I have Maggie’s in two other systems, but I built a single-driver speaker after building the Pass Amp Camp Amp (8 watts class A). I was so pleased with the amp’s pure sound that I built another, and then a Pass diy Balanced Zen preamp. Each of these use minimal components and simple circuits with the goal of leaving the signal as unmolested as possible. So the next step in the simplicity chain was the speaker, diy of course. The result, after experimenting with sealed vs. ported and various degrees of acoustic stuffing, was a 6.5-inch “full-range” driver in a smallish bookshelf, ported enclosure.
I went with a 95-dB Dayton Audio driver from Parts Express. It had a neodymium magnet in a cast frame and other recommended attributes, and then a Kevlar/paper cone with a whizzer and phase plug. It’s pretty good sound, similar to the Boston Acoustics HD5s they replaced but much more efficient. I later added a Martin Logan 400 sub, since my Dayton mic and sound software confirmed a pretty steep roll off below about 100 Hz.
It’s all a trade-off. No crossover, but not “full-range“ either. Small enclosure, but I didn’t have room for larger. Still, in the all-important midrange, it’s very good. And that’s my diy “simplicity” setup.
