WakeWorld - DIY 8 inch Pro Audio Tower Speakers

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- Archive through December 20, 2006 (http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=398151)

- - DIY 8 inch Pro Audio Tower Speakers (http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=391583)

Here is my DIY tower speaker project. Each pair of speakers, has (2) 8 inch Pro Audio speakers inside. One is coaxial and has a 1 inch titanium horn loaded compression driver (HLCD)mounted through it and crossed over at 3500hz. That pesky tweeter hole turned out to be a good place to mount a speaker wire connect/disconnect. I started with 4 8 inch aluminum cans: The red arrows show where I had to cut them. The driver hole was resized to 7.13 inches in diameter to allow the 8's to fit. The speaker grill retaining ring and driver are secured with 8-32 stainless machine screws. My goals for this project were to use Pro Audio speakers, have a very quick connect/disconnect with as little weight as possible on the tower (Each pair of speakers weighs only 24 pounds). Most of all, it had to be loud and sound good too. The speakers attach to the tower by knobs that screw onto the 3/8 - 16 studs coming out of the tower clamps. Neutrik Speakon Quick connect/disconnect audio connectors plug the wattage into the speakers. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391584.jpg" alt="Upload"><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391585.jpg" alt="Upload"> <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391586.jpg" alt="Upload"><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391587.jpg" alt="Upload"> <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391588.jpg" alt="Upload"><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391589.jpg" alt="Upload"> <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391590.jpg" alt="Upload"><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391591.jpg" alt="Upload"> <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391592.jpg" alt="Upload"><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391593.jpg" alt="Upload"> <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391594.jpg" alt="Upload"><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391595.jpg" alt="Upload"> <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391596.jpg" alt="Upload"><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391597.jpg" alt="Upload"> <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391598.jpg" alt="Upload"><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391599.jpg" alt="Upload"> They may look like everyone elses speakers, but these can be heard a long ways away. They are loud and sound great at 80 feet out and 30mph.

hey your not the guy in your profile, what gives =) Nice speakers! I love DIY guys

Nice work. Looks a little familiar, LOL.

Looks good! Did you stuff the cans with some kind of acoustic fill?

I have not put anything in the cans as yet for dampening. It was suggested to put shag carpet. I am still evaluating what I am going to use. Mikeski- Thanks for all of your help!!

dave, looks great.... congrats !!!

Hey Dave: Try some Dynamatt dampening material. It made a big differance for me when I used to have can's. They say you only have to do 70% of the can to get the advantages of dampening material. You can get Dynamatt or Stingers' (road kill) brand or Cascade audio's dampening material on line. Check out Cascade audio for project specific dampening material, Here is a pic of the inside of my old boss cans after I dynamattted them<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/391860.jpg" alt="Upload">

Dynamat is very expensive, there are a lot of other products out there that work just as well. PartsExpress sells some that is sticky backed and lightweight. It sticks well even to the inside of fiberglass speaker boxes with irregular surfaces. It's cheap, too. You are not paying for bikini girls at the SEMA show like with Dynamat<IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0> <a href="http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=268-030" target="_blank">http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=268-030</a>

Dave, the link that Psyclone posted is what I used in mine

dynamat sucks, use non hardening modeling clay, best shizzle in the world

I tried the vinyl dampening and did not stick to my liking. Does anyone know about using carpet? I have been told that shag carpet works great-- Anyone ever try this??

David, It turned out nice. Now I want to go back and replace my Eminence 6.5's with those 8" drivers since I know they will fit. What model number Coax did you use to mount the HLCD through?

KJ, you have mail...

I used the eminence Beta 8CX for the coax speakers. I know you will be happy with the upgrade from the 6.5 driver. I would recommend highly using only one of the coaxials per side as that is all that is needed and go with the Beta 8A for the other driver. There are plenty of other "better" drivers out there but there is a much higher cost associated with them. And you need to make sure if you use another 8 inch driver the cut out does not exceed 7.13 inches. Anything bigger will make the lip not have enough room to secure the speakers. I also used the wet look to protect the speakers from moisture and UV rays. I would also recommend putting the coaxials on your outside sets of speakers--> coax---mid-----mid---coax Tell me more about the spray you used in yours for dampening as I have not done any dampening yet in mine.

Modeling clay & Shag Carpet,<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/rofl.gif" border=0> for dampining material. Umm I guess so.<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/crazy.gif" border=0> I guess there is always a cheeper way to do somthing. But Yes I agree Dynamatt is pretty expencieve. But he only has 2 cans to do big deal $40. I havent tryed it but I would imagine that the spray in bed liners would work good for dampening as well

Clay would stay adhered during the hot Texas summers? Dave, I guess it's up to you to report back with your results of Shag Carpet. Seems like a heavy alternative.

David, You might want to swap your setup to be: mid---coax-----coax---mid You will get less phase cancellation at the rider's position. I also run my tower in a mono configuration, it tends to sound louder in that configuration and can't hear a stereo image from the rider spot anyway. Get that wire inside the tower too! (Message edited by mikeski on November 29, 2006)

Mike, I agree and will stealth that wire <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/uhoh.gif" border=0> All of the other wiring is inside the tower and comes out at the base to connect through the hull using another neutrik (4 pole) and mount. I will try switching the coax's to the insides and will post results after the weekend, if I do not get arrested for disturbing the peace As you know, it can be disturbing to others who want silence and serenity. We moved to another spot while playing Van Halen, Running with the Devil for them to enjoy.<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/rofl.gif" border=0> Note: We have noticed the fish are jumping out of the water when the system is turned up while idling--hmmm, we need to get a net. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0>

Time to clean up the music collection... F bombs blasting from the tower speakers are not too cool. I always look for the "clean" versions of my music just to keep the peace on the water. Part of what I consider playing music responsibly.

I admit, I knew they would not like the Van Halen when I decided to move to another testing spot, eventhough I was there before they were. No matter what you play, you cannot please everyone. Especially when you are tuning a system. There is no country music on my mp3 players. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0>

David, The dampening material that I used is spray on. It is called Quiet Kote. I thought it worked great. It kind of looks like a spray on truck bedliner after it dries. It is very easy to spray on and it holds up great.

What are these running money wise when it's all said and done if ya don't mind me asking.

David, where did you buy your cans, or does anyone have suggestions where to find some. Great project.

David used different compression drivers but here is pretty much the deal. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/392892.jpg" alt="Upload"> I have an extra set of this minus crossovers if anybody is interested. The speakers are already waterproofed, grills included $200 plus shipping. The cans & clamps are available from: www.diywake.com (Message edited by mikeski on November 29, 2006)

Mikeski-- excellent price!! I choose a different HLCD because of its power handling and frequency response. There are numerous other compression drivers available as well. The cans can also be had off ebay: <a href="http://stores.ebay.com/Precision-Metal-Machining" target="_blank">http://stores.ebay.com/Precision-Metal-Machining</a> or <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Boat-Wakeboard-Tower-Speaker-Cans_W0QQitemZ320002923532QQihZ011QQcategoryZ23807 QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Boat-Wakeboard-Tower-Speaker-Cans_W0QQitemZ320002923532QQihZ011QQcategoryZ23807 QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem</a> send either of these guys a "ask seller a question" asking them to give their best price shipped for the 4 cans/speaker terminals/clamps for your size tower. You will get a better deal from them. If I did this all over again I would get the cans without the separate tweeter mount. My total costs so far are $775, this includes wiring, connectors, grills, drivers, cans, clamps, etc.. My last expense will be the dampening material or spray. This project is also posted with much more detail on <a href="http://diytower.com" target="_blank">http://diytower.com</a> under the Pro Audio/HLCD speaker projects links.

Mikeski, I may be interested. I'll PM you with some info

mikeski, you have mail

Sorry guys everything is sold... If you want new gear it all came from parts express, the part numbers are in the post above. There is better stuff out there. I would like to try some singles built from the Beyma 8BX coaxials or pair them up with some 6B30/P's, unfortunately they don't have a nice 8" poly cone bass mid, but that 6 looks attractive. There is also a really nice carbon fiber cone 8" bass-mid from RCF L8S800 that I would like to try. All this stuff is available from <<a href="http://www.usspeaker.com" target="_blank">www.usspeaker.com</a>>. For premium horns I am also looking at the BMS 4552nd, it's super light, efficient, and smooth. But I don't think I would mount it behind an eminence driver.

I recently located a supplier with lots of surplus pro-audio gear. Is there any interest in a DIY pro-audio kit? I am thinking we can come up with a kit that includes the drivers and amp for about $500. Any interest? It will be an 8" format.