Hi all.
It would be interesting to see any DIY speaker setups plus Naim gear, (or not Naim).
I can start.
I have recently built a design by a well known diy designer (Troels Gravesen). This is the third speaker design I have built from his designs. All have been very nice sounding speakers and are most definitely worth the effort for anyone with the skill and the inclination. You can most certainly achieve something that would cost a great deal more from a hifi store.
I have paired this speaker with a Naim Unity Atom. I know they will perform even better with a more powerful amp but right now this was all I can afford and the speakers are fairly sensitive (89db) and even with 40 watts per channel, they are delivering some absolutely astounding bass!! It has really shown me the benefits of moving allot of air through a larger driver (12”). I will never go back.
These speakers are quite laid back in their sound, they have plenty of punch and are very dynamic. They never sound harsh or fatiguing. The pairing with the Naim amp is fantastic and can be listened to at very low volumes and maintain all the bass and dynamics. Very happy camper.
Can’t wait till the day I can get something like a SN3 or a NOVA to run them.
The speaker is called the “Fusion”, it is the fully passive crossover version and is a combination of SB Acoustics tweeter, Scanspeak dedicated 7” midrange, and BMS bass driver. It can be upgraded at some point to make the bass section active with a hypex ncore 500 watt class D plate amp. !
Mine are my own design & built to match Ercol furniture & room design
(at the time I had access to a professional wood machine shop).
Driver array acoustically aligned to listening position. (Distance & height)
Long throw, low fs bass unit, optimised with cabinet volume & reflex port for 32Hz -6dB & near rear wall placement.
The QB3 aligned reflex ports are made with full radius flare at outlet & ½ radius flare inlet
Scanspeak bass & Audax mid & treble drive units, Soniqs PXX caps, Volt air-core inductors, TT carbon film resisters, Cord Rumour wire to bass & mid units & 1mm silver to treble units
Very nice Mike. I love the scan-speak revelator sliced paper drivers. That looks like a coated version. They can pump some rather deep bass for their size. My last speaker used one in a 2 way set up. Sounded like there was a sub hidden somewhere!
I bet yours sounds good not having to cover bass and midrange.
Yes but maybe best keep it simple so I’ve changed it
Its in-room, mic is 2m distant & in line with midrange unit & all measurements are 1/3 octave pink noise from a test CD (at the time) (now ripped to NAS)
The bar graph is the full in-room response, i.e. including room response & reflections…
Also added is the reflex port imposed over & corrected to 84dB.
Ooophs, it looks like an excel (operator error), jeez why didn’t I spot that
Looks like its all shifted down 1/3 octave
The top end 1/3 column should be 16 to 20kHz noise
Now corrected & simplified
No match for either of those two at the start of this thread, but I recently inherited these speakers which were homemade by my late grandfather - based on designs from KEF themselves I think. Wilmslow Audio replaced the xo with their unit specifically designed for these KEF drivers and also beefed-up the internal cabling. I thought they merited a better amplifier so I bought NAIM NAP100, used my Creek 4330 as a passive pre-amp, and it really got the best out of them. It’s a bit of hacked together system but it sounds pretty good to my ears, especially the NAIM / KEF combination. It’s a remarkably authentic, natural, and precise sound, especially since the speakers must date from the late 80s.
This is a very timely thread as I’m just now trying to find someone who could re-veneer these cabinets for me. Struggling to get any interest - probably seen as DIY - but if anyone here knows someone in the London area who might take on that kind of work I’d be grateful for their details.
(I also inherited the original cabinet designs from Kef on which these were based. They are a fairly basic screw & glue construction method so I’m happy to share them in case anyone here is interested in the homemade approach but doesn’t have the full complement of carpentry skills. (Falcon Acoustics still sell the drivers)).
Don’t put them down based on their looks! Looks to me to be a nice 3 way with a large bass driver and plenty of cabinet volume.
I am sure it sounds great!
Is this your main system?
Have you ever pitched them against commercial speakers?
A friend in Brixton does furniture restoration work. I could ask her if she’s got any space in her schedule (or any suggestions of people who could help)
Building some super Kans at the moment … just veneering at moment. They are made with 18mm ply reinforced and braced and lead lined…and will weigh in at 20lbs a cabinet. Falcon have supplied matched drivers…quite excited about firing these up… These will have external xovers and are based on MK1 Kan - Kef R101
@Mark84 The only commercial comparison I have was with my previous Acoustic Energy AE200 bookshelf speakers. I always thought those were pretty good but in comparison now sound quite synthetic and compressed; the KEFs have a kind of natural tonality which I just wasn’t expecting from such vintage, homemade speakers. I was advised at the time that NAIM / KEF shared a similar philosophy and it seems to be the case, at least on this evidence. It is my main system yes so I may now dispense with the Creek / Arcam and go wholly NAIM with a 172 streamer.
