Which DIY speakers would you like to see reviewed?

[Rick Sykora]

Me, my family and all relatives vote for Troels Gravensens speaker designs.

To say Troels has been prolific would be an understatement. Guessing you are more familiar with his work than I. So give me a few suggestions as to which of his designs fit our requirements ($800 US or less per pair and 15 liter cabinet or smaller).

 

[Jukka]

To say Troels has been prolific would be an understatement. Guessing you are more familiar with his work than I. So give me a few suggestions as to which of his designs fit our requirements ($800 US or less per pair and 15 liter cabinet or smaller).

Welll, price comparison is a bit hard, because most of his work are now closed kits and priced in EUR or DKK, although some of the older models may still be open and let you source crossover where ever you want. Just one supplier of materials and getting stuff overseas can add costs. But most of his small 2-ways still fit the description, if you choose lesser crossover components. There are always cheaper options in the kit PDFs. Here is are a few examples in order of preference:

• Revelator 4R. Choose lesser crossover.
• Three SEAS 5-inch speakers, open kits, choose lesser crossover.
• Ellam Flex, open kit, choose lesser crossover.
• SEAS CURV, open kit.
• Ellam Discovery 15 High price/performance.

If you would allow slightly larger cabinet, but still in the budget:

• SBAcoustics 61-NAC, 16 liters. Choose lesser crossover.
• ScanSpeak Discovery 18W, 18 liters. There are high price/perfomance drivers.
• Studio 101 mkII, 18 litres.

Examples, that doesn't fit in the rules, unless you can manage to get drivers and components a lot cheaper over there.

• Illuminator Monitor, open kit. Those drivers are real high-end stuff. I would be most interested in what these Illuminator drivers can do, they are higly regarded in DIY.
• CNO-mkIII (cost-no-object), some of the best from SEAS, but a lot cheaper than the best from Scan Speak.
• SBA MW19 Studio Monitor, something a bit better from SBA.
• Ellam 98 mkII a little too expensive.

The 15 liter cabinet rules out some other interesting designs, like SBAcoustics, 3-Way Classic. Those SBA drivers offer some seriously good price/performance ratio! Also the detailed radiation pattern of this type of construction would be higly interesting to see.

 

[mhardy6647]

Did anyone ever mention the (ostensibly) D.B. Keele, Jr-designed (or, at least, inspired) "Epique" speakers/kits?

https://www.parts-express.com/epique-cbt24k-line-array-speaker-kit-pair--301-984

 

[digitalfrost]

I don't think they'd fit into the Klippel rig

 

[mhardy6647]

I don't think they'd fit into the Klippel rig

That's too bad -- they're actually not all that large.
2-1/2" (ca. 5.7 cm) drivers
P-E shows the height as 60 inches (ca. 150 cm). I mean, not huge, you know?
What're the maximum dimensions that the Klippel gizmo will accept?

 

[Rick Sykora]

So while I am interested for (obvious) personal reasons, will have to find some closer to Amir. I just shipped the ZA5.2 and that was $50 for one! The CBT24s shipped in one big box together. Do not know how much it was as they fell under “free” shipping .

Besides, not only would they be a challenge to get in the rig, they are designed to be floor standers. If you watch Keele’s video, he puts a mirror on the floor in front of them. So am not sure they could be measured accurately by a spin either. The JBL version that wall mounts would be a better test candidate IMO. I can tell you they create a very different sound field than monopoles. Would really like to know how they compare to the LXmini’s sound. Once I fix my other subwoofer and do my taxes, will see if the budget allows.

 

[mhardy6647]

^^^ cool.

 

[headshake]

Tannoy Gold 8.

Why? Not much about them. The manufacturer released graphs. It is the UK version of the Kali In-8 and it would be interesting to see 2way vs 3way coaxial studio monitor comparisons.

 

[Prana Ferox]

Tannoy Gold 8.

Not DIY, though.

 

[thewas]

UK version

Rather Chinese version as Tannoy was recently taken over by Behringer and most of their engineers left and made a new company like old Tannoy, called Fyne Audio. (That doesn't of course mean that the loudspeakers cannot be good and I would be also interested in some NFS measurements).

 

[headshake]

Rather Chinese version as Tannoy was recently taken over by Behringer and most of their engineers left and made a new company like old Tannoy, called Fyne Audio. (That doesn't of course mean that the loudspeakers cannot be good and I would be also interested in some NFS measurements).

Thanks. I was just going by the bullet on the page "Designed and engineered in the U.K." My only knowledge is a marketing blurb. I figured it was made in China.

Not DIY, though.

My bad. Missed the DIY part, should have been the other thread.

 

[Deleted member 2944]

This poll and the selections in it are somewhat ridiculous. These sort of small/medium box systems (whether they be commercial or DIY) are boring as hell. There's about 6000 of them on the market...all fit the same paradigm...and all have (essentially) the same power response characteristic. (4pi transitioning to 2pi.) Products (and the people) in this portion of the speaker-design community have not evolved at all in 20-30 years. IMHO.

That said, there are some excellent (alternative) DIY efforts that seem to be showing up. DIYaudio.com (I know it's a crazy sand-box at times) does seem to have the best selection of threads with out-of-the-box thinking regards DIY speaker designs.

Dave.

 

[Biblob]

This poll and the selections in it are somewhat ridiculous. These sort of small/medium box systems (whether they be commercial or DIY) are boring as hell. There's about 6000 of them on the market...all fit the same paradigm...and all have (essentially) the same power response characteristic. (4pi transitioning to 2pi.) Products (and the people) in this portion of the speaker-design community have not evolved at all in 20-30 years. IMHO.

That said, there are some excellent (alternative) DIY efforts that seem to be showing up. DIYaudio.com (I know it's a crazy sand-box at times) does seem to have the best selection of threads with out-of-the-box thinking regards DIY speaker designs.

Dave.

Please, share the threads where good projects have been done. I would love to find the ones that are worthwhile to read.

 

[Deleted member 2944]

Please, share the threads where good projects have been done. I would love to find the ones that are worthwhile to read.

Smart-alec replies are not necessary.
Go over to DIYaudio.com (or some other alternative) and peruse the various speaker systems that innovative DIY'ers are trying their hands at. Some of them are butchered designs, but some are quite interesting and innovative.
I no longer pay much attention to "box" speakers and their iterations, but folks building dipole systems, or DIY-electrostatics, or etc are out there. You just have to look.

To see Amir testing a $115 pos Polk box speaker (or DIY equivalents) is a complete waste of his time/equipment/talents.....IMHO.

Cheers,

Dave.

 

[Rick Sykora]

Smart-alec replies are not necessary.
Go over to DIYaudio.com (or some other alternative) and peruse the various speaker systems that innovative DIY'ers are trying their hands at. Some of them are butchered designs, but some are quite interesting and innovative.
I no longer pay much attention to "box" speakers and their iterations, but folks building dipole systems, or DIY-electrostatics, or etc are out there. You just have to look.

To see Amir testing a $115 pos Polk box speaker (or DIY equivalents) is a complete waste of his time/equipment/talents.....IMHO.

Cheers,

Dave.

While not disagreeing entirely, this is a thread about DIY speaker testing and so the poll reflects what the member feedback has been. For that matter, the poll clearly shows a preference towards the LXmini. That seems to align with your preferences?

Your complaints seem to be misplaced here IMO.

 

[Biblob]

Smart-alec replies are not necessary.
Go over to DIYaudio.com (or some other alternative) and peruse the various speaker systems that innovative DIY'ers are trying their hands at. Some of them are butchered designs, but some are quite interesting and innovative.
I no longer pay much attention to "box" speakers and their iterations, but folks building dipole systems, or DIY-electrostatics, or etc are out there. You just have to look.

To see Amir testing a $115 pos Polk box speaker (or DIY equivalents) is a complete waste of his time/equipment/talents.....IMHO.

Cheers,

Dave.

I'm sorry you interpret my post this way. It was meant as a genuine interest. Because I regularly check that site. But because of the way it's ordered, I have trouble finding actual worthfull threads about designs that display concrete good results/measurements.

I do know of a few, but these are not very suitable for building and sending them to Amir.

 

[Deleted member 2944]

While not disagreeing entirely, this is a thread about DIY speaker testing and so the poll reflects what the member feedback has been. For that matter, the poll clearly shows a preference towards the LXmini. That seems to align with your preferences?

Your complaints seem to be misplaced here IMO.

The LXmini having way more votes illustrates my point.

Dave.

 

[Rick Sykora]

The LXmini having way more votes illustrates my point.

Dave.

As a supporter of fact-based decisions, I want to see the LXmini tested as well. As we both know, this is more of an investment than some of the other choices. If you cannot commit, perhaps you know someone who might?

Finally, in case you missed from my earlier post:

...Amir says he is swamped with requests to test COTS speakers and so the first wave of DIY ones will likely be member loaners. Next he want us to nominate one design to really see if DIY is a better value than COTS. All the earlier rules still apply, but given the initial feedback, am upping the budget to $800 or less...

In hindsight, there is no one design, but a design for a set of price points. So for starters he is taking some low fruit, but given the poll results, it is clear the LXmini has forum support. While I may be willing to invest in building a pair, the shipping alone is a major hurdle from Ohio. I will need help to lower some of the hurdles.

 

[Prana Ferox]

Anecdotally I doubt most DIYers are doing it for bleeding edge performance, and those that do are probably doing their own one-off designs. DIY is probably driven strongly by the value proposition, regardless of price point but especially down at the end of the market with kits and flatpacks. That Venn diagram of people who a) have and want to throw money at gear and b) want to dedicate time to assembling it themselves, understandably shrinks as the money involved rises.

(A very minor exception for the folks that are actually woodworking / fabrication hobbyists and their projects making nice sound when done is just a pleasant bonus.)

Regardless, DIY is the same as retail in that reviews at the lower end are going to be impactful to more people. The further you launch into the unobtainosphere, the test may be novel, but ultimately less relevant.

DIYAudio has some interesting and sometimes great content but, excuse the pun, the signal to noise ratio is poor and there's a lot of bad science to outright snake oil on there. Just look at the affiliated store pushing Firstwatt kits and those silly Nutubes.

 

[xarkkon]

Smart-alec replies are not necessary.
Go over to DIYaudio.com (or some other alternative) and peruse the various speaker systems that innovative DIY'ers are trying their hands at. Some of them are butchered designs, but some are quite interesting and innovative.
I no longer pay much attention to "box" speakers and their iterations, but folks building dipole systems, or DIY-electrostatics, or etc are out there. You just have to look.

To see Amir testing a $115 pos Polk box speaker (or DIY equivalents) is a complete waste of his time/equipment/talents.....IMHO.

Cheers,

Dave.

How is that a smart alec reply? If anything, that was an earnest attempt at wanting to learn more about the interesting designs you're referring to.