Need adive on a speaker kit (1 Viewer)

[Brian Foley]

Walt,

Just to clarify: It's Brian Bunge that Hank is referring to. (Too many Brians in this thread...) The GR Research kits are indeed well-regarded, as is their designer.

 

[Walt Park]

Hello again. More questions.

I was looking at the stuff from GR-Research. Seems pretty decent, and I'm almost convinced. One thing that concerns me is the drivers. Since I dont know anything about them, and have never heard them, I have to wonder if they are as good as the ones in other kits. The drivers they use are around $25, be they M's or T's on the site, compared to the $75-80 Hiquiphon's and the focal's used in the hiq designs at Zalytron.

I'm trying to break out of the marketing mentality that more $$ means better, but by spending more on better drivers, do you get what you pay for? I am all for a great deal, and I dont really care about any bragging rights associated with paying more, since I'm probably the only one that will listen to these, but will I be getting alot more by buying a pricier kit with pricier drivers? I guess I'm wondering if it would be worth it to save a little longer and spend more on something like the GR criterion.

 

[Brian Bunge]

Walt,

IIRC, ribbons aren't the best tweeters to use for a HT setup. They have very limited vertical dispersion. The A/V line will be excellent however. I still say that I haven't heard a pair of monitors in the $1000-$1200 range that I'd rather have than the A/V-1's. And the A/V-1+'s are even better.

I can't speak as to how the drivers will compare to some of the others, but for the money there aren't any other kits that I think will compare to the A/V line. If you're willing to spend quite a bit more then I'm sure you can get a nicer speaker. The question is, how much do you want to spend?

 

[Jeffrey D Smith]

If you want a no-brainer and inexpensive kit (enclosure included!) look at the Partsexpress BR-1

I built this kit.
It is a great value and sounds great. Looks sharp, easy to put together. I am very pleased with it.

The SQ is good and has fantastic imaging. Putting them near a wall loads the bass great.

 

[Anthony_Gomez]

I have the older Gr tweeter used in the MB-1's (SPCA special)...I also have the OWII's in my EGO's. The GR tweeters are really really nice for the money. The OWI's are superior to them, but at about 3x the cost. You will not be unhappy with either of them...it all depends on your budget

 

[Walt Park]

Hi Brian. This would be for strictly stereo as there is no TV there. I did a Polk LSi setup for the HT, and I'm happy enough with it for watching movies, but the Jamo's in the living room are lacking, and from a practical standpoint, the living room is where I play alot more music. I know you're going to say, well move it to the living room, but that isnt an option space wise, since the HT area is mostly hiding in a really wide closet (original owner must have had a big closet fetish) that conveniently closes away so that all you see is the dipoles on the wall, and I dont want the HT as the focus in the living area, since I prefer conversations and social interactions when I have guests. When I want to watch TV, I can do that on my own time.

As far as how much can I spend, I have about $600 I can comfortably spend now, and I can add about 100/month to the "Walt wants new stuff" fund without messing up mortgage payments, starving the dog, or dipping into the "Walt needs to redo the siding on the house this spring" fund. I paid $510 for my pair of Polk LSi9's (vifa XT25 tweeter, and woofers I haven't id'd yet in MTM), and I'm hoping that the kit will be significantly better after hearing how much better the sub sounded than anything else in that price range.

The AV1+ kit and the mdf cabinets would fit nicely in there with shipping and some paint. But I dont really want to be building a new set every year, so I'm wondering as I have with so many other "cheap skate" type ventures if I'll be happier spending more and getting something "better" and using it longer with less "should I have saved more money for this project" nagging the back of my mind.

 

[Walt Park]

Sorry, this was a double post.

 

[Brian Bowles]

I like the Drayton speaker design but I do not know how to make a crossover or read the crossover diagram. Can someone give me a place I can go to learn this information. Thanks!!!

 

[Walt Park]

I think the kits have the parts in them. You just need to follow the instructions.
http://www.partsexpress.com/pdf/300-640.pdf
It looks like there's a printed bread board, so you just need to put the corresponding part in the right place and solder.
The included instructions seem to be pretty complete. Alot more so than the dayton sub kit, but that was a no brainer so you cant really complain.

 

[Walt Park]

BTW, Thanks to all that responded. I've been talking to Danny at GR and I'm probably going to be doing a pair of av1+'s. He's seems to be very helpful with my questions, and I really like that he doesn't force his stuff on you.