What speakers kit should I use?

[tightbluespandex]

I am looking into building a set of speakers to match some furniture that I am building but want to buy the right speaker component kit (without the box). What brands would you suggest looking at?

[larryldspkr]

Simplest approach is a single driver fullrange, Alpair 10.2 5.25 inch driver would give good results in anywhere from a bookshelf to floorstander. Lots of examples on this forum!

Good luck
Larry

[xrk971]

When you say speaker kit, that refers to the cabinet and the driver. Not sure what you mean by kit? Drivers generally are sold by themselves. Speaker kits are usually the cabinet in pieces with parts for the cross over, the driver(s), and hardware. Sounds like you want to make your own cabinets and are looking for a driver? What kind of music do you plan to listen to with it? How big is the room? Do you need lots of bass? What kind of amp are you using? How simple or complex do you want the cabinet to be? What kind of price range are you looking for? Lots of questions, and they all affect the final system.

Larry has a very good recommendation on the A10. But if you are really into precise imaging and soundstage accuracy, a smaller driver in the 3 to 4 in range is better. If bass is important, the smaller drivers can be made to have decent bass with more complicated cabinets with transmission lines/horns, or use a helper subwoofer for a FAST (full range assisted subwoofer technology) system. There are lots of brands of drivers to choose from. We will need more info from you. If you want really loud systems for hip/hop, hard rock, or big symphonic pieces, this may not be the best forum and a multiway speaker may be what you are looking for. If you like jazz, vocals, small ensemble classical, classic rock, pop, then full range speakers are excellent.

The nice thing about full range speakers besides how good they sound for the above genres is that they are very simple electrically without requiring a crossover. You will spend your time on the cabinet, it is everything. The cabinet can be as simple as a flat piece of wood in an open baffle, or a sealed box, moving up to a ported bass reflex, then transmission line, then back loaded horn.

A mass loaded transmission line is a good project to start as it is similar in shape and appearance to a bass reflex but has better performance. There are lots of mltl designs in this forum and many folks who can help you design from scratch or pick an existing design. The mltl is also very adaptable to building to match furniture as it is essentially rectangular and box-like.

Welcome on board. It's a lot of fun.