Volt Coaxial Speaker Kits

This post will be updated as more info is added.

If you have a question about a certain aspect of your Volt-6/8/10 build feel free ask them here.

Sneaking the Volt-12 in here for 2021 - no kit, just plans but uses all of the shelf parts. If there is interest I could get PCBs made for this one.

Note (4-2018): New Volt v2.0 designs
Due to supply issues from the manufacture of the original DNA-150 compression driver we decided to revamp the Volt series with new compression drivers from Celestion. The Volt-6 gets a 1010 driver which is more shallow then the DNA-150 was allowing more flexible placement and very shallow cabinets. The Volt-8 and Volt-10 use a custom version of the 1446 driver which offers higher power handling then the DNA-150 did. Overall the voicing of these new designs is much the same with a small adjustment to the top end to try and achive a smoother sound without a loose of detail. New crossover PCBs have been designed for these kits which are more compact allowing for easier mounting in the cabinets and include terminal blocks instead of direct solder connections for the input/output wires which allow a more flexible choice of wire size.

More info for the Volt v2 kits will be added on Post #3

Crossovers, these tend to be the part of the kit that worry most people, fortunately PCB's made up for these designs that take most of the guesswork out of deciphering a crossover schematic and converting that to an assembled and working crossover board.

Step 1:
Glue the components down to the board, you can use Hot glue (easiest and most common choice) or epoxy for this. Make sure your resistors are correctly placed there are two different values that need to be in the right spot otherwise the high frequencies will be too loud compared to the woofer.

Step 2:
Once the components are glued down solder the leads to the tined pads and cut away excess leads once you have them soldered. Make sure that you are soldering to the tined (silver) portion of the inductor leads, if you insert them too far and see the red coating pull the back out so that only then silver tined portion sticks trough to the bottom side of the board. Trying to solder to the coated part of the wire will prevent a good solder joint and you most likely will not get sound from the woofer.

I recommend using 18 gauge wire for the input and output connections to the board as there is no real benefit to anything larger at the short lengths needed here. It also fits into the holes without much trouble. 16 gauge will work if you have that but it is a real tight fit in the stock through holes, I recommend drilling them out with a 3/32" drill bit to make life easier. The wire you see used in the photo's below is JSC 18 gauge zip cord from parts express. Note the New V2 kits have terminal blocks and 18-16 gauge wire works just fine.

Photos of assembled crossovers for reference:
Volt-6 v2:


Volt-8 v2 (Note newer PCBs will have a more compact I-core inductor and larger terminal blocks like the Volt-6):


Volt-10 v2 (Note newer PCBs will have a more compact I-core inductor and larger terminal blocks like the Volt-6):



(Old Designs)Volt-6, Volt-8LX Volt-10LX

Volt-6LX crossover:
(Note photo shows an older PCB, the new ones have holes for the additional two components)



Volt-8LX / Volt-10LX:
(Note text shows resistor positions for all three designs, actual crossover shown is a Volt-10LX but position of small medium and large capacitors on the Volt-8LX will be the same)



Volt-10 Atmos optional crossover modification:
This design can make use of an 400uf capacitor to help flatten a high Q bump in the bass response from the compact enclosure, it is not needed in any other Volt-10 enclosures or IB installations. The capacitor works with the impedance peak to smooth out and effectively extend the bass response near the low frequency knee (electrically lowering Q of the system). The cap is placed in series with the + LF out on the crossover board and the + woofer terminal. You can solder it directly to the LF out through hole and then attach the wire from the woofer to the other end of the capacitor:

 

Enclosure Damping
I recommend lining the walls of ported Volts with 1 to 1.5" of the material of your choice leaving 3" or so around the back of the ports open for air flow. Make sure you leave and open space between the woofer and ports as well. Too little damping and the midrange can get muddy or boxy sounding from all the excess sound bouncing around inside the enclosure not being properly dissipated by the damping material. Too much in the ported enclosures will reduce output from the port.

For sealed enclosures like the Volt-10, moderate fill of the enclosure with the damping material of your choice will work.

Examples images using polyfill,
Volt-6 ported:



Volt-8 ported:



Volt-10 Sealed angled: (optical illusion makes it look like there is less in there then there really is but the box is actually pretty full)



Enclosure Options and ideas
The flat packs are just a general enclosure that will work well for these designs, you can however build enclosures in different dimensions or larger volumes to better suit your requirements. There is no need to adjust the crossover when using a different enclosure.

Volt-6 This driver works well in a ported enclosure between 0.15-0.35cuft tuned between 65-75hz, more towards 75hz with the smaller volumes and towards 65-70hz with the larger volumes. Tuning towards the higher end give flatter bass response but less extension, while tuning lower gives better extension but output slopes down more towards tuning.

It can also be built as a dual passive radiator design using two of the new Dayton 6.5" PR's (SD175-PR). To get the correct tuning the cabinet needs to be roughly 20” high x 8” wide x 6” deep (external dimensions, 3/4" material). If the rear panel is made from 1/2" material or at least behind the CD the rear panel is milled down to 1/2" thick you can make it 5.75" deep. The volt 6 will work in a very small sealed enclosure down to 0.1cuft if crossed at or above 120hz for something like overhead atmos speakers. 9"h x 7"w 5.75"d if using (1/2" material for the box, 3/4" baffle) to keep things compact. Add 1/2" to height/width and 1/4" if using 3/4" material.

Volt-8 Works well in ported enclosures between 0.4cuft (tuned to 65-70hz) and 1.0cuft (tuned to 55-65hz). Can be sealed if crossed at or above 120hz, enclosure volume between 0.2-0.3cuft.

Volt-10 Works well sealed between 0.5-1.2cuft, Ideal Q of 0.707 at roughly 1cuft. The Beta-10CX in the regular Volt-10 and the new custom Volt-10LX driver driver can also be used infinite baffle in wall or ceiling with a crossover at 80hz or higher. Ported enclosures work well between 1.0cuft (tuned to 45-60hz) and 3cuft (tuned between 35-48hz), I would recommend at least two 2" diameter ports but preferably two 2.5" diameter or a slot port of similar area. The smaller higher tuned ported options will give more mid/upper bass output while going larger and lower tuned will result in more full range type extension. A good balance would be around 1.4cuft tuned to 45-50hz. You also have the option of going with a PR design using two of the Dayton audio SD270-PR passives. No mass needs to be added to those PR's, the enclosure volume is used to control the tuning. It can be built as small as 0.9 cuft which puts tuning higher and more energy/output in the midbass or as large as 2.5 cuft which puts tuning at about 45hz for more fullrange use. I built one at 1.2 cuft which is a nice balance between max extension and midbass output, enclosure is 12" wide x 34" high x 10" deep using 3/4" MDF:

 

Q: What is the depth of the Volt drivers with the DNA-150 compression driver on the back?
A:
The Volt-6LX with DNA-150 is 4.75" deep, or 4.375" deep from the back of the mounting flange (surface mounting).
The Volt-8LX with DNA-150 is 5.125" deep, or 4.75" deep from the back of the mounting flange.
The Volt-10LX with DNA-150 is 6" deep, or 5.5" deep from the back of the mounting flange.
I recommend adding 1/4 - 1/2" to those figures to leave room for connectors on the inputs of the DNA-150.

Q: What is the depth of the Volt drivers with the new Celestion compression drivers on the back?
A:
The Volt-6 with the 1010 is 4.5" deep, or 4.125" deep from the back of the mounting flange (surface mounting).
The Volt-8 with the 1446 is 5.125" deep, or 4.75" deep from the back of the mounting flange.
The Volt-10 with the 1446 is 6.125" deep, or 5.625" deep from the back of the mounting flange.
I recommend adding 1/2" to the depth figures of the Volt-8/10 to leave room for connectors on the inputs of the compression driver unless using right angle connectors.

Q: What are the baffle cutout dimensions for the Volt drivers?
Volt-6:
OD=6-5/8"
ID=5-21/32"
recess=3/8"

Volt-8:
OD=8-9/32"
ID=7-1/8"
Recess=3/8"

Volt-10:
OD=10-1/8"
ID=9-1/8"
Recess=1/2"

Off axis frequency response of the new Volt v2 designs, 0-90 degrees.
Note these measurements are taken indoors and gated, response below 300hz is not illustrative of actual LF extension.

Volt-6 v2:


Volt-8 v2:


Volt-10 v2:

 

Those are internal enclosure volumes.

 

No I suppose not. It will work sealed if you were to use a 120hz crossover, in that case you could get away with a 0.1-0.2cuft enclosure.

The volt-8 will also work sealed if crossing at 120hz, its enclosure should be between 0.2-0.3cuft.

 

If you ordered the kit with the stock baffle you can just build the box 6.5" deep which will maintain the volume of the angled enclosure, but it is ok to bump it up to 7-7.5" deep to increase bass extension.

 

If the enclosure is built from 1/2" material you could get it down to 12"H x 8"W x 5.75" deep external, using included 3/4" baffle. They will work ported in that size enclosure too for a little better bass extension (~100hz). In a sealed box you could go down to 0.1 cuft, (9"h x 7"w 5.75"d or 8" x 8" x 5.75"d using 1/2" material) if crossing over at or above 120hz.

 

This would work. You don't port an IB back into the room like a ported enclosure if that is what you are asking, but it is ok if it is open to the rest of the wall/column. You just want to keep the back wave and front wave from the woofer cone separated.

 

Enclosure sizing is on post #2.

Ideal sealed volume is around 1 cuft, beyond that you don't really gain much in terms of flatness or extension.

 

Yep, that's correct.

 

I've added mounting depth for the all the volt drivers to post #3.

The volt-10 is 6" deep with the dna-150 attached so you will need at least that depth from the baffle surface to the rear of the enclosure to flush mount the driver. If surface mounting you will need 5.5".

The passive radiator enclosure will give significant gains to extension and max LF output. F3 goes from roughly 80hz in a 1cuft sealed enclosure to about 60hz if the 1.2cuft PR enclosure and excursion limited max output is roughly 4-10dB higher in the PR enclosure between 45-80hz.

 

That is sort an open ended option. There is no real plan for building them into a ceiling because every situation may be different. The easiest option is to make a custom baffle that sits on the ceiling with the driver flush mounted into that.

Say a 14" diameter outer ring of 1/2" mdf with the edges chamfered. The driver will be flush mounted that that baffle with another 1/2" backer baffle behind the driver for support (maybe 10.5" diameter). The hole in the ceiling will be the size of or just larger then that backer baffle. Screws will be place in the larger outer baffle to hold the assembly to the ceiling. It can be installed onto the ceiling without the driver inserted, this way you can place small boards on the backside of the ceiling to give the screws something to grab and to prevent tearout. Once that is secure mount the driver. A round grill could be made slightly smaller then the outer baffle with a similar chamfer to give it a low profile appearance.

Quick SketchUp: