Whats the best DIY speaker in your opinion....

AhsanR · 02-23-2004, 12:43 AM

Hmmm......... I was looking at speakers online, and of course one of the most raved about speakers, the Wilson line, was renowned as the "BEST" speaker in the World.

Now what I was getting at was, in the DIY world, one would be able to create such a speaker for IONS and IONS less. I was wondering what some of your opinions are on the BEST DIY speaker...... and why?

Rory Buszka · 02-23-2004, 06:47 AM

A friend of mine built a pair of Wilson-style Time Aligned three-way speakers for $2000, but the setup is triamped. A B+G Neo8 tweeter per side is used for a mid-tweeter, two 8" woven Kevlar cone woofers per side are used as midbasses, and one Titanic MKII 12" woofer per side provides the bass. They are exceptional.

TimForman · 02-23-2004, 08:09 AM

The best speaker I've heard yet is the Gilmore Model 2 which is an open-baffle speaker. Other designs that tended to get my attention used all or a portion of the drivers in an open-baffle configuration. If you're interested you could check out this thread.
Here's a pic of the Gilmore.
http://www.glacieraudio.com/Manufac/Gilmore.html

ThomasW · 02-23-2004, 09:52 AM

Well I've been building high-end DIY speakers for quite a long time. We actually kloned the Wilson XI-Grand Slamms.

Our newest creation pretty much defines state-the-art; and lays waste to the waste to most commercial designs costing tens of thousands of dollars. This is a pic of the prototype not a finished speaker. They are fullrange dipoles.

TimForman · 02-23-2004, 09:58 AM

When you say "dipole" do you mean there are rear-firing drivers or they're OB?

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ThomasW · 02-23-2004, 10:52 AM

"H" frame dipole ............

TimForman · 02-23-2004, 11:08 AM

I rest my case.

AhsanR · 02-23-2004, 09:15 PM

Thats awesome! When you say you "kloned" the Wilson X-1 Grandslams, how identical do they sound?

Was it hard to build them?

Did you put the kits online or was it just for your personal satisfaction?

Chris Tsutsui · 02-24-2004, 02:19 AM

I think that many people prefer the sound of dipoles because of how it interacts with the room.

The best DIY speaker I've auditioned so far is the http://www.linkwitzlab.com Phoenix which is an open baffle speaker with stereo "H" frame dipole subwoofers. Not only do the dipole subs offer good frequency responses, but they were digitally equalized even further for a super flat response. Each driver has its own amplifier channel and uses a somewhat intricate active crossover.

The results were so realistic that it literally fooled my mind into imagining things.

The drivers are only $1,000 for the linkwitz Orions which makes it feasable for me to try one out in the future. I've auditioned some of the most expensive ESLs and full range Horn systems on good equipment. Still nothing has proved to come close to the Phoenix. (I suspect the Orion sounds very similar to the Phoenix)

I did hear another dipole speaker that used Raven R2 tweeters and I remembered loving the highs. It would be nice to be able to hear Thomas W's project or even those ugly Glaciers. hehe

Oh, a pair of Avantgarde Trios on $10k Model 88 tube amps and Hovland 100 pre pro provided the most detail I've ever heard in a system. Each lip smack and breath was so forward, it was like I was being served every speck on the track with a separate dish. To bad that the sound of amplified detail is what sort of ruined the illusion. I could hear it just fine, it just wasn't convincing.

AhsanR · 02-25-2004, 06:20 AM

Is there anyway to get details, or step by step instructions on how to build those Cloned speakers for the nOObs?