Hi.
By no means am I an audiophile or understand more than a bare minimum about HIFI gear, but it happened so that at some point I was a bit bored and built Paul Carmody's Overnight Sensations and later - Amigas. OS have found their place in the garage, whereas the Amigas are in the living room and are mostly used for movies. I never had a proper amp/HIFI setup as back then I couldn't afford anything fancy, so decided to build an amp and did it with an ICE125ASX2 module (ebay) in a metal box and a volume dial. The amp is connected to a small SMSL bluetooth receiver as my TV, annoyingly only outputs either optical or bluetooth..and I really didn't want to have extra remotes. I would normally watch stuff on the TV from an Nvidia Shield.
Now..I think I might be getting to the bored stage again and I might even afford to DIY the Linkwitz LXmini as a) I like the looks b) I have a lot of respect to S. Linkwitz as one of the very well known speakerbuilders.
Could you perhaps help me decide if LXmini is the right thing for me and if it is, how to make it convenient and family friendly (=as few remotes for different devices as possible) as ownership of the aforementioned will need to pass the Wife Approval Committee (WAC).
1) The room they'd be used in is approx 4.5m x 3m, so not too big. They'd have to be pretty close to the front wall. Is that a problem ?
2) As I understand I need miniDSP to go with them. Are there alternatives?
3) Would having a AV receiver instead of an amp solve the problem of a) needing an amp b) wanting as few remotes as possible?
I do have access to 3dprinter and a small DIY cnc, so building wouldn't be a problem, but I'm trying to work out if the investment itself is worth it.
Thanks for any and every comment.
RF
By no means am I an audiophile or understand more than a bare minimum about HIFI gear, but it happened so that at some point I was a bit bored and built Paul Carmody's Overnight Sensations and later - Amigas. OS have found their place in the garage, whereas the Amigas are in the living room and are mostly used for movies. I never had a proper amp/HIFI setup as back then I couldn't afford anything fancy, so decided to build an amp and did it with an ICE125ASX2 module (ebay) in a metal box and a volume dial. The amp is connected to a small SMSL bluetooth receiver as my TV, annoyingly only outputs either optical or bluetooth..and I really didn't want to have extra remotes. I would normally watch stuff on the TV from an Nvidia Shield.
Now..I think I might be getting to the bored stage again and I might even afford to DIY the Linkwitz LXmini as a) I like the looks b) I have a lot of respect to S. Linkwitz as one of the very well known speakerbuilders.
Could you perhaps help me decide if LXmini is the right thing for me and if it is, how to make it convenient and family friendly (=as few remotes for different devices as possible) as ownership of the aforementioned will need to pass the Wife Approval Committee (WAC).
1) The room they'd be used in is approx 4.5m x 3m, so not too big. They'd have to be pretty close to the front wall. Is that a problem ?
2) As I understand I need miniDSP to go with them. Are there alternatives?
3) Would having a AV receiver instead of an amp solve the problem of a) needing an amp b) wanting as few remotes as possible?
I do have access to 3dprinter and a small DIY cnc, so building wouldn't be a problem, but I'm trying to work out if the investment itself is worth it.
Thanks for any and every comment.
RF
I’m not sure SL ever intended them to be a retail item but more of a DIY design to introduce people to dipoles. I think the biggest challenge is amplification. They are power hungry and to do it “right” would mean different power levels to each driver. If you look at the retail product amp sold for them you’ll see what I mean. Regardless of that, they do cast a massive soundstage and are very fun to listen to. All speakers need proper positioning in a room. YMMV. If you can get them 1m from any wall it could work.
If you like bass, you’ll be left wanting. The budget solution is a pair of sealed bass units which means more amps.😄
Amplifiers don't require a remote. You'd, hopefully, be using some sort of preamp output from the receiver to feed the MiniDSP to feed the amps to feed the LxMinis. A 12V trigger would be nice to wake them up but that would be hardwired and any good reciever should have a 12V trigger output.
But, looking at is as an investment transaction, not sure what your cost/benefit calculus is.
most of the diy audio stuff is about the journey and not spending minimal effort to have the end-of-life stereo system.
If you want to learn how they work, how they sound and how they interact with your listening environment and don't mind spending hours in the garage cussing at whatever stage there at, have at it. Don't know your abilities/capabilities. Could have them assembled in a weekend, could take longer. Once setup, they are set and forget. Just run them off of whatever preamp output your receiver has and use the receiver remote as your volume control.
But, looking at is as an investment transaction, not sure what your cost/benefit calculus is.
most of the diy audio stuff is about the journey and not spending minimal effort to have the end-of-life stereo system.
If you want to learn how they work, how they sound and how they interact with your listening environment and don't mind spending hours in the garage cussing at whatever stage there at, have at it. Don't know your abilities/capabilities. Could have them assembled in a weekend, could take longer. Once setup, they are set and forget. Just run them off of whatever preamp output your receiver has and use the receiver remote as your volume control.
Yes there is an alternative to MiniDSP, Nelson Pass designed an analog crossover for LXmini -
https://diyaudiostore.com/collections/all-crossovers/products/analog-crossover-network
https://diyaudiostore.com/collections/all-crossovers/products/analog-crossover-network