Welp, I've been bored for a while and wanted to sling some sawdust, however with the kids and work I'm finding less and less time to actually build anything from scratch. Drawing the CAD file and programming it to our router takes just a small amount of time, but adds one more layer on top of everything else (as well as ordering the material and actually running the program on our CNC). SO, I took the easy way out this time and ordered a DIYSoundGroup kit from Eric H. The kit is a relatively new design from Jeff Bagby that uses a custom-spec woofer special to DIYSG and one of Jeff's favorite tweeters by SB Acoustics (not beryllium).
Having built 3 designs from Jeff previously (DIYSG Fusion-12, Overnight Sensation, Mandolin) I'm familiar with Jeff's voicing on his designs and know they're going to be very comfortable to listen to. So I picked the Helix design with dome tweeter (ribbon design on the back-burner indefinitely). The design is a simple 2-way rear ported cabinet which is a pretty decent size. I'll be using these here at the office and am hoping low level volume will be engaging enough to side-step The Gatekeepers, my Markaudio Alpair 7.3s that have been here for the better part of 8yrs now. These speakers have outlasted the very best designs I've built, most of which include world-renowned drivers from SB Acoustics, Seas and Scanspeak, beryllium tweeters, etc. That's how highly I think of them in this application.
I think though, even if they DON'T side-step the Markaudios, which I'm kind of expecting, it'll be fine since I need a deeper diving speaker than what the little Alpairs can offer as to avoid actually putting in a couple of subwoofers here. From the minimal reviews I can find it seems like they'll be pretty high performance with the Denovo 7" driver being the real wildcard. No real esoteric parts are used here, especially in the crossover which use some pretty basic Bennic parts and others.
Eric's ship time is typically about a week and I ordered on last Thursday so I'd assume the whole kit will be here in roughly a week and a half from today / beginning of march. The kit comes with the front baffle already cut to size and with driver cutouts and rabbets done. I opted for the flatpack cabinets and custom PCBs for crossover layout. All that's left for me to do is order up a couple terminal cups, some wire, and maybe some polyfill.
Will post photos as I unpack the kit and begin the build. Stay tuned, folks!
Having built 3 designs from Jeff previously (DIYSG Fusion-12, Overnight Sensation, Mandolin) I'm familiar with Jeff's voicing on his designs and know they're going to be very comfortable to listen to. So I picked the Helix design with dome tweeter (ribbon design on the back-burner indefinitely). The design is a simple 2-way rear ported cabinet which is a pretty decent size. I'll be using these here at the office and am hoping low level volume will be engaging enough to side-step The Gatekeepers, my Markaudio Alpair 7.3s that have been here for the better part of 8yrs now. These speakers have outlasted the very best designs I've built, most of which include world-renowned drivers from SB Acoustics, Seas and Scanspeak, beryllium tweeters, etc. That's how highly I think of them in this application.
I think though, even if they DON'T side-step the Markaudios, which I'm kind of expecting, it'll be fine since I need a deeper diving speaker than what the little Alpairs can offer as to avoid actually putting in a couple of subwoofers here. From the minimal reviews I can find it seems like they'll be pretty high performance with the Denovo 7" driver being the real wildcard. No real esoteric parts are used here, especially in the crossover which use some pretty basic Bennic parts and others.
Eric's ship time is typically about a week and I ordered on last Thursday so I'd assume the whole kit will be here in roughly a week and a half from today / beginning of march. The kit comes with the front baffle already cut to size and with driver cutouts and rabbets done. I opted for the flatpack cabinets and custom PCBs for crossover layout. All that's left for me to do is order up a couple terminal cups, some wire, and maybe some polyfill.
Will post photos as I unpack the kit and begin the build. Stay tuned, folks!