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Hello all,I've been scouring this forum and the speaker forum researching info on DIY speaker kits. I am interested in trying to build a pair of large bookshelf speakers to use in a system consisting of a Prima Luna Prologue Two integrated amplifier and Rega P5 turntable. I prefer a rich but detailed presentation (think B&W) with good bass.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. Again, this will be my first speaker building project so a kit including cabinets is my preferred way to go. My budget is $1,000 when completed.
Thanks,
Tim
Follow Ups:
I built the Selah RCR3. I also use a tube amp, the diy Consonance Ella 45w tube amp with very good results. The scanspeak 8545 woofer prvides impressive response for the size. Love the ribbon tweeter.Many of the others listed are good places as well. The 1801 is very good, but a well designed 3way will out perform a 2 way with each driver covering its optimum freq range. imo.
In all my lifetime of being an audiophile, 43 years to be exact, I have only found one speaker that really gets the emotion and passion of live music and lays it out there in all its glory.This is the 10,000 dollar a pair Sonus Faber Guarnari Homage speakers distributed in the USA by Sumiko. Just an awesome speaker.
With two kids in college, my Guarnari's are going to have to wait a bit....So I took my 1000 dollar plus tax return this spring and built some really great DIY speakers with the desire to match that really awesome Sonus Faber speaker.
I sold high end audio equipment for five years. In comes this Sonus Faber Cremona and Cremona Auditor speakers. The Cremona Auditor does vocals the best of any speaker I have heard. It did not have the high end air and effortless extension of the Guarnari speakers so I decided to use the Scan Speak Revelator woofer from the Auditor as the woofer.
I cross the woofer at 2750hz to a 3" MB Quartz mid tweeter. These are no longer available. I cross these at 9khz to Foster Ribbons which are also no longer available. I am using dual order crossovers since I prefer the sound of less devices in the crossovers versus a LEAP 4th order crossover. You can pick your poison here when it comes to personal taste.
Cabinets should be .75 cubic ft. I purchased my cabinets from PartsExpress at about 100.00 each less freight. Bought mine in Beech to match my modern decor, they also have black and Cherry.
I use Scan Speak 5.75 inch Revelator drivers. These are down 3db at 30 hz. Pretty flat from 35hz to 5khz. I would use a good ribbon to go from 3.5khz on up. Or try the inverted Berylium tweeter from Focal like Wilson Watt speakers. These have really nice highs. You just want to cross these tweeters at a range that is outside the upper vocal range of a singer. This would be a very clean two way.
If you have a huge room, you could substitute the Revelator 7" driver and cross it down at 175 hz, run the 5.75" Revelator from 175 to 3500, and then the Focal or a Ribbon on up. This will be a breath taking speaker!
For my rear 5.1 speakers I have the Revelator woofer matched with the Vifa dual concentric dome fabric tweeter. This is about a 60 dollar driver and it sounds very smooth and very nicely dispersed. I wish I had used the .75 cubic foot cabinets, but I wanted a very small footprint. .5 cubic foot cabinets are what I ended up with. These are some awesome rear channel speakers, even if the cabinets are a bit smallish.
The Scan Speak drivers are available from Speaker City in Los Angeles. I would email Frank there. They have several good kits all with LEAP crossovers so you know the speaker will sound very nice.
Send me your email address and I will forward some pictures of my project. They sound incredible and should run less than a grand. I love stand mounted mini monitors and dedicated sub reinforcement systems like a REL. I built my own REL wanna be's and they have very clear and LOW bass down to 18hz.
Cheers!
jim_howard_pdx@yahoo.com
Since I use them the SEAS Froy III is a great speaker for about $1200 from Madisound. They are smooth, detailed, bass well into low 40s and very flat response(which makes them sound forward compared to most speakers but ask Gordon Holt which is the proper balance)
...my general list of what I think are the better options for DIY speaker kits:HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
http://www.gr-research.com/http://www.ellisaudio.com/
http://www.selahaudio.com/
http://murphyblaster.com/
(info only, but free)Recommended:
http://www.pispeakers.com/
http://www.pispeakers.com/PiHomeSpeakers.htmhttp://www.speakerpage.com/
The Sound Clearing House, limited run speaker kits.
These guys are pro's, and do good design, but the down side is that the designs change from month to month, and if you ever need a replacement driver, well you better get them with the kit!More Commercial, but still good:
http://www.madisound.com/
http://www.madisound.com/kits.htmlhttp://www.zalytron.com/
http://www.zalytron.com/HT.htm
http://www.zalytron.com/budget.htm
http://www.zalytron.com/premium.htm
http://www.zalytron.com/audiophile.htm
http://www.zalytron.com/arrays.htm
http://www.zalytron.com/tubes.htmhttp://www.speakercity.com/kits.shtml
SOTA Speaker Kitshttp://www.linkwitzlab.com
Very Refined, and expensive too.
http://www.bamberglab.com/
http://www.bamberglab.com/products.htmVery Expensive
http://www.e-speakers.com/SEE:
http://www.snippets.org/ldsg/intro.php3
http://snippets.org/ldsg/intro.php3
for more involved info on DIY speakers, but beware, this IS techno overload for most folks!
Jon Risch
I recently completed the Madisound/Fostex BK-16 and am very happy with the results. Kits can't get much easier than this (unless you buy the cabinet pre-made) and they were fun to build. The back loaded horn produces ample bass with fair definition, equal or better to any "bookshelf" I've heard in the price range. By the time you get monitors on a stand they take up the same amount of floor space, so you may not want to rule out a full size speaker.
Got some woofers for ya :)
nt
There are a lot of excellent projects out there.www.murphyblaster.com
www.selahaudio.com
www.partsexpress.com (product showcase, but note anyone can submit)
www.madisound.com (lots of kits)
www.northcreek.com
www.bramberglab.comthe ellis 1801 is somewhere
Same with Salk audiomany more.
I have some at my site.
P
I highly second GR Research. Danny Richie is the founder/owner and is mostly responsible for the Epiphany line source crossover designs. They have some exiting new lines coming out very soon. Look at their sub forum on audiocircle.com.Northcreek is also very good. Possibly some of the better crossovers around, although some would say overkill. Northcreekmusic.com
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