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Welcome to DIY Sound Group
The Overnight Sensations are likely one of the best selling DIY speakers of all time. The small size is deceiving because they're able to fill an average size room with plenty of volume and good bass response. These speakers also make great computer or bedroom speakers.
From the speaker designer: The Overnight Sensations were designed to be a quick, economical build that could put out a surprisingly-big sound in a small box. Could be a weekender project for an addict, a gift for a teenager, or--in my case--a set of small, full-bodied monitors that I could listen to while I graded papers. The bass these little HiVi drivers can put out is tremendous. They throw out a very large soundstage and can actually fill a medium-sized room very well. I originally built these to sit on my desk, but since they have very full bass, they sounded best put up on a little stand or risor. Once I did that, I absolutely fell in love with listening to them in the nearfield. They image very well not only from left to right, but also in front of, and far behind the speakers.
Product Highlights:
Minimum order is 2 speakers: If you ordered one in the past and need one for a center, please contact me. Kits are sold as full kits, sorry no substitutions or subtractions. Don't forget binding posts, terminal cups, or speaker spikes if you need them because they can be shipped for free with any kit or flat pack purchase.
Shipping Note: Most speaker kits currently ship for free, but flat packs normally do not. We try to get your order packaged and shipped in 5-8 days depending on how many orders have come in. Please read the 'Frequently Asked Questions' section for more information.
I wasn't expecting to be impressed, coming from just building some 1099s not too long ago.. but here I am, impressed.
(These OnS are for my wife and will be put in her craft room, as nearfield speakers.)
From brief testing using a fosi audio 50W x 2 TPA3116 amp, they sound great.
Soundstage and imaging is great, bass is great. Really does seem odd coming from a 4" driver.
The overall build process was fun. The crossover is simple, and easy to build up on a stray piece of board.
Some pre-stain, a black stain, and a few coats of poly spray later.. and they look quite good.
Absolutely worth it for the $$.
..and as always, the packaging and care taken in shipping these kits is incredible.
Thanks again. :)
These speakers sound a lot better than something this price should dare to, and I'm more than happy with what they can do with the size that they are. Do not leave these speakers sitting on your desk, they will sound wrong until they're on a stand up away from a boundary surface. As with just about any other speaker the optimal height is eye level with whichever driver dishes out the middle vocals, or about 1000 hz. That's the mid here. They don't need a sub, but you might want one anyway. Mine are flanking a 35" ultrawide curved monitor and vocals sound like they're coming out of the monitor itself, though they're a bit too relaxed. I couldn't be happier with imaging and off-axis is great.
I've previously built several other DIYSG kits and have been wanting real PC speakers for a bit and figured I'd give these a go. They're tidy in statue, look nice, and gosh they're cheap enough. Curiously enough they're the only speakers DIYSG sells which has the full kit in plywood instead of MDF. Since I'll be spending a lot of time looking at them from about 3 feet away this was important.
As usual with DIYSG the cabinet fits together perfectly, though I discovered too late that it is possible to flip the back panel. I screwed up on my first one and only noticed my error as I was gluing together my second one, so I had to quickly rip the second box apart before the glue set and flip the back panel so they'd be both wrong in the same way. It's not a huge deal and only makes it so that the rear panel's plywood edge is visible at the rear top of the speaker. The plywood side edges are visible on top anyway so I'm over it.
The birch that the panels are made with exhibits a hint of chatoyance when hit with oil. It's not a deep look but it's a heck of a lot nicer than MDF without having to step up to veneering. I wound up using General Finishes medium brown dye, as much boiled linseed oil as I could soak in on top of that, and finally a French polish with garnet shellac and paste wax on top. Lots of work but I'm pretty happy with it.
I put the binding posts at the bottom edge of the rear, with the crossover just above that. I attached the wires to the Phoenix connectors before screwing in the board, stuffed it, glued the baffle on, and then affixed the drivers. I use BondedLogic Ultratouch recycled denim insulation for speaker stuffing. I fit a chunk on the top above the port and then a 6" square behind the mid and in front of the crossover. Hot glue keeps them in place.
Matt Grant (mtg90) sells crossover boards for these and a few other kits up on eBay. They're the exact same style of boards you'll see here with DIYSG and they made building the XOs as simple as ever. They fit right into the cabinet with just enough leeway on either side to give about 2mm of wiggle room, and I can't ask for anything more except maybe one-stop shopping.
I'm driving them with that Lepai LA-168HA 2 channel + sub amp that you're probably considering. With the Lepai completely maxed out these will cleanly go louder than I want to listen at but I suspect I'll have to give it a beefier 12v brick power supply once there's a sub to power as well.
My next task is building a Voxel sub but slotted instead due to reports of chuffing with the standard Paul Carmody port recipe. Plus I just want the experience of designing a sub, yet have the training wheels of a known good driver selection for a mini-sub. I now understand why he picked the size and tune, but learning DIY sub design and WinISD makes it a worthwhile experiment.
Was referred to Paul Carmody's OS TM design by a friend. Checked out Paul's site, undefinition, and saw DIY Sound Group provided the kit. Out of all the other retailers this was the only one that was in-stock with flat pack included. I am glad they were because they provided the parts fast and at a great cost. I also ordered the gold binding posts recommended. Additional consumables I needed to order for assembly were polyfill, solder, woodglue, gorilla glue, and polycrylic finish. I already had speaker wire, sand paper, sealing putty for the port, and cardboard for mounting the crossover. The project took about 3 weekends. I would recommend a good soldering iron and 6x wood clamps for easier assembly. My first try at gluing the top and sides with only 4x 12" grip clamps led to a somewhat crooked box due to uneven clamping. The next box got 6x clamps and was much more square. After that most of the assembly was easy. Biggest time suck was finishing the cabinet. I also goofed and flopped the top and bottom panels so that the port sat 1/2" taller. Contacted Erich and he was quick to respond stating that it would't be an issue.
Overall I learned a lot for my first DIY speaker build and the end result is so good; a great sounding speaker at great value that's got the WAF.
So this was my first foray in to a home speaker, I have done a handful of car sub enclosures but they all had sealed boxes and no concern for fit or finish much less a crossover too build. I found the fitment of the box to be quite good, the machining makes for solid stability although i did manage to make one box not square but that is more user error I am sure of it. Sound is solid, I imagine I would have to pay MUCH more for a retail speaker to sound this good, i paired mine with a modified voxel sub and a Lepai LP210PA 2.1 amp and it has PLENTY of sound, enough to easily fill a room. I do think these are best paired with a sub of some type if they are the primary speakers, in a very small near field situation they would do well but this is a 4" driver so giving it some low end help is nice. Mids and highs are smooth and seamless and not fatiguing at all. Crossover was a challenge but I was bale to follow a youtube video by 123toid and got it done, it'll be much easier next time!!!!
I've built two sets. One set came from PE and the other came from DIY. I prefer the HIVI tweeter in the DIY kit over the tweeter provided by PE. The PE is so much brighter that it becomes tiring after a few minutes. It settles down after break in, but, I much prefer the vocals from the HIVI tweeter in this kit.
Other than the superior tweeter the BEST reason to buy this kit is the screws. It might seem like a small thing, but, it is a GIANT pain in the butt to find screws that look right with the kit. SUCH a pain in the butt for such a "small" thing.
I LOVE these speakers. You can't go wrong with the overnight sensations and DIYSoundgroup.
I've built 3 OS sets for various gifts and uses. These speakers sound incredible and you can not beat the value. They are very easy to put together and the wood looks great with a simple stain and top coat.
DIY Sound Group is by far the best place to order these speakers. They are packed and shipped with great care and the quality can not be beat. I ordered one of 3 sets from another site and received a front panel with a big flaw in the wood. Never again! Erich carefully audits every piece he ships and the quality shows.
I bought these and their flat pack as an intro to speaker building. It was a lot of fun and I learned a fair amount along the way. At the end, I had a pair of terrific sounding speakers for my desk. I previously used a pair of fairly decent Klipsch RB-51 ii speakers which I really liked. However, the OSes were smoother and more balanced. I just liked listening to them more than the Klipsch. As this was for my desk, I didn't need them to get as loud. They just don't have the efficiency of a horn loaded design like the Klipsch.
The kit went together very well without any trimming or woodworking. Just glue, clamp, and finish. I like that this kit uses baltic birch and not MDF as it was easier to get a decent finish without having to resort to paint or veneer. Like thousands of people before me, I would highly recommend building and listening to this set.
2nd pair being built now for my younger son. My older son loves his and when his little brother saw them he wanted a pair, too. Simple and quick build.
Erich packs everything so well that it's amazing, had three boxes come to the house in perfect condition.
Great little speakers that fill a room nicely. Good sound, easy assembly, easy to finish and they look great.
So far this is a set of 1099s, an f-10, 2 sets of overnight sensations, and a pair of Maximus 12s. All from DIY SG, and well worth it!
In the designer Paul Carmody's description of the Overnight Sensations, he writes: "I wish I had a time machine. I would go back to my bedroom when I was in Jr. High or High School and give these to myself. These are the little bookshelf speakers I imagined I had: huge soundstage, deep bass, tiny box."
That's a great description of these speakers. I've built seven or so of these as gifts to friends and family so clearly I'm a fan.
First, the downsides.
I'd call the highs and midrange simply "okay." Not bad, but not great. They do not particularly improve upon commercial speakers (Pioneer BS-22, etc) in this price range in that department. Also, not really a downside, but remember that the bass performance comes at a price: these are fairly inefficient. In a medium (> 1000 ft^3) or larger room consider the MTM version or another model if you want to hit party volumes. Just like Paul C's description says, these are the ultimate bedroom speaker... they're not stadium fillers!
Now the many updsides.
These deliver surprising bass from a small box! Note that, as with all speakers, the amount of bass output will depend on their proximity to a wall. 6"-12" from a wall should produce the most bass, even moreso if they're in a corner. All depends on the room; experimentation is the key. You won't get that nice thick low end from commercial bookshelf speakers in this price range.
The cabinets are Baltic birch, unlike the MDF used in many other cabinets. Baltic birth is stainable. Compared to paint, wood stain is a fairly easy and foolproof way to get a nice finish. Just rub it into the wood with a rag. Easy.
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Speaker Kit Information |
Model: | The Overnight Sensation |
Designer: | Paul Carmody |
Frequency Response: | 45hz - 20khz (+/-3db) |
Power Range: | 5 - 35 watts |
Sensitivity: | 83db - 2.83v/1m |
Impedance: | 8 Ohm |
Tweeter: | Dayton ND20FA |
Midrange: | N/A |
Woofer: | 4" HiVi B4N |
Enclosure Type: | Ported |
Dimensions: | 6" W x 9" H x 8.5" D |
Kit weight: | About 7 pounds |
Assembled weight: | About 7 pounds |
Price Break Down:
1 - 4" HiVi B4n woofer: $14.91Packaging Material: $1.50
Paypal Fee: $1.98
Retail Cost: $74.29
Discount Cost: $67.20 with free shipping
Please read the 'About Us' section for more information on pricing structure and quality parts used.
Specific Overnight Sensation Assembly Notes:
It is recommended that you lightly fill the speaker cabinet with polyfill without blocking the port. The tweeter is a push in style tweeter, so it's a tight fit and will need to be pushed in pretty hard. That's the way they were designed to mount. If your tweeter seems like it just won't fit, check for any excess glue or plastic on the tweeter mount which can keep it from getting started in the hole. Once it's started, push a little on the top, then on the bottom. Back and forth until it's all the way in. Note the reverse polarity when wiring up the tweeter. Paul has a lot of information and the crossover schematic posted on his site. Click here to read all of that information.
I recommend gluing up the box and leaving the front baffle off until the last step. Before gluing the front panel on, you might want to install the port. Before gluing the telescopic port together, check to see if it's wide end will fit through the cutout okay. Sometimes the plastic can be just a little bigger from the manufacturer. It will be tight no matter what, but as long as you can fit both sides of the telescopic section of the port through the hole, then you can glue it at 6" and install it later. If the plastic port seems a bit too big, you can either sand it a little bit or attach the outer portion of the port to the box and then glue the telescopic portion inside so that the total length of the port is about 6" long. It doesn't have to be 100% perfect, just close. Then go ahead and glue on the front panel. That paragraph sounds a bit harder than it actually is. Please be sure to read the general tips below before starting your build.
Recommended Tools and Supplies:
General Tips:
Crossover Assembly:
Screws and Gaskets:
Stuffing or Lining the Speaker Cabinet:
Links to Build Threads for this Speaker:
Frequently Asked Questions:
* What length do the ports need to be? Answer: The designer recommends them glued at 6" long.
* Does this kit come with a circuit board to assemble the crossover on? Answer: No, most people assemble them on a small thin piece of wood.
* Do I need to use a subwoofer with these? Answer: For music, these can be run without a subwoofer.