What does jim holtz mini statements speakers compare to commercially?

compared to at least 3-4x what you spent, that's if you built it right...just my guess

check out htguide.com

Lots of build threads on HT guide.com, and many posts by the creators Jim and Curt.

I'm running the full size statements, which were a challenging but very fun build, and they sound amazing. great clarity, deep bass, and huge soundstage.

Commercially I'm not sure what I'd compare these to, but when I'm demoing at hifi shops, nothing but the very best makes me think: "I'd lose the statements to run these". JAS audio Plato, PMC EB1i etc.

I like them more than Paradigm S8, B&W 803 etc.

one demo guy built them for his demo showroom, he had comments that they sounded better then magnepans.


What do people mean by soundstage also? I know the midbass tunnel really does a lot for the statements and people always say the soundstage is great but I never knew what that meant.

By soundstage people mean accurate reproduction of live music, the way the positioning of instruments is reproduced by the speakers.

That is a bold statement, (no pun intended). But I guess that is the idea behind the name. If I said I was only kind of sure I was going to build a pair of these, I would be lying. I just looked down at the printed spec's from Jim's website. I Definitely plan on building a pair of these.
Some of the best sounding speakers I have heard are the B&W 803's IMO, they were on a showroom floor each with their own MC275 pushing them. I was really blown away when I heard them. To hear that the statements can hang with those makes me want them even more. Knowing that I can build even somewhat close to the sound of a speaker that they were asking about 8k each also makes me happy.

Maxwell

I built the Mini Statements and the matching Statement center.
The choice of drivers by Jim and the crossover design by Curt work very well together.
Prior to these I was using a full PSB set up including the 6T towers , 9C center , and 2B bookshelves for surrounds.
I sold the PSB's shortly after hearing the Statement's




edited to correct 6T model number

I used to own the Magnepan 1.6qrs prior to building sealed Statements. I could never go back.

http://www.interconnect-nordic.com/page10.html

Scroll down the page to see the various models.

Thanks, the best speakers that I ever heard were some kef refernce MTM's. They had a bar that connected the two woofers together but man did they ever sound good and now I know what you mean by sound stage. When I moved from left to right it felt like I was at a concert.

I don't listen to much live music and instead just do home theater. Been looking at the statements but have also been looking at doing some diy waveguides.

Whoops , 6T towers. My apologies

I have been fighting the flu so bear with me .

I have built the Statements/Mini Statements/Statements Center for a home theater setup. These are incredible speakers and work well for both HT and music. I don't know of anyone who has built them and is not satisfied. I don't have too much experience with high end designs, but I know they make even the best/most expensive units at the local Best Buy Magnolia sound like trash.

Now the next part is self serving:

Not sure if anyone would be interested, but I'm actually selling my entire Statements lineup of speakers so I can continue doing the DIY thing. Limited room in the house so these have to go first. I'm located around Dallas and my asking price is cheaper than you can build it yourself. If anyone is interested shoot me a PM.

A couple of anecdotes from the archives:

Early on in the Statement's history, a set was built by a gentleman who, if memory serves, was involved in the Houston Audiophile Society. I apologize for not remembering his name. As I recall, he had access to, or was familiar with, many high end commercial designs. In an email, he compared the Statements sound quality to commercial designs costing $10K. He also indicated that when the Statements were demonstrated at one of their meetings, enough interest was generated to spawn the construction of Statements for two other members.

Another gentleman from Rio de Janeiro built the MiniStatements, and reported they sounded far better than his friend's $8K commercial speakers. (He told me what they were at the time, but I've long since forgotten.) -He was so happy with them, that he then built the Statements.

I think you will find the Statement's voicing sounds less colored than the 803's

C

Now if only the center was deeper, I could put my TV on it.

Can MiniStatements do reference levels at 12-14 feet away with low distortion? As I recall, they have around an 88dB sensitivity....they may need more power than a receiver can dish out to do reference...

JSS

Max ,
I have had no problem exceeding reference at 11 feet using a Marantz receiver but I am going to drive them with a crown xls-402 soon. I just scored one for a song today.

Wow, that is good to hear....

JSS

I keep trying to convince myself to build the full blown Statements but I just cant find a reason to other than just to spend money .

buy once cry once?

They are only a couple hundred more then the mini's, for me it would always nag me.

And your LCD TV is how deep?

There is a good reason to choose the Statements and that is the increased Sd of the woofers. They impose a certain tactile presence in the upper bass that the Mini's can't quite recreate.

I know which one I'd build...

C

But a subwoofer can. For home theater users who have subwoofers already I think the Mini-Statements are perfect...unless the room is unusually large.

Even the Statements aren't going to reproduce the low-end bass in movies properly so the Mini's seem like the best bang for your buck if you're in this category.

I built the sealed Statements and will vouch for Curt's comment. The tactile response in the upper bass blew my mind in switching from the Magnepans. I'd listen to what the designer has to say. I reinforce the lowest octave with a Velodyne DD-18 sub but the upper bass needs nothing and they integrate extremely well.

Well the base that would sit on the center is nearly 16" deep and the center is only around 13" deep.

Curt, I don't have the space to run the statement monitors as surrounds and I need something that is one wall or near wall.

What would you suggest as a good surround. I currently have the Dayton2's and they are a little bit weak for me, yes they can go loud but they don't offer the same listening experience as my dayton 3's(I have switched them around in both fronts and rears).

I have considered either the khan in neatos or the natp's both with the RS28fabric tweeter. Would those be a good match for the statements?

Loonybomber: How about building the cabinet 20" deep +or- and putting a "false back" in at 13" so as to keep the interior volume the same. If the back won't be seen you could just leave the hollow area or maybe even mount the crossover in it. Curt could comment on that idea. If the back could be seen you could put a second back wall on it that would be flush with the rear edge of the top, bottom, and sides.

I think the midrange tunnel has to be a certain length, but adding extra depth to the top panel may work so long as doesn't do anything adverse to the rear wave...but thinking about it, it couldn't do anything more than what the back wall or other objects would.

So..... thought I would dredge this thread up again....

I remember somewhere there was a curved cabinet statement build, I cannot for the life of me seem to find it...

Can anyone lend a hand in helping me find it....