Hi all, I recently realized i spend more time in my eat-in kitchen than any room in the house and i wanted some decent clean sound on a budget. Nothing super quality, just music for when i cook and hang out doing weekly food prep and such. The kitchen is a good size, 24’ * 16’ and it opens up to another larger room and hallway. There is a perfect spot between the family room and kitchen that i figured i could use to throw some tunes from. I hung some old JBL B15’s (sealed 5 1/4 2 way) off one wall and then slapped a spare monolith 12” sub i had sitting around between them. I ordered an SMSL AD18 from massdrop, and for grins hooked up the tv too. For a tiny bit over $1000 (tv not included) the absolute nicest fill sound i could’ve asked for.
I stuffed the monolith ports with the included foam and installed a set of isolation feet on it to tighten up the bass and tame down the vibrations in the floor, cutlery, plates etc. and bam, viola, respectable volume and clarity on a budget. I understand that everyone’s idea of budget varies but i don’t think party sized sound for just about $1000 US is too bad. I am shocked that the little class D SMSL Has so much versatility for the price. The JBL’s have a tweeter i enjoy very much and due to their sealed design offer excellent tight midrange and a perfect option for wall mounting. The monolith subwoofer does exactly what it was designed for, I only wish it had high level or low level inputs that allowed me to pass the signal thru and provide a cut-off crossover frequency for the satellites. That would make it perfect it my eyes. A tiny turn of the volume knob on the sub, which is completely accessible, allows me to tune it for whichever genre i’m in the mood for. Hot for synthesized music, milder for real instruments.
I’ve been reading and absorbing as much info from these forums and all you great people for months now. I know this type of set-up is NOT what this site is about, but i have learned so much from you all and applied it across the board. I wish i had more disposable income so i could do a “1 and done” music set-up in my sitting room but I’m not there just yet. Eventually, someday, for now though thank you all for all the knowledge, i do the best i can with what i have. Please feel free to share your own budget friendly set-ups, i love reading about all your ideas and creative solutions!
