The 12" DIY speaker are connected to the Onkyo TX-8255. The Wharfedale Diamonds ( 6 ohms) are connected to the Yamaha RX-797. Both are Stereo system; no surround sound.
The Pre-Amp outs of the Yamaha feed the CD input of the Onkyo. If you notice the close up of the Onky there are some white marks at about 2 o'clock. That is the point where the 12" DIY are balanced with the Wharfedale/Yamahasystem.
Wharfedale/Yamaha for music only.
Wharfedale/Yamana DIY/Onkyo for movies.
When I say the 12" DIY were my college/University woodworking project, that was in 1984. The cabinets and speakers have held up exceptionally well. The surrounds and cones on the CTS bass drivers are still pristine. The Cabinets are high density particle board with Birch veneer. I'm not kidding when I say these speaker weigh 50 POUNDS each. The particle board is extremely dense and heavy.
Those have been my primary speakers since about 1978, though not in the form you see them in now. Because of the horn Mid-range driver, I've become very accustom to slightly exaggerated mid-range. I don't notice it of music, but for movies where dialog is important, the horn mids really brighten things up and bring out voice.
The thing about DIY speakers is - They are never done. A few years ago I rebuilt them and changed from two square ports, to one round port. At the same time I added some attenuation to the Mids and Tweeter to get them to better balance with the Bass drivers which have a lower output. Left unattenuated. the outputs are 89dB = Woofer, 105dB = Mid-range, 96dB = Tweeter. I use both resistor attenuators and a variable L-Pad on the Mid-Range, and just resistor attenuators on the tweeters, though I feel I went a little overboard on the tweeters. I miss the sizzling cymbals. But, based on my SPL meter, the speakers are pretty well balanced.
Here is what they look like on the inside -
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Lately, I've been thinking about rebuilding the crossovers. If I measure the speaker impedance at the precise crossover frequencies, I can then build more precise crossovers.
Like I said, DIY speakers are never done. Keep in mind I've been building on these since 1978.
Just a few thoughts.
Steve/bluewizard
Managed to do a video.....
Excuse the dodgy iphone picture, here is my current set-up. Next upgrade will be the DAC.
Squeezebox Touch
Berseford Caiman
Croft Micro 25 pre-amp
Quad 909
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Realizing I don't have the greatest system in the world, I do have a couple of videos of the system in action on my YouTube page.
I've tested my camera, it is only good down to about 80hz, so the bass on video can never remotely equal the bass in person. And as to general sound quality, it does sound much better in person, but these video do somewhat capture the essence of they system.
Steve/bluewizard
My system (which I've just bought, so il add pics soon)...
PMC Twenty.23 speakers (diamond black)
NaimUniti 2
Chord Epic Twin speaker cable
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Aurender s10
DCS Scarlatti DAC/clock/up sampler
Pass Labs x0.2 pre
Pass Labs x1000 power amps
Rockport Mira Grand speakers
Siltech Signature cables
My first system.
This is what it was....
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Had the Musical Fidelity M3i amp...
But it has now just changed too the following
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Running Chord Epic speaker, QED interconnects also.
Nice thread, but generally not enough pictures, too much detail!
By the way Mj05lly you or someone you live with has fantastic taste in wallpaper. I heard a lot about the Emotiva brand, it has a quite a following amongst 'budget' audiophile in Stereophile (budget meaning /proxy.php?image=http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6153/6147151924_ecca460457_z.jpg&hash=7994038f5c67eba57d144af1a5775d91
Courja in regards to the Emotiva the shipping I think is reasonable. The package was 38Kg and for very quick delivery (ordered and dispatched Monday arrived Friday) it was $200 which is around £120ish in our money. I have yet to receive my tax invoice for the item but that should be around £170.
All in all it will be less than £850 for this monster of an amp. Bearing in mind my M3i cost me and still retails at £999 approx I think pricing is not bad at all.
I demo'd your K2 amp when I purchased my M3i and there was not much between them, in the end I preferred the look of the M3i that bit more even though it didn't have that little bit more punch like your K2
Naim cdx2 plus xps2 feeding a 202/200 with the Hi-Cap2 and NAPSC. Hi-Line on the cd player and a single Powerline on the pre. All the rest is attached to a Musicline Powerigel. Speakers are Zu Soul Superfly and there's also a Headline headphone amp fed by another Hi-Cap2. Headphones are AKG 701. The only other source is the Sky HD box.
About to upgrade the speakers with the Zu upgrade kit and will do the Naim DR upgrade when I finally get a quote.
Beyond that I'm done and very happy.