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Audio First Fidelia on Erin’s Audio Corner
- Thread starter Matt_Holland
- Start date
One youtube viewer added the following text:Welcome Harry @Audiofirstdesigns! Congratulations on the excellent EAC review. What an entrance!
I greatly enjoyed watching your assembly tutorial video the other day.
As a DIY kit it looks super well thought out, offering a very a doable project for just about anyone who can follow instructions and handle a screwdriver and a glue clamp.
Are you or will you be offering a removable grille option? I believe this would be an easy way to expand your target audience, as some (me) can't do without. A grille that matches the specialized shape of the front baffle would be something I think I'd be willing to pay a premium for. Perhaps one data point for your consideration.
Good luck and looking forward to seeing more of your work.
"@konstantinost3185
vor 16 Stunden9:49 The big block of acoustic foam blocks the Bass Reflex Port, there should be a clear path between the Woofer and the Reflex Port."
Is there something about his criticism?
thw
I have no idea but they could at least have backed it up with a rationale. Until then I’m inclined to trust @Audiofirstdesigns Harry’s choices more.
Also, regarding the subject, this speaker analysis springs to mind.
FWIW and HTH!
I think Erin mentioned the price for the kit including shipping to the US in the video.
kemmler3D
Master Contributor
AFAIK that is not in line with how ports work, I think it's the pressure inside the box that's interacting with the air inside the port tube, not a discrete sound wave traveling down the tube, which I'm pretty sure is actually something you'd want to avoid.
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See Q Meta white paper, how the waddings are placed:
At LF the air inside the box acts like a spring, putting typical porous material in between the driver and the port (well, or anywhere inside the cabinet) only changes the damping of the bass reflex system but doesn't stop it from working.
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Yes! You can see the shipping cost and total price on the check out page on my website. Cheers!
Really awesome this is available. The industry has democratized performance for electronics, seems like we are getting there for speakers.
Waits patiently for affordable speaker with SOTA flatness, directivity, and the last element Output
Waits patiently for affordable speaker with SOTA flatness, directivity, and the last element Output
This is really cool.
Have to wonder... how do they compare to the CSS kits? The 1-TDX w Superior XO and Baltic Birch is ~1425.00 plus tax and shipping.
This kit is ~1202.00 plus shipping. So its comparable price wise.
I haven't watched the build video, but the diagram of the box seems to be better braced than the 1-TDX.
(If you go w the cheaper XO, its ~$1000.00 plus tax and S&H. )
I love Erin's reviews and IIRC he's done reviews of both speakers.
Have to go back and see.
Great time to be a DIY hobbyist.
Have to wonder... how do they compare to the CSS kits? The 1-TDX w Superior XO and Baltic Birch is ~1425.00 plus tax and shipping.
This kit is ~1202.00 plus shipping. So its comparable price wise.
I haven't watched the build video, but the diagram of the box seems to be better braced than the 1-TDX.
(If you go w the cheaper XO, its ~$1000.00 plus tax and S&H. )
I love Erin's reviews and IIRC he's done reviews of both speakers.
Have to go back and see.
Great time to be a DIY hobbyist.
Not really close imo, one is dispersion mismatched and lots of diffraction, the other isn't.
Hmmm. Ok.
Seems that a lot of people have been singing the praises of the 1-TDX.
Have you built either kit?
I'm watching the video of the Fidelia build. Kinda neat.
Seems that the XO is already assembled. The front baffle is kinda interesting too.
[Edit]
I noticed in the build out that there's a bit of tear out in the panels. While this isn't something that would impact the sound, its a fit/finish issue.
Its not addressed in their video... (I guess you could fill and then sand.)
Still overall looks like a good kit.
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Yep, the whole thing is rather simple and anyone should be able to successfully build a pair.
The only stumble I could see would be someone not having enough clamps that are large enough for the assembly. I know that 40 years ago when I was young and stupid I wouldn't have realized the importance of proper clamping and would have attempted the build cutting corners on the clamping. Clamps were expensive and I maybe had two or three... today I have clamps, but am arguably still a bit stupid at times.
[cut the picture...]Yep, the whole thing is rather simple and anyone should be able to successfully build a pair.
The only stumble I could see would be someone not having enough clamps that are large enough for the assembly. I know that 40 years ago when I was young and stupid I wouldn't have realized the importance of proper clamping and would have attempted the build cutting corners on the clamping. Clamps were expensive and I maybe had two or three... today I have clamps, but am arguably still a bit stupid at times.
You just need more cowbell!
So how would you handle the tear outs on the exposed edges?
Also how would you finish it?
BTW, I was going thru the CSS 1-TD and 1-TDX reviews... I don't see one from Erin. Everyone else is there singing its praises.
Also there is the GR Research kit(s) also around the same price.
Note: I have no skin in the game... just looking at the options around the same price.
Hopefully you can put all of the tear outs on the inside. If not, I'd fill the tear out with tinted wood filler or Bondo depending on what was going on top.
I'd be tempted to veneer the cabinets, but since the corners are butt joints the seams will eventually telegraph though if you do not use substantial crossbanding.
I noticed some tear out from the drill holes on the inside so its not much of an issue.
Its the tear out on the edge and since its plywood... that's a tough one.
I was thinking a color stain and then clear coat. (This is something I'd do for any birch ply. ) If this was HDF/MDF I'd say seal, veneer, then us a color stain then clear coat.
But that's just my thoughts because my wife doesn't like the light color of the birch wood and wants a darker cabinet.
Still this is definitely a cool kit... still would love to see a comparison to the other DIY kits at this price point.
In terms of completeness. A+
(The GR-Research partners and sells the flat pack separately. CSS has both options and one YT reviewer in the EU preferred it because it lowered the cost of shipping)
a4eaudio
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There will be many good speakers at the same price level and you won't be able to audition all or even many of them, especially if they are DIY. Many people on ASR will pick the one that measures a certain way - which makes sense, as that is kind of the point of ASR. [And importantly, some will often say a speaker "sounds" better than another without actually listening to either.] But at some point, if they measure well and get good reviews (not Stereophile reviews but ASR, Erin's, etc.) it is just personal preference - do you like/hate a white woofer? Does $300 difference in price matter much to you? Is it bigger/smaller than what you are looking for? etc.
That to me isn't much of an indicator of sound quality. There's a ton of so-so diy stuff that gets praise and I'd wager my standards are a bit higher than most DIY'ers. I find most deviations from neutrality and disruptions in dispersion to be audible and annoying, but not everyone is going to hear that stuff or care about it. I'm fortunate enough to have had the time to prototype and test a lot of different things in regard to reproduction with speakers, like dispersion mismatches and edge diffraction artifacts that the CSS exhibit and directly compare those issues against a speaker that alleviates them in real time.
Between the 1-tdx and the fidelia, the fidelia just had less issues and I'd argue it's always worth pursuing the speaker with the least amount of issues. These two speakers are likely going to sound quite a bit different from each other and I think simplifying the differences coming down to aethestics is not an accurate assesment of their differences.
No but I don't have to, I have built other speakers with very similar performance metrics so I have a good of what a dispersion mismatch in a 6.5" two way sounds like, or what hard edge diffraction sounds like.
DIY speaker plans and kits are a compromise. (All speakers are compromises)
You have to design something that is straight forward to build, while trying to maintain cost and sound quality.
All of the people who create DIY plans and kits all talk about the tradeoffs.
SoundBlab has a video where he built a speaker around a 8" TangBand full range driver. He said he wasn't creating plans for resale because the cuts on the baffle were to complex to do as a kit.
You can look at the SEAS KingRO4Y Mk III Active Loudspeaker Kit which is ~3K for the drivers and plate amp sans cabinet. SEAS talks about the design being kept simple because it was a kit.
So you look at things like the baffle. The Fidelia ships w the baffle which is a cover over the front panel which is interesting.
In terms of design... the Fidelia's box has some issues w tear outs. At least in the video he provides. In most cases the tear outs are not noticeable except on the edges. It could be due to the birch ply itself, or the cuts. (He does a recess on the edge of the panel.) If he used MDF there probably wouldn't be an issue, however you'd have to seal the box and then veneer or paint it which is up to the person building it to determine what they want to do and adds complexity. Again a trade off.
CSS's kits send you the parts to assemble the XO using their plastic plate. Here, the XO is build for you and fits around the port hole. (Clever design) Again a tradeoff. The GR Research kits give you the parts, but no XO board. Again tradeoff. Then there's the foam padding and placement. Some kits give you sponge (egg crate), others tell you to source wool/fabric and fiber fill. (GR-Research sells their 'NoRes' sheets.)
Now to be fair, I haven't built these kits but am watching to see which kits would be fun to build.
The Fidelia looks to be a nice one and there are some clever designs. The CSS also has nice kits and I spoke w them while at AXPONA last year.
Until you build it... you won't know how it sounds. ( I couldn't find any reviews by Erin for CSS although he did put together an LX Mini. )
(Which is the point of asking about a comparison. Jay Lee IIRC reviewed both CSS and GR-Research different sounding speakers)
BTW I think he was smart in sending a built set to Erin. Good way to get the word out.
To your point...
One of the people who built the CSS kit lives in Europe. He bought the kit sans flat pack because of expense and he's a woodworker. Cheaper for him to make the box himself. I'm the reverse. Detroit is a ~4hr drive so 1 day UPS Ground from CSS. CSS also sells kit w/o flat pack. So if I wanted to source something like Richlite....
Note: Both companies are small and passionate about their products. I'd gladly sit down and have a pint w either of them. (Unless CSS are Michigan fans... but that's a different issue.) ;-)
With all due respect none of this info is particularly relevant to the topic. The topic was really which bookshelf will perform better, the 1tdx or the fidelia. The answer is objectively the fidelia. Based on the research we have on listener preferences most user would prefer the fidelia.
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