I have been thinking about when I have money for my eventual reference system and listening room (whenever I get the *@#@ out of college... haha)
If you had 15,000 dollars to spend on a pair of speakers, would you still DIY? Are there any designs in that category (besides the e-speakers ones, I don't really like them)?
If you had 15,000 dollars to spend on a pair of speakers, would you still DIY? Are there any designs in that category (besides the e-speakers ones, I don't really like them)?
The Andromeda is pretty high-dollar, though I don't know if it could suck down a 15k budget.
Now, if you built the Andromeda for *active* use, that could probably use up your whole budget.
And that could be really yummy.
http://home.hetnet.nl/~geenius/Andromeda.html
Now, if you built the Andromeda for *active* use, that could probably use up your whole budget.
And that could be really yummy.
http://home.hetnet.nl/~geenius/Andromeda.html
Ummm.... is that 15k really burning a hole in your pocket? I mean if you could DIY a reference level speaker for say, 5k, would you still feel the need to spend 15k? Because a setup like the Orions plus a huge IB sub would probably come in well below there, but it wouldnt let you tell your friends 'This is my $15k audio system'.
a 6.1 channel Orion HT with the above mentioned IB sub array would come close to your budget.
Some diamond tweeters would help use up the budget pretty quickly, too. As would the new large ribbons by the guy who designed the Ravens. Add some accuton mids and woofers, and go nuts on the subwoofer end and you're there, especially if you use the most expensive caps and coils in your XO. At this level (or almost any level), I'd go active, though.
If I was spending that kind of money, some of it would go to accurate measuring equipment and room treatments - still part of "the system"
Some diamond tweeters would help use up the budget pretty quickly, too. As would the new large ribbons by the guy who designed the Ravens. Add some accuton mids and woofers, and go nuts on the subwoofer end and you're there, especially if you use the most expensive caps and coils in your XO. At this level (or almost any level), I'd go active, though.
If I was spending that kind of money, some of it would go to accurate measuring equipment and room treatments - still part of "the system"
I've virtually finished an active speaker project that has cost me $6k so far. Everything from the amps to the cabinets was DIY.
My thoughts behind the whole thing is that to beat them convincingly would take more than $12k DIY and probably more likely double or treble that for commercial stuff.
Better to do as others have suggested and really get your design sorted and use respected parts. Then make the most of it with tri-amping, digital XO's and room correction. Its what I did and the results are some of the best sounds I've heard.
My thoughts behind the whole thing is that to beat them convincingly would take more than $12k DIY and probably more likely double or treble that for commercial stuff.
Better to do as others have suggested and really get your design sorted and use respected parts. Then make the most of it with tri-amping, digital XO's and room correction. Its what I did and the results are some of the best sounds I've heard.
On the electronics side I use a VST plugin client called Console, from there I use Waves Linear EQ for the XO filters, Voxengo CurveEQ for DRC and Voxengo Delay for time/phase correction.
I use an RME HDSP 9632 soundcard and the onboard DAC's. Media is entirely digital from DVD's, WAV's etc. Music playback is bit perfect.
Amplification is 6 x P101's from Rod Elliot, I'll be replacing that soon though with 6 x Class-A KrellClone KSA50's.
If your interested the rest of details are in this thread:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52876&perpage=10&pagenumber=25
Its a bit long winded though but some post do actually have some useful info.
I use an RME HDSP 9632 soundcard and the onboard DAC's. Media is entirely digital from DVD's, WAV's etc. Music playback is bit perfect.
Amplification is 6 x P101's from Rod Elliot, I'll be replacing that soon though with 6 x Class-A KrellClone KSA50's.
If your interested the rest of details are in this thread:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52876&perpage=10&pagenumber=25
Its a bit long winded though but some post do actually have some useful info.
I had a pretty good fullrange frontloaded horn system until recently, almost all of it DIY. When I moved to do the sort of work that has value for me and had to take a smaller house, I looked at DIY-ing a smaller direct radiator type system. Instead, I bought some KEF 104.2 speakers secondhand for a reasonable price. Money wasn't the issue, but time and other constraints, such as having a busy social and work schedule, not having the space to build I did before, getting back into playing music etc. I got very good sound, now, with no angst and probably 100% resale value.bjackson1 said:
If I won the lottery, I'd build what I wanted, when I moved back to my house. Most of it would be similar to what I had before, just better finished so it intograted aesthetically better. But to do that, I'd probably pay someone with better woodworking skills to build my designs.
Until then, I enjoy the very midfi system I have now; it doesn't get in the way of my enjoyment of the music at all, unlike audiophilia.
I guess I'm easily impressed. The 7" two way using Usher ScanSpeak knockoff drivers impresses the heck out of me and they are well under $1,000/pair. Or they were a couple years ago. Five of those and a decent sub would leave me pretty happy. I've heard some darn impressive systems and installs but I just can't imagine going for a full $15,000 budget speaker system. For the more reasonable among us, the point of diminishing return is well below the $15,000 point. I guess to me, this is like asking what is the best car you can get under $125,000. Most folks that can afford a $125,000 car can probably pop for a $250,000 car and if not, they probably shouldn't be spending $125,000 in the first place.
Of course, I only say this because I can't afford a $15,000 pair of speakers.
Of course, I only say this because I can't afford a $15,000 pair of speakers.
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