Falcon Acoustics, Linkwitz, and GR-Research kits is where i would start for speakers. CSS Audio would be worth a look
For the love of...kits?
My foray into audio began with speakers, then amps, and other components. Subs and room acoustics came next. And so on.
Early on, trying to find good sound meant doing a lot of research about brands and, to the degree possible, about the designs and parts used by better components.
Upgrading my stuff came next -- improving capacitors, volume pots, and other aspects of my gear. I’m lucky to have an amazing tech and builder in town. He’s been a godsend.
I have largely shifted away from the new market. If I do make changes, it’s nearly always buying and selling used. I sold some stuff, bought other stuff, compared and contrasted.
The tech mentioned above has sold me one amazing preamp and has loaned me a number of great pieces he’s built, either from kits or DIY. These have included an autoformer preamp, solid state preamp (based around a Burson buffer) and a really impressive Hypex-based Class D amp. All these units look nice enough, but not fancy. But, they’re dead quiet and have all the inputs and outputs you could want or need. Recently, he also loaned me quite a sweet little headphone amp. Also, quite amazing.
Yesterday, I purchased an Akitika GT-102 amplifier for a mere $450 on USAM. It’s hugely upgraded and I’m beginning to listen to it -- comparing it to my Pass XA-25 (as Herb Reichert did a while back) and my Quicksilver Mono 60’s.
I’m not sure, but I’m starting to get the distinct feeling that if one knows which DIY stuff to buy, which kits, the path to really amazing sound is not necessarily that expensive. In other words, a little knowledge can save a lot of money.
I’ll be looking at speaker kits, next.
This is not to say that DIY or kits replaces most of the finely made and researched gear out there. Rather, that for someone looking for the best sound for the money, they could do a lot worse than (a) really smart used shopping and (b) used kits or DIY kits of higher quality (such as Pass’s Amp Camp stuff, or the Akitika kit I just got, assembled).
Over and out.
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@curiousjim, Musical Concepts still designs sota driver boards for Haflers and Adcom. John recently developed a board for the B&K's as well.
And if you're still attached to your Dynaco gear, check out Erhard Audio for his kits... https://www.erhard-audio.com/index.html# Holger is the new US representative for Lundahl transformers. He has some cool (kit like) gear that he puts together for an amazing price.
As for speakers, no one has mentioned Danny from GR Research. His speaker kits are outstanding and you can get flat packs for perfect cabinet assembly. Really hard to beat. Also Madisound sells kits designed by Peter Noerbaek (PBN Audio). Super high end kits that would compete with anything out there. Madisound has a myriad of kits for every taste. And lastly, Parts Express is a great place to start without spending a lot of money. |
I love this topic. I repair and restore vintage stereo equipment and guitar amps as a small venture side gig. I have been tossing around the idea of modifying my Thiel CS2 2 with an external crossover using upgraded crossover parts. But the big change would be to modify the design of the crossover for Bi-amping. Then design and build a tube amp for the mids and tweeters. Solid state amp for the woofers. |
There are lots of variables, but bi-amping with tubes on the mids/tweeters, with SS amp on the woofers (@ 80hz) was one of the better moves I've made to my system in over 30 years. 😍😎 Let us know how you make out if you give it a go. |
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