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 Post subject: JDCrae Introduction
PostPosted: July 3rd, 2014, 7:53 am 
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Joined: July 3rd, 2014, 7:47 am
Posts: 89
Hello All

My name is Jeff- and not only am I new here, but I am new to the DIY Audio realm as well. Have built a ridiculous number of car systems, both Sq and SPL varieties, but recently decided I want to have better sound in the house as well as my truck.

Currently my system is very basic:

Marantz Receiver
HRT-3 DAC
Old Kenwood Bookshelf speakers
Knu Konceptz wiring throughout

In registering I am hoping to speak with like-minded people about different ideas and things they have done and tried. The first project I hope to undertake is building of my first set of speakers. Am whittling down the final choices now as I have been researching for months. I look forward to talking with everyone!


Thanks

Jeff


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 Post subject: Re: JDCrae Introduction
PostPosted: July 3rd, 2014, 9:16 am 
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Welcome!

You'll get lots of new opinions on speakers here as well. At least you've got the option to hear some of the other members choices before you make your own choice.

What's your budget for your DIY speakers? And where are you located?

Roscoe

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 Post subject: Re: JDCrae Introduction
PostPosted: July 3rd, 2014, 9:39 am 
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Posts: 89
I look forward to seeing them! Being in Baltimore, there are quite a few great shops around to get inspiration from and it seems like some members here are pretty close by as well.

I am in hopes of keeping my budget to 500 or so. Reason being is that the retail speakers I liked, and was almost ok with dropping the cash for, were about 650.00, so using my kind of logic, I would think I would be able to build a comparable, or even slightly superior speaker, for around 500. I have been building speaker cabinets for a long time (mostly sub enclosures of every kind) so I am confident in making the cabinets myself. Power wise, I only have 50WPC (Marantz so that's a bit conservative) at 8ohms, so I am looking for a higher sensitivity design. I listen to mostly music, some movies, but am constantly moving around so one of the most important design aspects would be a wide dispersment. For this reason I am particularly drawn to waveguide speakers.

What are your thoughts?


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 Post subject: Re: JDCrae Introduction
PostPosted: July 3rd, 2014, 10:17 am 
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Welcome!

We do have lots of different speakers in the group including electrostatics, planar magnetics, horns, etc. When you mention sensitivity and look at the tradeoffs to achieve higher sensitivity it may also pay to look at more power. It might be easier to achieve a broader and more uniform frequency response and radiation pattern if you have a little more power and not go for the highest sensitivity. That's the fun of doing it yourself. You can make more choices.

Tom


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 Post subject: Re: JDCrae Introduction
PostPosted: July 3rd, 2014, 10:29 am 
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Knowing a little about your musical tastes, room size, how loud you like to listen etc. might be a big help.

For $500, you ought to be able to blow a $650 commercial speaker out of the water :obscene-drinkingcheers:

Roscoe

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 Post subject: Re: JDCrae Introduction
PostPosted: July 3rd, 2014, 11:01 am 
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I certainly hope to!

Musically is where things get complicated. It's always been this way for car systems I have made. I truly listen to every kind of music there is, except for Opera. I draw the line there lol. But in all seriousness, I will be listening to Alice in Chains unplugged, then an original recording of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, then on to heavy metal song by Five Finger Death Punch, then on to a great Sinatra Song, and then on to a Trance song. What's always been important to me is a balanced sound, and the ability to sit on the couch, or my morris chair, or at the desk working on my computer, and hear great sound. All my music is stored on my computer, most in FLAC or wma lossless format. Everything goes through the HRT DAC before going on to the amp.

The speakers I really liked the sound of in the retail stores were the B&W 600 and CM Series. They just sounded amazing. I was able to hear a pair of Totem's that were being showcased while I was there, that truly sounded amazing. The bass response was spectacular coming from such a small enclosure. I also like the sound of the PSB Image series, though the highs were tad on the strong side.

From research, ideally if there were a way to do it, would be to build a small tower, or slightly oversized bookshelf that incorporated a quality woofer- able to be crossed over easily to the two powered Energy subs I have, a nice tight mid- that would have a great punch, and then top it off with a compression driver and waveguide to more evenly disperse that amazing sound throughout my entire room. I would like to be able to sit just about anywhere in the room and feel like I am getting great sound.

I do watch movies as well, so down the road, I will end up building a center speaker as well, but for now, even when watching movies, I would be more than happy with just my 2.1 (or 2.2) sound.

While eventually I may end up going to a more powerful amp, doing the research I did seems that power ratings are many times fluffed and that power output is many times not a direct cause of louder output of the speakers. My marantz, similar to the NAD I almost got, are both reputed to be underrated for their power. I have heard 92DB speakers driven by a NAD316 that sounded far better, and able to driven to reference levels, than amplifiers that touted ratings of 150 wpc. My Marantz will handle 6ohm loads as well, which gives me a little wiggle room, but would rather an 8ohm speaker that dips down to or toward 6 in certain bands, but not a 6ohm that would drop into the 4's from time to time. Don't get me wrong, I have heard some amazing systems that were putting out thousands of watts, that's just not the style of system I am looking for. Also- as we live in a typical Baltimore style Row Home- space is a bit limited so a huge rack for gear just isn't an option. The listening room is our living room, probably about 14x 14 to 16 x 16. Pretty crappy acoustics, all walls are plaster, lots of windows door openings to other rooms, staircase etc.

At some point I would like to try my hand at making my own tube amp. Seems like it would be a fun project, they look downright cool, and would be a great way to drive some small speakers in my bedroom.


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 Post subject: Re: JDCrae Introduction
PostPosted: July 3rd, 2014, 12:07 pm 
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Joined: April 22nd, 2013, 12:58 pm
Posts: 285
I know it's cheating, but if there's one thing I've learned it's that speaker crossover networks are much more complex than they seem, and it pays to start with a known good design, and then tweak to taste. So, here are two possibilities that look interesting:

http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/2-way-speaker-kits/seas-idunn-2-way-speaker-kit-pair-parts-only/

http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/2.5-way-speaker-kits/zaph%7Caudio-za5.5-tall-tower-2.5-way-pair/

There are hundreds of options out there, but if one of these two makes more sense for you, then you have just narrowed the field down by 1/2.....


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 Post subject: Re: JDCrae Introduction
PostPosted: July 3rd, 2014, 1:17 pm 
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Let us know which designs you've been seriously considering...

Roscoe

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 Post subject: Re: JDCrae Introduction
PostPosted: July 3rd, 2014, 3:32 pm 
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The ones that I have been considering



Fusion Quad 4- http://www.diysoundgroup.com/fusion4-kit.html

Fusion 10 - Pure - http://www.diysoundgroup.com/fusion10-pure-kit.html

The Karma- 10 - http://www.diysoundgroup.com/waveguide- ... -kits.html

Uluwatu- Cabinet is not really to my liking- but that is easy to change exterior wise - http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/2. ... -kit-pair/

Fostex BK-16 - http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/fu ... -kit-pair/

Bagby Continuum;s - toward the top of the list - http://meniscusaudio.com/continuum-full ... -1324.html

Bagby Triton's - possibly- can't find impedance but well reviewed - http://meniscusaudio.com/triton-pair-p-1346.html

Statement Monitors - A bit more than I prefer to spend but highly regarded - http://meniscusaudio.com/statements-mon ... -1358.html

Classix II - well regarded designer - http://meniscusaudio.com/classixii-full ... -1333.html

GR- N-3 - http://gr-research.com/n3.aspx

Gr- AV3 - http://gr-research.com/av-3.aspx

Cinderellas - http://speakerdesignworks.com/Cinderella.html

Triunes - http://speakerdesignworks.com/Dayton_MTM_CC_FIN_TL.html

I have looked at Pi Speakers too - not many reviews found on them - Wayne seems to be very highly regarded though.


Think that is all of them - Of course it doesn't count the ones already suggested (Thanks by the way) Any thoughts? Anyone familiar with any?


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 Post subject: Re: JDCrae Introduction
PostPosted: July 3rd, 2014, 3:40 pm 
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Joined: April 22nd, 2013, 12:58 pm
Posts: 285
JDCrae wrote:
The ones that I have been considering

Bagby Triton's - possibly- can't find impedance but well reviewed - http://meniscusaudio.com/triton-pair-p-1346.html



Triton's have a lowish impedance, due to the parallel woofers... see attachment.


Attachments:
Triton_Z.png
Triton_Z.png [ 30.41 KiB | Viewed 31585 times ]
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