I've been hooked on DIY speakers since I built a center channel after I bought my Outlaw. My latest project were the DIY clones of the Proac Response 2.5. These are towers about 40" tall by 9" x 10", higher when I put the spikes on.

The voicing of these speakers is unreal (or should I say completely real), incredibly natural and detailed. Female voices are in the room. Every pluck of the bass is clear and distinct. Instruments occupy a place in the soundstage and stay there. Every flaw is exposed. The bass goes down to 28hz, frequency response is flat all the way up and down. Because the bass goes so low, I don't use my sub for music, as the speakers bass is seamless, with no xover to contend with.

When I saw the Diana Krall Live in Paris DVD, every player was exactly where I heard them on the CD. Front to back spacing was correct. All this powered by a 1050. I can only imagine what a truly high-end amp/pre-amp combo would sound like. I started down the path to tubes by building a Foreplay pre-amp.

I built these from scratch, buying the parts from Madisound, the MDF for the cabinet in 4x8 sheets from a lumber yard. My wife bought the stuffing on one of her trips to a fabric store. Many trips to Home Depot. Built the crossover myself, assembled it all myself. Learned to solder. Learned how to use a router. I still need to apply veneer to finish them, but that will wait until spring when i can work outdoors again.

When its all done, I can look at them and see my own handiwork. I was in a high-end store, where the salesman had his nose up in the air, when I saw speakers with the same drivers. I asked him how much, he said $4000 and I laughed. I spent about $700 on mine and they sound better, much better. It really isn't that hard to do. Check out this website: http://www.geocities.com/diyproac25

Also check out the Madisound forum http://www.madisound.com/ and click on the forum page.