But if he's trying to choose an existing speaker design, he won't be picking the bass driver or the tuning(??) Although, if he is concerned about bass then he should pick an existing design using a quality bass driver that can reach his desired level of low-end extension and SPL.Commercial offerings and diy are mostly cones and domes in boxes. If you want bass, you pick a good driver and tune it to the bass extension you want.
Good question, maybe EUR 1000 in drivers alone?
Definitely not aiming for a budget design. Oh and one more thing, even though I want to try a bookshelf, by my definition lack of acceptable bass extension is a show stopper. All my commercial bookshelves had more than enough of it. OTOH bass alone doesn't make a speaker great, obviously.
Is that TB driver available in the US?My Monoculus might fit well, and you have access to the coaxial via retailers over there.
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I would not call it a kit, but all details are available.
John Krutke's ZD5 is also a very good design.
Paul Carmody's Carrera uses the same woofer.
There are MANY designs available, you just have to look.
W4-2315, 4.5" coaxial. To my knowledge, 2 vendors in Europe (Axiomedia and Nonsolospeaker) carry it; but nothing this side of the pond yet, not even Solen or PE. There was a recent review in Voice Coil of it last month, so hopefully it will follow. The driver is only about a year and a half old since their in house measurements were taken in Jan 2023. Of the 3 upper tier coaxes TB sells, I feel this is the one with the most potential.Is that TB driver available in the US?
Mike
Best I've heard: Triangle Magellan and Raidho X2t Spectacular soudstage, detail without harshness, dynamics, everything. All that I've built (see above) were jokes that were beat by sub EUR 1000 speakers.What is your reference commercial speaker?
If your goal is to see whether you might meet or exceed it, would help to know what the target is.
The floorstanders I've mentioned were the best I've heard in absolute terms. It's simply o coincidence that the only times I had the chance for extensive sessions with my own music it was with very good fronstanders. Other bookshelves I've heard were also very good but by matter of chance the listening sessions were shorter and too far back in time to take them as references. But even in those terms they were also very good, just inferior to TOTL floorstanders. But still MUCH better compared to DIY designs I've built.I thought you were looking to build a bookshelf style speaker. Then you stated the best you had heard when prompted, and they were likely both floor standers. There is a difference between floor and bookshelf models in that most floor standers will extend lower, have more than one woofer, be a 3way, etc. This yields a bias, and expectations of what floor models do in a bookshelf can lend to being underwhelmed at times. Im not saying you should change your perspective, but i feel the bookshelf choices for your endeavor could likely be counted on on hand.
I feel you are in need of a great bookshelf 3way, forget the 2way options at this point. Then it is a matter of how big you want to build...
If you are not looking for budget speakers, I can recommend the Satorique kits.Good question, maybe EUR 1000 in drivers alone?
Definitely not aiming for a budget design. Oh and one more thing, even though I want to try a bookshelf, by my definition lack of acceptable bass extension is a show stopper. All my commercial bookshelves had more than enough of it. OTOH bass alone doesn't make a speaker great, obviously.
Yeah, the alto is the cheapest kit, one would expect that. They lack soundstaging but tonally they are acceptable. I see you're from Germany, have you listened to other Visaton kits?If you are not looking for budget speakers, I can recommend the Satorique kits.
Not cheap, but the developments come from a team that has been successful for over 40 years and are very uncompromising. You can choose whether you want to buy a CNC-milled cabinet kit or use the saw and milling machine yourself. You can find the measurement diagrams in the construction descriptions, as well as insights into the construction. The cabinet kits are available in MDF and birch plywood, just ask.
Visaton has some very good and many underrated kits, but the Alto series is by far the worst in my opinion.
I have heard many of the higher quality Visaton kits, even in comparison to expensive commercial speakers.Yeah, the alto is the cheapest kit, one would expect that. They lack soundstaging but tonally they are acceptable. I see you're from Germany, have you listened to other Visaton kits?
The Satorique webpage looks very interesting too.
what is your opinion about the
Satori Helios TeXtreme 9.5" 2-Way Speaker Kit?