Question Is expensive hifi worth it today?

[Al ears]

Falcon Acoustics sells some interesting (small speaker) kits that just require simple assembly.
Saves a fair amount on the labour charges.....though the kits aren't cheap.

Those are the ones I have been considering, particularly the IMF200

 

[Witterings]

Those are the ones I have been considering, particularly the IMF200

I just had a google ... must admit they look interesting, bit difficult to home demo though 🤣

I wonder how they'd compare to what and if you're getting something that would otherwise be a much higher quality and a lot more expensive or if it's a relatively negligable saving.

My other concern would be if ever you wanted to move them on, I bet their 2nd hand value would be pants.

If I genuinely felt you were going to get a level of performance / considerably better that may otherwise be out of my price range, I'd definitely be up for it and having a project at the same time.
They mention no soldering required, if there were others that were even better but required soldering I'd be up for that as well.

EDIT: I just looked at prices again and added in the factory build, it's an extra £76 so it's not like it's a big saving.

 

[Al ears]

I just had a google ... must admit they look interesting, bit difficult to home demo though 🤣

I wonder how they'd compare to what and if you're getting something that would otherwise be a much higher quality and a lot more expensive or if it's a relatively negligable saving.

My other concern would be if ever you wanted to move them on, I bet their 2nd hand value would be pants.

If I genuinely felt you were going to get a level of performance / considerably better that may otherwise be out of my price range, I'd definitely be up for it and having a project at the same time.
They mention no soldering required, if there were others that were even better but required soldering I'd be up for that as well.

EDIT: I just looked at prices again and added in the factory build, it's an extra £76 so it's not like it's a big saving.

no idea why you'd need soldering in a speaker but whatever.
If people realised what a bargain they were then the second-hand value should remain good.

 

[Gray]

I was looking at a 2021 review of a Q7 (a bassier version of the LS/35A) where the saving was £300 for building your own - with a very straightforward build.

Mind you, the price of the kit has increased by that much since the review ☹️

Soldering on that one is only required if you choose an alternative to the crossover supplied with the kit (for a less bright sound).

 

[Al ears]

I was looking at a 2021 review of a Q7 (a bassier version of the LS/35A) where the saving was £300 for building your own - with a very straightforward build.

Mind you, the price of the kit has increased by that much since the review ☹️

Soldering on that one is only required if you choose an alternative to the crossover supplied with the kit (for a less bright sound).

normally it's only a push fit connection for the crossover components.

 

[Mark Dunlop]

Falcon Acoustics sells some interesting (small speaker) kits that just require simple assembly.
Saves a fair amount on the labour charges.....though the kits aren't cheap.

No, kits are never as cheap as you'd like them to be! The Falcon Q7 kit is £1188 and then you've got to build the b*gger yourself. For £899 you could buy Kef R3s. Is it worth it?

 

[Witterings]

no idea why you'd need soldering in a speaker but whatever.
If people realised what a bargain they were then the second-hand value should remain good.

I wouldn't either as I've never built speakers before but they seemed to make quite a point of it on their website saying "no soldering necessary"
You seem quite emphaatic on it, maybe you should drop them an e-mail and tell them it's really not needed to put it up there as a sales point and ask them to remove it.

 

[Al ears]

I wouldn't either as I've never built speakers before but they seemed to make quite a point of it on their website saying "no soldering necessary"
You seem quite emphaatic on it, maybe you should drop them an e-mail and tell them it's really not needed to put it up there as a sales point and ask them to remove it.

why? It clearly is a sales point otherwise it wouldn't be there....
Some might require soldering of crossover points.

 

[Gray]

No, kits are never as cheap as you'd like them to be!

That's for sure - you'd like them to be half the price of the factory-built jobs 👍

In the particular case of that Q7 though, the review made the point that LS/35A variants from other manufacturers are much more expensive (they are).
As the Q7 uses the same drivers - and is (allegedly) effectively an improved LS/35A....that's what makes it a bargain for 35A fans.

 

[Gray]

normally it's only a push fit connection for the crossover components.

Yes.
Where they're using push-ons on the drivers, you'd think they'd also have them on the crossovers.
Don't suppose there's ever much soldering involved - though any is too much for those without an iron or desire to do it of course.

 

[Witterings]

why? It clearly is a sales point otherwise it wouldn't be there....
Some might require soldering of crossover points.

You seem to be flip flopping from one side to the other, your comment which I'll quote here

no idea why you'd need soldering in a speaker but whatever.

Seems quite demeaning about the fact I've even questioned it .... the end bit "but whatever" puts a tone on it like you know better.

But your sunsequent comment

why? It clearly is a sales point otherwise it wouldn't be there....
Some might require soldering of crossover points.

Seems to totally fly in the face of what you initially said

😕😕 they're not great emoji's but their title says confused

 

[Al ears]

You seem to be flip flopping from one side to the other, your comment which I'll quote here



Seems quite demeaning about the fact I've even questioned it .... the end bit "but whatever" puts a tone on it like you know better.

But your sunsequent comment



Seems to totally fly in the face of what you initially said

😕😕 they're not great emoji's but their title says confused

Very rarely do any speaker kits require soldering, my later point is there are a few rare ones that might require you to solder on a connector.

 

[npxavar]

Very rarely do any speaker kits require soldering, my later point is there are a few rare ones that might require you to solder on a connector.

In the case of GR-Research you have to solder everything.

The X-LS Encore kit comes with everything you need minus cabinet material. So assembling the speakers are very easy and at a beginner to novice level. Parts used in the crossover for the basic kit (no upgrades) are all Erse polypropylene caps, non-inductive wire wound resistors, Erse XQ air core inductors, and Gen. 2 Sonicap by-pass caps. The crossover requires point to point assembling. The kit comes with binding post cups, ports, high quality OFC wire in polyethylene, screws, solder and heat shrink.

They sell the cabinet meterial separately from the woofer + crossover parts kit.

 

[Al ears]

In the case of GR-Research you have to solder everything.

They sell the cabinet meterial separately from the woofer + crossover parts kit.

Interesting and unusual. Most speaker kits that I have seen come with crossovers pre-assembled

 

[twinkletoes]

To the Op ( Not that you will see it) , the biggest and best "upgrade" here will be stands and placement. Simple observation and physics will say those speakers will not sound great where they currently are. There will be bloom and boom and extra refections going off all over the place. Not to mention the vibration going through the amp itself.

Get a nice pair of Atcama's se24's off the bay for 20quid fill them halfway with wet sand place speakers on top with some blue tack and pull them forward so the baffles are in front of the chest of draws (if you can get rid of the draws even better), toe them in and pull your sofa away from the wall and embrace near field listening, because you really do have the opportunity to do so here and it will sound fantastic like that.

The whole upgrade will cost you 30 quid and change.

The best upgrade you can make bar none and I suspect this goes for many members on many forums

 

[Al ears]

To the Op ( Not that you will see it) , the biggest and best "upgrade" here will be stands and placement. Simple observation and physics will say those speakers will not sound great where they currently are. There will be bloom and boom and extra refections going off all over the place. Not to mention the vibration going through the amp itself.

Get a nice pair of Atcama's se24's off the bay for 20quid fill them halfway with wet sand place speakers on top with some blue tack and pull them forward so the baffles are in front of the chest of draws (if you can get rid of the draws even better), toe them in and pull your sofa away from the wall and embrace near field listening, because you really do have the opportunity to do so here and it will sound fantastic like that.

The whole upgrade will cost you 30 quid and change.

The best upgrade you can make bar none and I suspect this goes for many members on many forums

I would not advise anyone to use wet sand in metal speaker columns......kiln dried only.

 

[podknocker]

I would not advise anyone to use wet sand in metal speaker columns......kiln dried only.

I used to use lead shot, as you don't need much and it's less messy than sand. It's so expensive these days and there are very dense alternatives, but still not cheap.

 

[Witterings]

fill them halfway with wet sand

Why wet sand .... a few weeks of being in a house it'll be dry sand anyway?

 

[WayneKerr]

Why wet sand .... a few weeks of being in a house it'll be dry sand anyway?

Sand attracts cats to do their business in 🙂

 

[npxavar]

Speaker stands are just another headache, easily avoided with floorstanders.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Hardly constructive advice - not all rooms are large enough.

 

[npxavar]

Agreed, but good near-field listening experience is not easy to achieve. Stands are just one part of the problem.

 

[npxavar]

What

I do prefer standmounts, as floorstranders tend to be very pricey and bass forward. Yuk. Not for me. I do read a lot of nonsense regarding the speaker/stand interface. People complain about having a secure fitting, using bolts/screws, to make sure the speakers don't get knocked onto the floor. They suggest a speaker needs to be isolated from the stand, which is nonsense. IF the fitting is secure and the stand is of good quality, with no vibration or ringing, then it's the STAND, which needs to be isolated from the floor, using spikes etc. People don't like having speakers screwed into stands, but they don't mind having a £4000 Harbeth speaker, perched precariously on top of a 3rd party stand, with no isolation from potential vibrations. I would never buy a speaker, which couldn't be screwed into a quality, inert stand. A good stand, mass loaded and securing a pricey Harbeth, is better surely, than having the thing wobble about and fall off. Imagine your kids, or a dog, knocking a 4 grand speaker off a stand. Crackers.

You just made another point for floorstanders.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

bass forward.

That's just poor matching of room/speaker placement.

 

[SteveR750]

That's just poor matching of room/speaker placement.

Which is exactly why the world needs DSP....