No products in the cart.
Anthology Speaker Kit
$1,152.27
The Anthology Speaker Kit by Curt Campbell and Jim Holtz
The design goal
I established for this project was to come as close as possible to the full-sized Statements II in overall performance but with lower costs and offer a different driver configuration that would allow a less
imposing cabinet for better WAF. I had no interest in designing yet another Statements variation but rather in establishing a new design that offers top-notch performance through careful driver selection with low distortion,
excellent midrange for all types of music, and exceptional dynamic range for home theater use.
Cymbals sound like cymbals and the sound of triangles floats in the air. The highs are open and airy with great off-axis dispersion. The 22TFF has excellent sound quality that realistically reproduces the original
performance. It greatly exceeded my expectations for an affordably priced tweeter.
Midrange purity is a top priority in Anthologies. Curt and I tested several drivers in the price range we were shooting for and settled on SB Acoustics SB15 coated paper drivers as the best candidate for the job.
They are ultra-low distortion and rival much more expensive 5” drivers for sound quality. This is the latest version of the Anthology that includes the updated mid ranges – SB15RRX2C-30-8. The crossover network was also tweaked for accuracy.
How Do They Sound?
If you are in love with detail, realism, and a big realistic soundstage like I am, the Anthology won’t disappoint you. They’re smooth, detailed, and dynamic with the right amount of bite to realistically recreate
the performance you’re listening to. The anthologies will be compared to the various Statements and the Finalists since they are all open-back designs. The anthologies are not designed to replace any of them but rather to offer an additional lower cost and smaller profile option with big dynamic performance and a stellar midrange. Their reduced height offers WAF benefits that make it easier to build just one more speaker! Take your pick and enjoy!
“I just wanted to tell you that I built the Anthologies from your drivers/crossover kit. The first time I heard them my jaw hit the floor, like WOW! And they keep getting better and better as they break in! They have really renewed my love affair with music.” Terry H.
You can read what Jim says about them in the pdf write-up below.
When you buy the Bare Bones version, here is what you get:
- 2 x SEAS, 22TFF soft dome tweeters
- 4 x SB Acoustics, SB15NRX2C30-8 coated paper cone midranges.
- 4 x Dayton, RS225-8, Aluminum cone woofers
- 2 x Crossover parts with Jim’s suggested Audyn Q4 / Solen caps, Specified air-cored inductors, and sand-cast / Zisters resistors.
- All Build Plans
When you add the Full Kit option, here is what is included:
- 2 x Choice to buy Prefered Input Terminals
- 2 x Flared Precision Port Tubes
- 2 x All Damping Foam
- 2 x Color-coded Internal Hookup Wire
- 2 x All mounting hardware for drivers – plus the option of fancier Socket Head wood screws.
- Boards for crossover assembly plus solder lugs
- The option of getting the new, Cardboard Mid enclosures. – wood, rectangular enclosures are fine. Jim liked the ease of the tubes.
- All build plans
Have trouble reading a circuit diagram or are new to soldering? The crossovers can be assembled for a nominal charge.
Share your thoughts!
Let us know what you think...
One review with a 5-star rating
& Curt
A portion of each kit sale goes to Curt & Jim.
Not ready to buy? Consider buying Curt & Jim a beer for their contributions to the hobby
Curt
Related products
Speaker Kits
$446.80
Speaker Kits
New
Speaker Kits
Speaker Kits
$112.43
Speaker Kits
Speaker Kits
$94.46
Speaker Kits
$2,573.29
Speaker Kits
Brian –
I really enjoyed the build and it gave the opportunity to get more woodworking tools and learn to not cut corners (while rounding over corners). I’m no woodworker, but I feel that this kit let me challenge and expand my skill set.
I’ve given the kit about 20 hours of TV listening and 20 hours of music (combination of streaming and FLAC files) and thrown a lot at them. Queen, Ghost, Maclemore, A-Ha, Cory Taylor, Linkin Park, Stabilo, The Dead South, The Hu, Fleetwood Mac, Puscifer, My Chemical Romance, TOOL, Bastille, etc.
I’m running them through a home theater PC that I also built, a Sanskrit 10th MKII DAC, Outlaw Audio rr2160 stereo receiver, and Tripp-Lite 1200watt AVR.
These are really versatile and forgiving speakers. They have wonderful amounts of tight bass (I’ve used the Dayton Reference 10″ RS-270-8 in one of my own designs). These Dayton 8″ bass drivers live up to the price to performance ratio I’ve come to expect from the reference series. In my experience they are only challenged by Aurum Cantus AC170F1 in terms of clarity, but these Dayton’s punch harder and deeper. When the bottom end boosted at 55hz through the Outlaw rr2160, I don’t feel the Anthology’s need a sub.
I’m super impressed with the Seas 22TFF. It is a surprisingly good tweeter. It has the warmth of a 1″ driver while retaining most of the “sparkle” of a 3/4″ driver. It also pairs up nicely with the SB Acoustic SB15RRX2C-30-8’s The 22TFF reminds me a lot of the more expensive Morel CAT 378.
One of the things I really like with these speakers is how well it controls sibilance, I believe this is also why these speakers are so versatile and easy to listen to. Overall this is a great kit. The cabinets are a bit intimidating to build, but even a novice woodworker like me can get it done if you take your time and re-read the instructions.
I would happily recommend this kit to anyone looking for a full range floorstanding speaker.
Photo has been removed
(0) (0) Watch Unwatch