DIY Speakers with some professional help

ZLTFUL

So ever since hearing the Salks that Jim brought to the Central Iowa Home Theater crawl, I have turned my brain into high gear on potential replacements for or in addition to the 2.3TLs.
Bear in mind that I have not yet relegated myself to getting rid of the SDAs but have been debating something with much greater WAF along with vastly improved drivers.
I will finish the updates to the SDAs before making a decision to keep or sell but either way, I also am seriously eyeballing other options.

Ideally, I would own a pair of Magico S5s. I love everything about them. But $20k+ for speakers isn't in the cards until after we build our house and that is still 2 years out at minimum.

To satisfy my lust and to see what avenues I had available to me, I reached out to Jim Salk.
Jim boasts that they are more than willing to customize any speaker they make for their customers.
So we got talking about my love for some of the drivers they use (Seas WXX woofers, Hiquphon tweeters) and my disdain for others (I just can't love ribbon tweeters. I never have...I can't specifically say exactly what it is but they just don't do it for me).
I mentioned to Jim that I had thought the Seas beryllium tweeters to be just this side of flat out amazing. https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/beryllium-dome-tweeters/seas-excel-t29b001-beryllium-dome-tweeter-e0058/
I also mentioned that I thought a "Supercharged" Songtower with this tweeter would be exactly what I was looking for.
As luck would have it, Jim's pricing on the beryllium tweeter is quite a bit less than the Raal ribbons used in the standard Supercharged Songtowers.

At this point, he drug Dennis Murphy into our conversations and a plan was hatched.

But let's back up a bit first. I did mention that I was sort of on the fence and maybe wanted to build something myself with a slightly larger woofer and asked if they could help with that idea too. I wanted to build the cabinets myself since I am fairly accomplished woodworker but would need help on the design.
I also was considering the Usher 7" carbon/paper woofers as they have solid specs on their own. http://www.parts-express.com/usher-8945a-7-carbon-fiber-paper-woofer--296-600
Dennis liked this idea but Jim seemed less than enthused.
But was still willing to offer some help.

So now my decision lies in whether or not to have Jim/Dennis do the beryllium tweeter version of the Supercharged Songtower upgraded with Clarity Cap ESAs and MRs.
The plus side here is that I just have to sit back and wait for my speakers to show up. They are partially my idea/design but I don't have to do any of the leg work.

Or I have Dennis and Jim help me as much as they can to do a DIY speaker with the same tweeters, same crossover components, Usher woofers and my own hands on build of the cabinet. The plus side here is the satisfaction of creating something myself. But we all know how much trial and error can go into something like this even with the best designers working behind you.

I am leaning towards letting them do it for me.

What do our local speaker DIY folks think? Would I be biting off way more than I could or should chew? Don't get me wrong, I always love seeing a project come to fruition but with the remodels here in preparation of selling the townhouse, getting things lined up for the house build and motorcycle stuff, I am not sure if I will have the amount of time I should dedicate to this project...

ZLTFUL

Maybe that's it. I enjoy the Maggie room at one of the local shops because they made it strictly for Maggies (big open room with plenty of space for them) and I can't find many faults in that implementation but my space screams for a more compact, coffin design (my biggest fear once I complete the SDA upgrades is the lack of space for them).

WLDock

That Seas Be tweeter is pretty pricey. How high would your DIY budget be vs. having them built?

ZLTFUL

DIY budget doesn't really take into consideration the labor time involved. That being said, I was looking at originally doing the Seas Excel 7in Magnesium woofers so $2k for drivers alone plus another $700-$1000 for crossover parts on the higher side. I already have a large stockpile of MDF in both 3/4" and 1 1/4" thicknesses. As for veneers, I don't have Jim's veneer vault but I have a local supplier that my uncle works for so veneers are a pittance comparatively.

With the Usher drivers, I was hoping to get most of the performance Seas Excels with half the cost.
The Salks use the 5inch WXX driver and I was hoping to dig a little deeper with the 7inch version of the same.

ZLTFUL

As for the specific tweeter selection, there is a reason for it...it sounds every bit as good as the Be tweeter used in the Magicos.

ZLTFUL

That's the other part...I keep going back and forth because I know what the Seas W series speakers are capable of. Then of course, there is the savings part where the Ushers are also good but are they 95% good?

ZLTFUL

That's the way I am leaning. But then we get into the total DIY cost getting close to and possibly surpassing the cost of the Supercharged Songtowers with my tweeter choice and cap upgrades. So then I swing back towards just having Salk do it for me. Hehe vicious circle this.

EndersShadow

Have then do them and then arrange a factory visit to pick then up....

And on the way swing by to grab me heheheh

WLDock

ZLTFUL wrote: »

That's the way I am leaning. But then we get into the total DIY cost getting close to and possibly surpassing the cost of the Supercharged Songtowers with my tweeter choice and cap upgrades. So then I swing back towards just having Salk do it for me. Hehe vicious circle this.

IMO, if you are looking for a MTM design just get the Songtowers. Or if you want to dive into DIY, just build one of the old proven Seas design like the Thor.
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/mtm-speaker-kits/new-thor-kit-pair/

However, if you want to put the $1K tweeters to really good use in an all out DIY assault at the $20K+, 190 lbs, 48" currved aluminum cabinet, 22Hz-50KHz, twin 10 incher Magico S5 then....that is when it might be wise to pay for the expertise of Dennis to design a crossover and voicing and put your build skills to the test!

SEAS Excel T29B001 Be tweeters - $966
SEAS Nextel M15CH-002 midrange - $460
Rhythmik DS800 CI - four 8" subs & two Hypex Servo 700W Amps, 20hz up to 250hz system - $1179
.............................
$2600 in drivers

Now that's a collection of drivers with a great crossover, great componets, and a great enclosure that might make you think twice about keeping the 2.3TL's and enjoy the music and forget about selling a kidney for the S5's. In all honesty...it sounds like you are at this part of the road.

The beauty of DIY is that you can build a cabinet with the same shape, height, etc as the S5.....but MDF braces and 3mm sheet plys to build the curves and something pretty solid. Then, drop them off at an autobody shop to paint them to look like you want....or go veneers and DIY. Sounds like an awesome project.

WLDock

Usher diamond, Seas Be.....its a wash man. It really does not get any better than that....unless you get into the mega buck range! As far as price....go for the cheaper cost driver.

I've been dreaming of a large Scan Speak tower for years. However the SB Acoustics Satori drivers are proving to be quite the performers.. I will go for the Value when I finally do build. I want a three way like above, tweet, 5" midrange and dual woofers. I like the idea of an amped servo low end but God is that kit pricey.