Finalist Monitor Loudspeaker Kit

The “Finalist Monitor “ Loudspeaker Kit by Jim Holtz and Curt Campbell

The Finalist Monitor is a kit that was developed to ease the pain of a possible recall disaster. When the “Finalist” was first released, there was a labeling problem from Peerless. We feared that over the course of a year, we had sent our customers the wrong Impedance. The designed called for 4 ohms and we thought we may have sent 8 ohms. What to do with all those 8-ohm returns? Curt said, “Let’s do another kit!”

Turns out, we had to replace only 4-6 drivers, but this kit turned out so well, the recall experience was worth it.

The Drivers.

Because this uses the mid-woofer in the same family as the midrange used in Finalist II, and Finalist II Center, this is the perfect rear channel for them. They also hold their own as front channel mini-monitors..

There is a sister version of this – Micro Statements (paired with the Fountek, NeoCD3.0 for pairing up with the “Statement” series of kits.

The Crossover

t doesn’t get much simpler than this: Second order HP and LP sections and 1 attenuation resistor. I let the drivers choose the crossover point, and they went low, taking advantage of the CAT328’s excellent capabilities in that area. This also led to the simple crossover topology. I used a steel laminate inductor for the woofer, but the tweeter inductor can be any 18 to 20 ga. air core. Note the tweeter is connected in normal polarity with respect to the woofer.

How Do They Sound?

The NE149’s are overachievers when it comes to bass extension and reproduction in general. With a bit of front wall reinforcement, they produce usable bass well into the ’30s, yet still shine in their midrange performance. The CA328’s are just amazing.

Curt says, “In summary: Voiced very similarly to the Finalists, they will make excellent surround speakers or mains for smaller venues. They play acceptably loud in normal to larger sized rooms. In fact, they were easy for me to forget that I was clinically listening to them, and instead got caught up listening to the music. I suggest that’s what good speakers are supposed to do; get out of the way and let the music define the moment.”

What do I Get?

Included in this kit are the full build plans. You can purchase is in two forms, depending on your resources:

The Bare Bones Version:

2 x Morel, CAT328 Tweeters
2 x Vifa, NE149-8, mid-woofers
2 x Crossover parts, Choice of Capacitors, Lynk resistors, and specified inductors.
Complete plans –

The Full Kit Package:

2 x Choice of the Input Terminals (Big Posts are shown in photo)
2 x Flared Port Tubes
All mounting hard hardware (screws)
Internal damping material
Color-coded hookup wire
Optional push-on connectors
Gasket sealing tape
MDF boards for mounting the crossover parts.

Upgrade Your Series Capacitors?

There are a great number of brands to choose from. Don’t see your favorite, just ask.

Have trouble soldering or reading a crossover diagram? We can assemble them for you at a nominal charge.

Finalist Monitor Writeup

Finalist Monitor Cabinet Drawing

Brand

Campbell - Holtz

When you buy this kit, we send a small donation to Kurt and Jim. Not ready to buy yet? Consider sending Curt and Jim some coffee money. Curt:

Jim:

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Finalist Monitor Loudspeaker Kit

Vifa, NE149W-08 × 2

Morel, CAT328 × 2

33uf, 400V Audyn Q4 × 2

4.7 Ohm, 10 Watt MOX × 2

0.40mH 20ga. × 2

3.00mH 15SL × 2