Speaker kits recomendations Maybe Horn TL hybrid lets talk speaker kits
So, I just ripped apart a pair of Electrovoice Wolverine speakers. The cabinets were beat. Horn tweeter and horn mids are great and the same that you would find in a pair of Aristocrats. I have the crossovers but think that you would be better served to build new crossovers. The woofers work but need reconed. If you want a horn/high efficiency project these drivers would be a great start. I just want them to go to a good home. Price would be cheap. Shipping from 15208. Email for pics and details emfoods @ yahoo.com |
Erik- I signed up there ( dyiaudio) couple days ago so reading some there as well. thanks "auxinput- Solstice kit" I've been eyeing that very kit on parts express as a candidate for a first build. also the fugal-horns seem a less expensive alternative for breaking into horns. I live in the same city as Planet 10 too. https://www.frugal-horn.com/ glen |
auxinput: yes i realise that thanks though, I'm still not sold on them yet as the efficiency is not as great as I'd like, I do not have an amplifier in my house that could power them at the moment. Also the TriTrix MTM TL is another one I'm considering from parts Xpress. I also own MTM Living Voice speakers I'm leaning to another design type. I'm leaning to higher efficiency, reason I'm thinking a horn system or TL hybrid maybe. Still looking and reading all the information I've been given - gathered. I may do something more exotic and have a local cabinet builder assist me in the cabinet work. we will see what I end up with. |
Most 2-way speaker kits are in the 87-88db efficiency range, including your TriTrix (as well as the Solstice). In fact, most manufactured audiophile speakers are in this range as well. There are some super efficient speakers like Klipsch and Tekton, but they are the exception. If you want efficiency, take a look at the MarkAudio 12P full range 8" driver. It’s not going to have the high frequency extension and attack that tweeters do, but it’s very natural sounding and has good low end response and it’s very efficient at 91.7db. It’s also easy to drive by an amplifier because it’s rated as 8 ohms. If you look at the impedance graph, it doesn’t actually drop below 9 ohms so you don’t need a big powerful high current amplifier. However, you’d have to build your own cabinet. The slightly smaller 10P driver is also great, but not quite as efficient. For what it is, it does an exceptional job and you don’t have to worry about crossover design. I built a 12P center channel and it does an amazing job for a full range driver. There are other very high efficiency full range drivers, but they all have problems of one sort or another (such as extremely breakup at a certain frequency or a tilt towards the upper mids/high with thin bass). The MarkAudio is one of them that does the entire frequency range right. The MarkAudio metal cone full range speakers do have a bit more high frequency, but they also sound a bit metallic and bright/harsh in comparison because of the breakup problem on metal drivers. |
auxinput; thanks for the suggestion of the MarkAudio 12P sound interesting for sure. I'll be looking at that driver with interest among others. I do have room for OB as well so between horns and OB full rangers are defiantly of interest as a prior Omega SAM owner. I've actually been looking at OB in the Pure Audio Project, Spacial Audio, etc. for some time. I'm quit familiar with high efficiency speakers as i run a SET 300B based amp and have high'ish efficiency speakers now in the Living Voice Avatar 2's @94db 6ohm min, in my main system. they are fine for my listening levels in my condo. I don't think I have owned speakers below 90db in a decade or two. This system I'm putting together will reside in my office-bedroom area and may do second duties in my living room system on occasion I'm just more interested in doing something for myself been too long pushing paper at work I miss tech'ing-turning wrenches etc. |
I know you're looking for a flat pack solution but if you could get a carpenter to make up the cabinets for you there are some great designs on the Seas website. I made the A26 as an experiment and was blown away by the cost/performance ratio. I've also been meaning to make some LXminis but not got around to it yet, there are several well regarded designs on Siegfried Linkwitz's site. |
pragmas I may be able to, I was thinking birch ply may be a better material to use as well so opens that door. I have the gentle man who built my plinth well did the bulk of the wood working. He is just dead slow but quality of work is top notch so worth it in the end, I may use him if this goes that way. I have also been thinking of renting space at the wood working club as I don't have space or tools anymore for serious wood working (precising cutting etc) that would give me some space to do it my self. But I wil last I am not a pro wood worker I just can do it ok when I have to. I tend to electro mechanical stuff. Its not really that hard to build from a spec sheet, diagram and drawings. part numbers for drivers would be nice too. I just want the hard engineering stuff done right I can do the assembly etc. just be nice to have something worth having and look presentable. |
For a first build the A26 speakers are about as simple as you can get, there's no crossover to speak of (just a high pass on the tweeter) and it's a straight forward box. For the cabinet work I get by with a Makita SP6000 for cutting down the boards, a router with a circle jig and a hand drill. If you can get access to a table saw etc. then even better. Ply is a good idea, just remember if you use a different thickness board keep the same internal dimensions so that the air volume is as specified. Seas are great drivers but I don't know how easy they are to source in the US, another great resource is zaphaudio.com, Zaph is very well regarded in the DIY world (I think he may have designed some of the Madisound kits too). My only other advice is don't get too lost in the world of 'high-end' capacitors and the like... strangely the more you spend the less technical information you get about the capacitor's properties. Have a look at the components Zaph uses and go along those lines. |
If open baffle interest you look at GR Research. They have the flat packs and all the drivers. Very reasonable prices and great support from the owner. I learned to solder so I could build one of his cheap monitors, I may have put 3 or $400 in it with alpha core inductors, mills resistors, sonicaps and Miflex bypass. I may change out sonicaps one day but for the money invested I think it can compete with $1500 or more speakers. I don't use them much but it was an eye opening experience and a lot of fun. |
I have spent a fair amount of time researching options for my next speakers and have decided to go with a DIY design using GR Research's kits. I've ordered the NX-Otica with all the crossover component upgrades and have also ordered the flat-packs for the triple 12" servo subs. I haven't ordered the sub drivers and amps yet, but will do so once I get the cabinets built and finished. All in, it will probably cost me about $6K, but from everything I've read and heard, the combination of the NX-Otica and servo subs is competitive with just about anything on the market from a sound quality perspective, although finish quality will not be as nice as many of the $$$ speakers out there. The NX-Oticas by themselves aren't really full range. They are designed to be used with the servo subs. By themselves, they go down to between 45Hz and 75Hz (-3db pt) depending on the room. In a larger room, where they will sound their best, they don't get as much room gain so roll-off is higher. These are fairly efficient speakers (93db) so can be used effectively with low power tube and class-A SS amps. But they can also handle a fair amount of power, so they can deliver plenty of dynamics. The most significant downside is that you have to construct and finish them yourself, but from talking to others that have built these, this isn't that challenging. The other downside is that, since these are open-baffle speakers, and two cabinets per channel, you need a fair amount of space to achieve optimal sound quality. From what I've read, they should have at least 5-6 feet from the front baffle to the wall behind them, and at least 3-4 feet to the side wall. Fortunately, I have a 17' x 27' dedicated listening room to place them. Once I get them built and properly set up, I'll post my impressions. In the meantime, check out the NX-Otica build thread on AudioCircle to get an idea of what these are all about. https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=143221.0 |
