Speakers for the 16LS Stereo Tube Amplifier

[WadeS]

If you were to build a set of speakers for the 16LS, what drivers and crossover would you choose if building from scratch? 2 way? low watts?

Thanks,

 

[oldschooltube]

Not exactly sure if you are dead set on building your own speakers but I used a pair of Polk Audio T-15 bookshelf speakers for my 16LS and they sound great. The 16LS can push them plenty loud and at only about $50 a pair they are hard to beat. I tried these speakers head-to-head with Bose speakers and the Polks won hands down. Somehow the Bose speakers sounded horrible with this amp the sound they produced sounded very "canned" and "fake" if you know what I mean. But I digress...If you are not determined to build your own try the Polks. You won't be disappointed.

 

[WadeS]

Thanks, I'll consider them. I guess I've been bitten by the BYO bug and was wondering how to approach a driver/xover combo for this amp. I just made a great pair of 3 ways that work with my hifi amp but was curious about how to get the best sound with the 16LS. Are the T-15s 2 way?

 

[oldschooltube]

The T-15s have a 5.25" driver in a ported enclosure and a 1" silk dome tweeter. They actually produce pretty good bass for their size.

 

[Jeff Yourison]

Many in the DIY speaker building community hang out at the Parts Express forum, and there is a gallery of completed projects, many of which are low budget but sound very good.

Techtalk Speaker Building, Audio, Video Discussion Forum

 

[WadeS]

Jeff, Yes, I bought my drivers and xovers from PE. The forum would not let me join for some reason. It seemed closed, or maybe I was not doing it correctly. Great site though. I've got a few more drivers to play with but still trying to figure out crossover components a bit more before I buy. I have tryed various speaker combos driven by the 16LS and suspect a small 7 inch Low-mid driver and dome tweeter will work out fine but just thought I'd see if anyone has done this before.
I was wondering if I should be considering more sensitive drivers, for example, because of the low wattage output of the 16LS? And/or 1st order xovers instead of 2nd order? Things like that..
Thanks Guys,