Which DIY speakers are best for HT?

chrisJ · 08-21-2004, 09:49 PM

I am in the planning stages of constructing a dedicated HT room. I will need to upgrade my current speakers and I am interested in a DIY project. I am mainly interested in a center channel and front speakers at this time.

Does anyone have any suggestions on which speaker plans I should start to look at? A link showing photos of the completed speakers would be very helpful for me.

Thanks!

chrisj

Brian Fellmeth · 08-22-2004, 11:06 AM

Thats like asking "I need a new car, what do you suggest ?" There are hundreds of options. The most important perameter to narrow it down is how much are you willing to spend for the parts. Also pertinent- how large is room. Do you have a good sub. Do you want it to play very loud. Will it be used for music or HT only.

James W. Johnson · 08-22-2004, 12:49 PM

Brain is right, there are too many choices. If you stated what you are looking for in a speaker and what you expect from them it would narrow down the choices significantly.

BrianAe · 08-22-2004, 07:25 PM

That isn't entirely true. If you need/want a real center channel as opposed to a matching monitor/tower for the center, then the number of available kits with true center channels that timbre match with the rest of the speakers well drop dramatically. In fact, I don't know of any off hand, though I'm sure some exist.

Of course, if you don't mind using a monitor for a center then you are back to having many many options.

chrisJ · 08-28-2004, 05:39 PM

I am budgeting about $500 for the center channel and another $500 - $800 for the fronts. The room size is going to finish out at about 13' x 16'. I am just in the planning stages and want to make sure that I have all my basis covered. It will probably be used 90% for movies and HT.

I am looking to get a good clean set of speakers that can deliver rich sound at all volumn levels. I am thinking about going the pre-amp / amp route in the future but have a all - in - one reciever to start with. This will be a long term project for me and rather than get eveything right now - I would rater get high quality over time.

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GrahamT · 08-28-2004, 06:01 PM

Consider the KIT281 from Adire Audio. There is a matching center channel with a modified crossover aswell as the LCC kit if you want a bigger center channel. You can get them from www.creativesound.ca They also sell the gr research products which are very popular aswell.

chrisJ · 08-28-2004, 06:54 PM

The Adire KIT281 looks great and sounds like it would be a pretty easy project. While I have pretty good woodworking skills and can fumble my way through a wiring job - i need something easy and the kit looks great! Unless I get some more ideas in the next few weeks - I'm hitting the KIT!

Thanks Graham!

chris

GrahamT · 08-28-2004, 08:40 PM

Glad I could help. A potential problem is that the KIT281s are 4 ohm, so you will need some decent power behind them, a receiver probably wont do. Check out www.outlawaudio.com

BrianAe · 08-30-2004, 11:23 AM

I have not heard them myself, but there have been several posts recently saying that the matching center for the Adire KIT281 is pretty bad and doesn't match that well. Do a search then judge for yourself. You might be better off with some gr-research avr1s with one done in the center configuration.

Brian Bunge · 08-30-2004, 07:20 PM

Saying that the LCC is bad is just plain false. It's an excellent speaker with very neutral sound. I had an LCC for a while and it actually blended very will with the pair of GR A/V-2's that I had for mains.

Now it may not blend well with the 281's but then it really isn't designed to do so. If you want a "matching" speaker for the center channel then one of the smaller, sealed KIT281's or KIT81's would probably sound more similar.

I purposely didn't build the 281's because if I were going to build a tower to go with the LCC I wanted a 3-way with the same midrange driver in it as the LCC. Adire has been working on a 3-way tower using the same drivers as in the LCC for a while but I don't believe they're available yet.

chrisJ · 08-30-2004, 11:48 PM

thanks again for the info. the more i find out about the Adire speakers - the more I want to build some. I am definately thinking about the LLC for the center, and it sounds like i may want to hold off on the fronts for a while until the 3-way is available in a kit.

Greg Monfort · 08-31-2004, 01:00 PM

I'm a firm believer that using horns, or at least coherent point sources, makes for a more cinema like presentation in a dedicated HT than typical HIFI designs. Adire's various HE series offer a bit of both in that they use drivers with conically loaded tweeters mounted at the center of the (mid)bass driver.

By design their max flat alignments require huge cabs tuned low, but if a sub is used, then semi-acceptable cab Vbs can be used and due to their high efficiency, ~50w will allow them to reach DD/DTS reference at low distortion in a typical size HT. Factor in their relatively cheap price/simple design and for me they are the 'no-brainer' choice for impecunious/woodworking challenged folks like me that want more than just a 'taste' of the cinema audio experience, and frankly don't understand why they're not more popular (or at least suggested more often) on these types of threads.

GM