So the time has come where I’m manifesting my curiosity into building a small soundsystem, part labour of love, part necessity…
After dipping in briefly I see the soundsystem construction world is as long, opinionated and data heavy as bbqing or beer brewing.
Anyone done this before? Any good links to helpful sources greatly appreciated.
*mods sorry if this is already a topic
I would like some tips too. I found over the years inspirations and tips from many sources.
@devonojas on Instagram is great
@ hatchett_sound_furniture
I think the easy part is to create the frame, find the speakers depending on the type of Soundsystem you want to make, for me the struggle so far is to understand how to find the right crossover and amps needed. I had some specifications on the David Mancuso Soundsytem years ago, I found them on the net, he gave me an idea of what you need and why or what you want to achieve. Sometimes I think that is convenient just to buy one
Architecture and space is so important - time and time again I have gone into a club space or room where the acoustics are not so good and there is already a fighting battle happening.
Having attended Mister Sunday in NYC I was so surprised to hear such a crystal soundsystem in an outdoor space, Shorty (the engineer) really knows what he is doing there - it was perfect and not overly loud either.
Do you have a system that you have heard before that inspired you ?
Hnngh I should have specified, just looking for a small build, uncomplicated, that could fit in a van to take to a yard, bar or park, 1 or 2 person set up, try and finish for EU summer?
A friend has a workshop free and we both have some time…
Yes I am well aware that cheap micro PAs are easy to get hold of, but we’re both of the opinion there are many far worse things to spend money on or build with ones time😅
Go for it mate.
Is there a type of speaker you like or system that you have liked ?
watching with interest.
i built some speakerboxes about 25 years ago and they were terrible. later, i worked at EAW for a couple of years, and i realized i was completely technically outclassed amongst my work peers and cringed any time someone would be like “hey cameron, didn’t you build some boxes for a club?”.
I’d tend to agree with the sentiment here. I’m a cabinet maker but also work on and off for Funktion One assembling cabs etc.
The r&d and attention to the minutest detail is pretty mind blowing. Everything from the spec of the drivers, the volume/shape of the boxes/horns to materials used not to mention the quality control makes a difference to the overall sound. It’s certainly made me realise that I’d be better off buying a system rather than attempting to build one myself.
Hopefully soon…
I’m going to suggest jump in and get cracking on something. There is so much information out there it’s really easy to get overwhelmed and put you off making a start on something.
At the start of lockdown I was feeling the same way and found some old and super simple bass reflex speaker plans online, scaled the dimensions and built this old-school style, little 2-way for fun. It has 8" drivers which aren’t too fancy cost wise but it packs a decent punch for the house and Im sure the yard too if I had one. The boxes are as simple design as you can get as Im not a carpenter by any means but the principles of box building were laid.
Last summer a few mates from RTM.fm got together, again looking at using rather straight forward box plans (Tham 15 for the sub, straight forward ported bass reflex design for the mids and a box for the tops). Some of the more modern sub/horn plans are super complex so we steered clear.
One of the crew (Dani Smith) had some experience with free 3d modelling tools, building smaller rigs and also tuning sound systems which really helped but otherwise it was a learning curve for the rest of us. Lots of fun and the setup sounds great. I mean, it could always be be better/bigger/more professional but that can wait until the next iteration. You have to start somewhere!
We ended up with two stacks like this.
Disclaimer: Hours (and hours) of time on the speakerplans.com forum is unavoidable sadly.
PS This is Thamesmeads (SE London) first community sound system. Give us a shout (https:// [email protected]) if you want to hook up this summer!
Mega!
Ok thank you, this is exactly the kind of achievable simplified encouragement a rave fried space monkey like me needed!
And they look beeeeeeeautiful
Amazing work!
Damn those accounts have some drool worthy stuff going on in them.
