Customer Reviews

Introduction to Loudspeaker Design

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is a good self-start on loudspeaker building. It tells WHAT are the things you have to look for in designing a working loudspeaker; there are many conflicting issues to address and the author states all of them clearly, not assuming the reader has a degree on the subject. This alone is a good reason to read this book. All popular box designs are explained and also some not-so-popular. It misses transmission lines, TQWT, horns and the like but this work is intended to be introductory. The explanation of Small-Thiele parameters is concise but clear. Most diagrams in the book are screen prints of the software program the author created (a good one in my opinion) and surely the book is a good software complement. The software does not cover the exotic designs that are missing in the book too. Some parts, like using a stetoscope to point-and-shoot enclosures behaviour are fun and intriguing. Having said all that, what I miss is WHY should I prefer an enclosure with a specific driver, WHAT parameters should I look for in a driver (assuming a given enclosure) and HOW do I have to orient myself in determining what is the best design for a given room/taste/sound/budget, real-world examples that is. But all in all the book is a easy-reading, good starting point on loudspeaker design that guarantees not to disappoint you, giving an overall outlook on the subject and clear useful technical knowledge to start with.

Murphy explains in the introduction that this book grew out of his writing a user manual for his WinSpeakerz software (Real Audio, ...), and I have no doubt that it would be an excellent companion manual to many of the widely available louspeaker design suites on the market today.

Further, Murphy has written an extremely "readable" book, largely due to the profund paucity of mathematical formulae. For the mathematically challenged, the book is a good orientation to the overarching concepts of speaker design without an overwhelming level of quantitative detail. Also, certain oft-neglected concepts such as the importance of different spatial loadings of drivers or phase characteristics of crossovers are emphasized.

However, it is for precisely the above stated reasons that this book is NOT an introduction to the design of loudspeakers--at least, not an enabling one. A novice who read only this book would be no more able to design even a simple speaker than he would a nuclear weapon. A more honest title might be "Overview of Loudspeaker Design Principles," or even "Getting More Out of WinSpeakerz."

From what I can tell, Murphy published this book himself, without the help of an editor or even a proofreader. He spells about as well as an engineer, and sentences are often missing verbs or other helpful grammatical signposts.

Yes, the book digests physics and EE quickly and easily enough for the beginner, but more often than not it serves as nothing more than an advertisement for Murphy's $130 speaker-design software. This isn't a bad idea, really, but the book is only 166 pages long, and not all of it is meat.

If you want to get an idea of what his software project is like, visit trueaudio.com

Overall it's a nice book, but don't expect to use this as a standalone bible for building speakers; it's more of an addition to your library.

I've been working with loudspeakers for a long time but I sure learned a lot from this book. I was having trouble with speaker theory regarding the enclosure. But now after reading this I feel like I have a real grasp on the subject for the first time. The chapter titled "Loudspeaker Basics" really taught me what the box does and the design tradeoffs involved. I thought it explained the Thiele Small parameters clearly.

I bought it mostly because of the good review in Speaker Builder magazine and really enjoyed reading it.

This book gives the basics of loudspeaker and basic filter design. The types and basic formulations besides the history. If you are new to the subject and still haven't decided to pick loudspeaker building as a hobby or not, this book can give you a broad idea about what is happening inside the world of loudspeakers. The language is simple and easy to follow. The sections are well organized. There are no in depth explanations that can scare the beginners away. A good collection of simple questions and answers like; where should I place the port or SPL, Size and Bass relation. I think the book covers all the common questions that beginners are afraid to ask.

Murphy has done a better than average job of pulling together the technical considerations of loudspeaker design. He focuses on closed and vented designs sufficient to allow the first timer a fighting chance at successfully designing and building a speaker. The use of symbols is less than admirable, frequently mixing lower case and upper case symbols (see "F(sc)" on pp 48 v. "f(sc)" on pp 26). Proofreading would have made the book more enjoyable ("sign wave," pp 47). Editorial comments aside, if you want a relevant and timely book for the beginner this is it.

This book is a good introduction to speaker building, but it's definitely nothing more than an introduction. Murphy examines most of the basic topics concerning speaker building, but doesn't go into much detail on any subject. And of course (because this is only an intro), there is no analysis of any advanced speaker building topics. It seems that Murphy's goal in writing this book is to expose the reader to speaker building fundamentals, rather than give the reader a thorough analysis of the topics (which makes sense, considering the small size of the book and its goal as an intro). Plus, this book is a good starting point from which the reader can go on to more complicated books.

Readers should be able to understand most topics without any prior acoustical or electrical knowledge, but some previous knowledge would help in certain places. Also, this book's organization is pretty bad (things aren't presented in a very good order), so definitions for certain terms appear several pages after where they were first discussed. This isn't too much of an issue because the book is so incredibly short that most readers will be able to read the whole thing within a day or two, and so the discussion of something will be fresh in the reader's mind when they find the definition.

Several reviewers criticize this book for being basically an instruction manual for the author's speaker simulation program (Winspeakerz), but I find this to be an invalid criticism. For one thing, the author explicitly states at the beginning of the book that this book originally came to be when the author was making the user's manual for this program, so it makes sense that there will be some overlap. Also, the only way that Winspeakerz is referred to in the book (that I remember) is when the author shows some screenshots from it. But, I find that these screenshots really help the book because Winspeakerz is similar to other speaker simulation programs and so the advice given can be applied to other programs. Plus, the screenshots give the reader a visual aid for what is being talked about. This book doesn't give any step-by-step instructions for which buttons to press when using Winspeakerz or anything else like that, so it's definitely not an instruction manual for it. In fact, I don't think that the word "Winspeakerz" is ever actually mentioned in the book's contents.

One other comment: the author is quite good at expressing ideas clearly, but there are several grammar and spelling mistakes (nothing too bad). Also, he tends to repeat things, and (as stated above) topics aren't presented in a very good order. But, overall the material is quite understandable.

This is a well written easy to understand book. But if you're interested in designing loudspeakers, this book is lacking.

This book is clearly and concisely written with good supporting graphics. Mr. Murphy does a great job of qualitatively explaining speaker design but leaves out two of the most important quantitative design topics: 1. How to design an enclosure. 2. How to size inductors and capacitors in cross over networks. It seams like these topics could have been covered more deeply, and other more advanced topics deferred. For example, Mr. Murphy commits several pages to warning about summing errors with electronic crossovers (which is a real concern), but there are no pages committed to how to design a Butterworth or Linkwitz-Riley filter he discusses in the book.

I rate this book low because I was expecting more design detail. This book may be of value to you if you're thinking about speaker and just what to know what's involved. Also, if you're shopping for loudspeakers, this book will certainly make you a savvier consumer.

Great for the person that wants to start from the basics of Loudspeaker Design. Not too technical for the novice, but enough to help understand the necessities.

The book looks nice...glossy. Can't say much more about it. I can't see that there is much here of practical use unless you have had a considerable exposure to acoustics prior to this. His software is probably ok, but I agree with one of the other readers, this appears to be a "come on" for sale of his software.