budget diy bookshelves and sub

[uzziah]

i'm considering diy'ing this. price range would be around $400 or so. so, i'm thinking:

basic MDF cabinets cut by home depot
sealed cabinets for speakers and dedicated sub

basically, i need reccomendations on tweeters, mids, and a sub, and also access to some blueprints for cabinet design

basic and simple is the name of the game

i've done some headphone amplifier/source etc. modification, but never speakers.

my bookshelves right now are polk r15 powered by a sonic impact t-amp. i plan to retain this t-amp (though modify it with improved volume pot, jacks etc. i have an astron psu powering it. thus, efficiency is very important

for the subwoofer i have very few ideas. i really am not a basshead, and don't need pounding bass. sound quality reproduction of sounds in the lower octaves is the issue here. i also have no idea what to power it with. sub amp must also play into the $400 budget. i am pretty certain that a t-amp is out of the question.

my source is my PC with E-MU 0404 modified soundcard.

all the $ is going into sound quality. i'm not even going to bother lacquering the boxes. they'll sit on cinder blocks anyway

all help is appreciated immensely

[conscious]

Is this sub for music only, or do you want to use it for movie? If for movies you'll want to get down below 40hz and that will cost you in the driver and the amp. Here's a HT subwoofer design that will cost less than $200 for the amp and the driver:
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/ide...?topicID=37100

That leaves $200 for the bookshelves. When upgrading my motto has always been go big or go home. Why upgrade for a little bit of improvement. Those Polks may not be the greatest, but they're not the worst. You could get the Madisound ar.com kit for under $200, but would that be a enough of an upgrade to make it worthwhile? If it were me I would look at kits, or designs using drivers and crossovers more in the $3-400 category. That way you're much more likely to realize the benefit. BTW, what's the power of your amp? Most of these 2 way bookshelves are on the lower end of the efficiency spectrum. If it's a small room you shouldn't have a problem, though.

[Timn8ter]

What SPL output are you looking for? With the little T-amp you'll need fairly efficient speakers if you want them to get loud. Since your source is your PC does this mean you'll be sitting close to the speakers when they are playing? If so, then you can get by with less efficiency which opens up many more options. Keiga makes a neat little 2.1 amp (available at Madisound) which can power a sub and 2 satellites. I think that could be done within your budget.