Deaf Row!

[walpurgis]

You reckon your DIY speakers sound (at least) as good as commercial speakers costing £500?

S.

£500 probably doesn't buy anything special in the way of speakers these days Shane. I'm thinking the sound quality I'm getting might cost more.

Omni-directional speaker are a rarity. I can only think of MBL and Duevel as current makers, but no doubt there may be others. I have built some before and they were well liked by listeners.

[southall-1998_mk2]

£500 probably doesn't buy anything special in the way of speakers these days Shane. I'm thinking the sound quality I'm getting might cost more.

Omni-directional speaker are a rarity. I can only think of MBL and Duevel as current makers, but no doubt there may be others. I have built some before and they were well liked by listeners.

Most modern speakers today are total rip-off. I can sort of understand why some people turn to DIY.

S.

[Macca]

Most modern speakers today are total rip-off. I can sort of understand why some people turn to DIY.

S.

Not according to Darko:

https://darko.audio/2026/09/no-diy-s...lue-for-money/

Of course his job is industry promotion so he has to say that but his argument is that if DIYers costed their time then it's not economical. What he misses is that people DIY in their leisure time - time in which they would not be earning money anyway.

So if you DIY your speakers and save a grand over equivalent commercial product you were going to buy instead, you effectively made a grand in your leisure time where usually you'd make no money at all in that time. Win, win.

[Barry]

£500 probably doesn't buy anything special in the way of speakers these days Shane. I'm thinking the sound quality I'm getting might cost more.

Omni-directional speaker are a rarity. I can only think of MBL and Duevel as current makers, but no doubt there may be others. I have built some before and they were well liked by listeners.

In my limited experience, omni-directional speakers are highly dependent on their surrounding environment. My only experience was with a Sonab design. I heard them sounding great at an audio and record dealer's premises, where they were located in a fairly small vaulted basement underneath the shop. Obviously the dealer had taken care both in choosing them and setting them up, but they worked really well.

The second time was when a friend of a friend bought (or was given) a pair of Sonab speakers. Try as we might, we could not get them to sound right in the owner's fairly large living room. I wouldn't say they sounded awful but I wouldn't have been content.

I should add that the Sonab designs used several tweeters, whereas Geoff's design uses one drive unit: that could well make a difference.

[Pigmy Pony]

I remember those Sonab speakers. I never heard any, and had no desire to. They would have to sound pretty special to justify those looks. They just looked weird.

[walpurgis]

Out of curiosity, I bought a Rotel RB-03 power amplifier off eBay, as the reviews claimed it was decent. Well it was mint and sounded vey good. Trouble is, there was some low level popping/crackling on the left channel. It goes back tomorrow. Not so good, I hate disappointments!

This has now been replaced by an RB-850 power amp, which is in great shape and sounding very decent with the RC-960BX pre-amp. At slightly under £250 for this pair, it's tremendous value considering the sound quality provided.

Along with my Rotel RA-04BX integrated, that completes the current foray into older budget gear. I do have more serious stuff, but I'm having fun with this lot .

[walpurgis]

Boot Sale Booty?

Four pairs of recently (very cheaply) acquired headphones.



Nearest left, Philips EM 6146, dull sounding and not good, just as well they were only three quid.

Furthest left, Philips SHP 2500, awful! Thick and bassy with no definition or top end, Yuk! I wasted two more quid here.

Nearest right, small JVC pair with no model number. They sound remarkable, a big surprise. Two nicker well spent!

Furthest right, small Lenco set, no model number. Again, very decent sound, slightly forward at the top, but OK. Nice and transparent, remind me of eighties Sennheisers. These were only 50p.


The last two pairs are definitely 'keepers', with the JVC top choice.

[Macca]

Not surprised the JVC are the best.

[walpurgis]

This is rather nice. Yes, I've been naughty again and bought another amp!

A rare, very late Quad 606 Mk.II power-amp, in black and grey with the later 909 type bevel edged casing. It's in amazing condition, as near immaculate as could be hoped for. With the later spec, it's more or less a 909 without the unwanted and occasionally problematic Quadlink circuitry. It's sounding excellent and totally silent mechanically. Nice.

[Macca]

Does look tidy, I never liked the graphics on those big QUAD amps though. I think they cheapen the look a bit.