[Peter_S]

Hello all. I am considering building one of these kits, along with some open baffle subwoofers… And I am not seeing many recent threads to help in this selection. Perhaps those of you who are familiar and knowledgeable can offer advice. My listening room is 14 feet wide, 18.5 feet long, and slopes from front to back from 8 to 14 feet. I have dispersion on the front wall, and absorption at the first reflection points, ceiling, and rear wall. I would appreciate advice on which of the two models would work best in my room. Also, so that I don’t crowd the room, I am hoping that I could get away with two double trouble subwoofers, rather than the taller triple threat. I would appreciate any advice on making this choice.

Also, I have just basic skills in the woodshop, and I would appreciate people letting me know if I might be getting in over my head. Gluing and clamping seems pretty basic. I guess I’m more concerned about putting on a good finish. I would love to use veneer on the sides and have a black front baffle… Is that very complicated to do?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

[Peter_S]

Also, I live in the Seattle area. I would love to have the opportunity to visit someone with either of these speakers to audition them. I will also be in the northern Virginia area over Thanksgiving, which could also provide another opportunity. If anyone is willing, please let me know.

[Glady86]

I recommend viewing some build threads and get an idea of the difficulty level. For me it was a lot of work and I had some prior experience building flat pack kits and started soldering 40 years ago, so plenty of experience with that. It’s not hard to learn good soldering technique with a little practice.

 The finishing is what takes most of the time, and can be challenging to get an acceptable quality if you don’t have much experience. Maybe Need to practice a little before working on the actual panels. The Otica would be much easier to tackle cause of the smaller size. And be plenty good for your room.

[nlitworld]

So the finishing steps aren't entirely difficult, but there are some serious caveats to making sure things are done correctly and safely. There are several people on here with extensive knowledge in woodworking and finishing and usually very graceful with helpful knowledge. mlundy57 and PeterJ have taught me a lot through their posts and photos. Fancier automotive paints require a whole nother level of prep and safety gear, but the finished products will last and look absolutely fabulous. The veneer I have no experience with gluing, but the paint work I do know well and am more than happy to help. For the veneer, we're you thinking straight oiled down wood sides or were you looking at glossy clearcoated wood? For the front, were you thinking glossy black or satin black? Maybe a black metallic for a little pizazz? For the back and inside pieces, were you thinking painted there too? Do you have a garage and large compressor or were you thinking aerosol cans? There are no right or wrong answers, but some basic info on the design choices and we can point you in the right direction.

-Lloyd

[WGH]

Also, I have just basic skills in the woodshop, and I would appreciate people letting me know if I might be getting in over my head. Gluing and clamping seems pretty basic. I guess I’m more concerned about putting on a good finish. I would love to use veneer on the sides and have a black front baffle… Is that very complicated to do?

I have been woodworking professionally since 1978 so I would say yes, you are in way over your head. But that shouldn't stop you.

The trick is patience and practice. You will make mistakes, I still make mistakes every day. As long as you don't cut off body parts the mistakes can be fixed. Cabinet parts will always have to be remade, an accurate cut list is a necessity but variances creep in when making one-of-a-kind projects. When I make custom doors I always order 50% more wood than I need to allow for waste, flaws and bad cuts. Do the same for veneer. Thinking your woodworking skills will progress from zero to perfect in 4 hours is a little unrealistic, it took me 30 years.

Practice clamping. Dry clamp all the parts together, that way you can figure out out the work flow and if you have enough clamps. Practice veneering on extra MDF instead of practicing on the speakers, buy cheap veneer to practice with. The veneered practice pieces will be necessary when you start finishing, then you can experiment with finishes without ruining the speakers. Finishing always takes longer than actual construction.

The first rule of woodworking is measure twice, cut once.

[VinceT]

There are some youtube videos with people building speakers and subs from kits and flat packs. Also videos that show cross over assembly. Whenever I have a project, could be anything like car repairs home improvements, electronics etc. I found i can literally do anything with the help of youtube and forums. PeterJ has some youtube videos building GR Encores with flat packs. That is a good starting point.

[Peter_S]

Thanks everybody for your advice about learning how to build the speakers. I will definitely watch more videos than I already have, and look at build threads. I am definitely also interested in people’s opinions about which speakers work best for my listening room. If you have that kind of knowledge, please pipe up!  Thanks again in advance, Peter

[Tyson]

I'd do the NX-Oticas in that room, which is similar in size to where I have my NX-Oticas set up.  In a medium sized room, IME the Oticas will image better.  And dual subs are fine as long as you're not using them for movies at reference levels.  The Duals handle every kind of music, no problem.

[g3rain1]

I have almost the same size room as you, just without the slanted ceiling. I'm using Oticas and the double subs and that's really plenty for that size room.


I have a build thread for these here: https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=184659.msg1937707#msg1937707

[Peter_S]

Thanks g3rain1.  I really like your build and am glad to hear that they work well in a similar dimension room.  I also would like to use veneer on the sides, and love the look of cherry.  I've read your build documentation and may have some questions when I finally get going, if you are up for it?  Thanks.

[Peter_S]

Any additional input for choosing between NX-Tremes & Oticas for my listening room?  I'm currently also considering upper end speakers by Joseph Audio and a horn speaker by Triangle Arts, and may also go on a parallel route where I purchase a commercial speaker but also make a GR Research, and keep what I like the best.  I would love to see a thread where the NX-Treme & Otica are more rigorously compared to commercial speakers (any suggestions).  Thanks, Peter

[Tyson]

Joseph Audio is not on the same level as any of the NX series. 

Looking at the Triangle Arts, they will likely have better dynamics because nothing can really match a good horn speaker at dynamics.  But I know from experience (with other very good horn speakers I've owned and heard), they will never image well.  And no matter what upstream gear you throw at them, they will always sound aggressive.  Finally, 24db crossover slope is not the best choice.  I've tried many, many crossovers back when I was running my speakers fully active, and 4th order crossovers always sucked the life out of the music. 

[g3rain1]

Thanks g3rain1.  I really like your build and am glad to hear that they work well in a similar dimension room.  I also would like to use veneer on the sides, and love the look of cherry.  I've read your build documentation and may have some questions when I finally get going, if you are up for it?  Thanks.

Sure, ask away.