$500 is my budget for the mains. I can shell out more for a sub if needed, but not too much more.. if I do end up spending $500 for the mains, I will end up saving up for a couple weeks and then getting a sub, something like:
I was looking at this for a sub
I know it's cheap and also a 15" might be too large for my room .. what do you think? It looks like a good deal to me.
I DO however, LOVE a good "heart pounding" rumble and feeling a bass drum kick / bassline / explosion in your chest at times, but the majority of the time this system will be used below that listening level anyway so I think this 15" should be more than enough, especially when you consider my room size?
Thanks for all help. I really appreciate it
Thanks
I'm about to order them both .. still having slight reservations on if I should get the ZA5.3s or those Dayton Audio's though .. but as we agreed earlier, I don't think either of them is going to be a 2x increase in quality. Though they're pre-assembled cabs/crossovers is a nice feature ..
I'm torn on the decision, lol.
The crossovers are a little tricky if you don't have a glue gun or zip ties to hold the inductors in place.
The chassis is easy if you have at least 3 bar clamps, 1-16" & 2-24" clams is what I used.
If I had the choice I would go with the Dayton RS kit over the Zaph kit because of the quality I have heard from the RS180S's & the RS100's.
Another benefit to the Zaph kit is a properly modeled and contoured crossover.
From what I have read on his site it really looks like he takes his time to model....listen....revise & then finalize the design for what sounds best.
Modeling for ideal boxes show the RS180S-8 has 20hz more bass extension than the Zaph woofer.
HOWEVER........this is only one part of the equation.
A pair of 5" Zaph drivers I would imagine are very fast and would accentuate snare drum.
Unfortunately I wouldn't expect a pair of 5"ers to hold up to a pair of 7"ers with a double bass drum.
The pair of Zaph drivers most likely won't hit Open E on a standup bass (42Hz) with the ease of the pair of RS's.
This is purely speculative though.
The drivers are relatively the same sensitivity & X-Max capability.
However the RS's total 250cm sq. & the Zaphs = 136sq cm. (a little more than half).
I'd still lean towards the RS's without a sub or the TriTrix with a sub.
The chassis is easy if you have at least 3 bar clamps, 1-16" & 2-24" clams is what I used.
If I had the choice I would go with the Dayton RS kit over the Zaph kit because of the quality I have heard from the RS180S's & the RS100's.
Another benefit to the Zaph kit is a properly modeled and contoured crossover.
From what I have read on his site it really looks like he takes his time to model....listen....revise & then finalize the design for what sounds best.
Modeling for ideal boxes show the RS180S-8 has 20hz more bass extension than the Zaph woofer.
HOWEVER........this is only one part of the equation.
A pair of 5" Zaph drivers I would imagine are very fast and would accentuate snare drum.
Unfortunately I wouldn't expect a pair of 5"ers to hold up to a pair of 7"ers with a double bass drum.
The pair of Zaph drivers most likely won't hit Open E on a standup bass (42Hz) with the ease of the pair of RS's.
This is purely speculative though.
The drivers are relatively the same sensitivity & X-Max capability.
However the RS's total 250cm sq. & the Zaphs = 136sq cm. (a little more than half).
I'd still lean towards the RS's without a sub or the TriTrix with a sub.
Yeah.. it's a really hard decision. I'd have to buy/borrow the clamps to build the TriTrix's.
I like the larger size of the RS's and their larger drivers, also their cabs look nice ... however as you said, I'm not sure how nice their crossovers are compared to the Zaphs.
I'm tempted to go with the RS's because cabinet size/driver size and the fact they should have a bit more power.
I'm tempted to go with the Zaph's because of his knowledge/planning/design and his crossover work, also apparently the driver he chooses is one of the best..
I'm tempted to go with the TriTrix' because of the low cost.
It's really hard to decide when you can't listen to what you're buying ... I'm not even sure how I can decide.
Not counting the low end, do you think the Zaphs are better quality than the RS's?
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I've built the 5.2 ported, 5.3 MTM and 5.3c center.
Unfortunately I haven't got any other builds complete yet. And I don't feel a need to.
Within the restrictions of a 5" mid, the ZA5s simply rock. The MTM play louder than the TM, of course. They'll be going in my office.
Overall I'm really impressed with them.
Between the tritrix and za5, you still need a sub. I'd never hesitate to recommend the za5.2 for a small system and the 5.3 if you have room to pull them off the wall a foot or more.
Sorry I can't be more objective, but I felt the value was very very good on the za5s. I built my own boxes though.
Don't have any better pics sorry. I'm also not a fan of the mahogany (was free) or the 45* straight bevel. This was a crash coarse in woodworking.
Unfortunately I haven't got any other builds complete yet. And I don't feel a need to.
Within the restrictions of a 5" mid, the ZA5s simply rock. The MTM play louder than the TM, of course. They'll be going in my office.
Overall I'm really impressed with them.
Between the tritrix and za5, you still need a sub. I'd never hesitate to recommend the za5.2 for a small system and the 5.3 if you have room to pull them off the wall a foot or more.
Sorry I can't be more objective, but I felt the value was very very good on the za5s. I built my own boxes though.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Don't have any better pics sorry. I'm also not a fan of the mahogany (was free) or the 45* straight bevel. This was a crash coarse in woodworking.
I've built the 5.2 ported, 5.3 MTM and 5.3c center.
Unfortunately I haven't got any other builds complete yet. And I don't feel a need to.
Within the restrictions of a 5" mid, the ZA5s simply rock. The MTM play louder than the TM, of course. They'll be going in my office.
Overall I'm really impressed with them.
Between the tritrix and za5, you still need a sub. I'd never hesitate to recommend the za5.2 for a small system and the 5.3 if you have room to pull them off the wall a foot or more.
Sorry I can't be more objective, but I felt the value was very very good on the za5s. I built my own boxes though.
Don't have any better pics sorry. I'm also not a fan of the mahogany (was free) or the 45* straight bevel. This was a crash coarse in woodworking.
Yeah, my assumption was that I'd need a sub with about anything that didn't have 12" woofers in it already.. lol. I do love bass. My current system with four 12" woofers is more than enough, but I'm gonna be ditching it for whatever speakers I chose in this thread.
They will be a foot or more away from the walls definitely.
I like your mahogany actually, awesome it was free. That bevel doesn't bother me either. You could have done MUCH worse. Looks great to me
Thanks for posting. I'm still very much considering the TA5.3 MTM's at this point.
I'm also now considering the Manzanita due to how easy they look to build and their price .. But ultimately I still want sound quality. They seem like they'd be low in the mids? I'm really torn here on what to pick.
The ZA5.3s seem like they have the most thought out design, specially in the crossovers .. hmm.
The ZA5.3s seem like they have the most thought out design, specially in the crossovers .. hmm.
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Yes, I agree. I looked into it a bit as well. I don't know anything about crossovers but it definitely seems thought out and not just something random they just threw in the kit.
Thanks for the help so far Einric, I appreciate it.
If anyone who knows crossovers and speakers could look at that diagram and tell me if the crossover is good for the components involved, I would be grateful.
If you have the capability to build your own cabinets you could build a system that is $425 for parts with the RS722 parts list in a 2 cuft enclosure ported to 39 hz.
With a 4" vent 9" long you have an f3 of 37.5Hz.
The cabinet would retain the same 9" baffle width of the RS722k kit to make most efficient use of the chosen component values.
The cabinet would be 40" tall and the same 13.5" deep (same as the kit).
This would pretty well remove the need for a sub unless you needed Home Theater rumble.
Just a thought.......
With a 4" vent 9" long you have an f3 of 37.5Hz.
The cabinet would retain the same 9" baffle width of the RS722k kit to make most efficient use of the chosen component values.
The cabinet would be 40" tall and the same 13.5" deep (same as the kit).
This would pretty well remove the need for a sub unless you needed Home Theater rumble.
Just a thought.......
I'm sure I could " rig " some cabs, but I only have a circular saw. No table saw, no router, nothing special. I do like home theater rumble so I'm not worried about buying a sub either soon or down the line. I don't want bass that's close to what I want but feels lacking either so I think I'd better go with a sub.
I wouldn't mind building my own cabs, I just don't believe it's possible without a table saw or router in the least. Also I want my speakers to sit on top of the "console" you can see in my pics and 40" would be too tall I believe, the tweeters would be way above my head.
I wouldn't mind building my own cabs, I just don't believe it's possible without a table saw or router in the least. Also I want my speakers to sit on top of the "console" you can see in my pics and 40" would be too tall I believe, the tweeters would be way above my head.
Great, if you have a circular saw all you need is a 48" straight edge and two clamps.
The cheapest 48" straight edge I know of is a quarter sheet of 5.2mm Lauan plywood (about 10 bucks).
Then you can make your measurements and compensate for the base plate width on the circular saw to make dead straight cuts.
The front baffle you can put a 45 deg. miter around the edges with the same straight edge and the circular saw tipped to 45 deg.
I understand this is a reach......just options.
The cheapest 48" straight edge I know of is a quarter sheet of 5.2mm Lauan plywood (about 10 bucks).
Then you can make your measurements and compensate for the base plate width on the circular saw to make dead straight cuts.
The front baffle you can put a 45 deg. miter around the edges with the same straight edge and the circular saw tipped to 45 deg.
I understand this is a reach......just options.
I heard John's 2011 version of the Manzanita at LSAF in Dallas. I had never heard an open baffle design before & I must say the SQ for so little $ was remarkable. I had the opportunity to hear many nice (read expensive) designs at the show. Other than the Vapor Audio design that uses a tweeter that one costs more than a pair of complete Manzanitas, I liked John's design the best. Big pluses are an easy to build crossover with few components & you can build the baffle in about 30 minutes!
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I think I'd rather get a sub anyway so it doesn't quite matter if I custom build larger cabinets really? I appreciate your forethought on the matter though.
I think I might get the Dayton's .. I just wish someone with knowledge could comment on their crossover design or someone who's heard them lol. I like the idea of their already larger cabs/woofers compared to the ZA5.3 and TriTrix'. Though that is probably a bit biased of me lol. I wish I could speak to John himself on the matter heh.
I think I might get the Dayton's .. I just wish someone with knowledge could comment on their crossover design or someone who's heard them lol. I like the idea of their already larger cabs/woofers compared to the ZA5.3 and TriTrix'. Though that is probably a bit biased of me lol. I wish I could speak to John himself on the matter heh.
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I'm facing a similar decision right now. I'm torn between the Zaph 5.3c (I have a fairly crappy living room acoustically) and the Swopes Swope HT - undefinition I like the looks of the Swopes a lot.
Not to make it a tougher decision for you by giving you more options but I've heard the Swopes sound really good from some guys on other forums and from Mark Sayers at Meniscus Audio.
I built the Tritrix MTM TL's and those sound really good for the money as well. I'd build another set of the sealed Tritrix for my HT application but I want to do something a bit different this time.
After reading through more of your post, are you just looking for a 2.1 application? If so, the Overnight Sensations might be a good option as well. Fairly cheap and they sound very good for the money as well. You can see those on the link I posted if you click on the DIY part at the top of the screen. I like the Swopes because of the front port, mine will be against a wall. The Overnight Sensations use a rear port so they'd have to be spaced out from the wall behind them.
Not to make it a tougher decision for you by giving you more options but I've heard the Swopes sound really good from some guys on other forums and from Mark Sayers at Meniscus Audio.
I built the Tritrix MTM TL's and those sound really good for the money as well. I'd build another set of the sealed Tritrix for my HT application but I want to do something a bit different this time.
After reading through more of your post, are you just looking for a 2.1 application? If so, the Overnight Sensations might be a good option as well. Fairly cheap and they sound very good for the money as well. You can see those on the link I posted if you click on the DIY part at the top of the screen. I like the Swopes because of the front port, mine will be against a wall. The Overnight Sensations use a rear port so they'd have to be spaced out from the wall behind them.
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