High Caliber DIY Speakers


I listened to two different pairs speakers over the weekend at the homes of two friends and was floored by how good they both sounded- Vandersteen 5's and JMLabs Utopia. While neither are the most expensive nor "end-all" speakers, both are excellent but beyond what my current budget allows. Realizing that a good portion of any speaker is the cost of the cabinetry, I was struck with the idea of building my own.

I have the cabinetry skills to match or exceed any commercially built cabinets and I also have some very nicely matched burlwood and crotchwood veneers that are just begging to be used. On the other hand, I don't have the electronics knowledge to design a speaker configuration, crossover scheme, etc.

Can anyone suggest sources for acquiring absolutley top-flight speaker kits (sans cabinetry)? Would have particular interest in "system" kits that supply all tweets, drivers, crossovers, etc. and whose design has been carefully matched, tested, and proven. I don't mind having to assemble the crossovers and, of course, building cabinets that will rival the very best in quality.

Obliged for all input.
4yanx
I am building a pair of line arrays. They were designed by Joe D'Appolito. They use 8 Focal utopia drivers from the JMLabs Utopia's and a Raven R2 ribbon tweeter.

More info at www.zalytron.com/array.htm They are the w-line arrays.

BTW They are huge!!! I have pictures of the boxes being built.
4,
Talk to Andre at www.e-speakers.com
There are a lot of great projects at his site.
4yanx
Solen.ca has some great kits designed with hefty discounts.
One problem with DIY kits is when it comes time to sell...."home made speakers" scares off a lot of potential buyers.
Butsy, and others, thanks. If I go this route, and given the time and care I'd put into the cabinets, these would be lifetime keepers, in one application or another! :-)
The Seas Thor available from Madisound (www.madisound.com)is a great transmission line speaker. Absolutely reference quality.