I currently have a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 8.3 speakers (the floorstanders). I've had them for nearly 20 years I think and they are great until I turn the volume up. I was considering getting a pair of Q Acoustics 3050i as an upgrade. I'm unsure whether I will hear a significant improvement for the £550 price tag though. Do I have any chance of building a pair of speakers that will give me a significant improvement on the Diamonds if I spend around £550 on parts? If so, where is a good source of plans? I don't want to try designing from scratch if I don't need to. A design that's well proven would suite me better.
I saw a teardown of the 3050i on YouTube. They didn't seem like anything I could not make unless they are full of voodoo that I am ignorant of.
I am an electronics technician and my wood working skills are reasonable.
Any opinions appreciated.
Thanks.
I saw a teardown of the 3050i on YouTube. They didn't seem like anything I could not make unless they are full of voodoo that I am ignorant of.
I am an electronics technician and my wood working skills are reasonable.
Any opinions appreciated.
Thanks.
For an equivalent price, you will almost certainly be able to build a superior pair of speakers from components.
Most of the cost of commercial speakers lies in the enclosures and that is where you can add value with just blood, sweat and tears!
Most of the cost of commercial speakers lies in the enclosures and that is where you can add value with just blood, sweat and tears!
Thanks for the suggestion rayma but I am in the UK so a local supplier would be better. My profile said US, now corrected.
Not sure I like the sound of the blood, Galu. The sweat and tears are expected 😀
Not sure I like the sound of the blood, Galu. The sweat and tears are expected 😀
I would look at Troels site for options, which can be bought as kits
DIY Loudspeaker Projects Troels Gravesen
or if you can accommodate a bigger design the Elsinore:
Elsinore Speakers DIY
closer to home, Falcon Acoustics would be a good resource
and they have a kit available to an LS3/5a
Falcon Acoustics | The Leading DIY Speaker Parts and Kit Supplier since 1972
DIY Loudspeaker Projects Troels Gravesen
or if you can accommodate a bigger design the Elsinore:
Elsinore Speakers DIY
closer to home, Falcon Acoustics would be a good resource
and they have a kit available to an LS3/5a
Falcon Acoustics | The Leading DIY Speaker Parts and Kit Supplier since 1972
I like the look of the Elsinores. They look like they could seriously fill a room with sound! Doesn't seem too difficult to build either.
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Unless you really want to build something yourself you will get to a useable solution fastest by simply buying 2nd hand, where some great speakers are to be found.
Improve a bit probably. Improve significantly probably not although this does depend to some extent on your current room setup and, possibly, what is driving the speakers.
If the main objective is to build a one off to save money compared to a commercial equivalent then DIY doesn't make much sense at a £550 price point. DIY parts are too expensive, mass production brings the price down too much and second hand DIY speakers have little resale value compared to commercial equivalents. DIY itself needs to add significant value for you at this price point in terms of hobby interest, pride of construction, exact finish to match room, increased knowledge, etc...
As mentioned earlier, to get a significant improvement at this price point your best option is likely to be second hand 10 year old(ish) speakers from a competent manufacturer that has modest audiophile desirability to keep the price down but with a significantly improved driver configuration to your current 2 ways. Perhaps something like a 1" tweeter, 4-5" midrange and 2 x 6.5-8" woofers or mild variations around this.
Andy has a point. Most DIY designs use expensive drivers and filter components as a lot of DIY designers do not have access to or do not believe in 'cheap' drivers with equal quality. And most DIY shops have to make al living and prefer selling higher priced stuff.
To me it boils down to: if you are able to find a design with 'industrial grade' drivers and have a way to acquire them, you'll be able to outclass commercial builds easily. And have a lot of fun in research and creation, promise 😉 . Otherwise, the gains will be marginal, notable if well executed. Stay with two-way or 2.5-way designs in this range though.
Here in Holland and in Germany there's a lively internet community and a lot of good and well documented designs come by. We even have our regular 'bang for the buck' competition. I do not know of an English equivalent.
Buying second hand is an option. I would convince myself that old speakers perform well and haven't aged too much by testing them thoroughly.
Thanks to everyone for all the advice and suggestions. I have built a new garage/workshop recently which will obviously need excellent hifi 😉. I might make one of the simpler two way designs and then see how I feel about takling the floor standers. I do like those Elsinores!
The sound become "screeching". The highs in particular sound unequalised, unpleasant to listen to. I am using a Raspberry Pi with IQAudio DAC and a Pro-ject Stereo box S amplifier. I used to have a technics SU-A600 amplifier but I wanted remote control of on/off. The Technics sounded slightly better and I'm trying to get it back from the friend I gave it too to use in the garage. It's been relegated to his loft.
I see. I was thinking it may have been as simple as adding a sub. Pushing the crossover higher may or may not leave the woofer in a good place with regard to its breakup.
However it should do no harm to go to a higher order filter. On the other hand maybe even a new tweeter.
However it should do no harm to go to a higher order filter. On the other hand maybe even a new tweeter.
Half the fun (all of it) is building your own, rather than buying second hand.
All speakers are built to a budget, diy or commercial, certainly as you go higher in $$ then you do get better value, however I think a well designed system with inexpensive drivers could compete with a far more expensive system.
A 2 way could also be in the form of a floorstander, an example would be a pair of 5" drivers MTM with 1" tweeter, the box design is simple and the crossover can be as well (provided you use a coated paper cone or poly driver).
All speakers are built to a budget, diy or commercial, certainly as you go higher in $$ then you do get better value, however I think a well designed system with inexpensive drivers could compete with a far more expensive system.
A 2 way could also be in the form of a floorstander, an example would be a pair of 5" drivers MTM with 1" tweeter, the box design is simple and the crossover can be as well (provided you use a coated paper cone or poly driver).
for example, take a pair of the SB Acoustics SB15MFC30-8 5" in a vented box, pick a decent tweeter for $50 (so many to choose from) keep the xover low around 2k / 2nd order LR - no need for imp. eq as the inductance is so low.
I found that this is VERY location specific. I have searched for the same second-hand items in different European countries and have seen that prices are unrealistically high in some places (e.g. here in the south of Italy) whereas second-hand goods are selling much more cheaply in places where second-hand is not so popular (e.g. Switzerland). The price ratio between these two locations for the same item in the same condition is often 2-3x 🙂
When I needed some new speakers quickly for my new house here in Italy, just to have something to listen to, I ended up shipping a pair of floorstanders from the UK as it was still considerably cheaper than buying the same used model locally. Crazy but true.
I agree, especially if you have to get all the parts shipped to you (e.g. drivers, wood, bitumen panels, crossover components, wiring, connectors, feet) and they all come from different suppliers. You could spend £100-150 just on shipping costs (been there done that). It stops making economic sense but can still be fun.
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The Project amp is only 25w and I wouldnt really think suitable to drive anything but the smallest speakers and nearfield listening, you should consider upgrading the amp to something with a lot more power. Cambridge CXA or Rega Brio would be a big upgrade.
Have you checked out the range of speaker kits available from Wilmslow Audio?
Loudspeaker Kits: Stand Mounted Loudspeakers, Floorstanding Loudspeakers, Sub Woofer Kits