This build is part of an ongoing series on trying new things, making mistakes, learning from those mistakes, and applying that new knowledge to fixes. I've never built open baffle speakers and wanted to give it a shot. I've learned a lot already and will be doing a Build Talk video on these speakers next week. Thank you all for watching!
Kirby Meets Audio I just finish my bluetooth speaker box project. I really love your input on it. I have already had three offers for it. I do not believe I would sell this one, but I would be more than happy to rebuild it. I have learned a lot and that is the joy of these builds.
Hey Kirby, Love your videos! I've got a tip for you with your miter saw. Start the blade in the full retracted position, and then pull the blade down into the workpiece near the fence. Score the work piece on the top as you bring the blade out, and then plunge into the workpiece at the farthest end from the fence. Finally, push through the cut to the fence side. What this does is ensure that the teeth are always cutting into the material, rather than cutting out of the material. This minimizes tear-out since the fibers being cut are always supported by the material.
There's something very satisfying about watching you build speakers. I'm going to have to try it. BTW, you should add a link to that circle cutting jig in your tools list.
The PS180 drivers by themselves have a very forward sound in the midrange, but a passive contour filter flattens them nicely. I have a pair in ML-TL cabinets and for full range drivers they are not bad. Their Qts really is not the most suitable for open-baffle use; I recommend either vented or transmission line loading, or ML-TL which is a hybrid of both.
The data sheet of Dayton's PS180 in the German magazine Hobby HiFi 1/2012 looks promising: very low mechanical loss (0.31 kg/s), high sensitivity (98 dB from 1 watt @ 1 kHz), decent linear excursion of +/-4 millimeters and very low distorsion (K2 and K3 each less than 0.1% between 250 and 2000 Hz, K5 even less than 0.03% above 170 Hz). What an exciting and also challenging project! My guess would be that the lower cut-off frequency with a baffle of that size will be between 300 and 400 Hz. I'd recommend to add an open baffle subwoofer with at least two 12" drivers. Maybe in an "U"- or "W"-shaped dipole (also called RiPole by its inventor Axel Ridtahler). Your open baffles will need a big room with at least 1.5 yards distance to every wall. To design a passive correction network (I'm not sure if this is the correct English word for the fullrange equivalent of a crossover network) to get a decent sound quality will be a lot of work. This might be the perfect project to try a digital crossover such as the miniDSP which could make the design process much easier. BTW: You did not countersink the driver far enough, there still is an edge.
great video! just a little tip about your miter saw, the orange throat plates are adjustable side to side, you should slide them together so the blade creates a zero clearance insert. it'll result in less tear out on the underside of the cut.
Thanks for the video kirby, i have already a Hybrid woofer low tuned enclosure and open baffle at four ways in process. - three way "open baffle+bass trap-semi t line" - mmmm... im thinking right now to make a series of videos showing my stuff. greetings and keep going. you are inspiring!
did you get the dimensions for this project using some type of theory or specific criteria for open baffle speakers design, or you just got it out of the blue? whats the science behind open baffle speaker design?
Can't wait to try making some small and large OBs soon. Might spruce up the small guy with some elegant laser engravings. Would be a great use for the $200 TTS-55 PRO ..
All your speakers has a very nice woodworking. This simple way of doing a baffle would sound fine enough location this opposite corners of a room, desk or furniture
what is the link to the speakers used? the one listed is not working for me... I have to know cuz they look awesome, though I will wait to buy till the sound test :)
Nice lookin' little project. I've been pretty interested in an open baffle setup myself. ...or an infinite baffle in the trunk of my SHO. Either way. ...but the HiFi route is a LOT less work. I can't imagine how painstaking it'd be to seal off the trunk in a newer vehicle...
Hi Kirby!! Your video's have inspired me to begin my first speaker build!! Thank you!! I have a couple questions which I can't seem to find answers for, so I hope you can help me out! I've purchased a 2x50bluetooth amp module, and I recently picked up an Oz Audio Vector series 5.25CS 2 way component speaker system. The midrange diameter is 5.25", with a 1.85" diameter Tweeter. Freq response is 60Hz-22KHz. 4ohm, 85w rms, 190wmax. Those are the only real data I've been able to find. It seems I need more to design an enclosure, so I am lost. Do I need a port or passive radiator? I'm thinking of using a 4x6" PR....does that size seem ok? How big an enclosure would I need? (There's two pairs of driver/tweeter. Does 0.68ft3 sound right? Second question is: have you ever added rca inputs to a bluetooth-only amp? I'd it even possible? Thanks for any light you can shed, and keep up the terrific work!
Awesome build kirby! I got one request: Could you make an open baffle build with a small speaker, a two way or someting similar? Mostly because i cannot afford that kind of unit... Anyways, glad to see your building videos are picking up again! Happy building
thanks for posting, kirby. another good job mounting the speakers to the baffles. but, a backless enclosure is not going to control the back-side radiation. perceived bass response will be reduced. cheers
love watching your video. it's relaxing and distracts my mind from all the crap that are happening around the World !. they look great. your work oozes quality 💖. KUDOS 👍
Nicely done video, Kirby. As with most of your videos, the combination of camera work, sound track selection and use of beautiful yet simple woods are spot on! I really enjoyed watching.
Unless you are worried about the speaker terminals, I think the terminal block is redundant. Perhaps a strain relief, might be useful to protect the speaker terminals.
Not my favorite build. I think you have done better speakers before. BUT THIS WAS YOUR BEST VIDEO YET!!!!! Everything worked really well. Thank you for putting these out. I have learned a lot and because of you... I want to build my own. Peace
I built a pair of speakers similar to these after seeing this video and the following ones. Thank you, those are great! However, while building something similar, I did three things differently: 1. I used the Tang Band W5-2143 as chassis, which is smaller than the ones you used, but their Fs at 55 Hz is quite low for their size. 2. I added bigger wings to one side, and small wings to the other side. The overall size of the front baffle is about 25 by 40 cm and the size of the bigger side wings is about 20 by 23 cm. 3. I integrated them into my desktop in such a way that my pc display is somewhat part of the baffle, which really improves the low frequencies a bit. Also, the wall behind the speakers is about 3 m away. One problem everyone will encounter with full range speakers is that their linear sound response becomes nonlinear as soon as you put them into a baffle or box of any kind, in a way that the mid frequencies are too loud and the sound becomes terrible like tinny. For this one has to compensate a lot, e.g. using the loudness control some amplifiers (like the ones from Yamaha) have, or by adding a low pass filter and a high pass filter to the speakers themselves. Keeping this in mind, it is still very important to consider the room and position of the speakers and of the listener. The speakers I built sound great right in front of the desk where I sit and maybe a few meters to the back, but they are not good for the whole room. The bass is fine and sounds quite easy and "natural" with the loudness control alone, so there is no need for using the bass control in addition. But again, some people might want more boom. I can only recommend to everyone to get some nice chassis and give it a try. If it goes wrong, you will only loose maybe 5 € worth of wood and glue and some hours in the workshop! Just consider to buy some chassis that are good enough to be used for other projects, if it fails to please you. But before you dismantle it, try other room and listening positions as well as some loudness control or equalizer levels. For open baffles, as well as for almost every other speaker, it is normal to even use passive or even active crossovers, filters etc.
Blown away at the quality of this video; captured the beauty of crafting something with your own hands wich is rare among a nation of consumers more ppl should be doing this kind of thing!
In my experiece, for such a big driver you need a much bigger baffle. (or a smaller driver!) Also, 2 triangular stands are better than just one, for vibration stabilization. Anyway, wonderful video, as usual!
hi Kirby. I understand this is 4 years old and you have further videos on this but, tell the angler of the baffle looks like 5 degrees to me and all i read suggest 3 to 8 degrees backward angle. is yours really 15???? cheers. I could point out things already that will make this dissapointihing but I will watch the other videos first.
great video (as usual) and also nice use of the dayton audio ps 180-8 : ) the only thing I would advise you to do if you make another open baffle speaker is to make the triangular piece ( that you use as a support ) as deep and as high than the speaker cone to avoid the acoustic short cut. That will improve the bass frequency but why the title?
Very wide sound stage. They make use of the environment as the enclosure but require more power to drive and lose the bass that most people want. Will need to be paired with a separate bass if needed.
Very expressive midrange and treble as stated by icyknight a wider audio image due to sound releasing behind the speaker,add a quality sub and you get a beautiful open full range production.
Beautiful build, my only suggestion is to try and decrease the baffle surface area in order to minimize something called "baffle diffraction". or something like that. ;D
You cant expect modern sound when the dual cone was made for radio and record reproduction. 6 inch sides and open back will sound better. A bigger baffle than that if your not gonna put sides on it. They are almost free air as close to the baffle edge as you got them.
Hello! Im new to this hobby and id like to ask: (i hope this doesnt sound too autistic) if these are inactive speakers and for them to work they need to go to a DTA120 which is an amp? Then i connect audio source into the amp or does it also need a preamp?
Do a spectrum analizer test of the Speaker in free air Speaker on a baffle board Speaker baffle and 4 sides Closed box Ported box Oula youll have all variables covered in 9ne v9d
This build is part of an ongoing series on trying new things, making mistakes, learning from those mistakes, and applying that new knowledge to fixes. I've never built open baffle speakers and wanted to give it a shot. I've learned a lot already and will be doing a Build Talk video on these speakers next week. Thank you all for watching!
Kirby Meets Audio I just finish my bluetooth speaker box project. I really love your input on it. I have already had three offers for it. I do not believe I would sell this one, but I would be more than happy to rebuild it. I have learned a lot and that is the joy of these builds.
Kirby Meets Audio looking forward to it
Looking forward to it. Open baffles have always interested me. BTW, the link to the drivers just takes me to the PE login. What model are they?
Kirby Meets Audio simply beautiful
Kirby Meets Audio Awesome
Hey Kirby, Love your videos! I've got a tip for you with your miter saw. Start the blade in the full retracted position, and then pull the blade down into the workpiece near the fence. Score the work piece on the top as you bring the blade out, and then plunge into the workpiece at the farthest end from the fence. Finally, push through the cut to the fence side. What this does is ensure that the teeth are always cutting into the material, rather than cutting out of the material. This minimizes tear-out since the fibers being cut are always supported by the material.
duude, you have the sickest camera takes in the game right now ! always pleasing to watch! congrats !!!!!
i really like this design/concept
Thank you!
John sweda the open baffle.
Looking forward to the audio test to see how they sound!
It's gonna be an interesting one! Thanks for watching
That track is completely hypnotic…I love it!
It looks great, and the video production and audio is excellent. Cant imagine how they will sound like, but they are gorgeous on a living room
Waiting for the audio test, cool video!
hermoso hermoso
There's something very satisfying about watching you build speakers. I'm going to have to try it.
BTW, you should add a link to that circle cutting jig in your tools list.
The PS180 drivers by themselves have a very forward sound in the midrange, but a passive contour filter flattens them nicely. I have a pair in ML-TL cabinets and for full range drivers they are not bad. Their Qts really is not the most suitable for open-baffle use; I recommend either vented or transmission line loading, or ML-TL which is a hybrid of both.
The data sheet of Dayton's PS180 in the German magazine Hobby HiFi 1/2012 looks promising: very low mechanical loss (0.31 kg/s), high sensitivity (98 dB from 1 watt @ 1 kHz), decent linear excursion of +/-4 millimeters and very low distorsion (K2 and K3 each less than 0.1% between 250 and 2000 Hz, K5 even less than 0.03% above 170 Hz). What an exciting and also challenging project!
My guess would be that the lower cut-off frequency with a baffle of that size will be between 300 and 400 Hz. I'd recommend to add an open baffle subwoofer with at least two 12" drivers. Maybe in an "U"- or "W"-shaped dipole (also called RiPole by its inventor Axel Ridtahler). Your open baffles will need a big room with at least 1.5 yards distance to every wall. To design a passive correction network (I'm not sure if this is the correct English word for the fullrange equivalent of a crossover network) to get a decent sound quality will be a lot of work. This might be the perfect project to try a digital crossover such as the miniDSP which could make the design process much easier.
BTW: You did not countersink the driver far enough, there still is an edge.
great video! just a little tip about your miter saw, the orange throat plates are adjustable side to side, you should slide them together so the blade creates a zero clearance insert. it'll result in less tear out on the underside of the cut.
Nice job.
Yes! Open baffle speakers have one of the most natural sound I've experienced and I think any audio guy should give this design a try. Great work!
@Conor Hanley How should he have done it then
@@m.morininvestor9920 may be same drive with 8 inch version
Yet another Superb video. I must ask who does the camera work?
Thanks for the video kirby, i have already a Hybrid woofer low tuned enclosure and open baffle at four ways in process. - three way "open baffle+bass trap-semi t line" - mmmm... im thinking right now to make a series of videos showing my stuff. greetings and keep going. you are inspiring!
Great video! What's the jig for the router, with all the wholes?
Jasper 200
Clean cut
Great job.
The only concern, you glued the connectors piece of wood to the waxed panel? Does it hold?
Looks very interesting. I'm waiting for the sound test.
DIg those alot. Nicely done
Thanks Dave!
Wounderfull!
Very good man 👌
Just the fact that you took the time to rip the glued up panel on both edges to keep the line down the middle makes me happy.
Nice content
I'm looking forward to see how they play.
Sorry for grammatical errors I'm from Austria
David Tischberger there are no grammatical issues. I’m from germany. Moin alles klar ?!
awesome video in every way!! Thanks!
did you get the dimensions for this project using some type of theory or specific criteria for open baffle speakers design, or you just got it out of the blue? whats the science behind open baffle speaker design?
Most Excellent
man.. close up cutting view + chill music = satisfied video, wood porn.. thanks for great video
Thanks for watching!
Ficou show, muito linda mesmo ✨👍✨
did the last part hold up, although you glued on after you finished the boards?
This build looks realy good.
This is great and all, but how do they sound.
Great project epic soundtrack
Nice Bro
Beautiful esthetics .Nice to look at !
I have better luck planing after I butt glue my boards ,so long as they aren't too wide.
Can't wait to try making some small and large OBs soon. Might spruce up the small guy with some elegant laser engravings. Would be a great use for the $200 TTS-55 PRO ..
Most relaxing videos ever !!!
Thanks for watching!
Simply beautiful!
Thanks for watching!
Which is best for high bass? Hard wood cabinet or soft wood cabinet?
Hey, what ring are u using on your left hand?
just waitin for that sound test they are looking great
So how did they sound ?
All your speakers has a very nice woodworking. This simple way of doing a baffle would sound fine enough location this opposite corners of a room, desk or furniture
what is the link to the speakers used? the one listed is not working for me... I have to know cuz they look awesome, though I will wait to buy till the sound test :)
Another great build! Thanks for the inspiration as always.
Thanks for watching Nathan!
I love it!!! Bravooo!!
Thanks Perro!
SOUND TEST!!! SOUND TEST!!! SOUND TEST!!!
You got to try pressing those connector with the drill press, sure they will come much more straight! I have done with iron pins and works great
I've noticed some upgrades in the saw blade department. Those blades are the nicest I've ever used.
Badass! As usual
You are Genius Boss . I m from Pakistan Karachi
Nice lookin' little project. I've been pretty interested in an open baffle setup myself.
...or an infinite baffle in the trunk of my SHO.
Either way.
...but the HiFi route is a LOT less work. I can't imagine how painstaking it'd be to seal off the trunk in a newer vehicle...
I am a huge fan of the point source series. Ive only used the smaller version, let us know how the 6.5s sound compared to the 3.5s!
This is my first time using these as well. Thanks for watching!
Kirby Meets Audio
Sure thing man thanks for the awesome inspirational videos!
Really satisfying to watch... Speakers probably gonna' lack some bass bro... But you know that already, don't you. :)
Cool speaker 🔊 build keep up the good work
Hi Kirby!! Your video's have inspired me to begin my first speaker build!! Thank you!! I have a couple questions which I can't seem to find answers for, so I hope you can help me out! I've purchased a 2x50bluetooth amp module, and I recently picked up an Oz Audio Vector series 5.25CS 2 way component speaker system. The midrange diameter is 5.25", with a 1.85" diameter Tweeter. Freq response is 60Hz-22KHz. 4ohm, 85w rms, 190wmax. Those are the only real data I've been able to find. It seems I need more to design an enclosure, so I am lost. Do I need a port or passive radiator? I'm thinking of using a 4x6" PR....does that size seem ok? How big an enclosure would I need? (There's two pairs of driver/tweeter. Does 0.68ft3 sound right?
Second question is: have you ever added rca inputs to a bluetooth-only amp? I'd it even possible?
Thanks for any light you can shed, and keep up the terrific work!
Awesome build kirby! I got one request: Could you make an open baffle build with a small speaker, a two way or someting similar? Mostly because i cannot afford that kind of unit... Anyways, glad to see your building videos are picking up again! Happy building
thanks for posting, kirby. another good job mounting the speakers to the baffles. but, a backless enclosure is not going to control the back-side radiation. perceived bass response will be reduced. cheers
love watching your video. it's relaxing and distracts my mind from all the crap that are happening around the World !.
they look great. your work oozes quality 💖. KUDOS 👍
I want to hear these bump! Looking forward to the audio test.
What the advantage of open baffles build!?? Helps please explain!!!!
Nicely done video, Kirby. As with most of your videos, the combination of camera work, sound track selection and use of beautiful yet simple woods are spot on! I really enjoyed watching.
Agree with everything (except the music, sorry).
Reason for not running wires directly to the speakers? Just wondering because I'm about to start this project.
No shouldn't be especially when you have those quick-connect terminals already on the speaker itself.
Awesome 👏🏼 video keep them coming...lol easy for me to say huh 🤛🏽
Unless you are worried about the speaker terminals, I think the terminal block is redundant. Perhaps a strain relief, might be useful to protect the speaker terminals.
Muito Legal, vou tentar fazer também ..... Abç
Hey Kirby! Beautiful video 👌
I am building my 1st own speaker, with 2 RS100-4 4 speakers, is 6.64 l closed box is enought?
Thank you for all these videos. Especially for Build ones. Great sound, great timing and editing! Keep it going. Peace :) From Russia.
So many tools! Envy. ;)
hey what is this song playing in the back ground.
love your vids. You're realy inspiaring me with the perfection you do all this.
Please make some horn speakers
nice bro
Not my favorite build. I think you have done better speakers before. BUT
THIS WAS YOUR BEST VIDEO YET!!!!! Everything worked really well.
Thank you for putting these out. I have learned a lot and because of you... I want to build my own.
Peace
Beautiful design. Does the sound match the looks or will it sound flat and airy?
Build talk video coming next week to talk alllllll about that. Thanks for watching!
It will need a subwoofer to support the bass.
Flat and airy is good. Problem will be the bottom. Much to small a baffle.
What power?
I would like to see you build a klipsh speaker cabinet
Using 1" 4' X 8' sheet of Mahagony plywood.
Never use real wood for a cab. Guitar cab, sure. Hifi. No. Mdf is the best. Use veneer to make it pretty
I built a pair of speakers similar to these after seeing this video and the following ones. Thank you, those are great!
However, while building something similar, I did three things differently:
1. I used the Tang Band W5-2143 as chassis, which is smaller than the ones you used, but their Fs at 55 Hz is quite low for their size.
2. I added bigger wings to one side, and small wings to the other side. The overall size of the front baffle is about 25 by 40 cm and the size of the bigger side wings is about 20 by 23 cm.
3. I integrated them into my desktop in such a way that my pc display is somewhat part of the baffle, which really improves the low frequencies a bit. Also, the wall behind the speakers is about 3 m away.
One problem everyone will encounter with full range speakers is that their linear sound response becomes nonlinear as soon as you put them into a baffle or box of any kind, in a way that the mid frequencies are too loud and the sound becomes terrible like tinny. For this one has to compensate a lot, e.g. using the loudness control some amplifiers (like the ones from Yamaha) have, or by adding a low pass filter and a high pass filter to the speakers themselves.
Keeping this in mind, it is still very important to consider the room and position of the speakers and of the listener. The speakers I built sound great right in front of the desk where I sit and maybe a few meters to the back, but they are not good for the whole room. The bass is fine and sounds quite easy and "natural" with the loudness control alone, so there is no need for using the bass control in addition. But again, some people might want more boom.
I can only recommend to everyone to get some nice chassis and give it a try. If it goes wrong, you will only loose maybe 5 € worth of wood and glue and some hours in the workshop! Just consider to buy some chassis that are good enough to be used for other projects, if it fails to please you. But before you dismantle it, try other room and listening positions as well as some loudness control or equalizer levels. For open baffles, as well as for almost every other speaker, it is normal to even use passive or even active crossovers, filters etc.
Blown away at the quality of this video; captured the beauty of crafting something with your own hands wich is rare among a nation of consumers more ppl should be doing this kind of thing!
In my experiece, for such a big driver you need a much bigger baffle. (or a smaller driver!) Also, 2 triangular stands are better than just one, for vibration stabilization.
Anyway, wonderful video, as usual!
Yo quiero hacer una caja grande con un parlante chico ....eso le da buenos bajos
I would love to see a set of tower speakers built, maybe 6 inch drivers?
hi Kirby. I understand this is 4 years old and you have further videos on this but, tell the angler of the baffle looks like 5 degrees to me and all i read suggest 3 to 8 degrees backward angle. is yours really 15????
cheers.
I could point out things already that will make this dissapointihing but I will watch the other videos first.
Very baffling look ! There. I said it. Nice job (for real) :)
These bad puns always baffle me...
great video (as usual) and also nice use of the dayton audio ps 180-8
: )
the only thing I would advise you to do if you make another open baffle speaker is to make the triangular piece ( that you use as a support ) as deep and as high than the speaker cone to avoid the acoustic short cut. That will improve the bass frequency
but why the title?
Are these drivers flat by any chance?
leonel martinez
What do you mean by "flat" ?
Did you had to build a crossover
What are the advantages of open baffle speakers?
Very wide sound stage. They make use of the environment as the enclosure but require more power to drive and lose the bass that most people want. Will need to be paired with a separate bass if needed.
Very expressive midrange and treble as stated by icyknight a wider audio image due to sound releasing behind the speaker,add a quality sub and you get a beautiful open full range production.
Or use a couple of 15 inch PA woofers also open baffle ;)
Alexandru Simonescu i wonder if you could build a speaker for electric bass with an 18" woofer
What is the tittle of the song brother?
What's the name of the song playing please ???
Sooo Much easier to make open baffle, That's the way I'm going to go. Thanks.
Beautiful build, my only suggestion is to try and decrease the baffle surface area in order to minimize something called "baffle diffraction". or something like that. ;D
Actually the baffle diffraction might be good for certain instruments :)
you should make some speakers with the cans of the liquids that you used to paint the wood
You cant expect modern sound when the dual cone was made for radio and record reproduction. 6 inch sides and open back will sound better. A bigger baffle than that if your not gonna put sides on it. They are almost free air as close to the baffle edge as you got them.
You should build an ammo can speaker :)
Why did you choose to use such an extra length of cloth line's hanger wire to the terminal, since most of us know, that the LESS is BETTER?
Hello! Im new to this hobby and id like to ask: (i hope this doesnt sound too autistic)
if these are inactive speakers and for them to work they need to go to a DTA120 which is an amp? Then i connect audio source into the amp or does it also need a preamp?
Do a spectrum analizer test of the
Speaker in free air
Speaker on a baffle board
Speaker baffle and 4 sides
Closed box
Ported box
Oula youll have all variables covered in 9ne v9d
Tiene buenos graves o no amigo ...????