Speaker Enclosures

Gmkowal it's great to hear that you are jumping into our hobby! You are many steps ahead of most of us(me included) in that you are a woodworker. As far as kits go, you have a lot of options. Check out Orca Design's(orcadesign.com) website for some great information. Make sure to request literature from them, as when I have gone there, the designs were nowhere near as numerous as what they used to send me through the mail. Kimon Bellas(GREAT guy) runs the show, and they are the US parts division of JMLabs. Have excellent drivers from Focal, Cabasse, Vieta, Raven, etc. They used to regularly send me a pack of information as thick as a phone book loaded with advice, designs, kits, and parts. The big contributors in this information(in addition to Kimon) were Joe D'Appolito(EVERYBODY uses his designs), Dick Olsher, and the folks from Focal and Cabasse. Next to try is Madisound, they have parts and kits from everywhere. Kits are good for a novice, but you will find the sound quality lacking once you become more advanced. But, Madisound will always remain a resource for you for their parts(real good prices). Check out North Creek design for their excellent ideas on putting together cabinet walls. Their coils(12, 10, & 8 gauge!) are some of the best you can buy. They turned me on to Ohmite wirewound resistors. Take it from me, there is no more cost effective way to improved sound than wirewound resistors. Alpha Core Goertz(same people who make cable) also have nice coils(including silver), but the sound is much different than North Creek's(more forward, less relaxed and sunny). Best large value caps come from SCR, same company as Solen. SCR's sound much better though(use better film and foil). Smaller value caps can come from Wonder, Hovland, or MIT/Rel(my favorite). Get wire from Orca or HomeGrown Audio. And finally, Zalytron is a great resource(assuming you are not put off by Elliot's demeanor). He has as much "real world" knowledge as anyone. You can show him something that looks great on paper, and he'll tell you to forget it. He will then change your crossover values to numbers that don't jive with any chart around. 99% of the time he is right. You'll get excellent crossover designs from either Elliot or Kimon.

Gmkowal: If you have considered trying out SET amps in your system you may want to take a look at the Hammer speaker kit @ hammerdynamics.com - there are also some user reviews at Audio Asylum under the high efficiency speaker section. You can buy moderatley efficient speakers all day long but usually pay a high premium for super high efficiency speakers. They are not a horn design and look very interesting IMO.

Wow! You guys are unbelieveable! I did not expect to get so much good info, so fast. I will be checking out the site that you all graciously pointed out. I have two systems at home. I have an old Threslold Stasis amp in one and an Aleph 5 in the other. The Threshold drives a pair of Theil 3.5's and the Aleph drives an old pair of Advents left over from my GAS system purchased in the late 70's. Uh-Oh, my age is showing. The Advents are not terribly sensitive (89db) and are in real need of replacement so the practical decision is to purchase a Kit and build the enclosures. I have some book matched birds-eye maple veineer that I was saving for a rainy day so as soon a I select the kit it's off to the lumber yard. I am really excited to get started and wish to thank each and every one of you for pointing me in the right direction. PS: I have been out of engineering school for 30 years. Anyone recommend a good filter theory book for me to brush up with. These days, I can only count up to one if ya catch my drift :-) Thanks again Gents!