Mechano23 Open-source DIY Speaker Review

[johnnyx]

The waveguide on the tweeter makes all the difference. I thought a waveguide would be difficult to implement, but not any more. Low cost too. I should throw away all my flat baffle tweeters. They are all obsolete.

 

[Lopsided]

Amir, have you run the compression test on this speaker?

 

[anphex]

I didn't know Genelec was offering DIYs. As always, great review, Amir, and a great find as well.

l'll never forget this factory show of B&W where the guide, standing next to the +10k speakers in the making, said " We keep crossovers simple to have control over the sound!". Their crossovers really just have very few parts. It's a huge ripoff, considering their speakers are probably pretty bad when klippel-measured.

But it's common sense here that hyper expensive speakers are basically a scam, so I won't get angry anymore about stuff like this a just chuckle.

 

[audiotron]

Hats off to @XMechanik. Well done.

 

[Rja4000]

Very nice !
Thanks for this review !

 

[beefkabob]

This is impressive. Gonna have to put your sub between the speakers, though, and crossover around where, 150hz?

 

[CapMan]

Well done to @XMechanik. This is a new base line for what any commercial producer of small speakers should achieve - no ifs, buts or maybes.

Be interesting to scale up the $150 BOM with manufacturing costs, distributor markup and retail markup to see where this would sit price wise as a commercial proposition.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Nice.
Dobra robota Jarek

Ps. Maybe it's time to switch from my Q acoustics 3030i.... tempting

 

[KSTR]

would rounding the front edges improve any measured characteristic?

Things would get a tiny bit smoother overall. But because of the tweeter waveguide and both drivers having proper recess on the baffle the design is very good to start with.
In my personal experience rounded edges (with a large enough radius) tend to make the speaker "disappear" better even with almost no changes seen in the typical measurements.

 

[thewas]

Another great DIY project which shows that with the fantastic free tools and easy accessible knowledge it is nowadays not rocket science to engineer a very good loudspeaker. In that sense and segment we are living in great times.

 

[amirm]

Amir, have you run the compression test on this speaker?

I did not. It is a small speaker so didn't think it was proper to push it to 106 dBSPL.

 

[CapMan]

Another great DIY project which shows that with the fantastic free tools and easy accessible knowledge it is nowadays not rocket science to engineer a very good loudspeaker. In that sense and segment we are living in great times.

Imagine how lovely the world would be if the altruism at work here in creating the free design tools and sharing the design of this fab speaker were more universal

It’s such a lovely Sunday morning antidote to snake oil and “hi-end” BS

 

[Mnyb]

Wonder why there's always some contrarian that votes poor on every decently performing DUT on this site ?

To many sock puppet accounts from the usual suspects ? Mods can probably do some statics on this ? Their must be some "sour puss" in here that's does this all the time .

 

[somebodyelse]

Has anyone ever reviewed Linkwitz designs?

https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/linkwitz_lx_mini/

 

[amirm]

Wonder why there's always some contrarian that votes poor on every decently performing DUT on this site ?

To many sock puppet accounts from the usual suspects ? Mods can probably do some statics on this ? Their must be some "sour puss" in here that's does this all the time .

Yeh, we have a few people who do this on all reviews. Their consistency gives us a degree of error in looking at the voting.

 

[JeremyFife]

Thank you for another fascinating review.

What a tempting proposition. I've never tried DIY but this, with all the support available here, makes me wonder.

I can easily live with the limited bass and SPL limitations, for casual home use. Nice.

I also makes me wonder why this is not the benchmark, basic, performance level for commercial offerings (from, say, $250 up).

(Edited, to remove the qualification which I now realise was unwarranted)

 

[amirm]

I can easily live with the limited bass and SPL limitations, for casual home use. Nice.

Let me make sure this is clear: this speaker's response in those areas is at least as good as many other bookshelf speakers. My comments were in absolute, not relative to the class it is in.

 

[DanielT]

Thanks for the test Amir. Really nice budget DIY speakers!

Good job XMechanik (who I believe built them). It's impressive what you managed to accomplish!

The waveguide on the tweeter makes all the difference. I thought a waveguide would be difficult to implement, but not any more. Low cost too. I should throw away all my flat baffle tweeters. They are all obsolete.

Before you do that, think about the 3d printed waveguides that are now available, which you can mount tweeters in. An example here:

Waveguides | somasonus

www.somasonus.net

Even 3d printed speakers:

Printables

www.printables.com

Of course there are a lot of horns/waveguides for compression drivers, but that might be another matter?

Horns & Waveguides:

Home

Explore our stock of horns and waveguides. Find the partner for your horn driver to deliver midrange and high frequencies, with reliable range and coverage.

www.parts-express.com

 

[Michael Fidler]

What a great job they've done here! I'm really tempted to get one of these. It would be great to make an active version...

 

[Sokel]

Been so useless to build even the simplest speaker (imagine a more complex one like this) makes me angry to myself looking at this thread and the nice results.

Thanks Amir!