1)I am considering making a pair of new front main speakers. I would like the speakers to compliment our furniture and save some cash at the same time. I have looked at the Thor and Soloist from Madisound. My wife likes the Thor over the Soloist as we were able to listem to them! Looking for some feedback on these kits or some other ideas. My budget is about $1000 to $1200. Need to move from the Bose ASAP.
2)I am using an old Yamaha Receiver with a old Phase Linear 400 power amp ( 200 Wats/Ch.). I will also upgrade to a 1050 but am not sure if the pre-amp section is clean enough. If not then I will need to plan on the 950 at some point.

Thanks for your help.

At one point I was considering building some DIY loudspeakers. I did a good bit of searching on the net. Ended up compiling some of the info I found on a little web page of my own. While I don't have any info on the specific kits you have in mind, you still might find some of the links useful.

See http://home.earthlink.net/~etunstal/diy.htm



[This message has been edited by Ellen (edited June 19, 2003).]

I have been involved in DIY speaker projects for a while and must say that knowing what went in and how it is put together is a good thing. Besides, the value you get from doing it yourself cannot be beat. I have a set of Madisound's A/V and Solo speaker kits for my HT and I am very satisfied with the quality I got for such a small price. The soundstage and imaging are excellent. When listening to songs on stereo mode, I'd swear the voice is coming from the center channel. Not to mention, the clarity and detail are much better than the speakers costing hundreds more (I compared it to my friend's Boston Acoustics main that costs about $1K a pair). Madisound's Thor and Soloist both are considered a step or two above A/V kit. Sounding even better than what I have at home, that's got to be exciting.

Speaking of matching your furniture, you may want to look up this site for some ideas and additional DIY speaker kits if you haven't been there. Imagine a price quote for custom finishes from brands like Paradigm and Infinity? If your name is Bill Gates, it may not be a big deal...
http://www.acoustic-visions.com/speakerkits.htm

Here's an informative site on building speakers.
http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_files/

Once you've listened to whichever one you end up getting, please let us know how it is.

Good luck and enjoy your money well spent.

Ellen, thanks for the links. I will review the data as I conduct our search.

Spiker, thanks for your response also. I am glad that you are happy with your Madisound kits. I was thinking of those for the surrounds as I get better equipment. No, I am clearly not wealthy. I managed to sell a couple of old toys that I will reinvest into the speakers. I am thinking of quarter sawn white oak that will match our mission furniture. My father and I could build the cabinets together.

This is a new review of Madisound’s kit speakers (Vifa A/V kit - $423.62 per pair) which I’ve been using for almost a year. A few days ago, just for the curiosity, I decided to audition some above average speakers at a local electronics retailer (Tweeters). After a salesman set up a system for me in a listening room covered with acoustic panels and all, I popped in Diana Krall’s All for You and a CD by Electric Skychurch (new age with some good bass beats) in a Sony CD player that’s higher up than my own. Then it was connected through Denon AVR-5803 receiver priced at $4K (way above my own receiver). In the room, there were speakers by Boston Acoustics, Mirage, Sonus Faber and Vienna Acoustics (Beethoven, Mozart, Bach & Haydn series). The ones I tried start at $999 and go up to $4,450 per pair.

To my surprise, none of speakers at around $1K price tag (Boston Acoustics VRM60-C, Mirage OM9B, Sonus Faber Concertino) could create the soundstage as nicely or have the clarity as Vifa A/V kit. Diana Krall’s voice either did not have as much illusion of coming from the middle or not as airy and detailed. The only ones that matched up to Vifa and may be just a bit better was Vienna Acoustics, especially Beethoven which is priced at $4,450 a pair. Beethoven puts out more powerful bass than my Vifa (has 7” woofers compare to Vifa’s 5” woofers).

Anyone has had similar experience or contrasting views? Or feels that the comparison could have been done in a better way? I’d like to hear them.

Thanks.

I helped a buddy build and voice a pair of Odin kits (the ported, stand-mounted predecessor to the Thor) and I was impressed; I suspect I would also like the transmission line Thors a great deal as well. We built the cabinets and crossovers and, once I caught his phase inversion on one set of woofers, they sounded quite good. The drivers also look great; put them in a decent looking cabinet and you've got some very nice furniture.