DIY HiFi Audiophile Budget KING!
Вставка
- Опубліковано 13 кві 2020
- Check out our site: www.gr-research.com
Contact: info@gr-research.com 1-940-592-3400
Buy the X-Statik: www.gr-research.com/store/p51...
Buy the X-Voce: www.gr-research.com/store/p53... - Фільми й анімація
No table saw or router, just finished my build of these. Jigsaw, Dremel, and pre cut pieces at home Depot, fronted with a walnut laminate. Glorious.
Post a short vid
....even few pics will help 😉
Post a long video please good sir if you will
And.....? How do they sound? 🤔 😁
Take apart your speakers and do several step by step videos of the rebuild.
You're CORRECT Danny. I purchased this kit & It KILLS!! The Depth, Detail & Sound Stage will leave you Speechless. I upgraded to tube connectors & the No Res. I'm driving them with HK Citation I preamp, HK Citation II, Schiit Modi DAC & AR XBII turntable.
If you plan to paint the MDF prime it 1st to block out.
I am Extremely Pleased with my purchase of this kit
Thank you so much for this! DIY is THE way to go not only to save money but also the absolute pride that goes with building your own!
I ordered these a while ago and I'm very happy with the results - very good sounding and attractive speakers. If you have the right tools this kit is a great deal too. Thanks Danny!
I love listening to Danny. I've been into hi-fi for 50 (yes, fifty) years and it's easy to recognize he knows what he's talking about. I'm intrigued. Maybe I'll just have to get a kit. :-)
I *still* love my X-Statiks. When I had a smaller room setup, I was using the x-cs-encore as a center channel. I just completed building the x-Voce (with the crossover upgrades) now that I have a MUCH larger theater/listening room. The open baffle x-Voce sounds fantastic and blends perfectly with the x-Statiks.
Just discovered you yesterday. I have a lot of watching to do. Great!
The very sensible idea of stepping up my speaker joy without spending silly money sounds very appealing... thank you for sharing your passion and helping rekindle mine
Nice!! can't wait to get a pair of these flagship killers. Danny at his best. Good job
I still need to order new drivers for my X-LS upgrade and start working on it!!!!! Been lazy and life also took over... I love hearing the origin on the X-LS speakers. Bought mine used with the factory stands for $125 a pair.... glad I did!
Wonderful Video - very nicely done Danny and thanks for the memories which are beautiful. The original x-ls cost us about $140 landed way back when. NONE of this would have been possible without your INCREDIBLE Engineering Prowess. You know me man - I wouldn't say it unless I meant it. I feel very proud of what we created here. Good seeing you today BTW.
I built a pair of these awhile back in early 2020. I am currently powering them with a Yamaha DSP-A1 and they sound excellent. I am using subwoofers crossed over at 80 Hz.
Danny, you are a wealth of common sense and higher order experience and music reproduction wisdom. Keep it up!
Just finished my X-LS Encore (Fantastic!) build and looking for a replacement for some older L/R Klipsch in our media room (we have an Elac Debut 2 with the GR upgrade kit installed for a center). I have been looking at the Danny's AV series then I started watching this video. I was all set to place my order when he mentioned that because of the open baffle they need 3 feet of room. That would put them almost in our laps so back to researching (although, I am sure I could find a use for these elsewhere in the house, as long as my wife doesn't find out).
Love these videos on your own speakers Danny, great stuff👍
First time electronics build for me which was a fun challenge. I'm a wood worker so building the X-static boxes was great.
These things sound better than any speaker I've ever listened to. They easily exceed $5,000 speakers. My hat is off to you gents for providing an amazing value to your customers!
Can't say enough about how well these reproduce music!
Working on mine now listening impressions outside the box sound fantastic. I’m on my second set of cabinets because I wasn’t happy with the veneer on the first set. Going to spray them gloss white and arm r seal the front baffles. Danny is a great guy and will help you out.
Upgraded to Sonicaps and tube connectors.
Thanks for sharing, your kits are amazing.
Hey Danny, I know what people think when anyone touts their own products but what you offer in this video is exactly what I've been suggesting to those wanting the best bang for their buck when they wonder if an upgrade is worth it in your other videos. Basically, if you're going to spend the sort of money an upgrade often costs plus invest the time and effort on such an endeavor then you'll always beat even an upgraded commercial offering with a kit for the same money and usually for far less. Open baffles aren't really my thing in part because of the placement issues involved. However, knowing the performance kits provide and knowing Peerless drivers in general I have no doubt this kit with a small sub or two would end the search for the ultimate speaker for a great many audiophiles. Guys, for $399 you will not get better performance. On an unrelated note, if you do read this comment perhaps you could answer a question. So many newer commercial designs are coming with tweeters set into what the manufacturer is calling a wave-guide. Wave-guides are not a new idea but some of these wave-guides are getting so deep and broad that they might be more accurately called a horn. At what point do you consider a design a wave-guide versus a horn?
Holy mac , now that's a crossover on that table.
Preparing to build my first ever pair of speakers.
Some of the things I hear on this channel is blowing my mind.
Thank you for the work you do.
DO NOT HESITATE to build these!
With no exageration, you will end up with a finished set of speakers that will rival any commercially available speaker costing 4X as much. If not more.
Thank you. Trying to visualize a way to use open baffles in this small apartment. Even pulling them out to listen, then stowing them away is not feasible. So I better have a close look at those bookshelf models.
Just finished my pair. I don’t have a dedicated listening space so they will get home theater/living room duty along with the matching X-Voce. Plopped them down where I had my old paradigm monitor 11s and have been listening at low volumes while the rest of the house sleeps. I am absolutely floored. With no real setup or break in these sound amazing. Danny knows what he is doing.
Have you posted pics of your x-statiks anywhere?
__ yes, I posted several of the process and some finished here www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=171003.0
@@jwilson086 Nice build, they have a nice clean look. How long did they take?
__ thanks. Hard to estimate the number of hours, I have a 5 year old at home and both my wife and I are working from home so I had to sneak away for an hour here an hour there. An experienced woodworker with actual shop space could do it much faster I’m sure.
Fellow DIYers GR Research parts are excellent, I bought many parts, mainly drivers they are all excellent and easy to drive, put some expensive drivers to shame. More importantly, they all, M130, M165, etc sound great. For that price they are a steal.
Kudos for buying the remaining stock from your supplier in Colombia. We keep hearing about the supply chain but it's really a supply web in this digital age.
Looks like an X-Statik cabinet over your left shoulder by the door. For people who have never heard these speakers, Danny is not exaggerating. Bang for the buck is an understatement. This goes for all the X series speakers. When you visit the website you will see the X-LS mini monitor and X-CS center channel speakers can also be built as floor standing towers with the additional low end extension that comes with bigger cabinets. The X-series aren't just budget speakers. The basic kits punch way above their weight class. As you upgrade the crossover (and there is more than one level of crossover upgrade available) you are rewarded with increasingly better levels of performance. Something else about the X series kits is they scale really well. By that I mean they sound great with budget level electronics but the better the signal that feeds them, the better they sound. You won't go wrong with any of the X series kits, I've hear them all. That said, if you can pull them at least 3ft away from the wall, the X-Statiks are definitely the King.
That is actually an old OB-7 model back there.
@@dannyrichie9743 Ahh. I forgot the OB7 used a round tweeter opening also.
My kit is arriving on the 15th of June!! Bang for the Buck!
Thanks for another great video Danny! I've been wanting to order a set of these for a while. The biggest thing holding me back has been my lack of experience with the routing needed for the flush mount tweeter.
Don't let that hold you back. It is far easier than you think.
I use a clear plastic thing I purchased at Home Depot. It works just as well as the more expensive jobs, except yo don't get fine adjustment (just change the bit diameter).
A single practice circle on a piece scrap and you will have the confidence you need. Don't fuss over the fit, a small gap around the driver is fine, and it only needs to be very close to flush.
If you get a Jasper jig for your router you can easily route circles with 1/16" accuracy. The depth is just as easy to set with a plunge base. Push the bit down until it rests on the uncut baffle and lock it down. Then use the tweeter to set the depth stop. That's all there is to it. If you go to Danny's GR-Research forum on Audio Circle you will find tons of help www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=16.0 If it wasn't for the folks on this forum I would have never built my first kit. Unlike a lot of forums, the people on Audio Circle don't bite.
We had about 500 assembled crossover for the X-Statik that were made in China. We were basically giving them away for free with that kit until those crossovers were gone.
So the kit was only $399.
Now we are having to provide them with higher quality US made parts. And we have to charge for that now. So the price went up accordingly.
Any way you look at this, that reads as a massive con job. You were showing crossover components and talking them up, and then not supplying that crossover for the price you were going out of your way to advertise. That is shifty in anyone's language. No spoken or onscreen caveat to say these are not the crossovers you are going to get for $399. Really poor form. I was going to subscribe but after seeing this, you are lucky I don't give the video a thumbs down.
@@DodgyBrothersEngineering So giving crossovers away for free until they're gone and then having to charge for the replacements is a con job? And the crossovers shown in the video are the ones we gave away for free. There are 250 customers out there that were super happy to get the $399 deal. Pretty bad when you get blasted for giving good products away for free.
@@dannyrichie9743 there is no such thing as giving something away for free in business... Let me ask you this, would you, or could you afford to give away the crossovers for free if you didn't sell the rest of the kit with it? If you answer no then you never really gave them away. Let's say you got them dirt cheap, If you charged a nominal fee to cover your costs, you never really gave them away. You paid money to buy the crossovers, you paid money to ship the crossovers to you from China. Do you honestly expect us to believe that you are in the position to just "give away" product? Free give aways are just a marketing ploy, the same way house builders throw in all these "free" extras. You get nothing for free in life, they are merely building the cost into some other price that you don't see.
Let''s say you are the world's worst businessman and you do give away products that cost you money for free, how long are you going to stay in business if you aren't putting a massive markup on the kit like you claim? You are giving away something that costs you money and you aren't making profit to cover the loss. The story just doesn't add up. If you got the crossovers cheap and you could cover the cost in the first units then perhaps you should be disclosing that what you are advertising as a pair for $399 can't be sustained for more than a couple of months before the price nearly doubles.
I notice on your website that you were forth coming with information that you had to add cost to cover better quality components, but I notice it says that for the base cost of $749 you get standard caps, where is the additional $350 worth of quality components, if it is still shipping with standard caps and you have to pay more to upgrade?
Don't get me wrong I am not questioning the value of the kit at $749, I have spent way more than that on a single tweeter. I just don't believe you have fairly represented what you were selling.
@@DodgyBrothersEngineering Danny's explanation is sound. He got into business on this kit by buying out the inventory of a manufacturer left holding the bag. He would get this stuff for pennies on the pound. Everyone who bought the kit at $399 was part of a lucky group. Danny could sell it at a price roughly equivalent to parts cost because he had the savvy to buy up the inventory. He took the risk and it worked out for him and the 250 lucky customers who bought them. But once that inventory is gone, he has to buy at current cost, mark them up and sell the kit at a much higher price. What is wrong with that. If you don't want it at that price don't buy it. Those that do will still end up with speakers that perform like commercial units costing 3x as that's the DIY deal.
@@user-od9iz9cv1w we are all good now. That comment was made when I first discovered the channel. I have since learned from subsequent videos that is not what Danny is about. He is a straight up guy. In fact if I didn't already have a kick ass system, I would seriously consider buying some of his speakers.
Excellent info truth be known the hardest part is the sanding and finishing on bigger floor standers it can cost more than the parts.
I just saw this. I really like your channel and ideas.
That xover is HUGE! Cant wait to build this kit!
yeah, and then feed it through tiny stranded speakerwires
@@64fairlane305 Let me guess you use 4g wire for your x-over? lololol
Love the concept. Love the results. Considered doing a pair or two till I got to the unsealed cabinetry. Hmm... I might be able to work out room treatments that let me back them up to walls/corners. Other thoughts: I will probably find someone to assemble for me. As much as I want to DIY, with my skillset, it might take two or three kits to get it right. Even then, the ROI will be amazing.
As with any open baffle speaker they have to be at least three feet or more out into the room. Back any speaker up to a wall or corner and they will sound as if they are playing from the wall forward. With them well out into the room they will create a layered three dimensional sound stage.
Thanks for another great video and product. I want to get this kit and put the top half into the doors of my celica and build the bottom half into a boxed rear deck pointing up and forward toward the cabin from the top of the hatchback :)
They will need a completely different crossover design for that application.
Yeah you are totally right.. It would probably be easier to use in-wall or actual car speakers. Tempting though
I've done a little digging and these things also can look FANTASTIC.
Pam Terry links? Photos?
@@dilbyjones charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s5/v118/p1486774009-5.jpg
www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=127479
www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=207301
www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=207302
I just placed my order thank you very much it’ll go with my class project in city College of San Francisco we are building in CLASS B audio amp they should pair nicely. Or my DIYaudiostore design by Nelson Pass Class A amplifier
New sub based on your attitude alone. As a cabinet maker I'm really considering this route.
Finn McCool you should go to audiocircle web page and see the OB5 cabinets by VonCarlos in the GR Reasearch box.
9:28, calling that a crossover is an understatement
DIY has been of interest to me for a few years , and pre-assembled crossover seemed like a huge value add here. With very limited understanding of Electrical Engineering, I'm not very excited about the potential of electrocuting myself or starting a fire.
A great video, Danny. I appreciate your honest a great deal. Just a nitpick: At times, the camera was a bit out of focus, esp. when you showed the crossover.
Wow, these went up in price since April! $669 now vs. the $399 price mentioned in this video.
Yeah that's not entirely a marginal increase. I'd rather hope that's because the build quality or component quality was altered or improved in some ways. But I would assume that they're absolutely fine for the price.
Yes, I'm curious as to why the price went up so much...but I'm sure even at the higher price they are probably still a good deal.
We had about 500 assembled crossover for the X-Statik that were made in China. We were basically giving them away for free with that kit until those crossovers were gone.
So the kit was only $399.
Now we are having to provide them with higher quality US made parts. And we have to charge for that now. So the price went up accordingly.
@@dannyrichie9743 You’re saying an extra $300 for crossovers? Come on.
@@ericlund4681 Yes, it involves quite a few parts and it is a three way design. The crossover parts total $270 before upgrades. And they aren't a bunch of budget level parts.
Dani, what's the size and weight of the shipping package. Once it's built, what are the HxWxD final dimensions. I don't have room to set them 3 ft apart from the wall, how that would impact on performance
Great video, please keep all the good you've been doing
Thanks
Hey Danny, I've dabbled in building speakers for a while and yours look REALLY good! Have you reviewed anything with a Balanced Mode Radiator top end? Currently using Cambridge Audio Aero 6 floor standers with a BMR tweeter. Such a huge soundstage!
$399 a kit now $699 a kit... sucks when getting late to the party.
On the bright side, for 699 , you get speakers with components you would have to spend 10K and up, when buying manufactured audio.
Its over $1000 now! Snooze to loose....
I am x-static about ordering these speakers.
I would really like a speaker like that. The problem is that I do not have a room big enough to set them up properly. I live in a small apartment building. I really need to move to a bigger space 😩
In that case consider the X-LS Encore bookshelf or it's smallish floor standing version, the X-SLS Encore.
fuck space! i want dem boomers!
Oh man....THANK YOUUUUUUU!!!!!
I really want to make a set of these
Since the rear output of the open baffle woofers reflect off the rear walls to provide ambience wouldn't the addition of a rear mounted tweeter help?
Open up some 2000USD speakers and look at the crossover, it will look nothing like this one. This is a real high end, LOVE IT!
And 400 for a pair? That's a fantastic price
What sort of price range would this actually be similar to would you say? (In this context)
It would be amazing to see what some artistic wood workers could do building speaker boxes for these kits. You should contract some of the big UA-cam wood workers and see what they think.
ua-cam.com/video/R389WYYgSLQ/v-deo.html
Very interesting, any ideas on shipping costs to Lithuania ?. Just to let you know your links in your description aren't working.
Fantástico Danny!
love watching your videos danny .i live in the UK have you ever looked at the LINN INDEX SPEAKERS .and if you have are they worth upgrading .wish we had someone like yourself back in the uk .merry christmas from perth scotland 🙂🙂🙂
ok
Danny. seen enough
vids to know you are a expert! point taken. But
I AM A WOOD PIDDLER and love my exotics, how would say solid 3.5" Ebony Purpleheart or like the BLACK OAKS or Bubinga sound against MDF?
Would you happen to have an idea on how i could improve my 3 way 15 inch Cerwin Vega VS-150 speakers? Ive already done the recone/voice coil/surround to them, which turned out well. But like a new passive crossover setup i would like to redo them with high quality components made for audio. Maybe, make new enclosures for them with the same internal volume, but more rigid. Maybe change the port style from the 2 round 4½ or 5 inch ports it has to a slot port style . They are rear ported, should i move it to the front? I would like to change the 6 inch mid and tweeter, they're kind of harsh in the upper midrange ant lower treble. They are also missing some in the low mid area as well. Just things like that. Let me know if you can, thanks!!
What would be your best guess for upgrading Klipsch rf82 version 1 tower speakers please? Thanks for your time.
Table saw or router, don’t have. No clamps or any other worthwhile woodworking tools. There will come a time, but that time is not now. Soldering equipment is no problem, got that in spades! Good video Danny!👍🏻😊
Then maybe an xls encore with the mdf flatpack?...just need clamps glue and paint....and soldering gun...
Haha Im that guy Also I can buy some of your driver when I start my home theater show Now Im with car audio )
I'd love to see how this compares to a much more expensive speaker like a Magico a3 or a5 or wilson sabrinaX.
Hi, thanks for your video.
I'm not able to make by myself the cabinets, could you provide and ship the cabinet parts too or is it impossible?
I'm from Italy, thanks.
Been considering ordering this kit, but the shippingcost would probably be more than the cost of the kits themselves.
Was looking at speakers and ended up on the shopping channel.
Sweet 🤘🏻
One more question. I am a fan of sealed cabinets with passive radiators like the vanatoo T1E or buchardt s400 would I be able to build a smaller speaker using your components that incorporates a rear facing radiator?
Not using this speaker design.
PR's basically do the same thing as a port. The advantage is that the PR doesn't take up air space in the box. And sometimes a port size has to get pretty large and really long to reach the correct tuning. In those cases a PR is a better option.
Also Richie, I reviewed the X-Statik Kit cabinet plans. Do you recommend 1/4" rebate channels in the side and rear panels for internal panels marked A, B, & C? And shouldn't the double thickness baffle extend beyond the open section and down to the enclosed section to better handle woofer resonance. Do you drill holes through sections marked C for wiring from XO? Finally, with sealed boxes, should the enclosed area behind the woofers be filled with damping material? thanks Rocky
Rocky P hi Rocky, I’m not sure about the rebate channel but I can give some responses on some of your other questions. In the past Danny has said you can go with a full length 1.5” baffle, but it will work either way. The composite frame of the woofers really doesn’t resonate and if you also use No-Rez to line the cabinet it will be extremely inert. The C panels are braces and you’ll need to cut a couple holes to keep the interior volume correct (see page 3). On your final question, yes, he recommends you add some acoustic stuffing as well to loosely fill in the space.
I will buy, 10000%
Thank you for answering my questions thus far on the elac upgrades. My question to you is how come the parts for the elac upgrade are almost as much as the whole speaker kit? Is the elac parts all ready the higher quality stuff you spoke of ? A friend of mine was/is very sharp on this stuff as well. He now owns his own car audio company with his own brand. Years ago he built me speakers with the air core and other parts you mention and used Scanspeak and Morel drivers. Best set of speakers I ever had. He build the cabinets as well. In your answer to me yesterday you mentioned you has some info on having the elac parts installed? I would like more info on that please. Thank you in advance.
As per your first question about the cost of the Elac upgrade verses the cost of the X-Statik kit.
Check the kit page for the X-Statik: gr-research.com/x-statikkit.aspx
You'll see that we offer a Sonicap and Mills resistor upgrade for them as well. And a tube connector upgrade. Those to upgrades tot he X-Statik is $295.
And the stock Elac parts are very much of the budget nature, and much more so that the base level X-Statik parts.
If you want someone to do the Elac upgrade for you then I may have someone that might be interested in the assembly work. I'll check with him.
@@dannyrichie9743 I would appreciate it. Just watched Ron video on the a v o with the way it comes from you would it sound better or with a elac upgrades sound better than that speaker? Keep in mind I would have to get somebody to cut and build the cabinets for me your answers are very appreciated
@@dannyrichie9743 and I don't know what difference it would make but my amplifier is a Yamaha 501 one rated baby want for Channel at 4 ohms and Marantz CD player. May add a turntable later but wanted you to know what kind of power I was working with and I wasn't everything from Rock classic rock to Jazz and classical
Now almost double the price he discusses here. I was really excited but $800 is a different ballgame. I’m sure it is still a great value, just gonna have to save a while.
Originally we had pre-assembled crossover for these that we inherited from AV123. We were including those crossovers for free. Those are now long gone and we have to charge for the parts we provide.
i would like to see a demo of xstatics.
Evee heard about response by Clements
Silk tweeter whith an eight inch transmission line loaded woofer and simple crossover. Provided countless hours of bliss .
Only thing that beat it was eighties khorrns with alnico magnets. Type whatever crossovers were just wrong but a bit of tweaking and an se45; amp can do wonderes.
I am watching all your videos on my only tx 866 with a techneics sh-8046 eq through my old jbls and kenwwods from 1986. I don't have a rich girlfriend in fact I don't have a girlfriend. But I do like vintage stereo hunting. Especially with all the adaptors such as blue tooth to rca which is how I am bluetoothing my note 9 to my old streros such as my only tx sv90 with an eq550. Yes I know that what I have is consumer electronics from the 1989s. But I believe that these electronics where made better back then and not so mass produced even though there onkyos.
Are there cabinet plans (or even cabinet dimensions) for the X-Voce? Also, do the new American crossovers come assembled, or just as parts? And if just parts, is there a drawing and schematic for those as well?
There are cabinet plans for the Voce that you get with the kit. Same for the crossover schematic. The crossovers will come as parts that you assemble per the schematic.
What is the best for tower box s woofers or speakers
Danny, what is the frequency response of these speakers? Tx!
Danny: This video is sooo appealing that it 's almost addictive. You have the audio credits proven by online Audio Personalities. Quote of the day by Danny; "If you are a DIY guy, go straight to the kits"
So Danny; can I get 2021 pricing?
Any comments on the HDA cone material used by driver manufacturers such as Audax of France?
Hi Danny, I would really like to try out your speakers but I'm not sure whether I've got the chops to assemble and varnish the cabinets. Can you do a video on the assembly process?
Also, do you have an appointed trusted contractor who can do up the upgrade parts, complete the speakers and ship it out?
Moreover, the X-Voce does not come with a cabinet so I'll need help to build one. I could not find the speaker's dimensions.
Check out Mike Lundy on GR Research Audio Circle.
Build a good ceiling speaker for atms systems.
The 3 feet from the back wall. Is that from the baffel or the bas case/box ?
From the drivers, but the more the better.
Probably stupid question. I got old Pilot 950RCL and Magnat Vector speakers/floor standers. Would it make sense to replace the old (used up) drivers with these, since the cabinets are in pretty good shape? So basicly reuse the old (nice) cabinets? Would it work? Thanks Danny!
Doing that will require a whole new crossover to be designed for them. It is hard to find drivers that fit the same hole and have the same parameters to work with that air space. In the end you'll spend more trying to use the old cabinets than what it cost to build new ones.
I’m saving to buy xstatic … is there a way to post a sound demo? It will be highly appreciated…..
I want to hear these things. Can't find a demo anywhere. Can you please get a pair to New Record Day.
Would love to try this, but being in Canada our loonie doesn't go far, then tack on shipping and customs...ugh.
same in australia, but the freight makes me shudder lol
Dynamic Hypnotic Same its depressing. Not to mention gst and that godawful exchange rate. Then start building the cabs! Oh but I can dream 😂
@@blackie75 there's a guy that does kit speakers in Adelaide. Adelaide Speakers worth checking out. I got a large pair of Timberwolves.
I wish we had this sort of thing available in England ...
He ships internationally
Interesting, this guy seems legit.
He totally is
I built a XLS encore and I will tell you what .... It was the finest budget speaker I have ever heard ... Ordering more of Danny's awesome Loudspeakers :)
Brian Dino....did you do all the upgrades...or just some?....and do you play them only a couple of inches from the wall?...or a few feet from the wall?
@@galessi1226 I did the full upgrade.. Norez, High end Crossover parts.. This is a bookshelf type speaker so it does not need to sit far from the wall ... It is worth every penny ..
Awesome video Danny! Thank you for bringing your expertise to UA-cam. I know from previous conversations, that you have reservations about using miniDSP for active crossover, so if Nelson Pass' Active Crossover Network (ACN) designed specifically for Linkwitz' LXmini DIY speakers was used - how would the Xstatic compare to LXmini? Also, do they have a similar cardioid response? I've come to appreciate that 'live' sound of LXmini (even with miniDSP). These seem similar to one of Linkwitz other older DIY designs - the Orion. Certainly you've encountered one or more of the various Orion versions over the years/decades. Where Xstatic has open-baffle MTM with sealed woofers, Orion has fully open-baffle bipole and woofers. How does Xstatic compare to the somewhat similar Orion? Are response measurements available for Xstatic, including polar radiation map?
The LXmini is just not in the same league especially when being held back with the D/A conversion and sound of the MiniDSP.
A more even comparison would be to compare the X-Statik to the Orion. The X-Statik uses better sounding drivers and a smaller baffle that offers better imaging and sound stage layering.
The Orion is also more often held back by the electronic crossovers. They are also very inefficient. and they require eight amplifier channels. Ugh!
The X-Staik has much higher sensitivity and needs only a single low powered stereo amp.
The Orion will play down a little lower and is full open baffle down low, but the X-Statik kit is a fraction of the price and with the money left over you can add a dual stack of our 12" servo controlled woofers (also in an open baffle) and have the best sounding bottom end that money can buy.
And the X-Statik is very smooth. I have measured responses on an off axis, but not a polar radiation map. Those are tough to read anyway.
@@dannyrichie9743 Xstatic seems like a great value. What is the preferred wood to use for the front baffle. Is Baltic Birch recommended? I noticed the metal grills in some pictures - are those available? Those original AV-finished versions looked very good.
@@mw4609 I recommend MDF, but a Baltic Birch could be used for the front baffle.
@@dannyrichie9743 Do you have any leads on the metal grills? I'd like to get something made for Tekton DI's too.
M W o
What are the outside dimensions of the x-voce cabinet? Are the cabinet plans on your website (I didn't see them)? I am definitely interested but need to make sure it will fit in my set-up.
That one is the only one that is not. It was drawn out in Columbia and every panel is on its own page. Email me and I'll send them over to you.
I want to diy a couple of line array, I cheapest I can do, iam considering 8" for the mid range and 15" for the subwoofer, pls what do you recommend I need a blue print if you don't mind, Specifications and all pls help me out
Question , why not add a 8 in or 10 in woofer and i would buy , extra subwoofer isnt a option here
Do you think adding side wings might help with cancellation around the edges? Old infinity models used to use that approach.
They don't have cancellation around the edges. There is a dipole peak that is caused by the narrow baffle, but the crossover is correcting for it.
In other models that we've done we've used some asymmetrical side wings to control and flatten the response to minimize filter parts and lower crossover points.
@@dannyrichie9743 Thank you.
Wouldn't it be a good idea to take the tweeter off the centerline on the X-Voice?
It could be lifted up in the cabinet slightly. With this particular design it is not a problem where it is though.
Your open baffle kit is on my list once we move to larger home.
Would this design benefit from your other tweeter from Xotica ?
Would it make sense or and not require a major redesign of Xstatic?
Swapping out a tweeter changes everything about the design and requires everything to be redesigned. If you want to step up to the open baffle GR Neo 3 tweeter then you need to step up to the next model.
@@dannyrichie9743 Thanks , is Xotica substantially more spacial and airy due to that Neo tweeter technology.
The NX-Otica and it's larger brother, the NX-Treme, is on a completely different level across the board. They were designed based on an all out performance goal with cost not being much of a factor. And they are open and airy like crazy.
The X-Statik brings a lot of that performance to a budget price point.
@@dannyrichie9743 Great to know , What about this soft dome tweeter , what are it's upper freq. range limits?
@@kdomster9141 It plays belong 20kHz. Plenty high enough.
Danny, I have a room where I have to have my bookshelf speakers close to a wall (10in or less). What should I look for in a speaker to make the best of a bad situation?
Hang some curtains behind the speakers if possible. Will make a world of dif. I bought thick blackout curtains on amazon and they work great.
I also use blackout curtains on my back wall even with the speakers out into the room, it does help. The only other thing in your situation that I see hasn't been mentioned is if you have to back a speaker up to the wall a front firing port is recommended. It keeps the sound from the port from being trapped between the enclosure and the wall.
does anyone know if its possible to get a diy kit cross over that is well balanced? I have tried so many speaker brands non so far that i consider balanced, clean natural sounding mids are the problem. I have an emotiva system 150 x 7 ch rms@ 8 ohm 200 x 7 @6 ohms, 102db sn ratio , 1st spks. i tried bose 901s with the bose eq, very loud so so highs no no lows pretty much no separation , sounded flat on all frequencies to me. so I added a bose powered subwoofer, my preamp has high , mid and low settings, even speaker size and room calibration. after moving the speakers around for a while I did get better separation ,but still not much in the midrange only harsh highs and flat non tight base. tried several other brands of speakers "book shelfs" advent, yamaha, and a few other brands. finally I found a pair of klipsch rp-150's at a pawn shop for $65.00 wow they sound awesome ,love the horn tweeters and tight controlled bass in a small speaker
I set them up on a custom stand with my 55" roku tv, 6 ft apart, 20 inches away from the back wall, and the sound is incredible, only problem they are not rated for more than 75 watts max, at 3 notches under quarter power from my amp they looked like the little woofers were going to pop out of the speakers , but still sounded good.. so I was hooked on the klipsch sound. but after going to best buy, and amazon I see to get a pair to handle the power I want would cost close to $2000, a bit more than i can spend. I saw this diy building kit video on youtube and was wondering if it's possible to get a 3 way speaker kit that would sound as good as the klipsch. any ideas ???
Price increased. Did any parts change from the time of the video?
We had about 500 assembled crossover for the X-Statik that were made in China. We were basically giving them away for free with that kit until those crossovers were gone.
So the kit was only $399.
Now we are having to provide them with higher quality US made parts. And we have to charge for that now. So the price went up accordingly.
Danny Richie
$699 would be what I would expect. $399 made me wonder if there was something I was missing.
I would love to make a 5-way speaker some day... supertweeter, tweeter, 6" mid-range speaker, 8" woofer and 12" subwoofer in a single enclosure that is either front or bottom ported. But my wallet always brings me to tears when I even start thinking about it well before I look into how to do it. 😅
Splitting up the upper frequency ranges into different drivers causes some problems.
@dannyrichie9743 Depends if it is required to hard split the frequencies, no? You could just have overlap and taper off any undesired frequencies per driver. Just as long as you make sure the drivers operate at the same volume level, that is if you aim for a flat frequency range so that you can use a EQ or full DSP to adjust the frequencies to the ambience of the room and colori g of the sound you desire.
@@LogiForce86 The biggest problem with splitting up high frequencies into multiple drivers is the center to center spacing of the drivers and the wavelengths that they cross. As soon as the driver spacing approaches a distance greater than the wavelengths that they cross, then there will be out of phase cancellation in the vertical off axis. No amount of EQ or DSP correction will fix that. It is also never a good idea to put devices like that in the signal path of a high end system.
@dannyrichie9743 That also happens naturally, though, and is the reason why when listening to a big orchestra live, you are unable to hear certain instruments in certain spots of the concert hall or theater. That type of frequency cancellation can't be completely avoided from my point of view, but you are right. The more audio sources (drivers (but also instruments in an orchestra)) in a room, the more likely it is to occur. In which case it also happens when using a home cinema setup with an ever increasing number of speakers.
@@LogiForce86 When you take into account a room response you will have peaks and dips that are in fact wavelengths arriving in phase and out of phase. That stuff will need to be controlled with room treatment. From a design aspect looking only at the speaker, I try to minimize those affects to create a more balanced in room response.
Just ordered the X-Statik and the X-Voce after researching all the reviews I could find. Unfortunately I couldn't afford the upgrades but maybe can add them in the future. I am hoping my woodworking skills will be up to par to do these justice and I can't wait to see how these perform. Mr. Richie, any leads on the metal grills or a great substitute? Mostly concerned with the top of the X-Voce.
Update,
I finished these and have a month of listening to them. I did add sonicaps to the highs and the bypass on the lows. I'm running tidal through a audioquest dragonfly red directly Into two denon class A amps. While these are quite a bit more finicky to set up for proper imaging, once set the vocals and crispness of the highs is a reach out and grab you experience. I am very happy overall and just sold my klipchs vf35's that these replaced. A warning though, as a newly developing stereo enthusiast, these make me want to try them on other digital front ends and really want to invest in a tube or hybrid tube amp to see how it will come across on these transparent mids/highs.
I would love to see other's reviews on thier purchase of this kit.
Thanks again Dannny!
I don't know of any place that sells those metal grills, but I do have a few fully assembled X-Voce models left in stock and a few of them may still have the metal grills. I am blowing them out for $250 each.
@@dannyrichie9743 If I was a better wood worker and able to match the X-Statik enclosures to the built X-Voce I would certainly go that route. Thank you for the quick response!
Hi Danny,
Would love to build the kit. I always wanted to try an open baffle speaker. Do you sell the kits only inside the US or shipping to Europe is possible? What would be the cost of the kit if you are in Europe? I assume customs duties + VAT + shipping would be added. If you ship the kit abroad are any taxes deduced from the US price, so that there is no double taxation? Watching your channel from the beginning. Please continue doing the great work! Thank you, Marcin from Poland
We ship kits everywhere every week. And I have even sent stuff recently to Poland. I can send it via a reduced UPS Expedited rate that I now have for a reasonable price.
But you may have to deal with taxes or duty on your end. I have no idea what those might be.
@@dannyrichie9743 Thank you Danny for your answer! When the COVID-19 situation in my country stabilizes, I think I am going to treat myself and order a kit, maybe even a 5.1 setup with a servo sub. I double checked the costs and if I make a small order like only the X-statik kit the final cost with shipping + customs + VAT will be almost twice the price of the kit. So it rather makes sense to make a bigger purchase at once. I wish you the best in those troubled times. When I will be ready to make the purchase, I will contact you directly via email. Thank you, Marcin