[cmsajith]

I am a novice in electronics and speaker building. Buying a commercial audiophile grade is very expensive, esp. in my country. I am planning to make one set of speaker using an AFFORDABLE Audiophile grade DIY Speaker KIT for Left and Right (50% Music & 50% Movies). This will be used as the front L/R for movies (Center channel will be added later on). What are the best options?

Music : Nakamichi RE-10 2 channel amp
Movies : Onkyo TX SR-606

Please help me.

 

[cmsajith]

You need to define affordable, there are lots of designs out there. The Statements come to mind weighing in at under $1000 for a pair, or the Natalie Ps for about $550 a pair.

Thanks for your response. Since I dont know the cost involved, I have not yet fixed any budget. What would be the best range to make an audiophile speaker which will not cost a bomb. Please help me.

 

[cmsajith]

What could be the difference b/n the 800$ kit and the 1500$ kit? Will there be any significant difference?

I am looking for a full range speaker (other than bookshelf) so that i dont have to use the sub for music, may be around 30 - 35Hz. For the remaining, if required, i can use a sub.

The sound preference could be like "it should reproduce what was there in the recording without any coloring in terms of extra bass\extra treble", it should produce all sounds clean and clear, hope you got my point.

 

[cmsajith]

In general, it is possible to build a system that will out-perform a commercial system selling at the same price point. But as was already mentioned, "affordable" varies from person to person, as does the notion of what constitutes an "audiophile" loudspeaker system. So first I need to ask a few questions:
- Where do you live? (you mention "your country.")
- What is your budget?
- What, to you, makes something "audiophile grade"?
- Do you have any loudspeaker biases, such as preferring single driver or high efficiency systems over multi-element systems? Do you have any brand biases?

Let me know more about what you're thinking and I will offer some additional suggestions to the excellent kits already mentioned.

Thanks for your response. I am from India. I have my cousins in US and canada. So i thought of procuring some good speaker kits. Frankly speaking, i have not yet decided on the budget, it could be ~500-800$ and if we can get a significant improvement in sound i may stretch for more. Since i dont have any idea how DIY 500/800/1000/1500....$ kit performs. I have no bias towards any particular brands or designs. My preference is always on SQ.
As i had already mentioned: The sound preference could be like "it should reproduce what was there in the recording without any coloring in terms of extra bass\extra treble", it should produce all sounds clean and clear, hope you got my point.

 

[cmsajith]

I have access to some good wood working workshops over here.

 

[cmsajith]

1 How big of a box can you handle?
2 Exactly how much cash are you willing to spend?
Until these are defined no recommendations will help you...

Please check : http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...er-kit-l-r-50-music-50-movies.html#post209082 for a rough budget.

The box size cannot be very big as it will be in my living room. The comparable size can be of Wharfadale 10.7 (http://www.wharfedale.co.uk/Product...66/CID/177/language/en-GB/Default.aspx#detail)

 

[cmsajith]

Ah, India. The many suggestions above are excellent but shipping a kit from the US to India might be cost-prohibitive. I am not aware of loudspeaker kit suppliers in India although I expect there are some. I do know of an excellent source in Australia: http://www.theloudspeakerkit.com/ Their TL6 transmission line is quite a nice performer, and the M5 bookshelf sounds really good too.

Best of luck to you!

Since my relatives are there in US, I can get it through them without any extra cost.

 

[cmsajith]

Hi all, Sorry for the late reply. I am totally confused. I read some reviews about the ZRT that a lot of people had to tweak the XO which came along with the Scanspeak speakers from madi sound (costs ~1000 - 1500$). Now I am in a dilemma whether to go for a DIY or a ready made one. I am planning to invest ~800$-900$ for a DIY pair for parts. From a rough estimate there are a lot of commercial options from Moudrant Short (Aviano8/Mezzo6), Wharfadale(9.6 / 10.6 / 10.7), Dali Elector, Monitor Audio RS6 and several other options in the same range (1000-1500$). Does the ZRT 1500$ or OB5 from GR Research is same as these options or these DIYs are comparable to some higher end than these?

The following seems to be good designs:
- OB5 (816$ using OEM Neo3) : http://www.gr-research.com/index.asp...ROD&ProdID=120
- Zaph|Audio - ZDT3.5 (3.5 using Daytons) Madisound : http://www.madisound.com/catalog/adv...1&inc_subcat=1
- ZRT using Scan-speaks 3-way (1000 - 1500$), some people had to tweak the XO

 

[cmsajith]

Hi all, Sorry for the late reply. I am totally confused. I read some reviews about the ZRT that a lot of people had to tweak the XO which came along with the Scanspeak speakers from madi sound (costs ~1000 - 1500$). Now I am in a dilemma whether to go for a DIY or a ready made one. I am planning to invest ~800$-900$ for a DIY pair for parts. From a rough estimate there are a lot of commercial options from Moudrant Short (Aviano8/Mezzo6), Wharfadale(9.6 / 10.6 / 10.7), Dali Elector, Monitor Audio RS6 and several other options in the same range (1000-1500$). Does the ZRT 1500$ or OB5 from GR Research is same as these options or these DIYs are comparable to some higher end than these?

The following seems to be good designs:
- OB5 (816$ using OEM Neo3) : http://www.gr-research.com/index.asp...ROD&ProdID=120
- Zaph|Audio - ZDT3.5 (3.5 using Daytons) Madisound : http://www.madisound.com/catalog/adv...1&inc_subcat=1
- ZRT using Scan-speaks 3-way (1000 - 1500$), some people had to tweak the XO

Adding some additional info about the commercial options that are mentioned above:

- Moudrant Short Aviano 8
http://www.mordauntshort.com/summary.php?PID=81&Title=Summary
http://www.mordauntshort.com/specifications.php?PID=81&Title=Specifications
- Moudrant Short Mezzo 6
http://www.mordauntshort.com/summary.php?PID=65&Title=Mezzo 6 floorstander
http://www.mordauntshort.com/specifications.php?PID=65&Title=Specifications
- Monitor Audio RS6
http://www.theaudiopeople.net/monitoraudio/m-silver-products.aspx
- Also Usher V202

Any comparison possible with the DIY kits from their specs? Because both the mentioned commercial ones and the DIY after the enclosures will almost come in the same price range. In DIY OB5 \ ZRT 2way basic comes in my price range.

 

[cmsajith]

DIY should be something you do for the fun of it not just to save money. If this isn't something you want to build. Buy commercial speakers.

There is a reason we pay to eat out. It's cheaper to cook, but if you don't feel like it and have the cash. Why not give someone else a job that needs the cash?

For commercial options

I suggest Ascend Acoustics or Behringer 2030p's

Or B&W 700/800 series if you can afford it.

Read more: Affordable Audiophile grade DIY Speaker KIT for L/R (50% Music & 50% Movies) - Home Theater Systems - Electronics and Forum - HomeTheaterShack http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...music-50-movies.html#post213925#ixzz0ZHi3fYPP

My first reason for a DIY speaker is to get a affordable high end speaker which costs a bomb at least in my country. So SQ is the first preference. As a newbie to electronics my R&D skills in that area will be limited. So I preferred kits which are proven. Since I havent heard any DIY speakers (well designed) but have heard the commercial one in the same range, i am trying to compare them w/ the DIYs. If the DIYs are better than the commercial ones in SQ with the same price tag, I will defenitely prefer the DIY route. But I am trying to make sure that the kit selected will perform well than the similar commercial ones, coz' evenafter putting a lot of effort, if the DIY kit performs same as the commercial ones (in the same price range), the effort will be wasted, right? Thats the reason why I am trying to find a better kit with the help of the forum members who are having experience in that. Am I wrong?

 

[cmsajith]

Sounds to me like you're on the right track. Determine how much you can spend, then HTS'ers can help with the short list of (proven) diy speakers that you can build competently. Then you can decide on the final choice by weighing slight performance or visual differences.:nerd:

I am thinking about 850-900$ the max for the kit including the XO.