Anyone know of a UK-based operation that is comparable to Parts Express or Meniscus?
I'm specifically wanting order a budget speaker kit like the Overnight Sensation or C Note, to a friend's daughter as a present. She's an early teenager, and clever enough to figure it out (well, he might have to oversee the soldering).
I can't find anything similar though, the closes thing is an EU based store that has the Overnight Sensation for twice the cost, and there's probably some shipping complexity post-Brexit on top of that as well.
I'm specifically wanting order a budget speaker kit like the Overnight Sensation or C Note, to a friend's daughter as a present. She's an early teenager, and clever enough to figure it out (well, he might have to oversee the soldering).
I can't find anything similar though, the closes thing is an EU based store that has the Overnight Sensation for twice the cost, and there's probably some shipping complexity post-Brexit on top of that as well.
Falcon Acoustics and Wilmslow Audio make some good kits, but we are talking £500+
I'd check out Richer Sounds for speakers, maybe add a mini receiver like Denon around £400 total.
Nice bedroom system.
https://www.richersounds.com/wharfedale-9-0-black.html
https://www.richersounds.com/q-acoustics-q3010-matte-graphite.html
One little treasure is the Tozzi One kit at KJF. About £150 for an easy and well thought out MarkAudio kit.
https://kjfaudio.com/product/tozzi-one-kit/
I am sure you can ring Stefan at KJF for any advice. Nice fella. I happen to have a pair of CHN-50 drivers. They sound good apparently.
There are some projects in the Full-Range forum with them.
I'd check out Richer Sounds for speakers, maybe add a mini receiver like Denon around £400 total.
Nice bedroom system.
https://www.richersounds.com/wharfedale-9-0-black.html
https://www.richersounds.com/q-acoustics-q3010-matte-graphite.html
One little treasure is the Tozzi One kit at KJF. About £150 for an easy and well thought out MarkAudio kit.
https://kjfaudio.com/product/tozzi-one-kit/
I am sure you can ring Stefan at KJF for any advice. Nice fella. I happen to have a pair of CHN-50 drivers. They sound good apparently.
There are some projects in the Full-Range forum with them.
There is a project of mine you can read about here:
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...sealed-simple-loudspeaker-build-plans.352046/
Blue Aran and Wilmslow Audio are keeping x/o parts ( Monacor caps, ferrite coils, air core 0.19mH needs be unwound to meet the 0.15mH spec), Monacor ST-955G terminals (different than specified), and all the drivers for 143 GBP VAT inc. a pair.
The price increase in the meantime you can derive from txt file attached there.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...sealed-simple-loudspeaker-build-plans.352046/
Blue Aran and Wilmslow Audio are keeping x/o parts ( Monacor caps, ferrite coils, air core 0.19mH needs be unwound to meet the 0.15mH spec), Monacor ST-955G terminals (different than specified), and all the drivers for 143 GBP VAT inc. a pair.
The price increase in the meantime you can derive from txt file attached there.
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Thanks, @system7 and @Lojzek.
The Parts Express kits are pretty much the optimal difficultly level... the Tozzi is little too "Lego" and the Viston-Monacor probably a bit too involved for my goddaugher as I'm not in-country to help with sourcing or building.
Hmm... just checked, and Meniscus seems to only have a shipping charge of $28 to the UK which is far lower tha expected, so I'll try to figure out what happens from a customs/VAT perspective.
The Parts Express kits are pretty much the optimal difficultly level... the Tozzi is little too "Lego" and the Viston-Monacor probably a bit too involved for my goddaugher as I'm not in-country to help with sourcing or building.
Hmm... just checked, and Meniscus seems to only have a shipping charge of $28 to the UK which is far lower tha expected, so I'll try to figure out what happens from a customs/VAT perspective.
The price of the Overnight Sensation on Sound Import (based in the netherlands) includes the taxes you need to pay to import in the EU and the VAT. If you buy in the UK the prices may be different (depending on how exporting to the uk is arranged after Brexit). Without VAT the prices are not much more than the prices on parts express btw, so i think you won't find it cheaper on this side of the Atlantic...
I was going to suggest looking at IPL Acoustics. However it seems they have closed due to the main (only?) chap involved retiring. News to me.
Perhaps QTA Systems? https://www.qtasystems.co.uk/
Not sure about prices though.
TLHP in France also do some kits with flat pack cabinets.
https://en.toutlehautparleur.com/
I hope this is some help, apologies if not.
Mike
Perhaps QTA Systems? https://www.qtasystems.co.uk/
Not sure about prices though.
TLHP in France also do some kits with flat pack cabinets.
https://en.toutlehautparleur.com/
I hope this is some help, apologies if not.
Mike
wimbledon, I know the Overnight Sensation kit design. It's not as simple as you might think. I am not even very impressed with it frankly.
You need a soldering iron and solder. You need speaker plugs. You need hook-up wire and damping felt. You need some tools like wire-cutters. All costs money.
I really don't think a teenager will have the patience. It's always Dad or the Uncle who ends up building it when the kids have wandered off to watch Netflix or play games on X-Box.
I would assume most teenagers want to listen to some sounds in their bedroom.
The Tozzi one is a beaut. An hours work. All you need is a screwdriver. In three tasteful colours. But I still think you will end up building it.
Get real. 😀
You need a soldering iron and solder. You need speaker plugs. You need hook-up wire and damping felt. You need some tools like wire-cutters. All costs money.
I really don't think a teenager will have the patience. It's always Dad or the Uncle who ends up building it when the kids have wandered off to watch Netflix or play games on X-Box.
I would assume most teenagers want to listen to some sounds in their bedroom.
The Tozzi one is a beaut. An hours work. All you need is a screwdriver. In three tasteful colours. But I still think you will end up building it.
Get real. 😀
I've built a couple of the Overnight Sensations kits and given them to nieces/nephews, and the full kit comes with all the bits including wiring, plugs and screws. So the Dad doesn't have to faff about with sourcing. He owns a boat, so has a reasonable selection of tools including clamps.
The teen is a bit atypical- very focussed, doesn't game, is extremely intelligent and into STEM subjects, and is heavily into old school rock.
On the subject of soldering, my son soldered up his first electronics kit when he was six (under supervision, obviously).
So I think it's probably at around the right level of challenge for her, the Dad will definitely have to help checking the crossover wiring, and with the finishing of the cabinet. If he ends up doing the whole thing, swearing at me the whole time, I also get to laugh at him 🙂
Regarding the Tozzi, how did you fine it tonally? I tried building some full range speakers using either the Pluvias or the Alpairs a couple years back, and found that they were far too bright for my tastes. I had to listen to them hugely off-axis for the brief time I stuck with them. Do you know if the CN-50s also tend towards bright?
I suppose most of the Forum Advisors are very STEM. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.... for those less in the know.)
But we also have a responsibility in Health and Safety. What I am willing to risk in terms of high Voltage and the like, is not what I advise others to do. You follow?
I could get sued. By Lawyers. Could cost me Money.
You let a 6-y-o loose with a hot soldering iron? Quite dangerous IMO. 🙄
I didn't say I had heard the MarkAudio CHN-50:
https://kjfaudio.com/product/chn-50/
I said, with my usual mathematical precision that they "APPARENTLY" sound good. 😀
They are still sitting around. Problem for me is they are 4 ohms. This was not explicitly stated by KJFAudio until I investigated it. That might blow up mine or your amplifier. So am considering buying another pair and wiring them in series.
But we also have a responsibility in Health and Safety. What I am willing to risk in terms of high Voltage and the like, is not what I advise others to do. You follow?
I could get sued. By Lawyers. Could cost me Money.
You let a 6-y-o loose with a hot soldering iron? Quite dangerous IMO. 🙄
I didn't say I had heard the MarkAudio CHN-50:
https://kjfaudio.com/product/chn-50/
I said, with my usual mathematical precision that they "APPARENTLY" sound good. 😀
They are still sitting around. Problem for me is they are 4 ohms. This was not explicitly stated by KJFAudio until I investigated it. That might blow up mine or your amplifier. So am considering buying another pair and wiring them in series.
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I really wouldn't worry about their being 4 ohms - almost all amplifiers these days will be fine with 4 ohms (and many will actually be intended for 4, rather than 8 ohm operation).
You are right keithj01, I really should get on with the CHN-50 as tweeters project! I worry too much!
I have been giving some thought to Lojzek's Visaton/Monacor project. Maybe to do it MTM style too.
Being useless at woodwork, and lacking a good machine saw, I am mulling over how to build and glue MDF panels. Can buy a jigsaw for the cutouts.
B&Q do 1.22m x 0.61m x 12mm MDF for £16.47. They also give you 5 accurate free cuts in house.
https://www.diy.com/departments/mdf-board-l-1-22m-w-0-61m-t-12mm-5520g/1696263_BQ.prd
https://www.diy.com/services/timber-cutting
Because it is the cabinets that are so expensive when bought ready machined. We are talking £200 - £300, which is plain too much.
I have been giving some thought to Lojzek's Visaton/Monacor project. Maybe to do it MTM style too.
Being useless at woodwork, and lacking a good machine saw, I am mulling over how to build and glue MDF panels. Can buy a jigsaw for the cutouts.
B&Q do 1.22m x 0.61m x 12mm MDF for £16.47. They also give you 5 accurate free cuts in house.
https://www.diy.com/departments/mdf-board-l-1-22m-w-0-61m-t-12mm-5520g/1696263_BQ.prd
https://www.diy.com/services/timber-cutting
Because it is the cabinets that are so expensive when bought ready machined. We are talking £200 - £300, which is plain too much.
@system7 , there are at last a couple of maker spaces in Portsmouth, they'd almost certainly be able to help you get some cabs cut & assembled for less than that.
https://www.makers-guild.com/https://www.portcitymakerspace.com/
Failing that, there must be a heap of boat builders suddenly sitting around with nothing to do now the Russian oligarch's aren't able to buy super yachts, you might fine one of them willing to do a small job for a nominal fee ;-)
https://www.makers-guild.com/https://www.portcitymakerspace.com/
Failing that, there must be a heap of boat builders suddenly sitting around with nothing to do now the Russian oligarch's aren't able to buy super yachts, you might fine one of them willing to do a small job for a nominal fee ;-)
And then there is always a good old handsaw. Unusual test of one's own capabilities. You can't appreciate electric driven tools enough unless you tried the painful route.
We have the same problem in Oz: professionally made cabinets are very costly, if and when when you can find someone to do it. I've just assembled the 'kits' by ordering the bits from the designers' BoM.
If the panels can be CNC cut they should be accurate + or - 1mm or better, which makes assembling the box pretty easy., You'll need at least 16mm MDF, 19mm is better.
After the box, you have more 'fun' issues to deal with: flush mounting the drivers, bracing the cabinet and rounding the edges. You can just glue in some scrap between the sides for bracing, doesn't have to be neat.
I've cheated on my recent projects and only flush mounted the tweeter, which I did by cutting a hole for the inside dimensions of the tweeter, then cutting and gluing a piece of ply the same thickness as the tweeter flange onto the baffle. If you go that route, you could get by with a jig saw and two hole saws, one each for the inside and outside diameter of the tweeter.
The ply also helped with the woofer, which was one of those weird shaped SB16PFC drivers. The ply came up about two thirds of its thickness.
Then, if it all looks too messy, hide it with a grille!
Then you have to finish the cabinet, which you can do by using decoupage to make a Jimi Hendrix or other themed collage to hide the glitches in the cabinet....well, that's how I did it.
Geoff
PS If you can get the panels CNC cut, they will also do the baffle round over for you. The cut and rounded over MDF for my last proper build cost A$90, or about 50 pounds at the current rate of exchange, not too bad. The wood was perfectly cut and the round overs excellent. Panels were glued with PVA glue and I used screws for extra strength.
It's of course easier to be able to get everything in one package but that costs, at least in the UK and Oz.
Geoff
It's of course easier to be able to get everything in one package but that costs, at least in the UK and Oz.
Geoff
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@ David Morison. I certainly appreciate your effort to help here, but surely you are confusing Portsmouth, UK ("Pompey" to Naval types) with Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
https://www.portcitymakerspace.com/
On the subject of rebates and roundovers which GeoffMillar raises, I question whether they actually make any difference.
This global giant in audio, Sony, don't bother at all.
https://www.portcitymakerspace.com/
On the subject of rebates and roundovers which GeoffMillar raises, I question whether they actually make any difference.
This global giant in audio, Sony, don't bother at all.
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There's some debate about it but at the very least, the roundovers make the cabinets look a bit neater. My first builds, including our 'reference' speakers, don't have round-overs and they sound fine.
According to Zaph Audio and other web sites' tests, flush mounting tweeters results in a slightly less 'spiky' frequency response than surface mounting, whether you can hear it or not is the issue. Again, I do it because it looks neater.
Flush mounting woofers, on the other hand, supposedly doesn't make any difference to the sound compared with surface mounting.
Ideally, I'd do my builds with Peerless woofers and Vifa TC-7s or TC-9s, which are all designed for surface mounting; it would certainly make for easier builds! All I'd need then is a jig saw and one hole saw and there would be less swear word output...
Geoff
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Well, in all good humour, that's utter twaddle isn't it Steve. 😉 The Re value is shown in the driver spec. which is very clearly displayed on the page you yourself link to. And in addition to that, it can also be found in the pdf data sheet, which is provided. If you couldn't be bothered to read it before buying, that's hardly Stefan's fault.
The likelihood of a 4ohm mid-tweeter blowing up any half-decent (or even a relatively poor) amplifier is minimal at best. It would have to be a spectacularly bad design for that to be the case. And you will no doubt recall that current and power demands rapidly decline > ~500Hz, so you would really have to be going some these days to find anything short of a crystal radio (or possibly a Gaincard 😉 ) that would be at all troubled by this, especially if used in a BW limited capacity. I've never had the slightest issue with these, or any other nominal 4ohm units with a wide variety of amplifiers. Not a big deal, use & enjoy!
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I have no beef with Stefan at KJFAudio. Consider him a friend.
But, TBH, he has furiously updated his website lately.
https://kjfaudio.com/product/chn-50/
Thing is, an 86dB 4 ohm driver will cause me problems in a three way. Low impedance.
But, TBH, he has furiously updated his website lately.
https://kjfaudio.com/product/chn-50/
Thing is, an 86dB 4 ohm driver will cause me problems in a three way. Low impedance.