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Welcome to DIY Sound Group
Customer Reviews
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LOVE them! review by Shawn H on 4/27/2023I have a pair of the 88 specials and absolutely LOVE them! I can't tell you how big of a fanboy I am of these speakers! I'm making a complete DIY Sound Group home theater setup that would include a 15 speaker atmos system using the anthem avm90 for processing.
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Great center channel. review by Samps on 8/23/2018
Bought the 88 to use as a center between F15s. Couldn't fit a third F15. Since they share the WG and CD the sound is very similar once a xo to a sub is added. The horizontal coverage is better than expected. No problem covering a three seat couch 12 feet away.
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I love my 88’s review by Margaritaman on 7/14/2018
An 88 for center channel duty matched up to a pair of F-12’s for R/L duty. It’s been almost a year and even my wife loves this speaker. The room isn’t that big and has its furniture challenges but there isn’t a bad seat in the room with the SEOS 15 horn.
Now I’m going to build four more for surrounds. Overkill, yes, but matched and again, SEOS 15 horns will provide an immersive experience.
Easily a $1200-1500 speaker at your local hi-fi store.
Oh, and easy to build, and plenty of opportunity to finish them off any way you like. -
Incredible detail and great soundstage review by David on 6/2/2018
Purchased LCR. What a speaker! After about a week of break-in (on and off use) they settled into sounding awesome. Super detailed, with clear dialog and a super wide soundstage. These will be the perfect pairing for my 15" midbass and um18-22 full marty. Next on the list is pair of volt 6 v2's for surrounds. Great work!
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Crisp, clear dialogue AT LAST! review by Jeff D on 2/8/2018
(Posted on 7/26/17 from the old site)
I bought a pair of Tempest 12 kits and a Cinema 88 Special in 2014 (much apologies for my late review, Erich!). Three years later and I'm still ECSTATIC about how how well they perform. Everybody who has been to my house has been amazed at the sound quality. Multiple friends have been so impressed with my speakers that they decided to buy & build their own! The packaging was perfect and Erich is great to do business with.
My prior speaker building experience was assembling a kit from Parts-Express which included soldering a crossover. For these kits, assembling them is like getting new Lego kit; the building is more than half the fun! The crossover diagrams are easy to understand even for an inexperienced person. I built my own boxes for the 88 Special and Fusion 12's, but I love woodworking.
As for the 88 special, the dialogue in movies is infinitely better than my previous Polk CSi 3 and my friend's Polk CSi 5. The dispersion field is pretty nice too with the 15" waveguide. That was the main reason for the whole build. The seating configuration in my room is not ideal and I have two sofas nearly touching in the center. This results in a relatively wide seating area instead of having two rows. Unfortunately, this also means the dialogue sounds subdued when on the ends of the sofas. After upgrading to the 88 Special, there was a remarkable improvement in these seating positions and it has made it possible to still hear the dialogue when sitting in those off-center positions.
The 88 special is a great speaker and works very well when coupled with the Fusion 12 Tempests. Much thanks for the guys designing these speakers and Erich! -
A center channel that holds its own for main duty. review by Benjamin on 2/8/2018
(Posted on 7/21/17 from the old site)
I've built fusion-12 tempests. I've built fusion-8 alchemys. I've even built Quarks.
I've also built more than my share of overnight sensations for friends and family. Now added to that list is a pair of 88-Specials.
I was a bit nervous recommending a pair of 88 Specials for mains use without a sub (I'm building these for an associate) because of the highish f3 of these speakers. I was wrong.
The closest speaker in the diysoundgroup lineup that sounds close to as good as this speaker is the fusion 12. In fact, the wider waveguide of the 88-Special actually gives it an edge on the tempest as far as imaging is concerned. The fusion 12 does noticeably dig deeper, however. That said, I would definitely not hesitate to use an L-C-R arrangement utilizing 3 88-Specials for HT use if timbre matching was a high priority. Even for a non-HT, traditional 2-channel music setup a pair of 88-Specials would be a viable route, though in either scenario an active sub is required to fill out the low end.
Testing these out in my living room has been absolutely devastating. I'm almost certain now that I must have made an error when I assembled my Fusion-8s because there really is a huge leap in performance between these two. Yes, I know the Fusion-8s are literally half the speaker these are, but technically speaking, the Fusion-8s are supposed to be the "better fit." Perhaps I over-stuffed my Fusion-8 enclosures...
This pair of 88-Specials is going to a largish space to provide background music (ran without a sub). I will cherish the weekend I will get to spend with these bad boys. -
Outstanding Clarity review by bobbart on 2/8/2018
(Posted on 2/18/17 from the old site)
The flat pack makes these very easy to build. Do yourself a favor and get the crossover board from Matt. This speaker is much easier to drive than my previous speaker. Dialogue is very clear. I am hearing things I could never hear before. The large waveguide throws a nice wide sweet spot. One of the best upgrades I have done in a long time. Going to pair this with the cinema 10 max for my front pair. -
I want my MTV review by Andrew G on 2/8/2018
(Posted on 9/5/16 from the old site)
You won't miss any dialogue with this speaker! I have it with a pair of Fusion Tempest. Its really, really good. I don't do sound measurements and that kind of nerdy stuff. I put in a DVD audio of Dire Straights-Money for Nothing and judge from that. This is by far the loudest I have ever been able to play that song, Thats how I judge!
The crossover is challenging to get it all on one small board and mounted inside. Keep in mind you can only fit it behind one the woofers. The horn is too deep and it can't bridge the brace between the woofers or the woofers will hit it. -
Great speaker .... worth 3 times the price! review by Shawn on 2/8/2018
(Posted on 8/21/16 from the old site)
This was my first DIY speaker build ... would have loved for the crossover to come pre built ... if your having reservations about DIY speakers this is really your only hurdle as the rest is pretty much a cake walk.
The Packaging was EXTREMELY well done! Couldn't have pictured it any better than how it was done.
The sound these speakers are able to reproduce is truly amazing ... Couldn't be happier with my decision to go with these DIY speakers .... Only con in my opinion is having to build the crossover .... granted once you figure it all out you won't be disappointed with the quality of the sound these speakers can reproduce! -
Huge Sweet Spot! review by Cptnjosh on 2/8/2018
(Posted on 1/26/16 from the old site)
I really wanted the Seos 15/ Denovo 360 combo for my center channel to provide the widest possible sweetspot, so that all listening positions are covered. This speaker really delivers, from subtle details to bombastic sound effects. This is as close as you can get to an upright design center while avoiding many of the traditional center pitfalls (lobing and sound nulls). The waveguide is a work of art, and just looks cool which matters to me. I paired this center with the Cinema 8's and Volt 8's for a perfect envelopment of sound.
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