Help with First DIY Build

[Ironman129]

New to the forum and new to DIY speakers. I've been overseas for the last 2 years and as a gift to myself for finishing the contract I decided to get my self a new HT setup. I was originally thinking of doing retail, but have been turned on to DIY as a way of getter more and better sound for your money. My question is where to start.

I've looked at the Orion's and think they look amazing. I'd have no problem with the construction, what's holding me back is building an amp for each driver. The Pluto's look nice and I could always start with a 2.2 setup and go from there. I've also been told a full range driver is a good place to start. Audio Nivana or Fostex driver and you can even get the pre cut wood in a kit from Madison (almost feels like cheating!).

The problem is I don't know where they're going yet. I'll finish in Jan, probably be in an apartment for up to 6 months and then hopefully a house. So I need something that is pretty universal in terms of location and room size. Again, I am comfortable with building the cabinet especially if it's just following plans, I'm a complete noob when it comes to the electronics. I am going to have the most time to do this right when i go home. If I wait until I am settled, I'm going to be back working full time and don't know how much time I'd have for the build.

Would be used for pretty much 50/50 music and movies. I want something that is clear and detailed at lower levels with a nice wide soundstage. Majority of time will be sitting in front of them with a glass of wine rather that waking the neighbors! Any suggestions? Thanks for the help.

[talaerts]

It is not evident to build a full multichannel processor amplifier for a good quality/price. You could use decent quality power amp modules like Hypex, but it adds up. And then you still need preamp processor.
Now i did notice that many ht receivers sound ok for films, and are often disappointing for stereo.
Hence, perhaps you could by a ht receiver, and in parallel look for a good stereo amp for music (perhaps diy a kit) and switch the connection to the main speakers between these amps.

About the speakers, in general full range drivers could work, but then you'll need to add a subwoofer to enjoy movies with full impact.

[DrDyna]

Originally Posted by talaerts

Hence, perhaps you could by a ht receiver, and in parallel look for a good stereo amp for music (perhaps diy a kit) and switch the connection to the main speakers between these amps.

For a long time, I had mine setup with the pre-out L and R on my HT receiver going to the aux input on my 2 channel rig, so that I could just flip my preamp to aux and set the volume at a fixed level to watch movies.

WAF has started to take effect on my audio stuff though, and I've found myself with a single AVR. Surprisingly though, it's not bad sounding at all.

[fatmarley]

Originally Posted by Ironman129

I want something that is clear and detailed at lower levels with a nice wide soundstage. Majority of time will be sitting in front of them with a glass of wine rather that waking the neighbors! Any suggestions? Thanks for the help.

For listening at low volumes i'd look at a high-efficiency design.

Something using the JA8008 could be just the job.

Have a look here for some ideas: Click

[Ironman129]

What do you think of the Statement Monitors as a first DIY? My thought is that I can start with the Monitors, then do the center, and finally the statements themselves after I have the experience. I then have a nice HT setup when I am finished and if I mess up it won't be so costly compared to starting with the statements themselves. SL Pluto 2.1 are also very appealing as well as Fonken. I can see why people get addicted to this hobby!