Suggest a speaker build or kit for a newb...

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Looking to build a stereo pair for my main listening room. I am in the United States and hoping to get some suggestions from those with experience. I have decent woodworking skills but have not done any crossover design or builds so would prefer to find a kit that includes pre-built crossovers or at least a schematic that will allow someone to build it for me (the crossover). Some of the ones I have considered so far include Zaphs ZRT 2.5, Earl Geddes Abbeys, and a few of Troels designs among others. These speakers will be run with a seperate sub (eventually multiple subs) so they don't need to go super low. Let me know if any more info is needed and thanks for the suggestions.

Budget: up to $2000 but would like to be around $1500 for drivers and crossovers
Room: current room is not ideal (suspended floor, carpeted, 18ft deep, 11ft ceilings and open on one side to the dining room) but will be moving soon so room is a non factor
Current equipment: NAD 375BEE integrated (150W x 2), MiniDSP 2x4HD, and a DIY Stereo Integrity HST18 MKii in a 4 cubic foot sealed powered by a Crown K2
 
Regarding the speaker units:
a) choose the speaker units (I can do that for you, if you choose a speaker shop)
b) use a kit

If you haven´t done any crossover design, then
a) let somebody else designs the crossover for you (I can do that for you)
b) use a kit

The own construction will sound much better than the kit.

Send me PM with your Email address, so I can send you the crossover schematic and the cabinet construction.
 
This is a little over your budget, but is THE best speaker I've ever heard:

Spirit Wind, Bare Bones Kit (Pair) - Meniscus Audio

The tweeter and woofer are amongst the best in existence and J. Bagby did a stellar job with the crossover. I'm not a wordy dude when it when it comes to audiophilia, but it doesn't matter because I can't think of words to describe them anyway. They just give less reasons to doubt their fidelity than anything else I've heard.

For something a little more budget friendly, the CSS offerings are excellent for the price: Creative Sound Solutions | High End Speakers and Speaker Kits

Dan
 
Another highly regarded Jeff Bagby design is the Kairos. Since you're using a sub these would work great. Meniscus carries the full kit with the premium crossover components and fully assembled crossovers for under $900 for the pair. IIRC it also comes with the cabinet build plans. LINK.

You could also look at Jeff's floorstanding Solstice kit including a flat pack cabinet at Parts Express.

Here's a LINK (see post 10) where Jeff compares several of his designs, including the Kairos and Solstice.

Finally, if at all possible, I'd recommend listening to any speaker before purchasing it. Every designer "voices" his crossover differently so one size does not fit all. Mark is a great guy at Meniscus (Grand Rapids) and he might have a pair or know someone in MI that would let you listen to the Kairos. Only Parts Express sells the Solstice, but if you ask on the PE Tech Talk forum I bet there's someone with Solstice speakers near MI that would let you listen to them too.
 
In regards to Jeff's designs, my prefrence in order: Spirit Wind, Kairos, Continuum (with a sub or 3way), Solstice. I've heard all of them numerous times as well as back to back.

The spirit winds do everything right. Crisp,detailed, and authentic. The replicate the media precisely. A sub may be needed for HT but not for most music. Much other same can be said of the Kairos with just a little less "air" on the top end. They do benefit from a sub or built as a 3way

The Continuum has become "legendary" for its signature midrange performance. The downside is that the Dayton rs28A is no longer available. Jeff is working with Meniscus on a replacement however.

The Solstice is a fine speaker and many find it quite good. It has solid well defined bass.
 
That looks nice and I've only heard good things about Jeff's designs. Any where I could find more details on the design? There is not much on the Miniscus site

Unfortunately, there's not much available about these speakers. Jeff didn't distribute the info very aggressively because the woofers were difficult to obtain and not many people have built them due to the cost. I wouldn't expect anyone to take my word for it before dropping $2k on a pair of speakers, but as stated earlier, Mark at Meniscus is a great guy - give him a call and see if an audition is possible. I promise it will be worth it.

Dan
 
In regards to Jeff's designs, my prefrence in order: Spirit Wind, Kairos, Continuum (with a sub or 3way), Solstice. I've heard all of them numerous times as well as back to back.

The spirit winds do everything right. Crisp,detailed, and authentic. The replicate the media precisely. A sub may be needed for HT but not for most music. Much other same can be said of the Kairos with just a little less "air" on the top end. They do benefit from a sub or built as a 3way

The Continuum has become "legendary" for its signature midrange performance. The downside is that the Dayton rs28A is no longer available. Jeff is working with Meniscus on a replacement however.

The Solstice is a fine speaker and many find it quite good. It has solid well defined bass.

Chuck, I didn't have the same experience with the Kairos. It is one of my least favorite of Jeff's designs, but since I've really liked almost everything you've designed, I'm wondering if I didn't get a good sampling of them. Maybe bad rooms or tracks, but they just didn't click for me the way many of his designs have. Besides that, I agree with the rest of your list order.

Dan
 
I am looking for a speaker that will still be coasting even at higher volume levels. I don't often listen too loud but there are times when I have friends over or just want to rock out and do turn it up a little. Are the Spirit Winds up to that or should I look for a 2.5 or 3 way. On the flip side, I do want headroom but if the performance is top notch I don't mind sacrificing some SPL.
 
go over to the technical/modifications forum at the Klipsch community. You could make an inexpensive clone of a Klipsch Heritage Belle or La Scala, or try some other horn. There's a JWC "Mini-Punch" hybrid with 2-12" per cabinet, a short horn in front of the 12's and reflex ported rear chamber. Its roughly the size of a Klipsch Belle.

An Altec 511 horn could be used as a midhorn, cheap Selenium/JBL 250X as midhorn driver. (or K55V type could be purchased from Bob Crites) - Some Eminence 15" woofers are suitable for La Scala and Belle. Belle and La Scala could run enlarged/vented back chambers to gain some low end. DJK has covered the vented La Scala mod for many years.

Technical/Modifications - The Klipsch Audio Community

here's the JWC 2-12 mini-punch horn - Kapp12A should make a good driver for one.

Mini Punch DIY plans.

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I am looking for a speaker that will still be coasting even at higher volume levels. I don't often listen too loud but there are times when I have friends over or just want to rock out and do turn it up a little. Are the Spirit Winds up to that or should I look for a 2.5 or 3 way. On the flip side, I do want headroom but if the performance is top notch I don't mind sacrificing some SPL.

This is a little too subjective for me to answer for you. The Spirit Winds will get loud - too loud for sustained normal listening IMO - but at some point the woofer will bottom out or power compression wiill set in just like any other speaker. This will happen at a lower volume than a competently designed 3-way with a larger woofer.

The question becomes, what do you consider coasting and how loud is loud enough. I think once you hear the Spirit Winds your definition of coasting will change and other speakers will sound like they're struggling at much lower volumes. On the other hand, if you're looking to throw backyard parties with them, then a big ol' high efficiency system with 15" woofers and 6 cu ft cabinets will perform better.

Since you're running a sub with them, my guess is that your ears would give out well before the Spirit Winds.

Dan
 
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This is a little too subjective for me to answer for you. .....
Since you're running a sub with them, my guess is that your ears would give out well before the Spirit Winds.

Dan

Yeah, definitely don't need to go that loud. The only thing that worries me about the design is the 5 degree slant on the baffle...but I will figure it out or have someone do it.
 
like many speakers, bass would be emphasized if pushed into a corner - it should be adequate for a Belle or La Scala type with the back of the cabinet near the wall. The Mini-Punch is rear vented so a similar placement say leaving as little as 6 inches of space between the cabinet and wall, OK.

here's a thread on placement of the La Scala speaker

La Scala placement (starting point) - 2-Channel Home Audio - The Klipsch Audio Community

here's an approximate sim going from one pi to 0.5 pi with a Belle - corner placement would
probably extend a bit lower as the walls are acting like a fast flare horn extension.

ask the Klipsch guys - it only takes a bit more than a 4 x8 sheet of wood to make a La Scala or Belle bass horn.
- a suitable woofer might cost $100 - $150 each.

what genre do you play most?

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