DIY tower speaker box thoughts

(jc245) · (jc245) **Join Date: Jan 2007** 01-09-2007, 2:44 PM

Being a DIY'er at heart, I have set out to improve my tower audio system by way of new speakers. I have been reading LOTS on lots of forums about what's best but thought I'd throw this out for thought... Currently I have a pair of HomeTech outdoor speakers clamped to my tower (weak huh??) They are intended for patio use at your home (best buy sells em) they have a 5-1/4 midrange and a 5/8 tweet. Sound amazingly good for as cheap as they are. Needless to say they aren't enough to hear while boarding. I am considering building a box simliar to that by Jim Aikins (www.diytower.com) made from MDF and fiberglassed over. My question arises about drivers. What do you suggest? I was thinking about a pair of 6.5 subs, pair of 4" mids and a pair of HLCD's to cover mid and highs. Are the 6.5's enough for bass? do i need to go 8? do i need the 4's if i use the HLCD's? I have lots of power available, 4 amps in the boat 2 dedicated to the tower (1 amp at 140Wx2 and 1 amp at 160x2) Is the box design adequate? I have a full shop and can fabricate in metal, wood, or glass...What number of speakers, size etc do you all recommend to get it heard back there?? What about the box? Thanks. -James

(sea_ray_dave) · (sea_ray_dave) **Join Date: Dec 2004** 01-09-2007, 5:56 PM

First, you will not get bass back to the rider.

For the speakers pointing back, use an 8 inch Pro Audio driver. You can use 10's also, but they will need more power and are also heavier. Look under the link pro sound then look to right for the drivers at www.partsexpress.com
Consider using the coax ones which allow the HLCD to screw into them. You should also run a search here using the term tower speaker or read the pro audio posts on diytower. I am using 4 pro audio speakers of which two are the coax style with HLCD inside. It can be heard way past the rider. If your amp will bridge mono use that and use the 160x2 amp for that set of speakers. You will not need the 4's.

(Message edited by sea_ray_dave on January 09, 2007)

(mikeski) · (mikeski) **Join Date: Aug 2003** 01-15-2007, 5:37 PM

James,

I am thinking about doing a single horn and four 8s. David's suggestion works great for cans but if you are going to the trouble of building a glass box with the liberty to do what you want I would not go with a co-ax design. I would also suggest you build a test box for your speaker design before you go to the trouble of building the glass box.