When good speakers changes your mind! Suggestions now open

[Inprogress]

I looked after my boss's house this weekend. I've spied his speakers before but it was only this weekend that for some reason I thought let me rather listen to music than search for porn Just kidding!

My bluddy awesomeness those are great! I was initially thinking of building some 2.1 speakers as seen by some of you in my other post, however I have now revised my needs and wants and desires.

First thing is that I really want to build some speakers. I have a AV friend from whom I can buy speakers at cost like the Warfedale Evo 10's or 30's for example - and at the prices its very tempting - however having build a bed-base before and remembering that every single time I lay on the bed I would fleetingly think about the fact that I made that bed, I have a strong inclination to build speakers. That and that the Evo-50's are quite expensive still at cost - knowing myself its the setup I actually want anyway as oppose to the EVO 10 or 30's.

I have attached some pictures of the speakers I admire. Construction wise I will not go for the curved wood look although I would not mind to be able to build something like that. I will go for a simpler rectangle floor standing enclosure design and rather work with the shape I got - making it aesthetically pleasing to the eye than taking on a advanced woodworking project and getting frustrated half-way through for not being able to actually build the box.

I have no idea what power these speakers are, but I know I was incredibly impressed with what quality sound...erm....sounds like especially when listening to acoustic performances.

My rule of thumb power is 100Watts per channel...however I will have to educate myself a bit as to how this "per channel" changes with my speaker setup - "is it still a 200W amp or a 400W amp now?". And when do you stop talking about watts and start talking about decibels?

Anyhows, I like woofers with some colour in them, especially something with a yellow or red ring, however firstly I need to get some specs on which speaker combinations to choose. The woofers in question where 8 inch, I know at least that much.

Any ideas anyone, suggestions or slaps in the face?

P.S. The speaker brand is Monitor Audio

[Inprogress]

Ahhh, I see its the PL300's by Audio Monitor. Specs:

Frequency Response: 28 Hz - 100 KHz
Sensitivity (1W@1M): 90 dB
Nominal Impedance: 4 Ohms
Maximum S.P.L (Per pair in room): 118.6 dBA
Power Handling (RMS): 300 W
Recommended Amplifier Requirements (RMS): 100 - 300 W
Bass Alignment: Twin Ported HiVe II Technology Sealed Mid-range TLE
Mid / H.F Crossover Frequency: 4000 Hz
Bass Low Pass Crossover Frequency: 550 Hz
Driver Unit Complement: 2 x 8" long throw RDT bass drivers
1 x 4" RDT mid-range driver
1 x C-CAM high frequency ribbon transducer
External Dimensions -
Including Fixed Plinth & Feet
(H x W x D): 1113 x 410 x 470 mm
(43 13/16 x 16 1/8 x 18 1/2)
Weight (each) including Plinth:
43.8Kg (96.4lbs)

[Loren42]

You need to determine what your budget is before we can do anything meaningful.

If this is your first real try at DIY speakers I would strongly suggest going with a kit!

Madisound has a number of them available. As an example, the one kit I was considering for replacing the last pair of speakers I had is called the Thor.

You can either build the cabinets yourself or buy them from Madisound. Since you are out of the US you may want to buy the components from a more local source and build the cabinet from the plans. The same goes for the crossover.

The big advantage is that the design is already nailed down and the crossover complete. The crossover design alone is a lot of work (more than you imagine).

[Inprogress]

Hey Loren. Thanks for the link, there are some great kits there. I have way to many intertests and hobbies that I persue - but it keeps me out of the naughty. I am working on script off-and-on for a feature film I hope to make; want get a mic to start doing voice work for radio and TV; working on a point-of-sale system with Arduino electronics; doing some photography on the side; need to get back to the gym again cause work has been keeping me incredibly busy; and working on character building for acting...and now bluddy speakers...alas I am a creative person and the thought of creating something REALLY gets my juices flowing.

This speaker system in question will be a long term project for sure, but in the mean time I will either get a set of Warfedale EVO's or a nice kit (or at least parts list of a kit and plans since I live in South Africa and we have become VERY much a consumer society - at least in Europe and the USA the sheer number of DIY'ers makes the market viable for parts) and build a nice two-way system to use with an amp diy build.

These speakers will be jointly...oh and I am looking to getting a DS bike again, something like a BMW R1100GS....sound quality and visual aesthetics - was thinking of doing a vertical stacked birch with CNC'd cutouts - and a final veneer covering and I like the use of the leather of those PL300's - very classy and a feel of old, sturdy furniture.

Thanks again for the link, I will have a looksy at the kits and site later tomorrow!