DIY Speakers, worth the hassles?

The Madisound kit that is known as "Thor" and based on Seas drivers in an MTM array loaded into a transmission line and designed by Joe D'Appolito looks to be phenomenally good. There was a review with laboratory test results of this "kit" in Audio Express and the results were phenomenal to say the least. However, some crucial spec's were left out of the test results as far as i am concerned.

I contacted Audio Express about this and asked them what the deal was. I was told that they also thought those specs were important and they don't know how they were initially overlooked. They were working on obtaining the info and told me that they hoped to publish it in the next issue or two.

If those results are anything like the rest of the testing showed, this speaker will be VERY hard to beat for anywhere near the money. I think that the basic kits run about $1500 or so. Sean
>

Ake , i'm not sure what you mean about shipping??? Well yes i'm paying the $100 shipping fee. But this 3 way, what price tag can you put on it, if sold in your local "hi-fi" shop??? Something like $10-$15K, maybe. The big commercials may be bigger and weigh more than these Selah3's, but no hype here. BTW, my choice in kits would be a EX High Edition from Germany. Its a 3 way Seas.

Sorry, tweekerman, I meant to say how much more you have to pay for having them assemble the speakers for you?

ake

Tweekerman, I think the one you ordered is not on thier website kit list, right? I am just wondering how much they will charge more for assembling the speakers on the top of the Kit price list.

ake

Agree with all the above posts. I am currently in love with my North Creek Rhythm Signatures. I had the cabinets built by their resident master - Lee Taylor. The quality of the the kit components, especially the crossovers, are way high end. To my ears these speakers compete with speakers in the 5k to 12k range (Verity, Dynaudio, Vienna, Audio Physics.)

This was my first "DIY" project. I admit that having someone else do the research into crossovers and driver integration as well as cabinet building made this less DIY. But from the subtext of your post I assume you may be looking more for a break in price than the challenge of design and construction. If that is the case, I would highly recommend the North Creek kits. They are more expensive than most DIY kits, but the advantage gained in time and quality make them a real value.

Have fun. -Karl