DIY Audio Wiki / Midwest Audio Club

Johnny “JR” Richards was born in the summer of 1975 in Sioux Falls, SD and from an early age has been a tinkerer. He was raised in a household that encouraged learning how to use tools. However, at one point during his childhood he got ahold of a screwdriver and much to the chagrin of his parents he proceeded to take nearly every outlet cover off in his childhood home. Another time he managed to remove all the spark plug wires on a V8 mounted to an engine stand. In yet another incident, and using the same screwdriver, he started taking the doors off the kitchen cabinets. In all three cases, his parents probably did not punish him enough as he always struggles to not take things apart – just to see what is inside. He also grew up in a household that emphasized music. His parents had music almost constantly playing, and personal audio devices were one of the rare luxuries he was allowed as a child. His dad was a fan of old school rock and folk, and his mom listened predominately to the “Light FM”. This, along with family sing-alongs at his Irish grandmother’s house (whiskey may or may not have been involved in these family gatherings) gave JR a well-rounded music experience. While he was never able to learn an instrument (he failed miserably at the recorder) his little brother is a gifted guitar player and was self-taught on music theory. JR was gifted with good ears and a knack for poetry. Between the two of them they wrote a few songs in their mid-teens, but it never really went anywhere.

In about 1991 at the age of 16 JR’s infatuation with music, learning how things work, and his “Do it yourself” attitude was the perfect storm when he walked into a Radio Shack one afternoon on a quest for some batteries for his Walkman. He stopped to admire a pair of Mach II speakers playing and then wandered the store. He found the shelf full of blue boxes containing woofers, mids, tweeters, and crossovers and his curiosity got the better of him. Talking to the salesman on duty it became obvious he was unschooled in loudspeaker design and directed him to a book called “Building Speaker Systems”. While JR did not buy the book that day, it gave him a lot to think about.

JR became part of the car audio SQ scene in 1992 with a build using MTX subwoofers, MB Quart components, Coustic amplification, and Coustic electronic crossover. The components were picked with the help of the sales rep at a local autosound store. This was all installed in his 1980 Pontiac Phoenix 2-door. Around the same time, his dad decided to build a pair of speakers and invited JR to help. Thus began his long journey into DIY. The father son build used a 10” paper woofer and a cone tweeter, and an off-the-shelf crossover. At the time, it was the greatest speaker ever and we could not believe we were able to build something that actually made sound!

JR’s first DIY build of his own was not long after when he found some cabinets at a flea market that lacked drivers. Unsure of what to do, he measured the openings and remembering Radio Shack sold woofers and tweeters he headed there where he discovered their polypropylene 6.5” woofer and cone tweeter were drop ins. He mounted the drivers and used the included capacitor on the tweeter and hooked everything up. Once again amazed at how it was possible to DIY something he watched his dad spend a lot of money on over the years, he became addicted. He lacked the proper tools to build nice cabinets, but patience with a circular saw, jig saw, and with the help of generous amounts of caulk was able to knock together several more projects as found in the book the salesman at Radio Shack recommended to him. This was the first time he ran into the problem of what to do with all the speakers he built! He managed to gift several to his friends despite the majority of them being more interested in the car audio scene.

After graduation in 1993, JR spent several years away from the hobby outside of building a pair of tower speakers that he lugged around from apartment to apartment. Not sure what he wanted to do with his life, he was working the midnight shift at a truck wash when he met Amanda (also known as Mrs. JR). She soon became the most important person in his life, and he rarely gave DIY Audio a second thought for several years as they grew their relationship. They married in 1998 and bought their first 5.1 receiver and DVD player that year as well. This was when DVD was still an emerging technology, and JR was fascinated by surround sound and its potential in a home environment. As he settled into his new life, the DIY bug bit him so he decided to build a surround sound and that is when he discovered most speakers do not play well with CRT televisions! He went back to Radio Shack and they explained shielding was necessary and sold him a 5-1/4” shielded full range driver and that was the driver in their first DIY center channel.

About this same time, JR discovered a book by David Weems called “Designing, Building and Testing Your Own Speaker System with Projects”. His major takeaways from that book were the DOS program included (which he had to manually enter into his PC) which taught him how to model bass alignments. Prior to the software, JR relied on algebra to model alignments. Just as important, the book contained a list of DIY speaker suppliers like Madisound and Meniscus. Paper catalogs were still in vogue, and he bought several drivers and crossover components from both companies in the late 90s. His next discovery after an internet search for something or other DIY related was Parts Express. Joining the Tech Talk forum he soon discovered how little he actually knew about designing speakers despite the excellent information in the Weems book.

Armed with the knowledge he gained from the forum he downloaded a piece of software called Speaker Workshop and bought a Behringer microphone and mixer and learned how to take measurements and model crossovers. JR did not find the software very intuitive but through its use soon discovered how to create custom crossovers, implement them, and still not be satisfied with the sound compared to many commercial offerings. Turns out there is a lot more to a good sounding speaker than a flat response!

He continued using Speaker Workshop until the mid-2000s when he discovered PCD written by the late great Jeff Bagby. He found the software far more intuitive than SW, although he continued to use SW for getting the necessary FRD files. During this time frame, he also used the original Woofer Tester for extracting ZMA files. Eventually, JR would buy the Dayton Audio DATS and discovered a software called ARTA which was far more powerful for measurements. In addition, he eventually started using software called Xsim which allowed him to really experiment with different topologies.

In 2012, after virtual communication JR met Bryan Keane in-person and an idea was born. This idea grew into Midwest Audio Club – which still thrives to this very day. We added Jason Petrasko to the team a few years later. MAC is known for their forum, website chronicling over a decade worth of DIY events, and perhaps most importantly – the DIY gatherings they host. IowaDIY every October and occasionally DakotaDIY. These events allow people to engage with other members of the community, exchange ideas, and enjoy the camaraderie (and also adult beverages!).

Since approximately 2010, JR has designed over 60 speakers and subwoofers running the gamut from ultra budget to ultra-high end and everything in-between. As a proponent of DIY for the sake of DIY, he has never been afraid to throw dozens of hours at cabinets that house $25 worth of buyout drivers from Parts Express. JR is still learning the ins and outs of speaker design and is an advocate for lifelong learning.

When JR is not designing/building speakers or listening to music, he can be found watching movies or in the kitchen indulging his other DIY love – cooking. His wife and daughter are both music lovers, and Mrs. JR is a professional vocalist. Some of the attendees at various DakotaDIY events were able to enjoy her voice at a karaoke performance as well as a live show with her band Hotel Oblivion. In addition to designing speakers, JR spent years doing live sound in the local music scene. He found it challenging and a great exercise for the ears. JR has spent most of the last 20 years in industrial maintenance or process engineering, starting out as a technician and working his way into management.