Small Bookshelf DIY Kit (1 Viewer)

[Andrew Pezzo]

I would like to give DIY speakers a try but cant seem to find what I am looking for. I am looking for a complete kit inlcuding xover and cabinet. Ideally the size of the finished product would be somehwere between satellite and small bookshelf. Its going to get very little use in a second zone and I feel this is the perfect application to try a DIY speaker. I live in an apartment so I dont much access to power tools, hence my desire for a complete kit.

I saw some at madisound.com particulary one on the $200 range. If the cabinet was a bit smaller it would be perfect. Other than partsexpress and the AR-DIY kit, what options are there. Links would be great.

My hope is that I wil enjoy the experience and when I do move into a house start a DIY subwoofer and maybe bigger speakers.

Thanks

 

[Johnson Nguyen]

Well, I just wrote out a post but it said I couldnt post links until 15 posts...

I would look at the Parts Express BR-1's. They are $140 shipped for the non shielded version and $150 shipped for the shielded version. I was going to get them but decided on the Adire KIT51's a month ago.

 

[Jarrad Cranston]

you could also consider the exodus kit 41 at creativesound, diycable or acoustic visions. it fits in the parts express .25cu cabinets, although you would have to cut your own driver holes i think. I am also considering this... but I dont know how it would sound compared to a typical 5.25 or 6.5" 2-way...

 

[Andrew Pezzo]

Looks like the kit 41 and only be shipped within Canada. I may go with the PE BR-1's but the cabinets are a little bigger than I would like. Not a big deal I guess since this is mostly for some exposure to DIY speakers.

 

[Kyle Richardson]

Creative sounds ships the Kit 41's within Canada. For US shipping visit either of the other two dealers that Jarrad listed.

 

[Chris Tsutsui]

I built a pair of BR-1s for the $140 shipped, and wrote a review for them about a year ago. Overall, I was impressed with the quality of the parts, and the very cheap price tag. The sound had a good amount of mid bass, and the treble from the soft dome was fairly laid back. It probably will take about an hour to build, and the PCB board makes it easy to solder. You don't even need to drill holes I think, thus you only need a screw driver and a soldering iron I think...
(Can't compete with mass produced CNC)

A couple years ago my friend ordered a pair of Jordan JX92S full range drivers from creativesound.ca... It took about a month and a half because of shipping errors, but he finally got them via DHL. Anyways the crossover was very easy because he only put in a single inductor and a resistor to act as a baffle step reduction for a small ported bookshelf cabinet. i think he copied Jim Griffin's design.

Those drivers used to be a lot cheaper, too bad they're $200 ca now. I think my friend paid a $140 US for two drivers. : ( What's funny is the price jumped $30 the day he got his in the mail...

The Jordans make a very good DIY bookshelf speaker because they sound clean in small rooms with near field listening, and have a simple crossover. They are more on the bright side than the BR-1s and a lot more detailed.

Another option is building a pair of GR-Research AV-1s. The bare parts add up to about $200 plus the cost of a built cabinet from parts express, and you'll have a speaker that can compete with the Jordan, and be better overall than the BR-1. (gr-research.com)

 

[Joey Skinner]

The GR-Research AV-1s are $229 and you can buy the front baffle pre-cut for the drivers with magnetically attached grills for $25 each. Maybe you could find someone to cut MDF for the rest of the box. They are one of the best value DIY speakers.

 

[Andrew Pezzo]

I might take a stab at the AV1's. A friend of mine would be willing to help build the cabinets (he has a table saw). We built an awesome TV stand together for his gear last summer. I had the idea and he had the tools.