Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not for Beginners - Some Gems for Enthusiasts and Pro's, January 16, 2005
Warning: This book is not for beginners. Hard core hobbyists or speaker design professionals may find some useful models, empirical studies and references in this book. For the beginner, the minimum vital data needed to design and build a speaker is interwoven in to a jumble of esoteric empirical tests and computer simulations. For the more experienced speaker builder, the depth of this book is great and the footnote references are very complete. While the breadth is great, the depth of technical explanation for fundamental speaker enclosure modeling physics was a lacking. I guess I need to buy another book or research the footnotes myself.
This book could be a lot better with some solid editing. The writing - for the most part - is clear, but there are sections that are hard to read and there are some errors. The fonts are too small (many of the subscripts are illegible). The graphics are horrible. The book has over 100 frequency domain plots (developed with speaker CAD packages), which are illegible and poorly labeled. Most of the graphics are nowhere near the text.
I give this book two stars because of the breadth and the references, but it's no cookbook. You won't be able to look up a recipe and cook up a speaker.
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awsome Book for the Price, September 6, 2003
I have read about a dozen books on Loudspeakers and of them this was the most helpful by far. Unlike most books on the subject, this one has plenty of graphs so you can see the effects of different design methods. This book also has the most in-depth look at crossover design I have read in any book bar none. It looks at crossover design both with AND WITHOUT the use of design software.However, if you are designing without software be prepared for a bit of trial and error. It's a well- known fact of crossover design that you need to go through a few iterations before you get it right. If you have powerful computer software such as LEAP, you can let the computer do the dirty work. Also, be aware that designing and building monitor loudspeakers will NOT save you money. You will find that the cost of test equipment and parts will exceed the cost of a pair of excellent loudspeakers. If you are looking to save money, you should probably replicate some designs that Vance Dickason shows in this book. On the other hand, if you are interested in owning high performance subwoofers, you can save yourself $500 or more by designing your own. This is because you don't need to buy expensive test equipment and design crossovers. You can just use a few proven methods and formulas contained in this book along with some killer deal drivers available through the Internet. I recommend the Adire Shivas 12" drivers available at www.adireaudio.com. This book will teach you proven methods for designing and building your own great sounding speakers. In addition it hosts a couple ready-to-build loudspeaker systems that Vance Dickason designed. Vance Dickason is one of the most respected loudspeaker engineers in the industry. Take advantage of his years of experience and buy this book today.
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28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Building your own speakers? This is the book for you!, February 18, 2001
Too bad that Amazon has it listed as a special order item. The Loudspeaker Design Cookbook by Vance Dickanson, currently in its 6th edition, will teach you more than you ever wanted to know or even thought existed when it comes to both the art and (mostly) science of desgining loudspeaker systems. You'll also find out first hand how useful that algebra you learned in high school really is.This book covers the most popular types of enclosures from the simple acoustic suspension (think old AR and Kloss designs) to ported bass reflex and bandpass designs that are so popular now. There is also a wealth of information on crossover design. Dickanson builds upon the work of Thiele and Small in treating speaker systems with filter theory. The days of building a box, sticking a driver in it and hoping for the best are gone. Among amateur speaker builders, and even some pros, this is the one book that you just have to have on your shelf. It's simply the best of its kind.
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