I'm new to the world of DIY, but have been into Hifi for more than 20 years, I currently have 2 separate systems, my main Linn Akubarik stereo system, and a secondary Linn Majik surround sound set up used only for TV duties.
My general approach is to build a DIY replacement for my existing setup which improves on the sound quality - main aim is to replace my stereo setup.
To get my DIY career started and learn the ropes I thought a "simple" bookshelf build from an existing design would be a sensible idea.
being new to the DIY world, and not knowing anything about pros/cons of drivers I'm struggling to pick a design which is going to provide an improvement over the Majik 109s. I've looked at a number of designs which seem sensible but I've got no idea how to pick the right 1 for me.
would be good to understand how to go about picking the right design.
thanks in advance!
My general approach is to build a DIY replacement for my existing setup which improves on the sound quality - main aim is to replace my stereo setup.
To get my DIY career started and learn the ropes I thought a "simple" bookshelf build from an existing design would be a sensible idea.
being new to the DIY world, and not knowing anything about pros/cons of drivers I'm struggling to pick a design which is going to provide an improvement over the Majik 109s. I've looked at a number of designs which seem sensible but I've got no idea how to pick the right 1 for me.
would be good to understand how to go about picking the right design.
thanks in advance!
Trying to pick drivers at this stage is starting at the wrong end of the problem.
First consider the size and acoustic nature of your listening room, where you sit, how many people will be listening at once, how much bass you really need or want, and what kind of music you mostly play.
From that you should be able to determine whether the best choice for your needs will be a conventional box design, a waveguide configuration, or an open baffle.
Then go to the websites for Meniscus Audio, Madisound, Parts Express, and diySoundGroup. Between them you will find over one hundred different designs by people with lots of experience. Somewhere in that mix you should be able to find at least several diy kits that meet your needs. Obviously cost is also an important consideration and you should be able to find options at various price levels.
There is no single 'right one' for you. You will have to look at various options, understand their pros and cons in the context of your listening environment, and make a choice.
First consider the size and acoustic nature of your listening room, where you sit, how many people will be listening at once, how much bass you really need or want, and what kind of music you mostly play.
From that you should be able to determine whether the best choice for your needs will be a conventional box design, a waveguide configuration, or an open baffle.
Then go to the websites for Meniscus Audio, Madisound, Parts Express, and diySoundGroup. Between them you will find over one hundred different designs by people with lots of experience. Somewhere in that mix you should be able to find at least several diy kits that meet your needs. Obviously cost is also an important consideration and you should be able to find options at various price levels.
There is no single 'right one' for you. You will have to look at various options, understand their pros and cons in the context of your listening environment, and make a choice.
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'how to go about picking the right design' - first, define the weaknesses of your existing system
FWIW, review of Majiks: Linn Majik 109 loudspeaker | Stereophile.com
FWIW, review of Majiks: Linn Majik 109 loudspeaker | Stereophile.com
Thanks for the advice
these will be rear speakers in a 5.1 set up and only used for movie's.
Sub will handle the bass requirements so a 2 or 3-way box design should be fine as they'll be mounted high on the rear wall.
seating is off center to the rear of the room in an almost square space.
Given what I said about does box design make most sense, I'm not sure of the criteria for picking open baffle or waveguide.
great thanks I'll go and check these out
these will be rear speakers in a 5.1 set up and only used for movie's.
Sub will handle the bass requirements so a 2 or 3-way box design should be fine as they'll be mounted high on the rear wall.
seating is off center to the rear of the room in an almost square space.
Given what I said about does box design make most sense, I'm not sure of the criteria for picking open baffle or waveguide.
great thanks I'll go and check these out
this is I guess partly what I was referring to about driver & design choice, I want to make sure the on & off axis response is better than the current 109s.
do I just need to look at potential designs and the driver curves to pick something which looks good?
Been looking at the website suggested.
I should have said up front that I'm UK based, will try and see if I can find something similar over here
I should have said up front that I'm UK based, will try and see if I can find something similar over here
Phobic,
My response was based on an assumption that these speakers were to be used for listening to music in a stereo environment. That's the typical application on this forum.
However, you apparently are going to use these for rear surround speakers mounted high up in a 5.1 HT application and that's not an application I'm familiar with. My guess is that you would want a fairly compact box speaker with wide dispersion.
You will also want the tonality to match fairly well with the rest of the speakers in the system, so at a minimum the cone materials should be the same or close to those used in the other speakers.
I would also think if you are going to mount these against the ceiling that they should be sealed and not ported. Unfortunately, there are not many sealed 2-way kits available. Some of Jeff Bagby's designs have been built and tested as sealed with good results. The Soprano design fits that bill and is very compact.
Also, the Continuum II is designed as sealed and gets consistently excellent reviews. It is modelled after the famous BBC studio monitors.
You can find these on the Meniscus website. But how well any of these will mesh with the rest of your system is still a question I can't help you with. Maybe someone else can provide more help.
My response was based on an assumption that these speakers were to be used for listening to music in a stereo environment. That's the typical application on this forum.
However, you apparently are going to use these for rear surround speakers mounted high up in a 5.1 HT application and that's not an application I'm familiar with. My guess is that you would want a fairly compact box speaker with wide dispersion.
You will also want the tonality to match fairly well with the rest of the speakers in the system, so at a minimum the cone materials should be the same or close to those used in the other speakers.
I would also think if you are going to mount these against the ceiling that they should be sealed and not ported. Unfortunately, there are not many sealed 2-way kits available. Some of Jeff Bagby's designs have been built and tested as sealed with good results. The Soprano design fits that bill and is very compact.
Also, the Continuum II is designed as sealed and gets consistently excellent reviews. It is modelled after the famous BBC studio monitors.
You can find these on the Meniscus website. But how well any of these will mesh with the rest of your system is still a question I can't help you with. Maybe someone else can provide more help.
great thanks for the advice, take your point on speaker matching. My aim would be to replace all of the speakers in the 5.1 setup with DIY units, so think that might help with a little flexibility in speaker choice.
The design of good rear speakers is different to that for good main speakers because of their different roles. The main speakers provide the direct sound and their directivity should be smooth and of limited beam width in broadly the same manner as musical instruments (but not precisely). The rear speakers provide lower level reflected sound and will generally benefit from a wider directivity. Neither open baffle or waveguides are particularly well suited to rear speaker duties.
Your Linn speakers are a bit weird for main speakers in using overly small drivers and having limited output. However, as rear speakers the limited output is less of a problem and the wider beam width compared to conventional main speakers a possible advantage subject to the on-axis response not being too poor. Is it?.
Are you looking for better main speakers or better rear speakers?
PS I have just glanced at the Majik review linked above and it does not have the directivity I assumed from the driver sizes. My apologies and hopefully I will be less quick on the draw next time. The site won't let me correct my post above. It is a weird speaker that may have some attractive sound effects but is likely to be less suitable as a rear speaker than stated above.
Your story seems to be changing quite a bit. First it's about a stereo set up, then about rear surround speakers, and now about the entire 5.1 HT system. So it's really hard to offer any consistent advice.
I suggest you first decide what you are going to replace. If it's the entire 5.1 HT system, then the rear surrounds are the last thing to worry about. You need to decide on the front speakers first and the rear surrounds can then follow.