Euraudio Vivace bookshelf speaker building instructions
WARNING
The loudspeaker design and building directions presented below were published in good faith. Nevertheless the publisher assumes no liability either for the accuracy of information contained herein or for any loss or damages arising from the use of these pieces of information.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This loudspeaker design is under copyright. The written permission of the designer or Euraudio is required to use it for purposes other than do-it-yourself loudspeaker builds. This copyright notice shall be included in any reproduction or copy of this loudspeaker design when it is published either electronically or by other means.
THIS IS PRELIMINARY DESIGN INFORMATION!
The Vivace loudspeaker has not been built yet. The plans are based on manufacturer data, and simulation with measurement data of similar drivers, therefore the crossover may need fine tuning. The first builder of this loudspeaker may get free help from the designer. Further information: help for DIY speaker builders.
Building documentation
Caution: The mechanical guidelines is not a detailed mechanical drawing. For example, only the outside lines of the enclosure walls are drawn, the wall thickness is not shown.
Building advice
Making the enclosure
It's expediential to have the front enclosure panel prepared by using a CNC woodworking machine. It's rather difficult to make the countersinks for the speaker baskets at home. Of course it can be made using a router, provided you have the proper router bits, and a circle cutting jig. The internal edge of the midwoofer cutouts must be chamfered, at 3 mm depth, similarly as shown in the next image.
PVA wood glue, D3 type is recommended for gluing.
The internal cross brace is a 30x30 mm cross-sectional hardwood stave according to the plan.
Internal damping
The back panel of the enclosure and the sides should be lined 2 cm thick foam blocks, but do not obstruct the openings of the speaker basket with the foam blocks to the sides. Place 3 cm thick foam on the crossover on the bottom panel. Only open cell (acoustic) foam will do. The foam blocks should be cut a few millimeters bigger than the distance they are to fill, so they will be snug in their place.
Crossover
Please mind the polarity of the drivers.
The crossover can be mounted on the inside bottom of the cabinet. Components with 5% tolerance are recommended. The best solution for fastening components seems to be cable ties. Tie them to a thin (e.g. 5 mm thick) HDF plate and screw that plate to the inside of the cabinet. I haven't made a component layout or PCB plan, just solder components together across their leads or use terminal strips.
All inductors are air core. Don't fasten coils with ferromagnetic metal screws (e.g. steel), because they may cause some distortion. Don't place inductors close to the ferromagnetic metal parts of the speakers.
The hard-to-come-by capacitor values can be attained by connecting more common values in parallel. By parallel connection, the capacitances are summed. In the circuit diagram of the crossover, the shown voltage of capacitors is the minimum suitable rating, you can also use capacitors with higher withstanding voltage. I recommend the Jantzen Cross Caps for this design. I don't recommend nonpolar (bipolar) electrolytic capacitors, avoid even types designated for use in crossovers. Never use polarized (unipolar) elcos in crossovers.
Internal cabling
Copper or CCAW speaker cable of at least 0,35 mm2 cross-section is recommended.