM which actually sound pretty incredible for the money. They have a pleasant sound for mixing, but when listening to mixes on other monitors (genelec's, HD1's) I notice a definate lack of detail. the cabinet is very solidly constructed though so it would be nice if I could swap out the drivers for some more accurate ones.

Anything else I should do first? crossover upgrades etc.? Any brand suggestions? I just want to squeeze the most out of them that I can.

Thanks!
-Adam

 

[tony dB]

do they have a lot of insulation material inside?
And what kind of material is in there?

 

[mshilarious]

[quote author="Amo Audio"]Anything else I should do first? crossover upgrades etc.? Any brand suggestions? I just want to squeeze the most out of them that I can.

Thanks!
-Adam[/quote]

I'd be inclined to replace the crossover if I was replacing drivers. That way you are sure the crossover is designed for the drivers you select, and you can use better quality components than OEM.

 

[Amo Audio]

[quote author="mshilarious"][quote author="Amo Audio"]Anything else I should do first? crossover upgrades etc.? Any brand suggestions? I just want to squeeze the most out of them that I can.

Thanks!
-Adam[/quote]

I'd be inclined to replace the crossover if I was replacing drivers. That way you are sure the crossover is designed for the drivers you select, and you can use better quality components than OEM.[/quote]

Can you buy crossovers or is it something requiring assembly? I'll find out what the insulation situation is like as soon as i have a chance to open them up...

 

[barefoot]

Emm, I see this thread hanging around and I feel a little guilty.

I mean I'd like to help..... but...... I'm so pressed for time these days that I'm rather wary of "foreign entanglements". :wink:

I guess if anyone is interested in making this an official project, I'd be willing to help a little. I could do some crossover design. I could even do some measurements. But I don't have time to build anything. Somebody would have to send me one of the boxes to test.

I suggest a 6" 2-way using mid priced drivers ? so a lot of folks can afford to build it.

Any thoughts?

Thomas

 

[Consul]

Guys, just to help add some perspective, Thomas Barefoot, a respected high-end studio/mastering monitor designer and maker, has offered his help (as much as possible) in the design of an official "DIY Monitor" project for GroupDIY.

At the risk of sounding slightly overenthusiastic... JUMP ON THIS OPPORTUNITY! :green:

I say let's go for it!

 

[Amo Audio]

I opened up the speaker and found that there is only a small amount of black "foam" that kindof resembles steel wool... it definitely doesn't cover the whole inside and the back inner face of the cabinet is even partially exposed...

I'm wondering if I can use fiberglass insulation (owens corning acoustic type), and whether I should completely replace the black stuff or just add the fiberglass with it...

 

[Amo Audio]

I also have some egg-crate acoustic foam, does anybody use this inside speaker cabinets?