Nearfield Speaker Designs/Plans

[Barefoot-Studio]

By day, I build custom cabinetry for a GC in the NYC area. By night & weekend, I have my project/demo studio. Furniture wise, everything in the studio I have built.

I built my monitors many years ago, but I am ready to replace them. They are now a three-way system that was intended to be two-way! My complaint is they need a sound volume that is louder than I want for near field use. They do sound great at a distance of about 10’, and a little too loud for day to day listening.

Does anyone know of plans you could recommend for a two-way near field?

[barefoot]

Ed,

Welcome to the forum! And my, what an interesting, unusual, and truly inspirational name you have for your studio!

I think DIY is an excellent way to get very high quality monitors at a fraction of the price!

Here's a short list of good suppliers and some designs I think would make outstanding nearfield monitors. A couple of these companies have many other offerings that you might like, but these designs are great reference points. Definitely check out Zalytron in person, if you have the time. They're just a short trip over to Long Island.

Dillon Acoustics http://www.dillonacoustics.com/
Attitude
Metaphor

North Creek http://www.northcreekmusic.com/
Borealis
Rhythm

Speaker City http://speakercity.com
Scan Speak 7
Scan Speak MTM

Zalytron http://www.zalytron.com
Wonder
Transcendent Two

And keep us posted on your project!

Thomas

[Barefoot-Studio]

<Ed,

Welcome to the forum! And my, what an interesting, unusual, and truly inspirational name you have for your studio! >
===

Thanks. I've been using the name for over 3 years now!

<Definitely check out Zalytron in person, if you have the time. They're just a short trip over to Long Island. >
===

A trip to Long Island is NEVER a short trip.

Thanks for the info, will do some surfin' tonight.

[Barefoot-Studio]

I almost forgot, what drivers would you recommend?
And what should I stay away from?

[Eric Best]

Hey Ed,

I built a kit that Madisound offers called the solist. They sound great and my mixes have been translating great. They are an MTM configuration with two 7" scanspeak drivers.

Eric

[barefoot]

A trip to Long Island is NEVER a short trip.

Well, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area which has horrible traffic and abysmal public transportation... plus there's of course a huge shortage of parking in the city..... so I guess the notion a "short trip" is all relative. A short trip hear is anything under an hour.

..... or maybe it's jut that it's Long Island.



I like a lot of what Danish Sound Technology offers. http://www.scan-speak.dk/ Vifa and Scan Speak are consistently good, but Peerless has had some recent winners as well with its CSX and HDS woofers.

Aura Sound offers some of the best subs ever made. http://www.madisound.com/

The regular Seas line is very similar and comparable to Vifa, but I just personally prefer Vifa. http://www.seas.no/ The Excel line has some great technology, but don't think a truly effective metal cone midbass has yet been produced - by anyone. The breakup modes are just too strong and too close to the pass band. The polymer cone Excels are definitely worth a look though.

I'm not a big fan of Audax.

Focal makes good woofers, but I don't like their tweeters so much. http://www.focal.tm.fr/gb/car/polyglass/index.htm I've also turned away from their Kevlar drivers. I like their Polyglass and W cones much better now.

Hope this helps!

Thomas

[barefoot]

Oh yeah.

I personally think 6.5" (7") drivers are the absolute maximum size for high performance midrange from a 2-way. All these 8" nearfields that are so popular have mediocre midrange clarity at best.... IMHO.

Thomas

[chelscaldwell]

I wish I know basic woodworking and other cabinetry tasks like you, as of now all my furnishings are bought from a furniture stores.

[SPAM SIGNATURE BLOCKED BY MODERATOR]

[davidjohnson789]

Welcome to the forum! truly inspirational name you have for your studio!
I think DIY is an excellent way to get very high quality monitors at a fraction of the price!and what an interesting it


[SPAM SIGNATURE BLOCKED BY MODERATOR]

[Soundman2020]

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- Stuart -