I always take into consideration that those that can, do. Those that can't, denigrate?
To those that have posted constructive comments here shouldn't underestimate the value I put on them.
I follow links and carefully review other options to the best of my ability.
One thing that has attracted me to Troels use of 'better quality' components is the Humble Homemade Hifi Capacitor Comparison.
It suggests that there is potentially something to be gained by the use of 'better' capacitors.
On a final note, I admire the fact that Troels frequently makes it very clear that "The perception of sound is way too subjective". We all know that the room, the gear, the music,
will all have a significant impact on what we perceive as 'good' sound.
Regards,
Dan
I follow links and carefully review other options to the best of my ability.
One thing that has attracted me to Troels use of 'better quality' components is the Humble Homemade Hifi Capacitor Comparison.
It suggests that there is potentially something to be gained by the use of 'better' capacitors.
On a final note, I admire the fact that Troels frequently makes it very clear that "The perception of sound is way too subjective". We all know that the room, the gear, the music,
will all have a significant impact on what we perceive as 'good' sound.
Regards,
Dan
I have built some of his designs, from small 2-ways to his "best" floorstander, but he says "best" about a lot of his speakers.
Unfortunately none of them have impressed me, but it atleast has been a fun experience trying different designs.
Unfortunately none of them have impressed me, but it atleast has been a fun experience trying different designs.
I built the Troels 3WC Bookshelf, and in the end I really really like the sound of them, but if I had to do over I would just buy speakers, either used or new.
The reasons are all subjective and personal. I found out I really hate woodworking, and am more on amplifier building DIY guy. If I had been more of a woodworker/furniture guy they would have been more up my alley. There was also the uncertainty of what they might sound like, and the fear that they are hard to resell.
Also, the kit cost me $750 originally, then I had someone just make me the cabinets because I got overwhelmed, which cost me over $500. They I got OCD and made really nice grills, which probably cost me $250. So they cost $1500 - $1700 once I add up all the nick knacks, and 3 years of procrastination lol. But that's totally just me.
Like I said, if you LIKE doing woodworking and that's your thing then I bet it would be much more fun, and if you do everything yourself will cost less than it cost me. Even with that, you can buy a very nice set of speakers these days for $1K. But this is DIY, so we're not always interested in the shortest route from A to B.
Just my personal experience, take with a grain of salt.
TLDR; good for woodworking people with the right tools. For same money can probably buy as good or better speakers, although mine sound really great.
The reasons are all subjective and personal. I found out I really hate woodworking, and am more on amplifier building DIY guy. If I had been more of a woodworker/furniture guy they would have been more up my alley. There was also the uncertainty of what they might sound like, and the fear that they are hard to resell.
Also, the kit cost me $750 originally, then I had someone just make me the cabinets because I got overwhelmed, which cost me over $500. They I got OCD and made really nice grills, which probably cost me $250. So they cost $1500 - $1700 once I add up all the nick knacks, and 3 years of procrastination lol. But that's totally just me.
Like I said, if you LIKE doing woodworking and that's your thing then I bet it would be much more fun, and if you do everything yourself will cost less than it cost me. Even with that, you can buy a very nice set of speakers these days for $1K. But this is DIY, so we're not always interested in the shortest route from A to B.
Just my personal experience, take with a grain of salt.
TLDR; good for woodworking people with the right tools. For same money can probably buy as good or better speakers, although mine sound really great.
Chortle. Now this type of thing is going to make it really hard for people to post constructive comments.
I'm an avid woodworker with all the tools. For that reason alone I find this gentleman's speaker stands VERY interesting!
Hi Dan,
I was in a similar position to you around a year ago (Troels vs commercial). Unfortunately not all of us have thousands of pounds laying around for 'high end' speakers. I took the Troels route based on his reputation (very good, relatively) and his catalogue of work. The old saying "buy the seller" comes to mind and I was happy enough to go ahead with his SBA10 design.
I'm not sure the money you would lose on resale (on the proacs) wouldn't be too significant, although it depends how long you keep said speakers for. Ebay seems to have lots of listing for reasonabley priced, previously very expensive, speakers.
I'm unsure what your woodwork experience is (I was a complete woodwork novice and found the cabinet build difficult and at times wanted to give up) but the building process is very rewarding, unless you hate woodwork of course in which case it may feel like purgatory.
One thing that irritates, and depending on your woodwork skill is the cabinets may not perfect. One of my SBA cabinets is 3mm deeper than the other and there is a 15 degree angle where there should be a 14 degree angle. I'm pretty sure you would not get that with a commercial offering. However, to the eye this is not noticeable. Another plus of diy is that you can always rebuild / redesign the cabinets.
The Troels sound incredible and leagues beyond anything I had heard previously, although I honestly had not heard many high performing speakers so my perception should be taken with a pinch of salt.
If I had to start again I would be very tempted to build one of the free / open source offerings earlier in this thread, because I am quite skeptical about expensive crossover parts, which which know Troels like. I don't think I would buy commercial speakers again.
I was in a similar position to you around a year ago (Troels vs commercial). Unfortunately not all of us have thousands of pounds laying around for 'high end' speakers. I took the Troels route based on his reputation (very good, relatively) and his catalogue of work. The old saying "buy the seller" comes to mind and I was happy enough to go ahead with his SBA10 design.
I'm not sure the money you would lose on resale (on the proacs) wouldn't be too significant, although it depends how long you keep said speakers for. Ebay seems to have lots of listing for reasonabley priced, previously very expensive, speakers.
I'm unsure what your woodwork experience is (I was a complete woodwork novice and found the cabinet build difficult and at times wanted to give up) but the building process is very rewarding, unless you hate woodwork of course in which case it may feel like purgatory.
One thing that irritates, and depending on your woodwork skill is the cabinets may not perfect. One of my SBA cabinets is 3mm deeper than the other and there is a 15 degree angle where there should be a 14 degree angle. I'm pretty sure you would not get that with a commercial offering. However, to the eye this is not noticeable. Another plus of diy is that you can always rebuild / redesign the cabinets.
The Troels sound incredible and leagues beyond anything I had heard previously, although I honestly had not heard many high performing speakers so my perception should be taken with a pinch of salt.
If I had to start again I would be very tempted to build one of the free / open source offerings earlier in this thread, because I am quite skeptical about expensive crossover parts, which which know Troels like. I don't think I would buy commercial speakers again.
Hi Dan,
We I was thinking of rebuilding my speakers here in Australia I gave a lot of thought to using Mini-DSP instead of passive. Rick Craig seconded that option. However upon further thought I went passive, as I already had the design and years of listening. I didn't have Mini-DSP or any knowledge of how to use it. But you are all onboard with it and that's really the way to go. You will be very happy.
Steve
IMO, Stand mounted speakers are a bad idea, considering that space can be used for more box volume to increase sensitivity and/or lower bass response. Bookshelf speakers are good for a bookshelf or computer desk. Placing them on stands, no , I'll find a different woofer that models well in larger box that has the same floor space..
I found the MiniDSP relatively easy to use. I also had the four channels of amplification and the required cables. I've found the MiniDSP is a great low cost way to try active crossovers. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
Yes, this is always a possibility. I am an amp builder and I have a lot of amp modules and psu's.
That's the beauty of DIY, always a self driven project waiting for whenever the mood gets you.
The miniDSP thingies are nice and allow you to easily implement just about any filter transfer function in a very flexible way. However, once you compare an analog filter with a miniDSP with the same transfer function, you will realize that the miniDSP does not sound great. I do NOT recommend the miniDSP for quality audio reproduction.
That's a lot of mumbo jumbo, if you ask me. The guy is right to say that you should care about quality parts, but please don't buy all the snakeoil gibberish in this video. The same goes for the Humble Homemade HiFi cap comparison. I have learned my lesson with expensive snakeoil parts during the design of the OSMC.
Well, I thought Danny's video was 30 minutes of stating the obvious. He wasn't really trying to sell anything. I thought his message was most to just use common sense with the passive crossover parts.
Anyone who has done forum reading on the subject matter, passive crossover parts, knows that opinions vary widely.
Anyone who has done forum reading on the subject matter, passive crossover parts, knows that opinions vary widely.
I've seen this guys videos before. He has some rather expensive power leads and speaker cables to sell, if you're interested.
my suggestion to the OP is build Troels’ open designs like these 2:
Seas 3-way Classic
Scanspeak 3-way Discovery
plans and crossover values are public, you can choose the parts you prefer 😉
i have personally built the Scanspeak 3-way Discovery 5yrs ago. it was my first multi-way build after trying out several diy Full Range speakers. And to be honest these sounded better than any Harbeth I’ve heard, maybe I just don’t like the sound of resonating thin enclosures of the Harbeths while the Scan 3-way discovery is well braced and damped.
Seas 3-way Classic
Scanspeak 3-way Discovery
plans and crossover values are public, you can choose the parts you prefer 😉
i have personally built the Scanspeak 3-way Discovery 5yrs ago. it was my first multi-way build after trying out several diy Full Range speakers. And to be honest these sounded better than any Harbeth I’ve heard, maybe I just don’t like the sound of resonating thin enclosures of the Harbeths while the Scan 3-way discovery is well braced and damped.
He says that cables with PVC sound worse than cables with Teflon. He literally says "I hate PVC". That's just plain nonsense, and I wouldn't consider this as "stating the obvious". But we're getting lost in the never-ending snakeoil territory...
That said, and after all the discussion it would be nice to get some feedback from the OP after all this input. Did you make up your mind regarding your question in the first post?