 |
Products |
 |
|
|
|
 |
Quick Find |
|
|
|
Information |
|
|
|
| 0 items |
|
|
|
|
Bestsellers |
|
|
|
|
|
| two π kit Reviews |
 |
|
|
| Product: two π kit |
|
| From: Randy Hughes |
| Date: Sunday 10 October, 2004 |
|
| Review: |
This review is an entire review of how I decided on Pi speakers and how I feel after about 6 months of use in a music and movies setup. I started looking at speakers and a new system together, I knew off the bat I needed it to listen to music, every genre you can think of, and work in a DVD/movie setup. Since I soon discovered looking at forums and reviews that diy might provide me with the most bang for the buck, since labor is free, I looked at that.
For a system I choose a Bottlehead Foreplay and Paramour setup. This is a tube SET amp, monoblock setup producing 3.5 watts per channel. Now I needed a sensitive speaker that wouldn't break the bank. Not an easy task, but after some research I went with a two Pi, primarily due to price and everyone on the forum seemed to be satisfied customers. I thought of going used as well, but I think there is a lot of value in new, there are less what if's in my opinion.
On to the speaker build. I have built some simple furniture of my own design but I am not a master woodworker, and I live in an apartment so space is an issue. I went with MDF from home depot and had them cut it. I considered Baltic Birch but I had some hard time locating some in my area so I scrapped that plan. Have them cut it slightly over your needed dimensions because they're not exactly accurate. I have a hand plane that I used to polish off their inaccuracy.
Bracing and glue up is fairly simple. I just used finishing nails, glue and a couple of clamps and they could dry on my kitchen table. I went the paint route, and did a couple coats of primer, 3 of color and two spray on marine varnish coats. Hook up of the speakers was easy no problems. All in all easy, just waiting for paint and glue to dry makes the build take a long time. I think this would be a fairly easy beginner project. If you're patient it will work great, some skill may be needed if you go with a veneer finish.
Since it was the first component of the new system, I hooked the up to my old integrated receiver, and was impressed, bass, mid and treble are a lot more defined from my previous Yamaha 10in. But the best came when I finished the bottlehead stuff and hooked them up. Wow, they really deliver the full spectrum of sound from very low volume all the way up. I run a CD, DVD, and VCR through them and it sounds incredible, they really deliver music as well as the movies, great soundstage. No sub or anything like that needed in my opinion. And I am still impressed by how loud they will get from 3.5 watts.
With materials and everything I bet I paid right at $200 for the pair, a steal in my book. If you've read this far and are trying to sort through thousand of options out there, I know I was, I think you will be happy with Pi speakers. For me, I am on a budget and wanted the most bang for my buck. These speakers went beyond my expectations.
I can not say enough about the help provided on the forum and by Wayne.
Randy |
Rating:  [5 of 5 Stars!] |
|
|
|
π Speaker Whitepaper explains the concepts and evolution of modern waveguide and constant directivity loudspeakers
Passive Crossover Spice models, complete with the AIM Spice modeling program
