DIY studio monitors?

[MikeHunt79]

I'm doing more and more music production these days, and I'm looking to buy some decent nearfield studio monitors.

Has anyone on here built thier own and is there any benefits of going DIY instead of going for something prebulit.

[Brett]

My first suggestion for a set of nearfield monitors would be Lynn's ME2. Not a lot of LF, but superb articulation and detail presentation, dynamics and not fatiguing.
http://www.nutshellhifi.com/ME2txt.html#me2
Build it as specified, and don't cheap out on the xover.

There are a lot of designs on the two sites below that might be suitable, depending on what you want. I've not built any of them. I have built the larger version of the ME2, the Ariel.
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Diy_Lou...r_Projects.htm
http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/

I would DIY, because all the cheaper 'studio monitors' I've heard at music stores sounded like garbage. Another alternative is buying some LS3/5a's or Proac Tablettes secondhand.
I'd also suggest getting an excellent pair of headphones and a great headphone amp. The latter you can DIY too.

[tinitus]

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/TJL3W.htm

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/SP_38.htm

I bet they will be good monitors, but ofcourse not high power and not much subbass information, which many wont have either

For very close nearfield maybe this one

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/W15.htm

edit ... actually I am unsure whether you may use them fore professional work without permission

[Virtalahde]

Without a doubt I would build this..

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/8542.htm

It's somewhat similar to ProAc Studio100, which is widely used as a studio monitor..

[MikeHunt79]

Thanks for all the links - certainly gives me something to get my teeth into. It's all at the planning stage right now, but I'll be able to keep an eye out for drivers and things...

Also, I guess this is probably the wrong section to ask this, but would something like a gainclone be OK for powering studio monitors?

Originally posted by Brett
I would DIY, because all the cheaper 'studio monitors' I've heard at music stores sounded like garbage. Another alternative is buying some LS3/5a's or Proac Tablettes secondhand.
I'd also suggest getting an excellent pair of headphones and a great headphone amp. The latter you can DIY too.

Good call - at the moment my best headphones are Senn HD-25's, and being closed mean they can sound a little bassy to say the least.

I'm going to get a pair of hd-650's when I can, and buy or build an amp to get the best out of them.

Also, I've seen a pair of Proac Tablettes for sale which I may be able get for a good price... I guess this is the easy option, but it is very tempting, as right now my monitoring system leaves a lot to be desired to say the least.

Originally posted by tinitus
actually I am unsure whether you may use them fore professional work without permission

At the moment, I only do music production as a hobby, as a bit of fun - I don't make any money from it at the moment. If I do end up hitting number one (which I very much doubt), I'll be sure to get permission.

[BWRX]

I would look into a JX92S in a ported box for nearfield studio monitors.

[pinkmouse]

I'll restate my usual comment. If you want to get into building speakers, fine, build some nice monitors. It's a great hobby and I love it. If you just want to make music, then buy, and save yourself the time, money and stress that is involved. You can get some pretty good stuff fairly cheap in the S/H market if you look around.

[Brett]

Gainclone should be fine, but I reserve my rights to change that after I implement my new monitor system, which will have 4 in a triamp (2 x // woofer with a GC each).

Lots of interesting phone amp designs at Headwize, and headphone reviews and info at headphone.com . I have a very strong preference for electrostatics.

If you can hear the Tablettes and decide, and you like them and the price is right, then get them. I'll ditto all of Pinkmouse's comments from the post before this.
Edit: that said, get the Proacs, build a can amp, have fun and if you get hooked into the DIY thing, build something later.

[KP11520]

Hello,

If you want to build something that will equal what is in a high percentage of recording studios, build a clone of the ProAc Studio 100. Or look for these second hand. In the US, these are $1900 new and get a good price used. They aren't very complicated so maybe a Clone is a good idea.

Another option is find a pair of used ProAc Studio I MkII speakers. These are the predecessor to the Studio 100. The difference is the tweeter is off center in the Studio 100s, requiring a mirrored pair and the tweeter is centered in the Studio I MkIIs. Parts are available from Proac (OEM ScanSpeak maybe modified for ProAc). I just bought new Mid/woofers for mine and I absolutely love them and don't need to upgrade to the Studio 100. Maybe there is a clone kit for these too. Worst case, buy the drivers from ProAc and build everything else yourself (cabinets, crossover, etc.)

When we buy a house with a basement, these will go in my studio with my guitars, amps, new keyboard, Mics, etc with my DAW with ProTools and Digidesign Interface. And I will buy ProAc Response 3.8s, used for the Living Room.

A pair of Studio I MkIIs just went on eBay here in the US for $357 plus shipping. I see them sometimes go for a steal in the UK. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tab%3DWatching

If I were you, I would probably just buy the Studio I MkIIs, just like I did. I got them for a steal at $300 US with the matching Cast Iron stands filled with beads. Bass is wonderful and really attached to the room.

I hope this is useful!

edit: the hyperlink above to build something similar, I looked quickly and didn't see a front firing Bass port (really needed to make these sweet). I would copy exactly what ProAc does. Use their R & D dollars!

Regards//Keith

[pedroskova]

Something like the Radian coaxials, with supplied x-overs, would mean only building the boxes...and the ~94dB efficiency would free you from high powered dreck. For nearfield work, you'd only need ~ 10 watts for permanent hearing loss.