My friend Patrick Duke helped me (as in, did all the work) to build this set of speakers. Of course I think they sound phenomenal, and Patrick was impressed as well. The driver is a 3" aluminum cone driver made by Aurasound. It's a well regarded and inexpensive full range driver ($20.00). It also helps that it's anodized black. The finished speakers are based on this design.
The cabinets are a happy accident. Patrick had these old aluminum B&O cabinets that were part of some graceful, swedish all-in-one system. He had gutted them a long time ago and they were oxidized and pitted. At first I thought about sanding them and then suggested we use a wire brush. They turned out beautifully -- the swirling pattern hides what imperfections are left in the cabinet.
The speaker does exactly what I want -- it's a great near-field monitor. It will not fill a stadium with sound -- we found yesterday in Pat's garage that there was a point where if the speaker was driven loud enough, the sound stage collapsed and distortion crept in. That's the deal with single driver systems -- they can sound amazing, but are best for small rooms.
Pat threw together a quick crossover and added a subwoofer. Cutting bass off at 120 hz benefits the speaker even further, but it sounds quite good without it. Pat wanted to start on the subwoofer but I wanted to hold off, but now I think I've changed my mind.
Patrick is a whiz at this stuff -- it wouldn't have happened without his skills.
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