Prior to building these DIY kits, I had an all Paradigm set up (Monitor 7s, CC-350, Mini Monitors).  While I was pretty happy with their sound, I knew I could do better.  I considered and listened to many commercially available speakers including the Paradigm Reference Series, B&W CDM-NT Series, Def Techs, Phase Techs, Klipsch, Canton, Boston Acoustic and a few others.  Considering the sound vs value aspect, nothing could touch my current Paradigm set up. I wasn't about to spend $5000 or more on something commercially available if I could build something myself for a fraction of the price.  

My brother has been working on a project(s) using Focal Drivers, and I had a few chances to listen to them.  Being quite impressed with their rugged construction, impressive specifications and their overall sound (Tremendous clarity in the mid/highs), I began a search to see what speakers I could buy in a kit form that would suit my Home Theater and 2 channel needs.  I needed something that wasn't going to break the bank, but performed as though they did.  I also needed the center channel to match perfectly.   I came across the Aria 7s at Orca Design.  Looking at the design and specs, this was something I really needed to check out.  I visited a few discussion web sites like Madisound, and found a few people who have built these speakers.  I didn't find anyone who regretted their decision to build these beauties.  One problem though...What do I use for a center channel that would match?  I couldn't just lay the Aria 7 on it's side, as the MTM design doesn't work well horizontally. (Even though most commercial speaker manufacturers build them this way for aesthetic purposes.)  Besides, there would never be enough room atop my entertainment center for a speaker that was 39 inches wide.  My brother suggested that we use the same Aria 7 drivers (shielded versions), crossover and internal volume, but create a box and driver arrangement that is conducive to center channel use.  

I purchased the drivers and crossovers from Zalytron  and was going to have a friend build the boxes.  That enclosure deal fell through, so I purchased the left and right speaker enclosures from Speaker City. (Made by Woodstyle Products in City of Industry, CA).  I then commissioned Brad at Woodstyle to make the center channel cabinet as well.  I sent him all the specifications and a rough drawing of what I needed built.  Between my brother, myself and Brad at Woodstyle we came up with a great cabinet design.  A couple weeks later, I received the cabinet.  It was built exactly how it was envisioned (Great job Woodstyle).

While I was waiting for the center channel cabinet to be made, I received my left and right cabinets from Speaker City, my components from Zalytron, and built the Aria 7s to spec.  Gave them a listen and wasn't very happy with their sound.  Great bass and very clear in the mid/highs, but piercing sounding at times.    Hmm.  This isn't right.  I pulled out the Radio Shack SPL meter, fired up  SpectraLab on the PC and took some measurements.  WOW, I've got some serious peaks and valleys in my response in the mids/highs.  I went back to the helpful people on the Madisound discussion site.  After several suggestions, I decided to remove the coil from the tweeter crossover (making it a first order), inserted an Lpad, and flopped the polarity of the tweeter.  While this produced better results, I was now missing something in the midrange.  Did some more crude tests with SpectraLab and the SPL meter and saw a severe dip in response right around the crossover.  Aha...I think I know where this is coming from.  I once again flopped the phase of the tweeter (putting it back into phase) and voila...my dip in response disappeared.  Things were sounding almost perfect now, but it seemed just a bit too subdued in the high end now.  I removed the Lpad, hooked the speakers back up and was in audio bliss.  Perfection!!

Once the center cabinet arrived, it was built to the same modified specs as the left and right, and surprisingly, matched almost perfectly despite the different driver arrangement.  What a difference true speaker matching makes across the front soundstage!!  Everything is seamless now...It's a virtual infinite wall of sound, not just left, center and right.  After listening for quite some time, and taking some crude measurements, I decided the center channel configuration just wasn't working the way I wanted it to. (there were baffle diffraction issues) I had my brother build me a new cabinet in the same MTM configuration as the mains, only shorter and deeper.

Before I received any of my front speaker kits, I ordered and received the Focal 7KTs from Speaker City to use as surrounds.  They use the same tweeter as the Aria 7 but a with a DVC woofer that has very similar specs to the woofers in the Aria 7.  I built them to their specifications, but now that I've got the three Aria 7s finished, I'm thinking about redesigning the 7KTs crossover to match that of the Aria 7s.  Timber matching is close at this point, but it could be better.  Once I've tweaked the 7KTs, I will have a near perfect match all the way around.  I'll give an update when I come up with something. 

Built from 24" sonotube, this sub stands 5'3" tall and has a footprint over 25" in diameter.  The internal volume is about 13 cubic ft with 3 - 4" diameter ports 22" long. It's loaded with an Eclipse 8815.6 - 15" driver (Manufactured by TC Sounds) and it's driven by a Samick 1800 Power Amplifier (Manufactured by Crest Audio.)

This sub is simply the best sub I have ever heard.  It's response is flat at a pancake all the way down to 20hz, and is only down 3db at 17hz.  It will even play a 12hz tone that will shake your pant legs.