1st project questions

[Holmes81]

Hello,

I've been lurking for a while and reading and reading a bit more.

I love my music, however have never had a "proper" stereo setup.
The plan is to construct a whole DIY system. So the plan is to use a gainclone setreo setup, CD Player using a modified CD ROM and homemade speakers.

So here comes the barrage of silly questions, sorry if they have been asked and answered hopwever I have searched but with no luck!

I have a small room to situate the setup in as such am looking to use bookshelf speakers size speakers with drivers of a bout £50 each. I stumbled upon this site:

Angular spiral

and looked at the FF126E setup. Is this worth investigating and investing my time and money in, or are the better designs for the FF126E speakers?

Many thanks.

[planet10]

Hi Holmes... yes i'd say there are better boxes for FE126 than that box... none of which could be called bookshelf. If you have corners you might look at the frigel-horn.

For smaller boxes, the FE127 should be considered (and there are lots of proven ones for it). Given the power you'll have on tap, you can also consider some of the less efficient FRs like the ones made by Mark Audio.

dave

[Holmes81]

Thanks for the info,

Only thing is I can't seem to find the 127 anywhere in the UK, so any preference for the Mark Audio units?

Many thanks, also many thanks for all the anticipated help!

[planet10]

The usual source for stock FE127 is Wilmslow or Spectrum (IIRC). I have a specially priced version of matched & pretreated FE127 that was aimed at competing with the Wilmslow pricing.

There are 3 familys of MA units... the Alpairs (probably pushing your budget), of which the Alpair 7 would likely be best suited, the CHR-70 (same cone size as A7, but not to the same tolerances & precision, and the paper cones ones, of which the EL70 (CSS labeled) is the only one available in Europe. My favorite is the EL70 (all my MA evaluations are the eN versions)

dave

[ChrisR1983]

Hi Holmes

Why do you want to order the drivers from the UK? I'm based in the UK and I would NEVER order here - the prices are crazy.

I usually buy drivers from Madisound and anything else from Parts Connexion. Just compare the pricing from Madisound and Wilmslow Audio and you'll see why. I've never been stung from import duties and yes, although shipping can be pricey - it still works out much cheaper.

Good luck and let us know how it goes

Thanks

Chris

[planet10]

Originally Posted by ChrisR1983

I've never been stung from import duties and yes, although shipping can be pricey

From what my customers say, you have been lucky. Parcel Force should be considered anytime you order from overseas.

The thing that bugs me is that not only do they charge VAT on the item, they charge it on the postage too

dave

[chris661]

You've been looking at full range drivers, but they may not do what you want.

What kind of music do you listen to?
How loud is it ever going to go?

If you like dance etc, at rave levels, a 5" full ranger won't cut it.

Chris

[Holmes81]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the responses. I was looking at ordering from overseas, however the MA CHR 70 look like the most likely.

I have a just picked up 6 old CD ROM drives to make the CD player. Which brings me to another question is a Transit just the CD player with DO, a CD DEC is the Player with the DAC all inside one big box?

CD Roms look like they are from 1998 to 2000 one is a samsung one creative so hopefully I will be able to find one with I2S OP

Chris I listen to a wide range of music but really like Hendrix, Doors, RATM, Nirvana, Tom Waits, basically to sum up guitar music however I do have DnB and a few other types.

Basically I am looking to build the gainclone and then either the speakers or CD unit.
I don't want loud I am looking for quality!

Right I'm off to read the tread about the CD Transit.

[Holmes81]

Sorry, just realised that all units have DO on the back! So I shall now begin research into ripping out the guts so I can use it without the IDE IF.

All fun and games!

[mikje]

Holmes,
I built an LM3875 GC from Audiosector.com and run a pair of Fostex FE127's in a Fonken cabinet from Planet 10's website. The speakers took a few hours of breaking in, but this combination is AWESOME. I like acoustic guitar, vocals, jazz, some rock, country, classical... IOW, I like a wide variety of music and this set-up is great. If you were so inclined, a sub might help if the room is on the larger side.
This combination gets an A+ from me!
Mike