Hey, guys. I'm looking to build some new speakers this spring. I'm thinking about some 2pi towers which I know at least 2 people are using with this amp with good results. I was gonna build them but then I keep thinking about single driver speakers and how well they are supposed to match with a single ended tube amp. Maybe some mark audio drivers or fostex or maybe some wild burro betsys? Anyone have any experience with any of these with this amp? I'm also open to modifying an older speaker such as an older klipsch but I've got to keep the price down to about $500 max. So what's everyone running? Thanks in advance for any help. Everyone has been very helpful on this forum.
I've run Klipsch Heresys, small Fostex fe103 bookshelves, and big Mark Audio Super Pensils with my SSE at home for many hours each. You probably want to know what is best, but they all had/have their strengths.
I bet the 2pi are a good match. You owe it to yourself to try a "big" full ranger at some point too. Then you simply have to do the AMT/ribbon thing.
This is just the first pair of the last speakers you ever intend to build.
I bet the 2pi are a good match. You owe it to yourself to try a "big" full ranger at some point too. Then you simply have to do the AMT/ribbon thing.
This is just the first pair of the last speakers you ever intend to build.
Yeah, I guess I am looking for the most versatile pair of speakers since my taste in music keeps expanding. I want to be able to get the most out of a well recorded album like my sheffield labs records but I don't want it to be so revealing that my less than stellar recordings sound so bad that I don't want to listen. I wonder which pair of speakers you have/had would fit that description. I know I want to build just one pair but, I get your point. I'm gonna end up trying several because it's just so much fun to try new stuff! I have built speakers before with my Dad but this was my first attempt at a tube amp. I was so proud of myself when it fired up and worked on the first power up! Now I can't wait to dive into the next project...and my chassis isn't even done yet for the sse. I believe I got the diy bug
A midbass + horn tweeter ..... maybe a big woofer sub ..... that's the ticket. Efficiency. Controlled Directivity. Dynamics.
Checking your local Craig's List for a few weeks would give you a gauge on your chances on Klipsch or Altec classics. Used Klipsch Heresys would be a good partner for a SE amp. Do you feel Lucky Punk? check the SWAP forum
If you have easy access to a woodshop you might sketch a multi-step box build plan for Econowave mid+horn, with some woofers at a later build. 12" Econowaves are ~$600/pair for parts. A great 18" woofer like the Peavey LoRider18 is $200 on ebay. You can scare the neighbors with the rumble of trains in the night. New speakers are in-spec and will play for 20 years.
Fusion-12 DIY Sound Group
Checking your local Craig's List for a few weeks would give you a gauge on your chances on Klipsch or Altec classics. Used Klipsch Heresys would be a good partner for a SE amp. Do you feel Lucky Punk? check the SWAP forum
If you have easy access to a woodshop you might sketch a multi-step box build plan for Econowave mid+horn, with some woofers at a later build. 12" Econowaves are ~$600/pair for parts. A great 18" woofer like the Peavey LoRider18 is $200 on ebay. You can scare the neighbors with the rumble of trains in the night. New speakers are in-spec and will play for 20 years.
Fusion-12 DIY Sound Group
Out of what I've owned and listed to long-term with a SSE, I would say the Klipsch fit the bill here. They can get very loud with just 5W and they won't show all the warts in your source/recordings. Great for classic rock. I rebuilt the crossovers in my Heresys (all new inductors and caps) and bought the Crites tweeter diaphragm replacements.
In comparison, the Super Pensils are slightly less efficient (still fine with 5W or so) and sound amazing with good recordings; but when something isn't right, the speakers let you know. Not that they sound bad with bad recordings, but you notice the missing magic and so it's "bad" by comparison. Great for appreciating timbre and the recording space in jazz, acoustic, lighter rock.
You might want a sub(s) with either of these, but it will be up to taste. The Super Pensil bass goes deeper but the Heresy bass (what is there) has more impact.
If you are active on the forum long enough, you might find a local member meet-up so that you can hear more speakers in good systems. I've met a few other DIY'ers near me and have learned a lot from them and heard a lot of great equipment. Note that this doesn't help cure "the bug"
Open invitation to hear my speakers if you're in the Wisconsin neighborhood. Have fun building!
Out of what I've owned and listed to long-term with a SSE, I would say the Klipsch fit the bill here. They can get very loud with just 5W and they won't show all the warts in your source/recordings. Great for classic rock. I rebuilt the crossovers in my Heresys (all new inductors and caps) and bought the Crites tweeter diaphragm replacements.
In comparison, the Super Pensils are slightly less efficient (still fine with 5W or so) and sound amazing with good recordings; but when something isn't right, the speakers let you know. Not that they sound bad with bad recordings, but you notice the missing magic and so it's "bad" by comparison. Great for appreciating timbre and the recording space in jazz, acoustic, lighter rock.
You might want a sub(s) with either of these, but it will be up to taste. The Super Pensil bass goes deeper but the Heresy bass (what is there) has more impact.
If you are active on the forum long enough, you might find a local member meet-up so that you can hear more speakers in good systems. I've met a few other DIY'ers near me and have learned a lot from them and heard a lot of great equipment. Note that this doesn't help cure "the bug"
Open invitation to hear my speakers if you're in the Wisconsin neighborhood. Have fun building!
Lots of good information here, thank you! If I lived closer I would definitely take you up on that offer to listen to your system but I live in Pennsylvania. I have a powered sub but I never use it. I live in a townhouse and I don't want to disturb my neighbors too much...although I do like to twist the volume knob clockwise once in awhile especially on a weekday when people are at work. I'm really looking for solid, quality mid and upper bass, clear mids and nonfatigueing highs. I haven't gotten to hear a good set of horn speakers nor a good set of single driver speakers. I guess I'm just gonna have to do both...but which one first? Hmmmmmmm. Guess I can think about it while I'm working on my sse chassis
Seems like a lot of guys are running horn speakers. Is this because they match well with a single ended tube amp or is it just because of the high sensitivity of them so they can play loud with the lower power of our amps. I don't listen too loud, most of the time, so speaker sensitivity may not be as important. A lot of my listening ends up being late at night so I can't play too loud.
I looked at hawthorne audio. Looks like they make some good speakers but a little out of my price range.
I built the overnight sensations MTM and in triode mode they are just loud enough. I listen at full volume fairly often, most of the time 90%. Solid state rectifier/el34
Will test in UL soon
Hope that helps. The speakers are inexpensive and sound great to me. I got them at diysoundgroup and they were easy to build and included boxes and crossovers. I finished with Danish oil and they look great
Will test in UL soon
Hope that helps. The speakers are inexpensive and sound great to me. I got them at diysoundgroup and they were easy to build and included boxes and crossovers. I finished with Danish oil and they look great
My 2 Pi Towers were in addition to my 4 Pis that I still have as principals. The former were a trial just to see what a dome tweeter would do compared to the horn in the 4 Pis. I used both the 2 Pi Vifa and the more expensive SB 29. The latter is very good but the B&C DE250 Horn with the latest crossover beats both handily. Also, the 2Pi crosses the Alpha 10 kinda high and it's mids are no match for the JBL. Still, for the money, the 2Pi is very good.
What might be better, and cheaper, is a sealed 2 cubic foot box with Utah V12RXC21 12" woofers and the Vifa DX25TG09 crossed at about 2500 with a 10uF cap and a .5mH coil on the woofer. That was an effort to clone the Dynaco A35; the vari-vent gave way to the sealed box which had much tighter bass. The Utah is a very good part and available on Ebay most of the time for about $50/pair.
Those I built were about 93dB and played nicely with the SSE. I still have the parts and plan to build another pair when the weather warms up.
What might be better, and cheaper, is a sealed 2 cubic foot box with Utah V12RXC21 12" woofers and the Vifa DX25TG09 crossed at about 2500 with a 10uF cap and a .5mH coil on the woofer. That was an effort to clone the Dynaco A35; the vari-vent gave way to the sealed box which had much tighter bass. The Utah is a very good part and available on Ebay most of the time for about $50/pair.
Those I built were about 93dB and played nicely with the SSE. I still have the parts and plan to build another pair when the weather warms up.
Those look like an interesting build. Price is right, too! How's the bass sound from those 4 inch woofers?
Man, I would love to build the 4pi. Just too expensive. Thanks for your comparison of the 4pi to the 2pi. I'll have to check ebay and see if I can find those Utah drivers. Thanks for your help
You guys have given me a lot to think about. I have another idea. Maybe starting out with a smaller full range driver from Mark audio or fostex with the idea of adding a woofer and a super tweeter (if needed) later on. This way my initial costs aren't too high and I can add onto it later as funds permit. I was thinking about using an 8 or 10 inch woofer for the bass, putting the small full ranger in a small sealed box so it rolls off naturally and then crossing the woofer in at around 250hz or so. I don't want to biamp so I would use a passive crossover on the woofer. I have read that a tube amp might not like a crossover in that region. Does anyone have experience with a simple se with this type of speaker? What do you think of my idea? Thanks!
Not great....but much better than I had expected. I did not do too much experimentation with the polyfill and it could possibly be better. I am very happy
They sound very good, but bookshelves with 4" drivers are going to have inherent limitations (bass and max vol/spl). It doesn't help that my SSE is in a larger space (Super Pensils fit comfortably). On a desktop or in a small bedroom, I think they would be pretty satisfying with a SSE (and they normally ran in my small office with a RH84).
With a high pass as part of a FAST arrangement, no doubt they'd do really well even in bigger spaces.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.