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At least my cousin does, I'm still working on mine :p. This project started about 11 months ago when I saw the HiVi L6-4R driver and wanted to figure out how or where to use it, just based on its looks :eek:. Super, super happy w/ how these turned out. It was a super fun (albeit long and drawn out) project. For anyone that cares to see how this all came about (also where I got the inspiration for their name), here's a link to its beginning... http://www.diyspeakerforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17.
Thanks to so many people. Thanks Johnny for originally chiming in at the beginning of this project, thanks Andy for taking the time to build this for yourself, and many, many thanks to the boys at Meniscus Audio for taking the time to walk me through the design process!! Also, thanks to everyone here and on the AH forum for the years of putting up w/ all my dumb questions
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Ironically, when I first started building speakers years back (using proven designs done by Paul K, Jim Holtz, Curt Campbell, etc) my ultimate goal was to get my feet wet by doing a pair for my garage/shop system just to clear all the skepticism in my mind. Then, if this actually worked and these speakers sounded good, I wanted to build some speakers for my home theater system to replace my JBL speakers that lack midrange. Obviously that first build worked above and beyond my expectations, because here I am about 5 builds later, finally watching that original goal come to fruition!! (Did I mention I LOVE building speakers?? :p)
Part of my goal in this build was to make a budget friendly, but still excellent sounding speaker. What initially turned me on to the HiVi L6-4R driver (aside from its looks and fairly low cost) is that Swann uses this same driver in a few of their ultra expensive speakers, and that's always nice to brag about when you're showing off your build :rolleyes:. Another nice thing about this build that ended up just working out, is that if you don't want to go through the cabinet building process, the speakers in the pics here are Dayton Audio cabinets that you can purchase through PE.
When we originally started this project, my goal was to simply make some TM speakers for my home theater system. So, through asking questions on the Meniscus forum, and through working w/ Chad at Meniscus on the ins and outs of crossover design, I hatched one raw version of what I intend to build. I brought the rough, naked version of this speaker over to my cousin Andy's (also very good friend and long time stereo fanatic as well) so he could hear it. He was thrilled w/ how they sounded, and he wanted some to replace his Paradigm home theater speakers but didn't want to wait a year+ for me to help him build some cabinets, so he purchased the pre-built Dayton cabinets. The original design spec'd a ported cabinet at 0.6cf, but they play very well in the 0.5cf Dayton cabinets. Here's a pic of Andy's TM.
My cousin wanted a bit more low end, full range from his fronts, so we decided to go ahead and do an MTM design as well. Here's a pic of the MTM, also in a Dayton Audio cabinet.
Once I get my speakers built, I'll post pics of those as well. The plan for my build is curved cabinets w/ Mahogany veneer, and maybe a walnut front baffle or semigloss black front baffle, but I'm not sure yet.
I'll post better listening impressions once I get mine built, I don't want to just yet simply because I only have one built, so I haven't had a whole lot of time w/ them yet. From the times I've listened to Andy's system, I'm stunned at how good these little speakers that have less than $230 worth of drivers and xover components sound. For such a small package, these speakers definitely pack a punch!! I've never been a fan of bright speakers, and the first thing that stands out is how amazingly warm, natural and refreshing the mids and highs are. The other thing that stands out is the amount of bass such a small package produces; not overly dark sounding at all, but still a very respectable amount. One other thing that brings a smile to my face is their ability to play borderline ridiculous sound levels w/out breaking up. Once I have more time to listen to my own, I'll post up some more details about my impressions. Maybe I can talk Andy into posting his thoughts :D.
The MTM sounds almost identical to the TM, just manages to dig lower in the bass arena.
Meniscus also offers this as a kit on their website for anyone that's interested in it. This is the TM version, but I think they'll also be offering the MTM as a kit as well. Blues Bare Bones Kit, (Pair)
Also, just FYI, the TM is 4 ohm and the MTM is 8 ohm.
Also wanted to add that these are one of the speakers I'll be bringing to InDIYana this May. Very curious to hear what you guys think about how they sound!!
Thanks to so many people. Thanks Johnny for originally chiming in at the beginning of this project, thanks Andy for taking the time to build this for yourself, and many, many thanks to the boys at Meniscus Audio for taking the time to walk me through the design process!! Also, thanks to everyone here and on the AH forum for the years of putting up w/ all my dumb questions
.Ironically, when I first started building speakers years back (using proven designs done by Paul K, Jim Holtz, Curt Campbell, etc) my ultimate goal was to get my feet wet by doing a pair for my garage/shop system just to clear all the skepticism in my mind. Then, if this actually worked and these speakers sounded good, I wanted to build some speakers for my home theater system to replace my JBL speakers that lack midrange. Obviously that first build worked above and beyond my expectations, because here I am about 5 builds later, finally watching that original goal come to fruition!! (Did I mention I LOVE building speakers?? :p)
Part of my goal in this build was to make a budget friendly, but still excellent sounding speaker. What initially turned me on to the HiVi L6-4R driver (aside from its looks and fairly low cost) is that Swann uses this same driver in a few of their ultra expensive speakers, and that's always nice to brag about when you're showing off your build :rolleyes:. Another nice thing about this build that ended up just working out, is that if you don't want to go through the cabinet building process, the speakers in the pics here are Dayton Audio cabinets that you can purchase through PE.
When we originally started this project, my goal was to simply make some TM speakers for my home theater system. So, through asking questions on the Meniscus forum, and through working w/ Chad at Meniscus on the ins and outs of crossover design, I hatched one raw version of what I intend to build. I brought the rough, naked version of this speaker over to my cousin Andy's (also very good friend and long time stereo fanatic as well) so he could hear it. He was thrilled w/ how they sounded, and he wanted some to replace his Paradigm home theater speakers but didn't want to wait a year+ for me to help him build some cabinets, so he purchased the pre-built Dayton cabinets. The original design spec'd a ported cabinet at 0.6cf, but they play very well in the 0.5cf Dayton cabinets. Here's a pic of Andy's TM.
My cousin wanted a bit more low end, full range from his fronts, so we decided to go ahead and do an MTM design as well. Here's a pic of the MTM, also in a Dayton Audio cabinet.
Once I get my speakers built, I'll post pics of those as well. The plan for my build is curved cabinets w/ Mahogany veneer, and maybe a walnut front baffle or semigloss black front baffle, but I'm not sure yet.
I'll post better listening impressions once I get mine built, I don't want to just yet simply because I only have one built, so I haven't had a whole lot of time w/ them yet. From the times I've listened to Andy's system, I'm stunned at how good these little speakers that have less than $230 worth of drivers and xover components sound. For such a small package, these speakers definitely pack a punch!! I've never been a fan of bright speakers, and the first thing that stands out is how amazingly warm, natural and refreshing the mids and highs are. The other thing that stands out is the amount of bass such a small package produces; not overly dark sounding at all, but still a very respectable amount. One other thing that brings a smile to my face is their ability to play borderline ridiculous sound levels w/out breaking up. Once I have more time to listen to my own, I'll post up some more details about my impressions. Maybe I can talk Andy into posting his thoughts :D.
The MTM sounds almost identical to the TM, just manages to dig lower in the bass arena.
Meniscus also offers this as a kit on their website for anyone that's interested in it. This is the TM version, but I think they'll also be offering the MTM as a kit as well. Blues Bare Bones Kit, (Pair)
Also, just FYI, the TM is 4 ohm and the MTM is 8 ohm.
Also wanted to add that these are one of the speakers I'll be bringing to InDIYana this May. Very curious to hear what you guys think about how they sound!!
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