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Your help with my first speaker build

You, my friend, are an "enabler" :D

If I want the Altec sound, should I not just build the cabinets for the GPA 415-8B and be done?
'New' driver/old tech, same sound (or no?)
You'll spend much less and give up - perhaps(!) - nothing in overall listening satisfaction [i.e., with a pair of Santiagos].
So -- I guess it depends on your budget. ;)

... and yes, I am an enabler, but I stand on the shoulders of giants, enabler-wise. :)
 
That's so cheap!

How much to get a good setup for DSP room correction on top of it?
MiniDSP 2x4HD is $225. Microphone: MiniDSP Umik $79 with a miniDSP product. Amplification as above. Or better, of course,

M2 filters were reverse-engineered for the Minidsp OpenDRC ($325):
I don't know if those filters can be used unchanged on the 2x4HD or the MiniDSP Flex.
 
i would just 'rip off' some studio monitor design from genelec.. the 8381a can be constructed DIY for fairly cheap.

we don't frown upon that ya know, studio monitors are very expensive and we admire ingenunity and necessity when it comes to admiring good design.""

that individuals would go as far as to DIY it themselves if they could not afford them

i knew immediately with genelec because i have a special sensitivity with touch, long story short i can derive values from literally feeling a object with my skin

steve (jobs) had this "power" as well
 
my basic design philosophy is modularity within minimalism

first you deconstruct so you can ascertain essential elements

then you make sure those essential elements are modular with each other

so the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

but first you must filter out and deconstruct
 
market segments and all that

The 305p and so on are fantastic for their price in entry level, I could get 85% decent level of audio fidelity ( I would consider 8030b 90% audio fidelity)

we all have our biases don't we ;), hard to avoid internally

the audio wars have started in the late 60s and has continued on through eternity to say the least,

I mean literal future past eternal timelines, STILL arguing nonstop over DSP, how "good" of a DAC you need and etc.

so im sorry for my immaturity Amir.
 
well beyond telepathic audio, there will still be a segment of people who enjoy something tangible.. "real" audio.

yes things got futurama very quickly...
 
i have been observing these audio wars since the early 2000s ( registered on head-fi in 2003 i believe, when i was 16)

well ur free to take the 8381a and try to make a $1000 version of it JBL

my pursuit of audio isnt just brag about mah genelecs of course, lol

it's for good audio to be readily affordable to the masses
 
my grails are R10s, yes

ill be getting them soon

not stax, not sennheiser even, although i should not say much on that end...

honestly the 8030bs get the job done for me, so the 305ps would have faired fine, and the 705p and... so on

i just like the genelec design more, heh"

the 8260as are underrated though

light room treatment or dsp is necessary IMO

just treat the walls and reflective surfaces nearest to you.. could be just something simple like stacking two bass traps behind ur monitors - as in my case

..

here in my garage

so ur a trillionaire and instant world wide celebrity suddenly..

everything all at once?

or do you remain quaint and real to what got you here

its not about the destination
 

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I started the speaker obsession at DIYAudio 20 years ago. Have one great pair of DIY speakers out of all that time and effort! Hahaha! And it needs EQ! Don’t count on DIY to give you anything of quality quickly or cheaply.
 
Hello,

I've read this site for years now and would like to start my first speaker project!
After quite a bit of research on my own, I could really use a hand. My goal is:
To inexpensively replicate/exceed the sound quality of my old Altec Santana 879A speakers.
[NOTE: The cabinets and rubber were untouched from 1970 and the amplifier in question is a Bryston B-60]
I would check out what they have at DIYSG. The Home Theater options are more in tune with early 70's sound/efficiency, however these DIY speakers should have better accuracy than most vintage speakers. Most are ported, not sealed like the Santana. They just don't make many pro-woofers that can put out much bass in a sealed arrangement. If they do, they give up efficiency. The HTM12v2 would truly kick a$$ with your amp as the efficiency is high and the distortion/compression is very low. Note that almost all high efficiency speakers will not have deep bass, so it would be a good idea to pair these with a capable sub at some point.


 
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I would check out what they have at DIYSG. The Home Theater options are more in tune with early 70's sound/efficiency, however these DIY speakers should have better accuracy than most vintage speakers. Most are ported, not sealed like the Santana. They just don't make many pro-woofers that can put out much bass in a sealed arrangement. If they do, they give up efficiency. The HTM12v2 would truly kick a$$ with your amp as the efficiency is high and the distortion/compression is very low. Note that almost all high efficiency speakers will not have deep bass, so it would be a good idea to pair these with a capable sub at some point.


I completely agree with this post, except for one thing: DIYSG has been out of stock on these speakers and all their (excellent) large waveguides since COVID.

The whole supply chain issue has killed good large constant directivity waveguides for quite a while. The reliable QSC waveguide has been unobtainium as well. There are the ATH waveguides, but they have to be printed.
 
That's not quite accurate. Lots of things have come into stock--they just don't stay in stock very long so you need to check frequently if you want something (following the thread on AVS Forum helps). I've bought 4 HT-8s and 2 HT-10s recently, many others have gotten the big Titan 818s. The HT-10s are listed in stock right now https://www.diysoundgroup.com/home-theater-speaker-kits.html . That's a pretty fantastic speaker for the price: https://www.mtg-designs.com/tips-tr...s/ht-design-measurements/ht-10v2-measurements (look at that horizontal directivity!).

I'm not sure it's what the OP is looking for though. The HT-10 has to be used with subs (and will cross better when installed near/on a wall or in a baffle wall).
 
That's not quite accurate. Lots of things have come into stock--they just don't stay in stock very long so you need to check frequently if you want something (following the thread on AVS Forum helps). I've bought 4 HT-8s and 2 HT-10s recently, many others have gotten the big Titan 818s. The HT-10s are listed in stock right now https://www.diysoundgroup.com/home-theater-speaker-kits.html . That's a pretty fantastic speaker for the price: https://www.mtg-designs.com/tips-tr...s/ht-design-measurements/ht-10v2-measurements (look at that horizontal directivity!).

I'm not sure it's what the OP is looking for though. The HT-10 has to be used with subs (and will cross better when installed near/on a wall or in a baffle wall).
When you can get them, they are hard to beat!
 
You'll spend much less and give up - perhaps(!) - nothing in overall listening satisfaction [i.e., with a pair of Santiagos].
So -- I guess it depends on your budget. ;)

... and yes, I am an enabler, but I stand on the shoulders of giants, enabler-wise. :)
Truth be told, I haven't auditioned any other speakers in my home other than the Altec Santana's. However I have heard other high-end speakers in showrooms and none of them impressed me. It isn't hard for me to imagine that I simply became used to the "Altec sound" you referred to.

If that specific sound signature is what I'll be unconsciously searching for, then is the Model 19 the best that I can do?

MiniDSP 2x4HD is $225. Microphone: MiniDSP Umik $79 with a miniDSP product. Amplification as above. Or better, of course,
DSP and room correction seems to me like the real "next step" in home audio.
Is it true that it requires modern woofers/tweeters to perform at its best?

The way I understand DSP/room correction is that it's sort of like an automatic-EQ which can easily adjust the output of a speaker to give a flat frequency response in a given listening environment. If that's true, can DSP/room correction make an inexpensive modern speaker sound like a much more expensive one? Like the Sony SSCS5 for example?

i would just 'rip off' some studio monitor design from genelec.. the 8381a can be constructed DIY for fairly cheap.

we don't frown upon that ya know, studio monitors are very expensive and we admire ingenunity and necessity when it comes to admiring good design.""

that individuals would go as far as to DIY it themselves if they could not afford them

i knew immediately with genelec because i have a special sensitivity with touch, long story short i can derive values from literally feeling a object with my skin

steve (jobs) had this "power" as well
It looks like a Genelec speaker starts at $1,000 CAD each for something with a 5" woofer. I can find plenty of high-end modern monitors like that (Neumann, etc.), but they all seem to need a sub. Since these speakers will be used for listening to music only, I would like the drivers to provide decent bass as well, not just mid and treble. That said, I don't listen to bass-heavy music.

Don’t count on DIY to give you anything of quality quickly or cheaply.
Yeah, I'm starting to realize that!
I may be better off spending more but getting a turn-key solution from a well respected manufacturer.

Any that you can recommend from your experience?

I would check out what they have at DIYSG. The Home Theater options are more in tune with early 70's sound/efficiency, however these DIY speakers should have better accuracy than most vintage speakers. Most are ported, not sealed like the Santana. They just don't make many pro-woofers that can put out much bass in a sealed arrangement. If they do, they give up efficiency. The HTM12v2 would truly kick a$$ with your amp as the efficiency is high and the distortion/compression is very low. Note that almost all high efficiency speakers will not have deep bass, so it would be a good idea to pair these with a capable sub at some point.
I'm not sure it's what the OP is looking for though. The HT-10 has to be used with subs (and will cross better when installed near/on a wall or in a baffle wall).
As you two eluded to, the speakers you mentioned need to be paired with a sub.
Since I'll only be using them to listen to music, getting a sub is something I'd like to avoid.

That being said, anything else you can recommend?
 
JBL 2216ND's X 4. JBL 2451's on 2384 horns. Solid Walnut front baffles. Can mix it up and put the horn in the middle for a different stack.
 

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OH NO!!! More "Panache" speaker build photos! Ugh. This is using the Radian 5215B coaxials. They sound bad and "Panachey".
 

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