Hey guys, I got some more goodies coming as we speak. I am getting some new surround components, and the Koda will be going into the install. I bought all the goodies for the cabinets today, including some birch to lighten the surrounds, and some tung oil. I have a week off beginning the 19th and I plan on building these speakers and remodeling my bathrooms durring this time (going with ceramic tile too, I am a bit nervous about doing that myself). I am going to be constructing some Kit51s (an A5 5.25 Adire mid and an Audax tweeter). They will be in 4.8 liters ported to 70Hz. They should yeild in room responce flat to 70Hz or so. I wanted something to help with surround duties, particularly when listening to multi-channel music. I will be using a beautiful ribbon mahogany left natural with a tung oil potective coating. Also, after some serious thought I have opted not to build the Koda into a dipole woofer. Sadly, I don't feel the room has what it takes, and unsightly room treatments are not in order at this time. Maybe down the line I will build a dedicated media room, but for now my den simply will not be bastardized. I will be porting it, tuned very deep, and covered with ribbon mahogany as well. Tung oil will of course protect it. Pics and reviews will of course be forthcoming.
Once you get those Kit 51's up and running, you should take them down to your friends shop and compare them to his other speakers in their price range. I'm curious to see if they fair as well as your Kit 81's did (blowing away the Paradigm's). They should do well, especially when taking into account the $150 sale price. Just be sure to test them out as front speakers. I'm sure you will be impressed with their imaging. Steven Kephart Adire Audio
Hmmm, good idea. He has some mid level bookshelfs that would be cool to compare them with. Not too sure how they would compare, as if I am not too mistaken they are all sealed... But they may be rear ported. I wonder about rear porting these drivers... I want to be able to give them some time to break in though... The tweets as you know stay bright for several hours. Break-in time on the mains was considerable, and I love the way they have mellowed. I would like to compare with some of the Paradigms and B&Ws. In knowing the B&Ws and the Audax tweet the KITs should sound considerably nicer (I find the B&W tweets muddled and confused), but the crisp Digms would be close... I would love some break-in to mellow the tweets before a comparison though.
Well, the cabinets are drying as we speak In a couple hours I will begin veneering the units. I went with a rear port, and I chose to alter the cabinets a bit. They are more narrow and a bit deeper than suggested. It's funny, suggested is about the size of a piece of paper, and my build is just a bit more narrow... but seeing how small these units are is mind blowing. I will be interested in their performance, particularly due to their tiny size... They sure are cute, let's see if they are mean as well... like a miniature poodle . The units themselves will be here tomorrow and I suspect they will take a couple days to finish. I think I will begin building the ported Koda cabinet tomorrow as I am finishing the KITs. I am hoping by Friday to be completely up and running. After trying these 5.25s out I will determine if I am getting another set for rear duties, or if I will get another set of KIT81s for side surround and use these 51s as rears.
Well, they got in today and I began the cabinets yesterday. I modified them a shade from the origional plans, making them a bit narrower, a bit shorter, a bit deeper and rear ported. I had 2 projects going at the same time and didn't pay attention though . I used a beautiful ribbon mahogany I had here, and I began the project using tung oil. I laid 4 coats on it and went back out to the shop for another. I put down a layer of schelac on my table I am refinishing and then laid a heavy coat of schelac on my speakers :blink: . I know better, I was just tired and I wasn't thinking. Schelac and Tung oil don't mix . I wound up with a raised crackeled milky finish. Well, stripping it worsened the whole deal by raising the veneer off corners a bit... Really burned me up. Out of frustration I just assembled the crossovers, threw them together and fired them up. I figure screw it, I'll figure something out and get them fixed. Initially I was shocked. These little buggers get down and roll. I put 1 in as a main with my other main running while I assembled and soldered the second crossover. The voicing is a perfect compliment to the KIT81 mains I run, and their output is surpising. This little bugger really dishes it out. We put in a movie tonight and used them as surrounds. Initially I was contemplating these as rear surrounds and another set of 81s sealed as surrounds, but to be honest I am not so sure right now. I may just get another set of these for rear duties and keep these as sides... Tomorrow I am going to go for broke and lay into them with some SACD tracks. I am interested to see if the reciever will shut down as they are 4 ohm units. The Elites will run down to a 6 ohm load, but not 4. I would be interested to see if dynamic impedance drops them low enough to thermal the amps. If not, it is highly likely that I will be building another set of these very soon... But this time I will not be doing 2 finishing projects at once :lmfao: . More to come as they break in!!!
I spent a couple hours listening to some music really cranked up on these. Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon was stunning. Their image and presentation across the rear stage was commanding and broad. Where localization of the old surrounds was easy with sound very isolated to the corners of the room, these really create an image from wall to wall across the back of the room. Footsteps and clockworks in "On the Run" and "Time" were expansive and enveloping, filling the room rather than just a couple corners. Clockworks individual location in the rear were very precise and specific... works to either side and localized in the center were really something new to me. I have to say I was grinning like a madman... my youngest son even walked in the room and asked if I was OK :lol: Surprisingly, these units don't exhibit the bright nature of the 81s and 281s durring break in. They really sound natural and clean... maybe a hint of harshness when pushed. I am quite sure the harshness will fade in time, just like their bigger brothers. Anyways, I am off to the doctor. My vacation was this week and we had tickets and reservations to Busch Gardens in Va. Unfortunately on Friday right before my vacation my youngest boy broke his arm really bad... he needed 2 pins in it. Our vacation was cancelled and doctor visits are the name of the game this week instead .
Thanks for the review Seth. But you still need to put them up front and see how they sound as front speakers. I think you will be surprised (like you already are) at how well these inexpensive speakers do. Their imaging is most impressive. Steven Kephart Adire Audio
I will. Right now I am just enamored with what they have done to the rear of my theater... They are simply stunning!!! I had to play with my stand height today to get them situated where I liked them, as they are where they will be when all is completed. As a testiment to what I think of these speakers, I will be ordering another set to fill rear duties. My wife has been blown away with the differance in the room by simply adding these little buggers for sides. I mentioned adding them as rears and she is all for that as well. I sure am glad I got banana plugs for my front speaker wires... they sure are seeing alot of change-ups lately. I got to use some Monitor 7s in my house for the weekend to compare what I could have bought, to what I have right in my home... I am glad I stuck with the Adires for full duties. In case you have forgotten, I was going to get some Monitor 7s for musical duties in the room and keep the 81s for theater. It was amazing how anemic the Monitors were in my expansive space. In the enclosed theater room they were close, but in my open room they couldn't even try to keep up. Anyways, I will be beating on them a bit more before switching them to the front as mains for a greater review. I must say though, I am sure I will not be all that surprised... what they have done to my rear was simply something I did not think possible... While image may wind up amazing up front, and I can see that... I would never have suspected the impact they have made in the room so far... so surprise will be hard to come by. These are the little speakers that not only could... they do.
