The other day I turned down a rare opportunity to buy a pair of 4343:s in excellent condition (probably only 8 pairs sold in Sweden!). After a couple of sleepless nights I've concluded that they're just too big and expensive and that I'm better off with a DIY project. So what could possibly be a good substitute for the big blue beasts?

I've long wanted a system built around 2441:s, so this is the starting point. Furthermore, a 12" (or even 10") bass driver will be adequate for my needs in terms of acoustical power, and will help keeping cabinet size down as well as faciliate a smooth crossover to the 2441:s. (I don't want the hazzle of sorting out a 4-way design. ) Tuning wise I'll strive for a Bessel-like transfer function when factoring in the LF room gain. This will be an interesting task in itself.

For midrange horns I'd like to use Westlake style 2397-derivatives, but this is something for the future. (I've bought a single 2397 from Jammin' Jersey for measurements and experimentation, and Mr. Widget has kindly sent me drawings.) The first incarnation of this system will instead use the 2311/2308 combo (or maybe Selenium HL14-50/2308?). I'll go straight for biamping, hoping a 4:th order L/R will allow the 2311 (or Selenium) to be crossed as low as 800 Hz.

As for UHF I consider to use 2403, as they'll allow for greater flexibility in crossover frequency selection than the 2405, and are highly regarded by forum members. I expect them to work well above the Smith horns later on. Last but not least they look cool! Mieow!

Reflecting the upgrade plan, the cabinet will be designed to only hold the bass driver. This will also allow for driver positioning and time alignment experimentation. (A simple baffle will hold the mid and UHF horn.)

To summarize:

Stage 1 - "Baby S22" (Hopefully running this year):

2203H + 2441/2311/2308 + 2403


Stage 2 (ETA next year):

2203H + 2441/"2397" + 2403


Clearly, the road doesn't necessarily end there. Stage 3 could either address the lowend (e.g. 2235H + 2012H) or further refine the mids (TAD-400x), but first things first...

What do you think? I know this path has been walked before. Any and all advice would be highly appreciated! Least thought has gone into bass driver selection. Maybe I should look in other directions than 2203:s since cone kits AFAIK are NLA? I already have the 2441:s and 2308:s, a single 2311, and I'm negotiating a deal on 2403:s.

Fredrik