ScanSpeak Discovery 3WC, built by Leonardo, UK

Copyright 2021 © Troels Gravesen

Dear Troels,
 
I finally ordered the ScanSpeak 3-Way Discovery kit just before Christmas 2020 after months of reading through all your 3-way speaker builds. This was the start of a husband and wife project (yes, in the back of my mind I understood that it could all go horribly wrong ;)) and our first speaker build.
 
I chose this project because my husband started collecting speakers during the pandemic. After finding  3 pairs taking up space in our tiny home, with each set having a different set of qualities that shine, but none that ticked all the boxes, I wondered if we could build a set that would. We are still keeping 2 of the 3 sets (a pair of Spendor LS3/5As, and a pair of Tannoy Devons - that we hope to build better cabinets for and might consult you at some point).
 
We aimed to be as faithful to your instructions as possible. We weren't able to find 2 different thickness black MDF boards, so had to settle on the thicker 21mm for both front panels and that's our only edit. The whole process worked quite smoothly and we work well as a team. I like details and double checking measurements and soldering, and my husband likes to play with his new tools (he is quite new to wood working, but a super quick learner and I'm so impressed).
 
The project took longer than expected because I am a healthcare/biomedical researcher and did not really have time at home, and we also had an accident leading to 8 stitches at the A&E (luckily all digits still fully attached and functional). We finally finished the speakers this week and tested the crossovers in our room starting with the middle of the 3 resistors for the tweeters but then opted for the lower resistor as the bass is quite strong in our listening room. After 12 hours of playing, the sound has really opened up and we can't wait to have a day to sit at home and listen to our favourite music! Compared to the other speakers, this set does seem to tick all the boxes so far. We listen to a variety of music depending on mood, ranging from vocals to jazz to classical to electronic and rock and these speakers has managed to make them all sound good so far.
 
I was a bit gutted when you released Mk2 in the middle of our project, but this was a great first go at DIY speakers and surely not our last. We had fun (as well as some frustrations and scares) and learned a lot. Plus, we ended up with an amazing sounding pair of speaker, so, thank you!!!
 
All the best,
Mary (& Leo)