[Brik]

Hello - I am a woodworker and am looking for suggestions for a speaker kit. I do not want the boxes, just a box design, and the appropriate guts.

I currently have a pair of Polk Monitor 5s and a decent paradigm sub. Current amplification is Adcom 555 200wpc. I want to add a center and 2 more speakers for the time being.

This is for HT only.

My ultimate goal is to add a Adcom 5503 (3x200) amp and an appropriate pre-amp. For now I have a 5.1 100wpc receiver for HT.

So - I need recommendations for a decent, low cost, kit that includes a cabinet design. I would like to stay under $300, or so, for the center and LR speakers. I also want a suggestion as to whether to use the builds or the polks as my mains.

I may end up upgrading in the future but for now want the biggest bang for my limited budget.

I can solder and figure out decent instructions but want a kit that someone has figured out the best combinations of parts. I'm not interested in building all the electronics unless it will provide a significant savings.

I notice a lot of manufacturers here. Feel free to reply with your own product recommendations. I may, or may not, have already been to your web site. The "Swifty" kits at Media sound seem like they would fit my budget. What else should I consider? The GR stuff is a little more than what I want to spend. Will the GR kits sound that much better for HT?

Suggestions? THANKS

Brian

[2gumby2]

GR Research would be my first choice in HT speakers. I would also recommend that you take a look at Pi Speakers (www.pispeakers.com). I built some of their 2 Pi Towers and they sound great. I will be using them in a HT setup when I move to my new apartment next month.

[Brik]

Thanks for the input!

One observation - These dealers really need to tweak their sites. Looking at the pie site I see nothing that describes why one speaker series would be preferred to another. You need to be an EE or serious geek to understand the differences. (No offense, I am a serious geek, just not with speakers). GR at least has a mix of the tech chatter and the more salesy stuff.

For example from GR "This speaker is ideal for small to mid-sized rooms in a high-end, two channel application. It's also well suited for the high-end, home theater application used as left and right mains, left and right rears, and as a center channel." And from pie "The one π through four π are bass reflex designs using PiAlign tuning, with 8", 10", 12", and 15" midwoofers respectively."

[Danny Richie]

Our A/V series kits are in your budget range. Our A/V-1 and A/V-O are well below your $300 limit too. Thanks for checking us out.

[Brik]

Our A/V series kits are in your budget range. Our A/V-1 and A/V-O are well below your $300 limit too. Thanks for checking us out.

Ahh - I want to be under $300 TOTAL! I guess I'm insane. Thanks for checking in on me Danny I am considering re-considering my budget.

lets see
AV3S center - $159
AV2 LR pair - $300
total - $459

or

AV1 LR pair - $229
AV1 single for center - $119
total - $348

or

AV1 LR pair - $229
AV3s center - $159
total - $388


Keeping it all AV1s gets me pretty close if I do none of your suggested upgrades. Plus the MDF and veneer.

Maybe I'll go with something like http://www.zaphaudio.com/audio-speaker13.html for about $100 per pair. Going that route I can also replace my Polks. Going with Zaph would be a lot more work on my part figuring stuff out though. I may be game.

[JLM]

At $100 per speaker you're scraping near the bottom of the audiophile barrel.  One option is going with a single (extended range) driver like the 4.5 inch diameter Fostex FE127E for $37.50 from Madisound.  It can sound thin when pushed and work best with tube amps so they're not a good match for HT.  But it gives you an option if you really need to stick to this price range.

There's not much money to be saved building your own cabinets in this price range.  Paradigm Atoms at $300/pair, Ascend Acoustics CBM-200s at $329/pair, or AV123 X-LS at $229/pair are some of the best entry level small two-way monitors.

[boead]

You may not be interested after seeing his website but the Parker 95 Signatures are fairly special. The Crusaders are model 95’s with a bass augmenter but I’d personally choose the Model 95 and use my own sub and/or bass augmenter.

The only drawback with these speakers is that they will not complement a mid-fi amp and source but then again no good speaker will. The Parkers are very efficient and are perfect for low powered amps. Wired at 2 ohms they are 95+ db 1w/1m sensitive at about 92+ db 1w/1m wired 8 ohms.

With a great sounding SET or SEP amp the Parkers are something very special. Incredible soundstage, alluring midrange and the ribbon tweeters are smooth and extended.

About a year or so ago a friend auditioned speakers of all types and price points. I lent him my Parkers and he was floored by them – felt they were better then nearly all the speakers he'd listened up at around $3000. 

I’ve also auditioned lots of speakers and I’ll be hard pressed to replaced them without spending(wasting) a lot of money. Speakers in general are grossly overpriced – its absurd and quite frankly pisses the F’in crap out of me. There is NO reason why speakers should cost as much as a car. There is No justification except as a penis extension much like a bright red corvette. Sorry if I offend, I’m sure not all corvette owners are small. And (before I get a slew of hate mail) if you looking for furniture but that’s not audio, that’s eye candy. 

Dave of Parker Audio is not getting rich (not his full time living) and his speakers offer a great value!

http://parkeraudio.net/toppage6.htm

[Danny Richie]

Yea, you can't go wrong with the X-LS speakers from AV123. They won a lot of awards last year. You can see some of the awards here:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=34669.0

They are in your budget range too.

[boead]

Yeah, I bet these sound nice with lots of power to drive them:

http://www.gr-research.com/kits/ob-5.shtm

[audioferret]

Check out the RAW HT from Rawacoustics

http://www.rawacoustics.com/item__RAW_FR,762.html

You can easily build them using the plans from Planet-10 HiFi

http://www.planet10-hifi.com/boxes-CSS.html

The drivers can be purchased at this site pretty cheaply... $70 per driver... $350 for a 5 speaker set

http://www.creativesound.ca/details.php?model=FR125S

I have built a pair - they rock!  They blend well with subs...
Also, with this setup, you ensure that all of your speakers are tonally matched - very key for proper HT setup.  Just set your universal crossover to 80 hZ and let your subwoofer handle all of the unlocalized sound.

For a sub, I must also recommend the servo-sub kits from http://www.rythmikaudio.com/
- mine is kicking ass right now...

[Scotty]

boead, The Parker speakers claim to be a 2ohm load and without seeing an impedance plot I would not trust them to not dip significantly below 2ohms at some point.
Most receivers used in home audio applications are not very happy driving 2 ohm loads and frequently their distortion figures deteriorate into a low impedance load.
Brians 5.1 100wpc receiver for HT won't be rated into a 2ohm load and may even
activate it's protection circuitry if it attempts to drive a load of this type.
Scotty

[JLM]

The Parkers were designed with Decware amps in mind (odd ball SETs that love low impedance loads).  They have always sounded very analytical to me and need bass help badly (to me that describes the Decware house sound too), especially the monitor sized ones (for HT).  I agree that they could easily give serious heartburn to typical HT amps/receivers.  BTW I like Dave, he has a very mild demeanor.

If you're up for wiring a crossover an alternative to the FR-125 driver is the WR-125 with tweeter.  Should give more extended high frequencies (probably not an issue for a woodworker who spends a lot of time around power tools) and might be cheaper.  Both options available in Canada if interested, just Google "Adire loudspeakers".

[boead]

The Parkers were designed with Decware amps in mind (odd ball SETs that love low impedance loads).  They have always sounded very analytical to me and need bass help badly (to me that describes the Decware house sound too), especially the monitor sized ones (for HT).  I agree that they could easily give serious heartburn to typical HT amps/receivers.  BTW I like Dave, he has a very mild demeanor.

Yeah, that’s why I suggested the bass augmenter and mentioned that they can be wired at 8 ohms.

My Preamp is out for an upgrade so I’ve not had my sub hooked up for weeks. The Parkers are NOT bass shy. They don’t have deep thundering bass but most speakers don’t without seriously compromising the midrange where the majority and the most important parts of the music comes from. Simply adding a ‘musical’ sub to the system allows the speakers to do what they do best and still get deep bass with authority.

Finding a good sub, that’s harder then finding a pair of speakers. Most subs suck!

I have been very happy with the KRK I have. Of all the Velodyne’s I’ve heard I’ve only liked one or two and none others have come close (Sunfire, NHT, Energy, etc.)  I hear that Alon (now Nola) makes a great sub. I also hear that Bag End has an 18” sub that can loosen the fillings in your mouth and is more effective than coffee for unscheduled bowl movements. 

If the maker actually listens, I’m sure they will come up with a sub that best matches/compliments the speakers. Ed (Hornshoppe) has a bass augmenter and now a sub that are likely musical. Dave at Parker has a sub that he spent a lot of time finding/making that matches well with his speakers.

At any price point, I’d be using a sub or bass augmenter so…


BTW: The Adcom 555 isn’t particularly musical – talk about analytical. Then again so is anything from Polk or paradigm all of which I am very familiar with.

Sorry my reply was inappropriate for the posters request.

[Brik]

Wow - Y'all are great! Thanks for all the suggestions for my $300 budget.

Any comments on a full range driver such as the Audio Nirvana Super 8? http://www.nirvanaspeakers.com/nirvana.html with my own cabinets to the specs of Nirvana?

Quite frankly I am seriously considering the AV123 X-ls. Yes I'm a fairly competent woodworker and furniture builder but I get the instant gratification if I go with AV123.

I haven't given up on build my own. Keep those suggestions coming!!!

Thanks again!
B

[Brik]

OK - I blew my budget!!!!

I just ordered two pair of XL-s and an x-cs center channel speaker from http://www.av123.com/products_category_brand.php?section=speakers&brand=55

I will be using my ole paradigm sub.

Initially I will be driving this with a 100wpc HT receiver. Down the road it will be an adcom 555/5503 combo. I got one of their new finishes coming from their new plant so they wont be here until end of April.

Thanks again for all your suggestions.

[Danny Richie]

Good choice! 

[fajimr]

since these speakers have come up in this discussion:

is anyone using the XL-S with a low powered T-amp?  I got a 41HZ project that I am going to build and am looking for candidates...  been mainly looking at single driver high efficiency speakers.

jim