Parts Express Speaker Kits?

[jaxvon]

Looking at getting some speakers for my dorm room, and was exploring my options. I was thinking of going for maybe Axiom or Paradigm (or others in that range), but since I'm an engineer and like to build/take apart stuff, I thought that maybe a speaker kit would be the way to go. If I were to build, I would go for one of the D'Appolito style speakers, either this one or this one. Anyone have any experience with these and their ease of building, sound quality, etc?

 

[jaxvon]

bump bump what!?

 

[Leprkon]

They both look like alot of fun. I noticed that both are 4 ohm, if that's an issue for you......

 

[cbraver]

Why do they design so many DIY kits at 4ohm?!

 

[Fb111794]

Why do they design so many DIY kits at 4ohm?!

4 Ohm isn't really that difficult of a load to drive if the speakers are fairly efficient, say 87 + dB. Especially if the 4 ohm rating is a minimum rating where the speaker rarely, if ever, dips below 4 ohms. Where it can get a little dicey is if it is an average of 4 Ohms where the speaker often dips below four ohms.

And, to jaxvon....

Those kits look fairly simple to build and aren't that expensive. If you've got an "itch" to build a pair.... give it a try and let us know how it went. Of course, a detailed review would be a REQUIREMENT as well!

 

[jaxvon]

Thanks for the replies. Once I get enough money to buy a kit and associated electronics, I'll make sure to let you all know how it went. And of course, lots of pictures!

 

[nm2285]

If you have the tools (circular and radial arm saw or table saw, etc...) then I'd recommend building your own enclosures. It'll take some of your time, but it's pretty cheap. Then you can also finish them anyway you want.

Unfortunately I haven't had any experience with those kits, but there are plenty of people who post their designs and impressions on parts express so check that out.

Also consider kits from madisound.com. I've heard they're very good. I ordered my parts from them when I built my speakers this summer (my own design though) and they were helpful.

Good luck!

 

[mustang_steve]

I've built up the BR-1 kit, and it's a pretty rewarding experience.

You do have to be good at soldering, preferably use a soldering gun on this, as you'll need lots of power to do the large solder joints. As far as their solder reccomendations, I went for regular old Kester "44" rosin core...I really don't believe in silver solder for electronics...after all the receiver isn't useing silver, is it?

Until I say the price of some Magnepan MMGs, I was strongly considering the Dayton Euro kit as well. good stuff. Only thing I could ask of them is to make a center channel version of the BR-1, so I could have a killer home theater setup.