Which DIY speakers would you like to see reviewed?

[Icboschert]

I have a Selah Audio RC3R in for review. Is this the same thing?

Yeah that's one of his "legacy" designs. It's been replaced with the Filarmonica if I'm not mistaken.

http://www.selahaudio.com/filarmonica-kit

 

[Ron Texas]

It's quite pricey, but I'd like to see the SEAS Loki at madisound.

This is a significant design since its driver is used in a speaker which sells for $6000/pair.

 

[Rick Sykora]

I just contacted Heißmann and provided some links to ASR and asked them if they'd like to send some speakers over.

Looks like some very promising designs! I like how they post extensive measurements too...

If they send over as finished product (even though could be DIY too), going to refer to @amirm as they fall more into his purview. Ww

 

[Rick Sykora]

This is a significant design since its driver is used in a speaker which sells for $6000/pair.

Does push the proposed budget significantly, but if there is enough interest, there may be more value in testing them than say 2 others for half the Loki's price. More notably if ASR tests the $6000/pair ones too!

 

[Dj7675]

I contacted Eric at Diysoundgroup about sending in one of theirs.l He mentioned possible the HTM12.
https://www.diysoundgroup.com/home-...-series/home-theater-monitors/htm-12-kit.html
The make a good effort to do quite a lot of measurements.
http://www.hificircuit.com/community/threads/htm-speaker-kits.609/

 

[Rick Sykora]

Yeah that's one of his "legacy" designs. It's been replaced with the Filarmonica if I'm not mistaken.

http://www.selahaudio.com/filarmonica-kit

so which selah designs interest you most?

 

[Rick Sykora]

I contacted Eric at Diysoundgroup about sending in one of theirs.l He mentioned possible the HTM12.
https://www.diysoundgroup.com/home-...-series/home-theater-monitors/htm-12-kit.html
The make a good effort to do quite a lot of measurements.
http://www.hificircuit.com/community/threads/htm-speaker-kits.609/

It is a bit pricey but the SEOS and high sensitivity may be a good fit for some. If they send in as completed unit, am not adding any value, so would defer to @amirm

 

[Icboschert]

so which selah designs interest you most?

Almost done building dual 12" subs so I've been looking at his Anniversario, Filarmonica and even the Ritorno. Not sure if he'd offer up the Ritorno in kit form.

 

[JeffS7444]

At the risk of clogging up the subfora here with cross-postings, maybe this is the place to mention these...?

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...wered-monitor-review.11076/page-2#post-313083

View attachment 47538
(those are two different, optional drivers available with the "kit"; Fostex doesn't - AFAIK - sell a mismatched version )

Until someone else can do a proper job of it, here's my half-baked 2014 attempt at measuring the Fostex Kanspea P1000E + FF105WK. I didn't take very good notes, but room was not anechoic, quasi- or otherwise. I had the measurement mic pointed directly at the speaker from a distance of 2 M (I think). Since I had purchased the Fostex AP05 amplifier at the same time, I probably used that to drive the speakers. I sold them awhile back.

 

[suttondesign]

so many monkey coffins, so little time to measure them all.
i like siegfried linkwitz’s designs, but they are fussier than monkey coffins.

 

[jhaider]

This is a significant design since its driver is used in a speaker which sells for $6000/pair.

If you're talking about the Tanner and Friedl one, I think that uses a smaller version. Superb measurements in Stereophile. I wish I could afford 4 as height speakers.

Or - there's an American company that puts this Seas coax driver in one of the Parts Express curved cabinets and claims the walls are super thick (the extra "wall thickness" just being insulation) and charges quite a bit for it. The company name escapes me right now. Is that what you meant?

 

[jhaider]

If someone near Amir has them, a Linkwitz open baffle design: LX521, LX mini, even the old ORION or Phoenix.

 

[mac]

If someone near Amir has them, a Linkwitz open baffle design: LX521, LX mini, even the old ORION or Phoenix.

There are at least three of us.

 

[mhardy6647]

Until someone else can do a proper job of it, here's my half-baked 2014 attempt at measuring the Fostex Kanspea P1000E + FF105WK. I didn't take very good notes, but room was not anechoic, quasi- or otherwise. I had the measurement mic pointed directly at the speaker from a distance of 2 M (I think). Since I had purchased the Fostex AP05 amplifier at the same time, I probably used that to drive the speakers. I sold them awhile back.

View attachment 47577

Cool. Thanks.
I'd be interested to see what the dispersion looks like -- it was the discussion of coaxes that got me to thinkin' about the use of the dustcap on drivers like the FE103 family as, essentially, coaxial treble radiators.

 

[dwkdnvr]

I'm interested in the dxt-mon as well. I purchased the plans but haven't moved forward with the project as I'm evaluating against a couple other possibilities. Cost per pair is a bit over the target price - I think it's ~$600/pr, but I haven't actually put together a BOM for the xover. The dxt-mon seems to have pretty much textbook-perfect polars, so I'm very curious to see it validated and see how it scores on the preference metrics.

I'd also echo the Kairos since they seem to be very highly regarded by virtually everyone, and also I'd vote for Jeff's SB Revolution Mini/BE - it looks like a combo that could perform very well.

 

[Rick Sykora]

so many monkey coffins, so little time to measure them all.
i like siegfried linkwitz’s designs, but they are fussier than monkey coffins.

Really like the idea as Linkwitz designs are unique. I know them well. Was on my list before I bought CBT24s. The LXmini is only one even close to price range. Anything better is pretty complex too. Guessing that is part of the fussiness? If there is enough interest, would likely require owner to set up onsite.

 

[bluefuzz]

Troels Gravesen's designs are (justifiably) well regarded but I'm afraid most of them would be outside your pricerange as he tends to use top of the line Scandinavian drivers and crossover components. The kits are available through Jantzen here in Denmark.

 

[ta240]

It is fairly exciting that we might get a bit of an answer as to if DIY speakers are better than premade ones because of more bang for the buck or if the premade ones are superior because of lower prices on components when mass produced.

Is it really cheaper to box up all the parts and even the wood and ship them to me for me to assemble or to have it all assembled in China in larger numbers?

There is something to be said for the fun of building speakers but at the same time many of the places that sell kits claim that through massive cost savings in other areas over the brand name speakers that they are then able to spend more on the components and you end up with a much better speaker.

 

[digitalfrost]

Troels Gravesen's designs are (justifiably) well regarded but I'm afraid most of them would be outside your pricerange as he tends to use top of the line Scandinavian drivers and crossover components. The kits are available through Jantzen here in Denmark.

I love his page, I regularly check back to see if there's something new. That said, his use of expensive boutique crossover components kinda puts me off. I were to built one of his designs, I'd definitely use components that are better with regards price/performance.

 

[suttondesign]

Companies like Rythmik Audio, headquartered here in Austin, design and specify the speaker (in this case, subwoofer) design, source the various component parts globally, direct the parts to go to one place or another, and then either (1) do assembly and packaging overseas for a ready-to-ship product or (2) customize some assembly in Austin for more unusual (or large) subs. I personally found that I couldn't put the same quality together for the same price.

However, I am considering copying the enclosure but in a nicer material, like walnut-veneered plywood to match other things in the room. But that will take gobs of time plus a $100 sheet of expensive plywood.

For the better DIY kits, if the DIY'er does the woodwork, that is a huge factor in getting the price of the kit down.