JDCrae Introduction

[FerdinandII]

These would be my top picks......

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

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

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

[JDCrae]

Thanks for finding that. I looked for awhile but couldn't find a spec list like most others have.

[JDCrae]

These would be my top picks......

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

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

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

Yeah the Fusion and the Karma were the ones I was liking the most- and the price range was about right. I would have to assembly the crossovers- but that is no big deal. The Continuums have ridiculously high praise- but I don't think they would disperse the sound nearly as much as I would like. Saving a bit of money would also allow me to do something a bit nicer with the cabinets as well.

[cport]

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?

Hi Jeff:

If you are interested in audio realism (having both the timbre of natural un-amplified instruments as well as the spacial resolution of a live performance) you might want to give Siegfried Linkwitz's site a try -- a DIY "LX-Mini" (Siegfried's latest take on the onmi-directional PLUTO's, using the LX521 midrange driver ) fits your budget, and is very flexible in placement. A bit low on the WAF scale, but DIY means getting creative on aesthetics. Will "blow" many commercial $$$$$ systems out of the water....

-- Charles

[JDCrae]

Charles,

Those speakers you linked are very interesting. I only have two channels at 50-60WPC. Not sure what the power rating goes to with more than than driven. Was really hoping to avoid a dedicated power amplifier. Could this be handled by a decent 4 channel amp? Or does he really mean when he says you must have 4 identical amps to power these?

Would they handle movie listening ok as well? I really want a versatile sounding speaker. I understand there will be trade-offs. Ok with that provided I know what they are aherad of time.

Thanks

Jeff

[cport]

Hey Jeff:

The norm is to make 4x LM3886 based "GainClones" -- these can come pretty inexpensively (you can find many PC boards on ebay, as an example) -- or, you can go the point-to-point route; When operated within their linear range, they are a surprisingly musical little amplifier -- depending on which trafo you select, you could make these four amps for as little as $300.00 (maybe less). Many a rabid audiophile jaw has dropped when they heard the PLUTO for the first time -- and the PLUTO uses three LM3886, two in bridge mode for the woofer, one for the tweeter. The LX-mini supposedly mops the PLUTO to the floor....

I plan to build these loudspeakers as soon as Siegfried releases the plans (I have been the among the first to build each and every one of Sigfried's designs ) , so you can come over and listen to them, and compare them to their big brother, the LX521 -- I am a short hop skip and a jump from Baltimore, in Annapolis.

-- Charles

[JDCrae]

Charles,

Thanks so much for the info. The look of the speaker is very interesting. Like nothing I have ever seen before. I like the idea of it, it's only the power requirements that make me wonder. Was really hoping to get away with the amp I have, and build high efficiency speakers, as the funds to do both just weren't there. I am going to go through the numbers again and see what I can get away with.

I would love to be able to listen to them. Annapolis is a mere hop, skip, and jump from where I am.

Back to sifting through tons of reviews, spec sheets, etc

Thank you again for all the advice, Greatly Appreciated.


Thanks

Jeff

[Roscoe Primrose]

Keep in mind that those speakers (or anything that radiates out the back) are going to need quite a bit of room the breath... Think 3' plus from the back/side walls.

Roscoe

[cport]

Keep in mind that those speakers (or anything that radiates out the back) are going to need quite a bit of room the breath... Think 3' plus from the back/side walls.

Roscoe

What Roscoe says is true -- these are omni-directional loudspeakers, and benefit when there is space around them, preferably at least "1 meter".

The good news is that these are very lite-weight loudspeakers for their size/performace (~24 lbs/ea) -- you can easily move them out into the room for focused listening, and then put them back against the wall when you are not....

Regards,

Charles

[JDCrae]

Ok, based on that I am thinking those aren't going to be the best for my setup. Small Rodgers Forge Row home, so space is at a premium. If I put them out that far from the wall they would be nearly in the middle of my living room. WAF would definitely go to a 0 pretty quick.

So based on what I am looking for, wide sweet spot- nearly anywhere in the room if possible, 8 ohm load, never dipping below 6 anyway, I have come down to the following 3 speakers. What are everyone's thoughts on which might best deliver what I am looking for ?


the Karma-10 http://www.diysoundgroup.com/karma10-kit.html


Fusion-10, http://www.diysoundgroup.com/waveguide- ... e-kit.html



or the Zaph Audio 2.5 ? http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/2. ... -way-pair/