jallenbass
Member
Has anyone built their own speakers from kits such as those from Parts Express. How was the sound quality of the end product? What would you compare them to? Thanks.
Kit Speaker Sucess?
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dnewma04
The Healer
I have used kitted designs to build speakers designed by others and I think it's the best way to get into DIY speaker building. They generally perform well beyond consumer products in the same price range. You will get nothing but a ringing endorsement to try it out from me.
As far as comparisons go, that would depend greatly on which one specifically you are talking about. www.zalytron.com has some Raven/PHL based kits that probably sound as good as just about anything available at 2-3x their cost. Which kit, specifically are you considering?
As far as comparisons go, that would depend greatly on which one specifically you are talking about. www.zalytron.com has some Raven/PHL based kits that probably sound as good as just about anything available at 2-3x their cost. Which kit, specifically are you considering?
usedto
Lunatic Member
My 17 year old son built a set and posted the progress on a website somewhere. I'll find out where when he gets home from school and give you the info. It was his first attempt at cutting wood, soldering, etc., and the equipment that he used in my shop was marginal at best. He took some crap from a few people on the site about some of the "workmanship", but they are in the house stacked on my HPM 100s, hooked to my Sansui setup. I didn't have the b@lls to undertake that when I was 17!!!
B3Nut
tubes and spinny things!
I built the AR.com DIY kits that Madisound sells, a 6.5" 2-way monitor with Peerless drivers. It remains my favorite speaker in the house, amazing bass for a small monitor, open and coherent midband, and smooth if a tad prominent treble. They're very accurate and revealing of flaws in the source recording.
The cabinets were already assembled and drilled, all I had to do was stuff the cabinets and wire everything and install the drivers and terminal cup. They were easy to build, and sound fantastic. They hang with monitors that cost double their $350 cost.
I'd build a Madisound kit again in a heartbeat.
www.madisound.com
Todd in Beerbratistan
The cabinets were already assembled and drilled, all I had to do was stuff the cabinets and wire everything and install the drivers and terminal cup. They were easy to build, and sound fantastic. They hang with monitors that cost double their $350 cost.
I'd build a Madisound kit again in a heartbeat.
www.madisound.com
Todd in Beerbratistan
I have never built a speaker from a kit, I have built and designed my own though. Mainly subwoofers though. I got into this when I was 14.
I took shop class all through High school and built some damn fine enclosures out of 3/4" oak.
I got really caught up in the efficiency of the enclosure and had some real SPL producers.
About the only thing worth while in my high school career. :yes:
I took shop class all through High school and built some damn fine enclosures out of 3/4" oak.
I got really caught up in the efficiency of the enclosure and had some real SPL producers.
About the only thing worth while in my high school career. :yes:
Paul C
Super Member
I have built my own and kits. Years ago Speakerlab had some of the best kits around. Now they have a very limited range.
Parts Express has quite a range of kits, excellent components, though I have not built any myself.
If you don't mind cutting your own wood, building the cabinets yourself, you can get the driver/crossover kits for the various offerings from www.pispeakers.com. These are excellent designs with very high performance components. Right now I am about to start construction of a pair of 4pi Theatres (15" woofer + horn tweeter) for myself, a pair of 7pi-18 corner horns for my older son (3-way corner horn with 18" woofer, 10" woofer in a mid horn, and horn tweeter), and 3pi Theatre (12" woofer + horn tweeter) for his living room. Wayne Parham at Pi Speakers will send you the plans via email at no charge. You may buy components elsewhere, or buy his kits, which I recommend. You would have difficulty buying the same components elsewhere for his price.
Factory and customer built Pi speaker pictures:
http://www.pedalforroses.homestead.com/Speakers.html
You could also look at the Project Showcase at Parts Express. There are a number of customer designed projects, with complete plans and crossover information. Many have response graphs and very thorough design history. Some are quite simple, some very complex, such as the Colossi feature on the cover of their current catalog.
http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/index.html
You can end up with speakers far, far better than those you could buy ready made. And they need not look "home made". There are a number of ways to finish your speakers. It is up to you.
Parts Express has quite a range of kits, excellent components, though I have not built any myself.
If you don't mind cutting your own wood, building the cabinets yourself, you can get the driver/crossover kits for the various offerings from www.pispeakers.com. These are excellent designs with very high performance components. Right now I am about to start construction of a pair of 4pi Theatres (15" woofer + horn tweeter) for myself, a pair of 7pi-18 corner horns for my older son (3-way corner horn with 18" woofer, 10" woofer in a mid horn, and horn tweeter), and 3pi Theatre (12" woofer + horn tweeter) for his living room. Wayne Parham at Pi Speakers will send you the plans via email at no charge. You may buy components elsewhere, or buy his kits, which I recommend. You would have difficulty buying the same components elsewhere for his price.
Factory and customer built Pi speaker pictures:
http://www.pedalforroses.homestead.com/Speakers.html
You could also look at the Project Showcase at Parts Express. There are a number of customer designed projects, with complete plans and crossover information. Many have response graphs and very thorough design history. Some are quite simple, some very complex, such as the Colossi feature on the cover of their current catalog.
http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/index.html
You can end up with speakers far, far better than those you could buy ready made. And they need not look "home made". There are a number of ways to finish your speakers. It is up to you.
Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ
Peanut Head
I've built the little Sledgling's and Vifa Monitors from Madisound for friends. The Sledgling's were "okay" and could have benefited from a larger enclosure (something they have since addressed) and the Vifa's required some tweaking of the passive radiator's mass, but all in all, I was fairly impressed with them. Especially the dual-concentric mid-tweet they chose to use. I've since have used it in other projects, as have many of the upper-end speaker manufacturers.
