DIY. Whose speakers would you use?

An interesting assembly Orpheus10. The finish would not be my taste, but otherwise, not bad at all.

Hi Dan ed,
No offense meant, but If you could not decern which comments to take seriously, you probably should not be building yourself. I asked the op several questions that really need to be answered to choose any diy speakers. No answers. To properly design yourself, you must be able to look at frequency, impedance and phase curves and know where to cross, what different slopes will sound like, how to handle impedence or frequency rises, etc... But for someone to build a kit, you simply need to be able to follow a simple speaker schematic and be handy with a soldering iron for the crossovers... Cabinets are another story... I've been building for 32 years, I still build a mediocre cabinet. My current speakers are completely mine and will compete at around $4 to $5K. I have around $900. in them.

Very good points Orpheus10. Gets to the reason for the thread. What speakers have we heard, maybe in multiple product lines, that keep coming back as good sound in a well executed design? Certainly the engineering is as critical as the components. The best speaker in an ill designed enclosure may sound terrible.
That said, I believe that with correct design, and the specified parts, the only remaining limitation of a kit is the skill of the DIY'er.

Oh, I get it. You want to know what WE would like. For sheer dynamics and compatibility with low powered tube amps, I'm tempted by the Zalytron, Selah and Occam line arrays. For less cost, size and something more conventional, the Selahs with the Morel 2" soft dome midranges and ribbon tweeters would be my choice. I've liked dome midranges for female voice and sax and the crossover between ribbon and dome mid is livable. Then again... always liked Dunlavy's, so maybe a MTM but with a ribbon tweeter?

None of the above would satisfy my deep bass needs. In the case of the latter Selahs, I would keep them sealed and add stack them on a sealed active sub. However, I would probably start with a multi-driver passive sub and use a PA amp (QSC, Crown, Carver Pro or even W4S) and a NHT X2 active xover.

At one point, I was considering something like a DIY Genesis clone, using the big BG ribbons. Turned out I could buy a used G350 for less than it would cost to build half-assed.

Years ago, decades actually, worked with Bessel-type passive filters on commercial projects. Never been popular but I liked them for their linear phase response. Long forgotten. Wouldn't know where to start now. Vaguely remember endless tables, spec sheets and calculations. Stronger memories of late nights smelling solder flux and burnt components.

>04-01-11: Orpheus10
>I assembled the speakers in my bedroom from a kit. I do not believe there is any kit suitable for the "main room". It's all about "relativity".

Siegfried Linkwitz designed the Audio Artistry line of dynamic dipoles, including the $25,000 Beethoven which Stereophile recognized as its 1998 Loudspeaker of the Year.

Since then he's learned more about hearing and used better drivers to produce the Orion, better in all ways but maximum low frequency SPL which can be addressed with a pair of sub-woofers.

A license to build them for personal use, plans, drivers, cross-over parts, and lumber are somewhere under $3000. Parts flat packs and even completed cabinets are available from Wood Artistry (Don Naples does exceptional work as a furniture maker, with book matched panels machined from figured hardwood, ebony accent strips, etc) if you can't use power tools.

There are hundreds of pairs around the world and finding a set to audition should not be a problem - just post on the official Orions auditions thread

http://67.171.14.91:82/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3

Earl Geddes designed the only speakers more than one or two Orion owners have preferred; you could probably find a pair of those too.

John Krevosky's NaO Note looks compelling on paper with its more uniform polar response.

There are also plenty of popular conventional designs out there; although there's no reason to constrain yourself to designs with inherently flawed physics when you're not limited to selling the market what it expects.