DIY Home Theater Kits

[Randyd718]

Looking for recommendations on DIY speaker kits for my new dedicated home theater space.

Overall, I would like to target the KEF R or Q series for performance and save as much money as I can. I think $2-300 per speaker would be a good sweet spot, but I am having trouble finding clear "favorites" in the community so I am also having trouble setting realistic budget targets.

I am coming from a beginner setup with HTD Level 3 LCR bookshelves with Micca MB42x surrounds and a Dayton Sub-1000, so I think most anything will be an upgrade. These are powered by a Denon S760H which will eventually be upgraded to an 11-channel model to target 7.2.4 Atmos. My room is approx 12-8 x 18-10 x 7-5 so volume of ~1760 cf. I have never built a DIY kit before, but I have a friend who has designed and built his own so I will have assistance available. Viewing distance will be ~10-12'.

• My first priority upgrade is my sub, which has been undersized since I originally bought it. I am planning to go with two (2) Martycubes with the LaVoce SAF184.03 which seem to be longtime community favorites. I would like to find the old MDF cutlists for this to save some extra money but not sure if they are archived somewhere with instructions. I have a fair amount of space that I could stick a mini- or full Marty in the back of my room but I don't know if I need it, and I also don't know if the extra couple Hz would make a real difference.
• For LR, I would prefer to find a floor-standing style speaker (target KEF R5 Meta) but the DIY community seems to focus nearly exclusively on bookshelf designs. The HT-12s seem quite popular and have caught my eye but are never in stock and may be a little large for my space. I don't know how the HT-10s or HT-8s compare. I am also curious about whether the Swan HiVi 3.1s would be appropriate in a HT application? I have not had a particular issue with my HTDs but seeing the reaction on this site makes me wonder what I might be missing out on.
• For center, I want a horizontal speaker that can lay on my tv cabinet (target KF R6 Meta). I'm not sure if the DIYSG HT-88 is intended for this application, but again it is out of stock and I haven't really found anything that jumps out at me during my research.
• For surrounds, the Miccas definitely need to go. Looking for any recommendations here. Reactions to the DIYSG Volts seem meh.
• For the overhead speakers, I have a relatively low ceiling so will probably need something that will surface mount and cannot tilt. Have not really found anything in the DIY world for this so far.

Thank you!

 

[ta240]

(target KEF R5 Meta)

I'm no expert on DIY speakers but I think hoping for $2000 sound from $300 invested isn't really achievable. A lot of people like to throw out there that the components in retail speakers are only 10-20% of the price; which sounds good. But the reality just isn't that we can spend that much on parts and build a comparable speaker to a top performing model. The years of development, testing, drivers designed for specific applications and buying parts in huge quantities tends to give the manufactures a bit of an advantage.
Some of the best DIY designs have a decent amount of measurements done but most are just word of mouth; from people that spent a lot of time and care building them so of course they are going to be proud of it.

While they don't have to spend the same amount on marketing for individual parts there are still a lot of middlemen, transportation, storage, warranty etc packed into the price of each part and that adds up.

Sure, there are expensive speakers that don't perform well and DIY speakers that do, so you can often exceed the sound quality of those but rarely, the top performing models and not for a tenth of the price. DIY is often more about the love of building.

I have not had a particular issue with my HTDs but seeing the reaction on this site makes me wonder what I might be missing out on.

I've been there. That can be an expensive road.

 

[robwpdx]

How big is your room? What is the acoustic treatment? Does your AVR do room EQ? How wide is your desired listening position?

It may be smaller front mains will produce the SPL you need and your center could be a regular articulate 2 way on end under the monitor with the tweeter appropriately angled up.

Movie theaters often hid the LCR behind an acoustically transparent screen. The "home" version of a movie theater or professional control room has a lot of compromises for appearance. There are also many DIY speaker discussion forums that can be referenced back to ASR and other Klippel tests. People go in and out of speakers, so second hand are available too. The ASR reviews go back several years. If possible, can you audition speakers in your room?

 

[hex168]

HT-10s with the "advanced crossover" look quite good:

MTG Designs - HT-10v2 Measurements

Full measurements for the DIY Sound Group HT-10 v2 speaker kit. This is the 2022 update to the HT-10 design where the woofer was change from Eminence to Celestion. These measurements are taken with the advanced crossover which uses additional components to improve the frequency response

www.mtg-designs.com

So do these:

MTG Designs - VBS-10.2

Design description and goals: Bigger Brother to the VBS-6.2 this is another design that delivers a very high level of bang for your buck. A 10" 2-way with a horn loaded compression driver that does not sacrifice sound quality in its ability to deliver high output for very reasonable costs. Ideally

www.mtg-designs.com

 

[Looneybomber]

Definitely build your own sub. Physics dictates that a larger enclosure increases efficiency, but it also increases production costs and shipping costs! This makes it easy for a DIYer to save money because they can take advantage of the performance boosts associated with larger enclosures without increasing costs very much.

That advantage does not apply to speakers in the same sense - you’re not fighting physics in order to produce large bass from a small box.

Finding a DIY kit that bests commercial offerings is certainly doable, but doing so while also being a fraction of the cost is sometimes not possible depending upon budget. Often times, the most economical path is purchasing used speakers.

I’ll use my story as an example. I have the Revel F206 speakers. The cost of the (off the shelf) SB Acoustics drivers at Madisound is around $600 give or take. To build a crossover, you’ll need another $2-300. Wood and paint will be $100-150? You’re around $1000 and all you have is a pile of parts and sheets of wood. Well I bought a used pair for less than that and the only work/time involved was driving over to pick them up and loading/unloading from my car…and they look better than anything I can currently build.

If you want to build speakers because it’s fun, then go for it! If you want to do it to save money, then just buy used.

 

[Prana Ferox]

Recommend you ask in here as that's pretty much the unofficial DIYSG forum and also home of the Martys.

I would recommend you set realistic expectations:
- DIY is a lot of work and tbh most of the advantage (beyond the joy of the process) is that you can decide the cabinet finish.
- There are DIY floorstander designs but most of them tend to be pretty old and have different, possibly old-fashioned design priorities. Some designs are going to have NLA drivers or other parts. Finding something of the new meta that could outdo the KEF Metas is going to be a challenge.
(TBH I kind of feel like the DIY scene took a hit with COVID, both with the loss of popular creators as well as the impact on the speaker and distributor markets, that it hasn't recovered from, and part of how that shows is that new designs have significantly dried up. Also, very very very few DIY creators have access to or can reasonably emulate a Klippel.)
- That being said, IMO home theater is a different thing with different priorities from 'audiophile' music listening. Are you really going to notice if Godzilla's screech isn't reproduced exactly as the FX guy intended? Or do you want it to be wall-shakingly loud without struggling?

If I were you I would start by trying out building the subs, and then deciding from your enjoyment of the process and the results, whether you want to continue your DIY affair.

 

[Momomo67890]

I disagree with the help vituixcad and ath horn you can design a wave guide for your tweeter in a few hours 3d print prototypes and have a world class speaker in a matter for weeks there's also augerpro wave guides that are free. Cardioid is basically figured out for mid ranges. Sota amps cost nothing dsp off a old computer with more then enough taps for fir filters. It's easier then ever. Now if i just had the time to build them lol. I got a 93db 1 watt speaker I'm building that will max out at 120db 1m from 80 hz up in a under 2cf box that's has constant directivity of 6 from 80hz to 20k and has -60 dB thd at 100db. Also look at metamaterials they are simple and can take a tweeter from 1 percent thd to .2% in my testing.

 

[Severian]

I would strongly encourage you to go with a DIYSG kit and simply wait until it's in stock. That AVS Forum thread linked above is a good resource. Like, plan the whole project around the DIYSG offerings.

You will not find anything remotely close to that level of performance for home theater anywhere else short of starting with a clean sheet of paper yourself at much, much greater expense. The kits are excellent, very complete, and relatively foolproof to assemble.

I just built the HT-88s for L/C/R and they are outstanding. I use Volt-6s for surrounds and Atmos. I've built a pair of HTM-12s for my friend. I pointed another friend to HT-12s for L/C/R.

And the crown jewel of my audio "career" is a system consisting of Vortex-15s (DIYSG custom Eminence 15" coaxial drivers) and Buyout-15 subwoofers (some one-off custom Eminence LAB15s) - all no longer available. I would put this up against just about any hi-fi system I've ever heard.

 

[Randyd718]

I would strongly encourage you to go with a DIYSG kit and simply wait until it's in stock.

Do you know how often they restock?

 

[D!sco]

Do you know how often they restock?

I tried to get a set of their S2000s in 2019 and they have never come back in stock.

 

[AudioSQ]

Since COVID.. DIYSG has pretty much stayed out of stock. You could be waiting a long time. I eventually gave up on them. It's a shame, before COVID it was a pretty good place to get kits. They do have the Helix Domes in stock and I've always been interested in trying those.

I do have the Volt 6s for my rears and they're definitely meh.

The Amigas are a solid tower speaker in that price range, but there isn't a kit for a center channel. I was also interested in his Swopes at one time, but not sure if those parts are still available.

 

[D!sco]

Don't they make the CNC flat packs for Parts Express? It's not like they're out of business, if I do understand what's going on.

 

[AudioSQ]

Don't they make the CNC flat packs for Parts Express? It's not like they're out of business, if I do understand what's going on.

I believe he does at least make some of the boxes for PE. I think the issue is he's had a lot of trouble getting drivers and the parts for crossovers for the kits since COVID. I've seen lots of promises of it getting better, but have yet to see it happen.

He owns a landscaping company as his main gig, this is just a side project.

 

[AudioSQ]

Looks like HT-8s just got back in stock...

 

[ooheadsoo]

I've got htm-12 v2 and with eq, they really are killer. I'd still be using them if it weren't for waf issues. Try to find models that Erin or someone else had measured on Klippel so you can knock those resonances down.