Need suggestion on vota 2 kits

[Visor]

Hi, can someone please give some idea about this kits http://www.lautsprecherbau.de/Magazi...en,900968,3659
I could not get much information about this kit, specially there is no discussion on it in this forum. How the NeoCD 3.0 will perform when I'll listen mp3, also low frequency response? Do I need additional sub? I want to use it for listening music. Thanks

[---k---]

First, Are you in Germany and want a kit from Germany?
I'm not German, so I'm not familiar with the German kit or Gradient drivers. That kit looks like it was designed based on measurements. The measurements look good. I might take a different approach, but...

The Neo 3 tweeter is used in the Statement series speakers. Lots and lots of people have built those and loved them. It is probably the most popular DIY speaker the last several years.

Based on the measurements presented, I don't think you would need a sub for music. The f3 is 60hz for the TM, which isn't bad by itself. Add the lower bass bin and it goes lower. Unless you're looking for club bass sound, it should be satisfying. For action movies I always recommend a sub.

[5th element]

Yeah what Ryan said, they look fairly well put together although they may not have compensated for baffle step, at least that's the way things looks to me from those measurements.

I suppose the real issue here is whether or not there are other kits out there, for a similar price, that would make more sense, so the question of where you are located and what's easily available to you is important.

There are lots of other drivers available from intertechnik and I've purchased things from them several times without issue, their customer service has always been exceptional, so I highly recommend them.

Having drivers available from SB Acoustics, Dayton Audio, Fountek and SEAS should give you a reasonable number of options when it comes to finding suitable designs.

[Matt M]

Hi,
The designer of the Vota series, Udo Wohlgemuth, is highly renowned in Germany as a commercial kit designer, if not the most renowned one currently. I haven't listened to one of his creations yet, but there are a lot of build reports on the German boards. The Vota series itself appears to be a result of a community poll. The 3way-variant is designed to be a good fit for smaller rooms (15 to 25m^2) in near-wall placement. Hence the 3dB drop below 300Hz. This kind of voicing has become more and more popular in the German DIY scene recently (e.g. hifi-selbstbau.de being an advocate, also other creations of Udo Wohlgemuth, e.g. "Little Princess"), putting a focus on a flat power response.

Two things I would care about regarding the Vota: the suck-out at 1.5kHz (don't dare to predict how this plays out) and the rising top-end, which might sound a bit hard and "steely" to some people and very detailed to others. Playing around with different attenuations for the tweeter may be advisable.

From personal experience, I can also recommend Intertechnik as a shop.

[5th element]

Well if the 3 way version was specifically designed for close wall placement that explains the lack of bafflestep compensation and if the 2 way was also designed with similar goals in mind, that also helps to explain that one too.

The suck out at 1.5k could either be diffraction or resonance related. I am betting on the second as there is a wiggle in the impedance plot at about the same frequency. I don't think that this would be too much of a problem as it's very narrow and doesn't cause any obvious issues in the HD. Naturally we'd rather it wasn't there, but you only tend to see a complete absence from these in metal cone drivers.

[Matt M]

Right, I think near-wall applies to both designs. Regarding the dip at 1.5k, Mr. Wohlgemuth published some sort-of-infinite-baffle measurements which show the suck out, too. Which rules out the diffraction issue.

How the NeoCD 3.0 will perform when I'll listen mp3

I listened to MP3s and YT streams a lot using this tweeter. Can't complain. If the compression in youtube streams is severe, it becomes audible. But not in an annoying way, to my ears.

[Visor]

Thanks for the response from all respected experts, I am located at German and it will be easier for me to get items from this store. As I have very limited technical knowledge, I thought Vota 2 would be suitable for me and it is within my expected budget. I heard statement mini from one of my friends, wonderful speaker but sometimes poorly recorded old LP and some mp3 did not sound good. I want floor-stander, I was also thinking of Axis220Neo https://www.intertechnik.com/Shop/Lo...en,7015,133473 but I am not getting much information of it either. Wood work will not be problem for me here, but getting confused in choosing speaker within 500 to 600 euro, thanks

[Matt M]

If you didn't like the treble in the mini statements (I once build a design based on the mid/treble section of the mini statements), designs based on those Fountek ribbons might just not be a good idea for you. At least, not without prior listening.

I would also recommend the Wohlgemuth's SB Acoustics based speakers:
The "SB36 adw" would be within your budget.

http://www.lautsprecherbau.de/Magazine/Loudspeakermagazine-2012/November-2012/_SB-36_8636,en,900947,4390

A more classic design would be the "sb23-3 adw". That's a bookshelf, but I have also seen this one build as a floorstander, even an Avalon clone (although the changes in baffle layout become questionable)

http://www.lautsprecherbau.de/Magazine/Lautsprecherbau-Magazin-2010/Ausgabe-April-2010/_SB-23_-3_8636,de,90885,133

(sorry this page is available in German only).

The SB acoustics drivers are supposed to be a very good value proposition. The kits based on those are also ranked in Udo Wohlgemuth's highest kit rating "blues level".
You could try registering in the lautsprecherbau.de community or on hifi-forum.de to find people that that allow you to listen to their builds to make sure you will like the sound.
Where in Germany do you live?

[5th element]

SB Acoustics happen to make excellent drivers so I wholeheartedly recommend any competent designs made with them.

There are also these two design from Troel's.

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/SEAS-3-Way-Classic-mkII.htm

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/ScanSpeak-3W-Discovery.htm

I don't know how much each of these will cost and you can certainly use basic quality crossover components to keep the cost down, but these are two of Troel's better designs. The drivers should be available from some distributor in Europe.

[Visor]

Thanks Matt M and 5th Element,

If you didn't like the treble in the mini statements (I once build a design based on the mid/treble section of the mini statements), designs based on those Fountek ribbons might just not be a good idea for you. At least, not without prior listening.

I love the sound of ribbons but sometime it seems too detail revealing for a old record when I heard my friends statement mini. SB Acoustics would be the best as you all said, I have started contacting with the vendors whather they have a floorstanding design or not, my wife likes a floorstanding speaker, lol.