Desktop Speakers

[ZirconiumZephyr]

Hi All,

I've been reading through this tread in the full range forum and was wanting the opinion of the "multiway crowd". I'm looking to build a pair of speakers for my desk over the summer holidays but so far I'm having a hard time deciding which way to go.

They will be used for nearfield listening most of the time but if at any moment I want to just sit back and enjoy some music properly then I'll probably be reclining 2-3m away so I imagine if I choose a design based on that idea then I'd be better off. I mostly listen to jazz and classical but also some piano pop stuff like Ben Folds and Regina Spektor.

Ideally want to keep the costs below $300 and have been considering the fonken range from planet10 but wanted some other opinions.

Look forward to some opinions

[Glowbug]

http://www.madisound.com/catalog/pro...oducts_id=8644

Probably more than you want to spend, but that's a crazy good price for those components.

[ZirconiumZephyr]

While that kit does look tempting, with shipping costs to Australia I'd imagine it wouldn't look quite so enticing. Really looking for components I can source locally such as the range from Darcher Audio.

I should also mention that i'll be running these off my LM3847 chipamp which behaves best with 8ohm loads.

[Glowbug]

How much power do you have available?

Fonkens would be good, or maybe WR125s and a ribbon tweet...like the RAW Acoustics stuff used to be.

[ZirconiumZephyr]

Sorry, that should read LM3875. I should have about 50W into 8ohms assuming I didn't stuff up in making my amp
I was quite happy with the fonken idea until I read that they didn't handle complicated classical music so well. Just wanted to see what other options were available.
I also had a quick look over the ZaphAudio site, some of the designs there look nice, but I'm a little inexperienced to know what all of the measurements and recommendations mean.

Edit: Just had a quick look for the WR125, seems the CSS FR125SR is a very similar design, as I can quite easily get hold of this driver I may look into this. Would I be better off pairing it with a tweeter or just making some mOnkens, what would be the benefits of this over the Fonken design?

[ZirconiumZephyr]

so, I'm currently leaning toward a pair of fonkens, just a few things holding me back.

1. I do listen to a reasonable amount of classical music, is the high dynamic range and complexity of this type of music going to be stifled by a single FR driver?

2. While interested in Enabling the drivers, I can't really justify the expense of purchasing from planet10 (postage to aus etc), have any other aussies done this technique and do they know of equivalent products?

3. Regarding wood, I'm not sure if we have quite the same grading of plywood here in aus as the us. Can anyone shed light on what sort of ply I would want? (looking to order from Mr Ply&wood depending on availability)