Worth clone/DIY March Audio Sointuva speakers with Purifi woofers and SB Satori Beryllium tweeters?

Is it worth trying to clone/DIY March Audio Sointuva speakers with Purifi woofers and SB Satori Beryllium tweeters and come in well below the $4000/pair MSRP??

Erin's Audio Corner stellar review:

MarchAudio.JPG
 
The simple answer is can you build a cabinet that nice and do you value that? Also, most likely your crossover will not be as well tuned unless you have great measurement gear like Erin's Klippel.
I don't mind a clean, industrial cabinet. What disappoints a bit about March Audio is how low the sensitivity is at 82-83dB. The Purifi woofer is around 88-89dB, and the Be tweeter at least 95dB sensitive, and I would prefer a speaker that is at least 3dB more sensitive, needing half the power. I suppose some people will go with dsp crossover, but I'd prefer a passive solution..
 
What disappoints a bit about March Audio is how low the sensitivity is at 82-83dB. The Purifi woofer is around 88-89dB, and the Be tweeter at least 95dB sensitive, and I would prefer a speaker that is at least 3dB more sensitive, needing half the power. I suppose some people will go with dsp crossover, but I'd prefer a passive solution..
I suspect a big factor in the low sensitivity of the Sointuva is the baffle step compensation that is designed into it... and every small speaker will have the same issue.

A 6" driver with a sensitivity of 89 dB/2.83V has that sensitivity at 1k. Put it into a typical box and place it out in the room away from the walls, and measure it at 100 Hz and it will make 83 dB/2.83V at best. In order to make the whole speaker sound good, it is necessary to pad down the woofer's high frequency response to match the low frequency response...

The parts cost of this speaker is over $2800 at DIY retail pricing. $4000 a pair seems like quite a bargain.
 
March has now released Ukkonen (thunderstorm), tower 2-way with 8" Purifi. Better sensitivity!
Looks very nice. Price is now encroaching(?) upon the famous brands, though.

I do wonder how Ukkonen would compare to something like Solen Sasandu TX Textreme $4267 including cabinets:
CA$4155 ($3081)
https://www.solen.ca/en/products/sb-acoustics-satori-sasandu-tx-3way-loudspeaker-kit-pair
CA$1600 ($1186) for cabinets
https://www.solen.ca/en/products/sba-scoustics-satori-sansandu-bs-black-satin-cabinet-pair
 
I don't mind a clean, industrial cabinet. What disappoints a bit about March Audio is how low the sensitivity is at 82-83dB. The Purifi woofer is around 88-89dB, and the Be tweeter at least 95dB sensitive, and I would prefer a speaker that is at least 3dB more sensitive, needing half the power. I suppose some people will go with dsp crossover, but I'd prefer a passive solution..
The driver data sheet sensitivity is for 2pi half space. You lose 6dB going to 4pi (your speaker box in the middle of a room). In addition, Hoffmans Iron Law states that you can pick any two of sensitivity F3 and box volume and the 3rd will be given by laws of physics. A small passive box digging deep has low sensitivity. Nothing can change that unless you are willing to replace the athmospheric air with another gas...
 
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We would need a gas where the speed of sound is much faster than air, like 4x faster. The wavelengths get much longer, and all drivers are omnidirectional. Even a 15" woofer at 1k is omnidirectional. Horns and waveguides would have no effect unless they were massive.

It can be done with normal air, but the temperature needs to be pretty high, like 900 degrees C. That is an uncomfortable listening room. I think hydrogen or helium might work at normal temperatures and pressures due to the very low density compared to air...

😉
 
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the gas we want should have highest possible mass density (gives the most SPL for a given volume acceleration). Inside the box we should have iso-thermal expansion (the box stuffed so that the gas is no longer in adiabatic expansion mode). Lowering the pressure should also help.
 
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The Helios is a very well regarded DIY speaker with a similar topology to the Sointuva but at a much lower price point, and if you're dead set on an expensive woofer then Javad is currently building a version using the new textreme version of the SB woofers which should keep the cost down compared to the Sointuva's approach:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/DIYLoudspeakerProjecPad/permalink/2253855674970257
 
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