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Adire KT218 sounds like what retail speaker? (1 Viewer)

Mike_A

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Oct 7, 2001
Messages
153
I'm thinking about building some speakers over xmas break - partially as a fun little project and partially because i want some kick ass speakers! I've done a bit of research but still have LOTS of questions - I'll start with just one for now...

So my main question is what do some of the DIY speakers sound like? The most intriguing kit I've seen is the Adire KT281's. I'm just as concerned about the type of sound these things will make as I am about the quality (if that makes any sense) - i.e. I tend to be relatively sensitive to harsh sounding speakers, especially harsh highs. I've generally liked Polk stuff in the past and am looking to step up from my Cerwin Vega RE25's that I'm using now.

Obviously if I'm going to put in all the time and effort, they've got to sound at least as good as what I could buy @ retail. Complicating that fact is that I have some good friends in the audio business than can get me discounts of ~50% on just about any speakers I want - Polk RT800's would be about the same price as the Adire KT281 kit (and that's before adding the cost of wood, etc.)

Anyone in NC have some DIY speakers they could let me listen to?
 

Dustin B

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2001
Messages
3,126
I'am after the same info. Although with my time table I think I'm gonna hold out for the 3way designs Dan has been talking about.

There was a couple threads on HTT that spoke to this, but I wasn't very serious about it when they happened. I went to try and find them today only to find out that HTT only keeps threads for 90days. So they are gone. Got a thread over there that I hope will eventually end up with the same info the previous ones did.

Anyways, from peoples pages who built them, the only one of them really mentioned other speakers.

And now I can't find it again. Anyways, what it boiled down to was he said he had listened to a lot of retail speakers and decided to give the 281 a try. Figured if he didn't like it he would pitch the cabinets and resell the kit and go pick up the B&W 804 he was gonna get before he decided to try the 281.

The way he worded this, in his opinion the 281 was slightly superior to the a B&W Nautilus 804 (price not a factor). Which if true is very impressive once you take price into consideration again.
 

AjayM

Screenwriter
Joined
Aug 22, 2000
Messages
1,224
Well, I wrote that thread over at HTT between the N804's and the Kit281's, so I guess I should clarify a few things here. First to give you an idea on how I shop for things like this, I'll write down/think about what I want, such as performance, price, asthetics, value, etc. Then I'll give a level of importance to those things, then I'll go audition some choices and rate them on that scale.

So where does the Kit281 (vented is what I use) fall into this? Well, I think the performance against an N804 is pretty close, and I think it's going to boil down to what you want most. If you're looking for HT use, I think the Kit281 is a winner, it does everything very well and has some very nice bass for this price range. The N804 may get the nod on the music side, but only by a hair...and that's if you like the sound of metal dome tweeters. I thought the bass was a little lacking with these, and had an edge in the midrange. But those are fairly minor differences. So I think the B&W has the edge overall on the music side, however.....

We have to look at the price and the value. For $500-600 you can build/finish a set of Kit 281's, the level of beauty is only dictated by your skill and patience levels. So to compare $3000 and $500, that's just way to much of a difference to what is a very little gain. I looked at in terms of, I can build 281's and have $2500 left over, which can get you a nice used Class A Krell, a new Classe, used Ayre, Aragon, etc amp...and a 281 and any one of those amps will blow away an N804 hooked up to a reciever.

And that to me is where the value was. It's kind of hard to explain (hence the long winded response).

Andrew
 

Rich Kraus

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
May 3, 2000
Messages
209
it was bang for the buck for me too. but from another angle. i cant afford to be buying 2500 speakers. for me, this was an oppertunity to have that level of sound and still feed the family.

i dont think you could go wrong. my final thought has been echoed by others: if you dont like the speakers, re sell the used kits and all you really loose is the time you spent on the cabinets and maby a hundred bucks.

unless you shop at a store with a very liberal return policy, you just can't compare the cost/risk. remember youll need to live with any new speaker for a month or so to really get a feel for what they will do. most stores just wont let you bring stuff back after that time.
 

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