AptX Bluetooth transmission uses lossless compression where the signal quality is good. If the signal level is less it will smoothly transition (most of the time) to lossy compression anywhere from 320kbs to something lower.
To compare the LBM on function and price alone to alternatives like Sonos is rather missing the point. The LBM are about sound quality and small size. If you are not looking for a really small speaker and / or you don't care about having the best sound quality, you are not in the market for the LBM. On the other hand if you appreciate sound quality and craftsmenship, the LBM are probably a benchmark in their size range.
To compare the LBM on function and price alone to alternatives like Sonos is rather missing the point. The LBM are about sound quality and small size. If you are not looking for a really small speaker and / or you don't care about having the best sound quality, you are not in the market for the LBM. On the other hand if you appreciate sound quality and craftsmenship, the LBM are probably a benchmark in their size range.
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My Little British Monitors have been chosen as a Staff Pick on Kickstarter! Finally fame and fortune will be mine 🙂
One of 45 chosen from ~900 projects, not bad.
One of 45 chosen from ~900 projects, not bad.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Thanks.
Comparison function and price is exactly what consumers do.
So no answer then, regarding your measurements? 🙂
I wish you luck but as others have said, you are going straight in to the most competitive part of the market. Audioengine are very big in this area for one.
reviews?
In fairness the market is generally overpriced.
What I would like is references to your reviews Simon, not just a quote.
Your kickstarter brief shows comparisons to B & W and Ruark. Both very established and trusted names which carry huge prestige, regardless of features. Very tough competition.
Also what is 'Boundary adjustable'?
Overall, nice little enterprise, though I'm sure you'd need alot of sales backlog to make the 9k fund grow into a business.
Should I say anything nice, then : No you do not have my permission to quote me
😛
In fairness the market is generally overpriced.
What I would like is references to your reviews Simon, not just a quote.
Your kickstarter brief shows comparisons to B & W and Ruark. Both very established and trusted names which carry huge prestige, regardless of features. Very tough competition.
Also what is 'Boundary adjustable'?
Overall, nice little enterprise, though I'm sure you'd need alot of sales backlog to make the 9k fund grow into a business.
Should I say anything nice, then : No you do not have my permission to quote me
😛
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his market is the DIY market. not the ready made mix desk monitors.
his ideas seems sound for a KIT, if he puts it all together E.g. documentation and support. AFIAK he is quite alone at this level of DIY kits.
IMO he should of asked for 10 times the kickstarter amount.
his ideas seems sound for a KIT, if he puts it all together E.g. documentation and support. AFIAK he is quite alone at this level of DIY kits.
IMO he should of asked for 10 times the kickstarter amount.
I totally agree. On both counts. However, kit prices isn't mentioned, only built price. Clarification there would help. Also, asserting that all or most Class D amps aren't suited to hifi will ignite opinion, when it isn't true...
Not wanting to be overly harsh to Simon (although business world will be)
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that boat has sailed > the JBL mentioned above has only 1 class D chip and a nasty SMPS
maybe that's part of his technical angle but I do know he'll never ever be able to match list price even with his bag-o- parts.
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The frequency response measurement was not at a specific SPL, certainly not 100dB. Probably more like 85db.
The kit is available at £269 right now.
Affordable class D amps are **** for midrange and treble. That is not a comment on expensive calss D like hypex or ice. I note Genelec are currently using class D for bass and class AB for midrange and treble.
As a quick comparison with Sonos, a stereo pair of Play 1 is £380. The standard finish LBM is £449, has a braced birch plywood cabinet instead of thin plastic, class AB amps with 80watts RMS rather than class D, bass that extends to 60hz rather than 100hz, a flat response rather than upper bass boosted and they include vibration damping desk stands. Seems a fair price in my mind.
I'm getting a negative vibe from here so I'll be checking out.
The kit is available at £269 right now.
Affordable class D amps are **** for midrange and treble. That is not a comment on expensive calss D like hypex or ice. I note Genelec are currently using class D for bass and class AB for midrange and treble.
As a quick comparison with Sonos, a stereo pair of Play 1 is £380. The standard finish LBM is £449, has a braced birch plywood cabinet instead of thin plastic, class AB amps with 80watts RMS rather than class D, bass that extends to 60hz rather than 100hz, a flat response rather than upper bass boosted and they include vibration damping desk stands. Seems a fair price in my mind.
I'm getting a negative vibe from here so I'll be checking out.
I wouldnt check out just yet.
People here as a collective have almost too much knowledge - in a good way - and can be of huge help despite their perceived attitudes.
I had not realised these were available as a kit NOW.... my god-daughter needs 'a simple hifi solution' and these fit the bill on many levels, prime one is that they are made of wood, next down the list is that she and I can make them together.
I'll be in contact.
Thanks. Perhaps you are right I've re read the thread and there are supportive comments. It's just when you put your heart and time into something the negative ones stick. I especially thought this forum would like the DIY kit.
Tenson,
Just wanted to wish you the best of luck in this endeavor.
I hope my earlier comments of how you are up against stiff competition is not taken as a negative vibe - it's just a reality of the highly competitive state of where compact desktop speakers are when you are up against giants who make injection molded boxes and pump them out by the millions. Congrats on being selected kickstarter of the week. It looks like you indeed put a lot of passion into this and I commend you on that. The boxes do indeed look very nice.
Do you have distortion measurements at 85db and 1m?
Just wanted to wish you the best of luck in this endeavor.
I hope my earlier comments of how you are up against stiff competition is not taken as a negative vibe - it's just a reality of the highly competitive state of where compact desktop speakers are when you are up against giants who make injection molded boxes and pump them out by the millions. Congrats on being selected kickstarter of the week. It looks like you indeed put a lot of passion into this and I commend you on that. The boxes do indeed look very nice.
Do you have distortion measurements at 85db and 1m?
@ simon
Methinks my replies were overly blunt sounding.
The quality wood construction is a huge advantage over many similar products.
I would add that IF you use FSC certified timber sources, you can add that as an additional selling point 😉
The kit option is intriguing and more interesting to me, hence asking the kits price.
The comment about the SPL was merely as there is no reference voltage stated as most pro companies do provide (I.e. SPL @ 1 watt/ 1 metre) and from the scale used it implied (due to the cursor value on the plot that it was taken at high SPLs) the fact it was not clarified as either correct, or arbitrary value doesn't help. I.e. Its either arbitrary or a mystery, leaving me wondering which, and if not arbitrary, is it an oversight? Again, some may see the plot and think "I can get that response at near 100dB!!! If the speaker does not live up to that scaling, its borderline misselling. Despite the fact I am very sure that is not the intent at all, I still believe it needs correcting for real SPL especially as it is in your sales pitch literature. Nit picking? Maybe I am, but as far as business endeavours go, I'm sure you'd want every last detail sewn up, so that you are totally water tight, so to speak.
As I commented " pretty neat", I meant it. My criticism was meant to be entirely constructive. (I wouldn't have entered draw if I didn't admire them)
Leather is cool too (well not in this weather). Ive kept my knackered Ikea sofa despite being shagged, so that I can cover my next bookshelves with it 😉 I had planned this for a while as a bit of a homage to my late dads LS35a knock offs from his time at Goodmans in the 70s when they had the contract for a while.
As far as BBCesque construction goes:
Any plans for beech cleats?
Bitumous panel lining?
Or is this the choice of the kit builder? If so, what damping does.the built version use?
Methinks my replies were overly blunt sounding.
The quality wood construction is a huge advantage over many similar products.
I would add that IF you use FSC certified timber sources, you can add that as an additional selling point 😉
The kit option is intriguing and more interesting to me, hence asking the kits price.
The comment about the SPL was merely as there is no reference voltage stated as most pro companies do provide (I.e. SPL @ 1 watt/ 1 metre) and from the scale used it implied (due to the cursor value on the plot that it was taken at high SPLs) the fact it was not clarified as either correct, or arbitrary value doesn't help. I.e. Its either arbitrary or a mystery, leaving me wondering which, and if not arbitrary, is it an oversight? Again, some may see the plot and think "I can get that response at near 100dB!!! If the speaker does not live up to that scaling, its borderline misselling. Despite the fact I am very sure that is not the intent at all, I still believe it needs correcting for real SPL especially as it is in your sales pitch literature. Nit picking? Maybe I am, but as far as business endeavours go, I'm sure you'd want every last detail sewn up, so that you are totally water tight, so to speak.
As I commented " pretty neat", I meant it. My criticism was meant to be entirely constructive. (I wouldn't have entered draw if I didn't admire them)
Leather is cool too (well not in this weather). Ive kept my knackered Ikea sofa despite being shagged, so that I can cover my next bookshelves with it 😉 I had planned this for a while as a bit of a homage to my late dads LS35a knock offs from his time at Goodmans in the 70s when they had the contract for a while.
As far as BBCesque construction goes:
Any plans for beech cleats?
Bitumous panel lining?
Or is this the choice of the kit builder? If so, what damping does.the built version use?
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I've been shot down before even making a product in the past, so I know how painful things can be...... it's taken me 15years to get what I make recognised as 'good stuff' by the industry.
If you have 'acceptable to this crowd' measurements and even listening reviews, POST THEM.
An alternative to the latter would be to send a pair of speakers on a 'tour' of UK based diyaudio.com members, there are plenty who's word may not be 'gospel' BUT they do know whats what when they listen.
Incidentally, I've heard the baby B&W / Sonos.
B&W are very nice in many ways.
Sonos are goppingly horrid in every way...... Tis funny trying watching my friend give a sales pitch on Sonos products through gritted teeth while telling downright lies about them 😀😀😀
It's even harder when someone in your family has purchased them and are showing off and you are forced to say 'very nice'. Same for the accursed wave radio. Saying 'you wasted your money' doesn't go down well 🙂
I will note I will be in the market for desktop speakers in about 18 months. project sprog has got in the way of DIY!
I will also note that if you offer your CNC services around on this forum there are turnable plinth builders and speaker builders who may well want to put business your way. Wont pay the mortgage but as tesco say, every little helps! If you can machine panzerholz on it even better.
The wood is FSC, in fact it is produced locally to me. There is a huge timber yard (locally owned too) beside the Thames where trees come off the boat at one end of the site and wood product comes out the other. Amazing to visit, it makes me and my car feel very small!
You are quite right about changing the SPL axis. I'll do that.
The BBC link only goes as far as using Birch ply and the visuals. IME there is very little reason to mass damp such a small box because the panel resonances will not be dropped to the 'non-critical' 100-400Hz range as you can in a bigger speaker. The cross-panel bracing makes a huge difference though.
Regarding reviews, I visited Paul Messenger with my final prototype. He offered to do a full review but it would not be until around December so gave me a 'snippet' quote to use for the Kickstarter. If this succeeds I will of course seek reviews with a finished product.
Sippy, what do you make?
You are quite right about changing the SPL axis. I'll do that.
The BBC link only goes as far as using Birch ply and the visuals. IME there is very little reason to mass damp such a small box because the panel resonances will not be dropped to the 'non-critical' 100-400Hz range as you can in a bigger speaker. The cross-panel bracing makes a huge difference though.
Regarding reviews, I visited Paul Messenger with my final prototype. He offered to do a full review but it would not be until around December so gave me a 'snippet' quote to use for the Kickstarter. If this succeeds I will of course seek reviews with a finished product.
Sippy, what do you make?
Totally agree. If you can satisfy folks here in the main, then you'll have no problem with the rest of the world 🙂
Only ever heard Sonos for a matter of minutes and I was thinking "just give me a lift and Tannoys in the ceiling"
These are by appearances a cut above.
But are they more Kef Koda, or LS50s? Being a natural sceptic (and proud of my less than professionally finished DIY jobs) I guess I, and maybe others, need a bar to measure against.
Also being cheap, does the cost add value for me interms of labour saving that you obvious investment in time and energy presents me?
Hard to say, without hearing.
I would love to measure my main speakers, haven't found the time. Id love to stack them against some of the other good DIY designs/kits found here (assuming mine are good).
Would I be disappointed in my efforts or would I surprise others?
One day, if there's a show near me, maybe ill find out. 😉
Only ever heard Sonos for a matter of minutes and I was thinking "just give me a lift and Tannoys in the ceiling"
These are by appearances a cut above.
But are they more Kef Koda, or LS50s? Being a natural sceptic (and proud of my less than professionally finished DIY jobs) I guess I, and maybe others, need a bar to measure against.
Also being cheap, does the cost add value for me interms of labour saving that you obvious investment in time and energy presents me?
Hard to say, without hearing.
I would love to measure my main speakers, haven't found the time. Id love to stack them against some of the other good DIY designs/kits found here (assuming mine are good).
Would I be disappointed in my efforts or would I surprise others?
One day, if there's a show near me, maybe ill find out. 😉
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Hi,
Product identity is important. Would they be called Little British Monitors or you would be giving some name to it ? 'LBM' is good too.
Noob query as I dont know if it is possible. How about a little switch for bass boost like LS 3/5A which can be turned on or off ?
Regards.
Product identity is important. Would they be called Little British Monitors or you would be giving some name to it ? 'LBM' is good too.
Noob query as I dont know if it is possible. How about a little switch for bass boost like LS 3/5A which can be turned on or off ?
Regards.
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