BEGINNER's DIY speakers

[yehhey311]

Hello, I would like to know if anyone has any suggestions for a beginner DIY set of speakers. I am looking for something very inexpensive and easy to build, preferably with as little woodworking skills required as possible. Sound quality is not really too much of a factor because I am not very experienced and wouldn't want to spend a lot before I get my hands wet with the components of speakers and such. I was thiking maybe the Dayton BR1 speakers, but I was wondering if there is anything else cheap that I can just get my hands wet with. Again, I am a beginner and would like to just take a ministep into all this.

[M NEWMAN]

I'd suggest some of the parts express projects - here's some links:

http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/goldenboys/index.html

http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/lytlefive/index.html

http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/hivijuniors/index.html

http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/d2w/index.html

http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/noah8/index.html

http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/jubilee/index.htm

http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/morchellas/index.htm

Feel free to peruse the rest of their projects - all of these will amaze you with how good sounding a speaker you can build for cheap $$.

[Kaido]

[QUOTE=yehhey311]Hello, I would like to know if anyone has any suggestions for a beginner DIY set of speakers. I am looking for something very inexpensive and easy to build, preferably with as little woodworking skills required as possible. Sound quality is not really too much of a factor because I am not very experienced and wouldn't want to spend a lot before I get my hands wet with the components of speakers and such. I was thiking maybe the Dayton BR1 speakers, but I was wondering if there is anything else cheap that I can just get my hands wet with. Again, I am a beginner and would like to just take a ministep into all this.[/QUOTE]

I built a pair of Dayon BR-1s (shielded) last year and I love them! Easy enough to build in a Saturday afternoon. I was amazed at the quality, especially for $150. They definately give you more than your money's worth; nothing at Circuit City or Best Buy can touch them, not even come close. They can really crank, too! I originally had them hooked up to my old Dynaco 70's integrated amp as a stereo system; they currently live in my home theater system (just make sure you get the shielded for ten bucks more if you're going to have them near a TV). They're really great; you should hear the new Phantom of the Opera movie on them! I'll confess that I'm not much of an audiophile; even Logitech speakers sound good to me, but not as good as these. I recently went down to a local high-end audio store to listen to speakers to add to my surround-sound setup; after listening to a few sets from Paradigm, JMlabs, etc., my wife asked me why I wanted to get new speakers when the ones I built sounded just as good and better than some models. We even listened to an $18.5k system and I couldn't tell much of a difference aside from the room fill because those speakers were four feet tall. Here's a link to the shielded version of the Daytons:

Dayton BR-1s shielded speakers for $150 (http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=300-642)

I don't have access to a shop right now, so I'm planning on upgrading my center and satellites to Fluance speakers, which should match nicely:

Fluance center speaker for $70 (http://www.fluance.com/fluancemv670c.html)

Fluance bipolar satellites for $100 (http://www.fluance.com/fluanbipsurs.html)

Good luck and let us know what you decide to do and how it turns out!

[snake.oil]

As far as I know, Dayton BR-1s is probably the cheapest DIY kit you can find for a good sound. You can actually have it sound a little bit better with a revised crossover. Enjoy.

Revised Crossover for the BR-1 Kit (http://murphyblaster.com/content.php?f=pe_br1.html) ;)

[yehhey311]

I decided to buy and build the shielded br1s. they weren't difficult to build and I think they sound great. I am not an audiophile but I think I would agree with reviews of it and say the strengths of the speakers are the lows and the highs. The midrange isn't as great but still definitely pleasant enough. When powered enough by a good receiver, their soundstage and tightness in the low end were certainly adequate enough compared to the limited amount of speakers I've listened to. The speakers do sound a good bit better than the Athena As-B1 speakers I own. The best thing from building these is the stuff I learned from the process. Now I have no reservations in taking a much larger step into DIY speakers.