[Monad]

I have access to 'affordable' live edge from a local furniture artisan who has all the wherewithal to do the cuts and any nice joints I want to do.. currently i have a 10' slab, 2.5" honey locust.  I also have 2 15" 2 way driver options- 604-8g and HPD 385..

I was looking at different designs out there and wanted to do basic, first effort build but with the amount of data/ designs out there.. being non-technical, i'm more on (moron?) the 'what's good (?) side and looking for suggestions..' on applicable designs to narrow my (re)search.

A friend did the Decware DIY 15" design and I was considering buying those plans and just starting there but then started to see some of the modular designs with additional drivers and figured I'd look a little further.. peering into the rabbit hole, abyss, without actually diving in too deep.

Is there a good all-around design for 15" that's 'easy' to accomplish, per the above, to support a range of 2 way and full range drivers? 

Every time I try to do something that does more than one thing, it usually backfires so..

[kd4ylq]

Hey, if you don't have an issue buying Chinese drivers, Lii audio has a new, higher performance version of the (15") F15. The originals cost $400 per pair and the "improved" cost $~$550 per pair. Dirt cheap in any case and if you can build the OBs with a solid live edge. You must take care to get the drivers center up to the height of your listening ear level, and you will be astonished at how great they can sound - on much less than a watt! granted you may want a powered sub for the bottom octave, at least occasionally, as I do, but I find them satisfying without about 98% of the time. They are one listener speakers though - you must be at the focal point. Anything else you build will be much more complex and expensive. I am very happy with my Lii-audio F15s in 28" x 28" solid mahogany baffle boards but on my adjustable stands to raise them to ear level and set the baffle angle to optimum (very crucial IMO). All that said, I'm in the planning stages to build my first pair of Perry Marshall OB "Live Edge" speakers - the cottonwood ones. They will cost a lot more and be a challenge in many ways, but since I've retired, I can spend the time to get it all "right" with whatever baffle material I end up choosing. They will cost a lot less than any commerically available speakers that are competitive in performance I believe. Good luck and let us know about your choices.

[rooze]

I’d second the idea of going with the Fii and basic plans from Decware. I’d go with a stand that allows some tilt-back and mass loading but I wouldn’t try to raise the baffles from the floor as you’ll lose some lower frequency weight.
I’ve the smaller of the various baffle options and they work well on classical, folk, jazz etc, without subs. But if you play heavier stuff you’ll want to add subs. They’re surprisingly straightforward to integrate with subs.




PS - they’re not hooked up or positioned properly in the above photo.

[Poultrygeist]

The Lii Audio F-15's sound great by themselves but I'm currently enjoying them in this configuration.

[Poultrygeist]

Also had the F-15's over H-frame Eminence Alphas which I could have lived with. Powered the F-15's with Bottle Head 2a3's and a plate amp for the Alphas.

[kd4ylq]

Are your F15 using passive crossovers? to the woofer below and is that an F10 above?

[Poultrygeist]

In the first picture are F-15's and Lowther DX3's wired in parallel running full range with no filters or crossovers in the signal path. I had my doubts about this arrangement but thanks to the folks on the Decware forum and the Youtube videos I tried it and am really glad I did. The woofers on bottom are the old tried and true 15" Eminence Alphas. They are powered by their own plate amp with a built in frequency control.

The second picture shows the F-15's running straight off the Bottle head amps while the H-frame Alphas are low passed with their plate amp.