Speakers, receivers, and amps, Oh my!

[Snake-Eyes]

Awesome, thanks!

 

[Snake-Eyes]

Say you were going to build these speakers. Would it be possible/practical to have an amp for each of the 5 speakers?

What is a preamp? How is it used? How useful is it in a system?

As i'm only 16 and unemployed, how would i go about getting my hands on some equipment (without getting a job*)?

Are there any good books i could/should pick up or search the local library?

*I've applied to a bunch of places to no avail. I may try some again because of the Christmas season. Until then, i have practically zero funds.

 

[EricB]

Say you were going to build these speakers. Would it be possible/practical to have an amp for each of the 5 speakers?

What is a preamp? How is it used? How useful is it in a system?

As i'm only 16 and unemployed, how would i go about getting my hands on some equipment (without getting a job*)?

Are there any good books i could/should pick up or search the local library?

*I've applied to a bunch of places to no avail. I may try some again because of the Christmas season. Until then, i have practically zero funds.

that option is expensive. you could go the studio monitor route

great book. this is the latest version. he revises it every 5-10 years

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Stereo-Speaker-Manual-Electronics/dp/0071348743

 

[Crysalis]

that option is expensive. you could go the studio monitor route

HAHAHAHA!!!!!

Me thinks someone likes their new monitors...?

 

[EricB]

HAHAHAHA!!!!!

Me thinks someone likes their new monitors...?

I do
I was actually mentioning them here because it's the simplest route to go 5 amp to 5 speakers

 

[molsen]

16, unemployeed.... dude you gotta go mow some lawns or sell some drugs if you want some nice speakers

 

[Crysalis]

Yup... gots to work for your speakers. I actually come by speakers easy... alot of times they are given to me. I got a set of 4 bookshelfs (one set very good, one set rotted foam) for $50. My studio monitors were $400-500 a piece. Two surround systems (sony and onkyo)

BTW eric.... forgot to tell you. I advised my parents to get this onkyo system. I must say...WOW. It is definitely one of those GOOD onkyo systems.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-LbTIHU...&search=Onkyo+VENDORID580&SearchDisplay=Onkyo

You would be thoroughly impressed. I dont have the surround-back hooked up as its worthless for now, and the surround speakers aren't anything special, but the front L/R, Center, and sub are an amazing combination. Receiver is quite powerful, though lacking in the usability department.

I did some calibrations after setup and set the volume about 1/3 up and parents went running into the room yelling to turn it down as it was shakin the house. Anything that shakes walls (and accurately) is good. Although, i'm having trouble calibrating it to my parents' ears... my dad was on a sub for 4-6 years so his high end range is crap... i think he is deaf above 14-15k

 

[EricB]

Yup... gots to work for your speakers. I actually come by speakers easy... alot of times they are given to me. I got a set of 4 bookshelfs (one set very good, one set rotted foam) for $50. My studio monitors were $400-500 a piece. Two surround systems (sony and onkyo)

BTW eric.... forgot to tell you. I advised my parents to get this onkyo system. I must say...WOW. It is definitely one of those GOOD onkyo systems.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-LbTIHU...&search=Onkyo+VENDORID580&SearchDisplay=Onkyo

You would be thoroughly impressed. I dont have the surround-back hooked up as its worthless for now, and the surround speakers aren't anything special, but the front L/R, Center, and sub are an amazing combination. Receiver is quite powerful, though lacking in the usability department.

I did some calibrations after setup and set the volume about 1/3 up and parents went running into the room yelling to turn it down as it was shakin the house. Anything that shakes walls (and accurately) is good. Although, i'm having trouble calibrating it to my parents' ears... my dad was on a sub for 4-6 years so his high end range is crap... i think he is deaf above 14-15k

onkyo makes nice systems. but I had 2 bad experiences with them.


I once had this huge receiver (in 1999-2000). this picture doesn't do it justice. one day I was messing around and I switched the rca jacks (I done this a million time before on other systems) with on it with it on. I immediately fried a 3200.00 receiver. I was sick

I put it in the shop and they fixed it, but it fried itself again after being on for 10 minutes. they (repair shop) kept it for 3-4 months this time, but by then I purchase a yamaha receiver for a thousand buck and I made it satisfy (yamaha's receivers last forever. my neighbor has it now) me

then a years or so later I buy a thousand dollar onkyo receiver off of a friend for 300 bucks and use it as my basement system. my kids tripped over the surround speaker wire and the wire touched and it fried. they did this same with 2 of my yamaha receivers (I've had 4 at one time or another) too and the yamaha automatically shuts off. it won't come on until everything is right

one of their friend poured water on the one that I sold to my neighbor. it won't come on after a few attemps. I'd notice it was wet and I took it apart and use a hair dryer to dry it. it worked. so I sold it to my neighbor for his cheesy receiver and 250 bucks while it still had some value and gave the kids his cheesy receiver a few months ago

I only mess with Yamaha receivers now. people need to realize that if you are going to sell something for over a thousand bucks, you need to put protection on it

that said onkyo receivers still sound great. I like their treble boost better than yamaha's even though I don't use it

 

[Snake-Eyes]

Alright, i've got to get a few things straight before getting into any actual building.

What is the difference between a first order crossover, versus a second/third/fourth/nth order?

What exactly does Butterworth mean? I assume it's the name of a type of crossover.

I'm pretty sure i understand high/low pass filters. HPF blocks out all frequencies above a set frequency, and LPF blocks out all frenquencies below a set frequency.

Last one. What are the differences between an active and passive crossover? All the crossover design pages i've seen all include resistors and capacitors, and it is my understanding that this would be passive.

Edit: I lied, one more. If you have a subwoofer with a nominal impedance of 4 ohms, would it work if you connected it to a receiver that accepted 8 ohms? Is there any way of wiring the sub that would get it to be 8 ohms?

 

[molsen]

a high pass filter allows frequencies ABOVE a certain frequency to pass through the circuit. a low pass allows frequencies below a certain frequency to pass.

thought i'd go ahead and clear that up for ya