ScanSpeak Ellipticor-A50-II (anyone build them?)

That looks like a hell of a speaker, and the response is so flat!

Try DIYaudio as a better source for info on DIY projects.

I haven’t heard them, but you’ll have a hard time convincing me that the mid-dome is better than the Illuminator 4.5" middrange. Slightly smaller overall, and better FR and lower extension.  The price delta for the midrange, $2,600 vs. $400 is unbelievable.

I have to say I’m absolutely fascinated by the flower-like arrangement of magnets on the motors. I’ve really wanted to hear that since I first saw it in Focal subwoofers.

@smodtactical are you referring to Troel's version of this kit? If so, you can be rest assured it will sound phenomenal.  While I've designed and built my own speakers in hobby form over 45 hears, and a professional builder prior in my younger years, he takes all things to an entirely different level. Truly enjoy looking over all of his creations fwiw. This particular speaker design is pretty neat, with drool factor  👍

@decooney Indeed his work looks extremely impressive. I showed pictures of his ellipticor a50-II crossover vs a focal grand utopia crossover set to my friend who is very knowledgeable and he said Troels work is far superior.

Thats just insane. A sub $20k diy speaker with a better quality crossover than a $300k commercial speaker. It really makes you re-think hifi.

I haven’t heard them, but you’ll have a hard time convincing me that the mid-dome is better than the Illuminator 4.5" middrange. Slightly smaller overall, and better FR and lower extension. The price delta for the midrange, $2,600 vs. $400 is unbelievable.

@erik_squires

Those ellipticors cost about 4 to 5 times what your cheaper woofers cost. The SNR1 are not the worlds finest speakers as they are using cheaper drivers. They have received a lot of complaints from the engineers over at diyaudio. Have you actually had them measured professionally? speaker mesaurements cant be done at home with a cheap mic. What tools are you using to measure?

The SNR1 are not the worlds finest speakers as they are using cheaper drivers. They have received a lot of complaints from the engineers over at diyaudio.

Aww, @kenjit is upset I’ve outed his many multiple accounts, and then he acts out with a non-sequitor attack and makes statements provably false.

The big difference between you and me, Kenjit, if I had to pick just one, is that I put my data and designs up for anyone to see and am quite proud of the results. You blow a bunch of hot air and then claim your methods are so secret no one should see your work. If anyone asks what I think good crossover design or what a good sounding 2-way speaker is I can point to that blog post and say "Here I am."

You post two or three times a week, complain about non-issues and hope others run around chasing their tails and ignore the fact that you have no solution for any of the problems you claim to have solved, and you make so many insinuations in a single sentence it’s hard to unpack.

speaker mesaurements cant be done at home with a cheap mic. What tools are you using to measure?

My measurement tools and techniques and a great deal of my measurements are on my blog. Where are any of yours??

Well said @erik_squires !

Shunt noise to ground…. 

and on reflection, given the source of the noise… i suggest a shunt of cheap corroded aluminum wire to a Ben Franklin era copper rod sunk deep into the heart of an overfilled septic system… The septic system would see the noise as a …. downgrade…

AS TO: Price diffrences between DIY and "ready made" speakers. The parts cost in a commercial speaker is maybe 20% if you're lucky  The workders in the factory must be paid. The building/business must be insured. There are vehicles which must be bought and maintained. All organiztions between you and the factory must be paid (distributors, dealers, shippers). Cabinets must be finished (sanding, glue, stains, varnishes), and any rejects must be written off. The kit builder only has to pay for parts, and he is often on his own for cabinetry & finishing. So a $300 - $400 kit  represents a $2000 - $4000 speaker in a dealer's showroom. And the crossover you build is probably far superior to the one in that beautifully finished speaker with the full page ad in the magazines. Oooh! The Advertising; I forgot to mention that. Build your own speakers. You will love them 'cause you built them! Save your money for Amps (they come in kits, too) and DACs (kits?). Cables are rediculously easy to build, too. Maybe turntables (buy 'em used) and recorded music. Happy Listening.

I should state that I am open to the idea that the Ellipticor midrange is worth the price.  I am just not personally willing to buy a pair to find out. 🤣

Price diffrences between DIY and "ready made" speakers. The parts cost in a commercial speaker is maybe 20% if you're lucky  The workders in the factory must be paid. The building/business must be insured. There are vehicles which must be bought and maintained. All organiztions between you and the factory must be paid (distributors, dealers, shippers). 

The poor speaker companies. They must be doing all that work for no profit. Perhaps they should increase their prices so that the poor workers can afford to put food on the table?

@kenjit Clearly you've never run a business, or you wouldn't write such an asinine post. High-end Audio ranks right up there with restaurants and racecars as an excellent way to lose a lot of money pursuing what you love. Anyone who can make a go of it has my complete respect, regardless of whether or not it appeals to my personal tastes.

I apologize for engaging Kenjit in this thread, he's stomping all over the OP's question.

Not your fault @erik_squires . You tried your best to run him off. It was great when he was gone for a while.

"The poor speaker companies. They must be doing all that work for no profit. Perhaps they should increase their prices so that the poor workers can afford to put food on the table?"

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If anyone here believes there is a notable profit to be made in speaker manufacturing, or believe staying in business is easy living among groups of some online forum posters who parrot mis-information, think again. Best to stop here and think.

It’s’ a labor of love, and not easy. Some of these smaller businesses can help put some people to work, paychecks hopefully get generated for employees, as long as outside people are not badmouthing and unknowingly sabotaging a company, only then they might have a chance to stay in business. A dicey balancing act.

I too have a great deal of respect for those who can make it work in today’s business. Would be nice to see folks help promote more positive points. We are very lucky to have the remaining manufacturers and choices we do today.

Please don’t ruin it. Go visit a few factories in person and learn more before posting nonsense about what they should or should not be doing. Talk is cheap and can be very damaging to companies who are simply trying to offer something to us.

The problem is, it has been pointed out that we can DIY the speaker for a fraction of the cost. I understand companies have costs to meet but if you can avoid those costs then why bother paying them to do it? Just get the wood cut for you and glue it together and youve got yourself a Magico beater for a fraction of the price. 

It might be a labour of love but that doesnt mean they are not making a lot of money from it.

Much of it is being made in chinese factories thesedays so the excuses about factory and labor costs are simply not true. 

@kenjit Much of it is being made in chinese factories thesedays so the excuses about factory and labor costs are simply not true.

Sure, for those products made and manufactured in China, that’s great.

And, for the handful made in the USA, it’s best to go visit the factories in person and see first hand. DIY designed and built my main audio speakers. And, worked and built speakers ground up in a factory right here in the good old USA.

How about you?

@kenjit I find that its not easy to find a wood worker that will be willing to cut the wood to your measurements. Usually you have to go to a full speaker builder and if you do they often want to do the whole build and the labour costs become quite a lot.

Turns out that Troels' speakers are being shown at Axpona this April:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/scan-speak-a-s_axpona-madisound-activity-7047526541768949760-rf85?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

I have a friend who just had these built hes blown away by them. Another friend who heard them said they impressed him more than commercial speakers many multiples more expensive.

https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/12c46by/35way_ellipticor_build/