Little help....Alan Shaw(Harbeth P3ESR) or Troels' Ellam 98

[IgorStojcevski]

First of all hi to everyone, I've got to say that this is a very nice place to learn a lott of things regarding audio.

Now my problem,

I've got a small room ( for now its 3,5 x 3,5 meters) and I need a very quallity bookshelf speaker.I've listened the P3ESR and I've got to say that I fell in love with that midrange and sound.I mostly listen jazz, acoustic, soft rock, instrumental music and etc so those are my most important things and the P3ESR did these perfectly.

First my knowledge is not even close to be enough for me to even start thinking about building a speaker from scratch, thats why I want a proven design.

From reading on the net I see that Troels is one well educated guy when it comes to speaker design and that's why I chose the Ellam98 but honestly I have no idea how it sounds compared to the Harbeth sound.

I know that some people say that DIY saves money but I'm not asking this because I want to save money, the difference between the P3ESR and Ellam98 will be give or take 200euros but the joy that will bring me the making of the Ellam, well its priceless.I want to know if there is a design that will offer me the same Harbeth sound, or even better but for me thats all I need.

I dont have good woodworking skils but I have a close uncle who is a carpenter and got all the tools that are needed and his help.

Also these will be speakers that will stay with me for a while, I wont be buying another in the near future so thats why I dont want to make a mistake.

So what do you guys think, are there DIY designs in the 1500-2500$ range for materials that will give me or even better surpass the Harbets or should I just buy them?

A lot of people say that one of the secrets for their sound is in their home made Radial midrange, so I cant buy it and use it in my own design.

Remeber I like that Harbeth sound, I dont want something totaly different.

Thanks for the help and sorry for the long post and my language, english is not my native language.

[weskoki]

Gee that's a tough one!

[DaveCan]

Certainly that is a decent budget compared to what many try to get away with here, including myself lol..

I think the usual questions apply as to: "What's the drivetrain going to be?" (Amp, player and all that etc...)

You could step outside the box and try OB, or??

If I had that budget I may go Altec (GPA), or Acoustic Elegance for sure..

A nice fullrange driver with a low range helper woofer can be pretty darn sweet for the type of music on your play list..

There's a gazillion options and ideas in that price range.. Maybe be more specific as to furnishings, power amp, and that unfortunate WAF factor that many of our fellow Pwhipped music seekers must obey.. Plus you mentioned that the small room is for now, so maybe something planned to grow with the room change.. For now a smallish nice fullrange, later some bass support etc..

[IgorStojcevski]

Thanks for the answer DaveCan,

The amp will be purchased later, after I choose the speakers but will be something in the 1000-1500euros category maybe even second hand, I've listened the Harbeths with some Naim Nait 5i and I really liked it but depending on the speakers I'll purchase what is needed.For the CD player honestly still dont have the idea but after I have the final speakers then I'll search for the right components.I know maybe this is backwards but this is how I like to do it, since my curent speakers are dieing.

Sorry for the noob answer but I'll need to check whats Altec and Acoustic Elegance

I dont know about the idea about a fullrange and woofer, if that is good maybe I'll look into it but as I said I need some proven design because for now my tallents in designing a loudspeaker are close to zero.

For the WAF factor there is no problem, I'm still not married so that is out of the question, furnishings not very important.The room will be bigger but not much, something in the 30m2 range.

I really dont like to have big speakers and boomy bass.I guess for me the midrange must be first right and then everything else.

I hope this helps.

[IgorStojcevski]

Now I see that I've made an error in the budget above but I dont know how to edit it now, the budget is 1500-2000$ at the most not 2500$.

Sorry