DIY Three-Way Floor Speaker

Three-way speakers are made up of tweeter, midrange and woofer components.

A three-way speaker system can give a fuller range of sound compared to a two-way system. In a two-way system, the bass ranges go to the woofer, and the treble goes to the tweeter. Three-way speakers include a midrange driver that allows the frequencies between bass and treble to be heard more clearly than without the midrange driver. Since three-way speakers have more drivers than a two-way, they are larger and commonly found as floor models. One of the benefits of using floor, or tower, speakers is that they provide big, room-filling sound.

Things You'll Need

• Speaker drivers
• Medium density fiberboard (MDF)
• 1 in.-by-1 in. hardwood lumber
• Glue
• Screws
• Speaker terminals
• Circular saw
• Jigsaw
• Router
• Drill and bits
• Primer
• Paint

Instructions

1. Determine the overall size of the speaker. The size of the speaker box depends on the manufacturer specifications for each driver and the space they need inside the speaker housing to work best.

2. Cut the sides, front and back of the speaker cabinet from the MDF. On the front piece, line up the speakers in the desired location. The tweeter is the highest placed driver, the midrange goes in the middle and the bass is on the bottom. The drivers can be fairly close together; it depends on what the manufacturer recommends for each driver. Also cut a larger square of the MDF. This will be the floor plate and needs to be at least an inch larger than the overall dimension of the speaker box.

3. Cut the holes for the drivers with a jigsaw. To make this easier, drill a pilot hole first that is large enough for the jigsaw blade to fit in. Then use a router around those holes so the drivers sit flush when mounted.

4. On the back of the box, cut a hole for the speaker terminal plate. This is where the speaker wire plugs into from the stereo.

5. Assemble the box, leaving the back off for now. Use wood glue on every joint, then secure with screws. Wipe off excess glue that gets squeezed out. It will not be easy to take off when it is dry.

6. Add bracing to the box. Use 1 in.-by-1 in. hardwood lumber. This wood is cut into pieces to brace each corner of the box and give it greater stability.

7. Prime and paint the box, including the front, sides, back and floor plate. Let each coat dry completely before adding the next.

8. Install the speaker drivers. Attach the wires to the terminal plate. Screw the back onto the speaker box. Connect the new floor speaker to the stereo and give it a thorough test with a variety of music styles and volume levels.

Tips & Warnings

• Extra bracing can be added to the box, if necessary. Just cut a piece of MDF, as if making a shelf. Then cut holes in the wood to allow sound to travel. Glue and screw into place.

References

• Crutchfield: Home Speaker FAQ
• DIY Audio and Video: Speaker Box Building
• Duncan Amps: Building and Designing Speaker Cabinets of Guitar and Bass