"SOLSTICE" MLTL Designed by Late Mr. Jeff Bagby (RIP)

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Here is another Toy in my collection.
View attachment 53097View attachment 53098

This was one of my dream tool ... Still three more to go. A Bed Saw, A Miter Saw with slide (12" Blade) and a Heavy duty Router with Variable Speed suitable for router bits of shank size 12 mm (1/2")... ;)
Dear Sadik Bhai, kindly have an eye on Wood Expo. https://www.delhi-wood.com/ (
2 - 5 March 2023 / INDIA EXPO CENTRE & MART,
GREATER NOIDA,INDIA

March 4 @ 10:00 am - March 7 @ 6:00 pm at India Expo Mart​

I am sure will get lots of wood dealer, wood working tools, surface coating solutions and many more.
Sanjeev Kumar
 
Update:
The Speakers have reached their permanent destination. They have been delivered to the owner Mr. Mahesh (ex FM by id - mpw). Below is the Photo of same.
Final Placement.jpg

He is very happy by the performance results, I too was 100% sure about the same because this was a designed as a KIT that too by the Legend itself Mr. Jeff Bagby (RIP).

He also has few words to say regarding the built quality, below is the screen shot of the message which I am sharing it publicly after taking his approval.

Such appreciation keeps my enthusiasm running 24x7, Its like a Fuel to me... lol, I now can declare this Project as finished.

I thank Mr. Mahesh for handing over this fantastic project to me and trusting in me.
 
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Update:
The Speakers have reached their permanent destination. They have been delivered to the owner Mr. Mahesh (ex FM by id - mpw). Below is the Photo of same.
View attachment 54023

He is very happy by the performance results, I too was 100% sure about the same because this was a designed as a KIT that too by the Legend itself Mr. Jeff Bagby (RIP).

He also has few words to say regarding the built quality, below is the screen shot of the message which I am sharing it publicly after taking his approval.
View attachment 54024
Such appreciation keeps my enthusiasm running 24x7, Its like a Fuel to me... lol, I now can declare this Project as finished.

I thank Mr. Mahesh for handing over this fantastic project to me and trusting in me.
Congrats Sadik..
Have always been a fan of your work. These speakers look awesome.
I am sure that they sound even better.
All the best for your next project....
 
Congratulations Sadikbhai. Excellent finishing, aesthetics & I am sure they may be sounding great. Best part is the way they blend well in mpw's room without looking obtrusive in any way.
 
Update:
The Speakers have reached their permanent destination. They have been delivered to the owner Mr. Mahesh (ex FM by id - mpw). Below is the Photo of same.
View attachment 54023

He is very happy by the performance results, I too was 100% sure about the same because this was a designed as a KIT that too by the Legend itself Mr. Jeff Bagby (RIP).

He also has few words to say regarding the built quality, below is the screen shot of the message which I am sharing it publicly after taking his approval.
View attachment 54024
Such appreciation keeps my enthusiasm running 24x7, Its like a Fuel to me... lol, I now can declare this Project as finished.

I thank Mr. Mahesh for handing over this fantastic project to me and trusting in me.
Awesome job Sadik bhai
 
Congratulations Sadik bhai. The fit and finish of these speakers is top notch. For me it looks like a Branded one.
 
Congrats Sadik..
Have always been a fan of your work. These speakers look awesome.
I am sure that they sound even better.
All the best for your next project....
Nice job !

The speaker looks really Nice and standing impressive on those outriggers ...
Congratulations Sadikbhai. Excellent finishing, aesthetics & I am sure they may be sounding great. Best part is the way they blend well in mpw's room without looking obtrusive in any way.
Awesome job Sadik bhai
Congratulations Sadik bhai. The fit and finish of these speakers is top notch. For me it looks like a Branded one.

Thank You Friends.
 
Update:
The Speakers have reached their permanent destination. They have been delivered to the owner Mr. Mahesh (ex FM by id - mpw). Below is the Photo of same.
View attachment 54023

He is very happy by the performance results, I too was 100% sure about the same because this was a designed as a KIT that too by the Legend itself Mr. Jeff Bagby (RIP).

He also has few words to say regarding the built quality, below is the screen shot of the message which I am sharing it publicly after taking his approval.

Such appreciation keeps my enthusiasm running 24x7, Its like a Fuel to me... lol, I now can declare this Project as finished.

I thank Mr. Mahesh for handing over this fantastic project to me and trusting in me.
Superb job.
 
One of the advantages of WFH is that it allows for unusual meeting times. So it was a mid-week afternoon this week that ex-FM MPW and I could align calendars and set up a rendezvous at his house to check out his new babies.

I have known MPW for over a decade now, and we've chatted and discussed audio as his speaker journey went from Paradigm to Epos to Merlins. And the Merlins stayed for a long time, playing bravely and holding their own, in a room which is probably 3x the room size they were designed for. That last bit of extension was naturally missing, and could rob that last bit of enjoyment, especially for the fastidious. And those FMs who know MPW, would probably agree that he is, well, very fastidious. And yet, save that last bit of extension, it was a system that was easy to listen to, non-fatiguing, and inviting the listener away from technical analysis and immersing them in the music

So when he spoke about the deal he was getting on the Solstice kit, I was naturally very excited for him - the same smooth tweeter as the Merlin and far better woofers, designed by DIY god, Jeff "less is more" Bagby. It promised to be exactly what the doctor ordered.

Of course, even the best DIY design is only as good as the execution, so a big shout out to @sadik for doing such a flawless job. There are enough pictures on the thread so, I took photos from different angles. First the colour: it would never have been my first choice when I saw it on the thread, but in real life it looks really nice, part of the credit for that does for a real good paint job. and it makes the speakers look really compact in the flesh, so overall a job well done

In the photo below, please see the gaps between the drivers and the baffle, especially for the tweeter. Its as good as it gets, and you'll see a lot of name brand speakers which struggle to to meet this level of tolerance
IMG_0469.JPEG

In the photo below, please note the texture of the driver baffle. it makes a nice counterpoint to the smoothness of the main body and overall the speaker looks so professionally done.
IMG_0471.JPEG

the outrigger base was not part of the original design and I think it was custom made for MPW by another Forum member. again excellent finish. Overall from a fit and finish perspective, these are easily comparable with commercial speakers in the 4-8 lakh range so huge complements must be given to @sadik for elevating fit and finish to pro levels.

Of course, the raison d'etre for any speaker is music, and oh boy, how the music flowed! the first thing is how amazingly convincing the bass was! it was deep without ever being boomy, (and this is a difficult room) and there was very little overhang. the second impression was how little power was probably driving them. we did most of the listening with the volume at the 9 o'clock position or lower and it was plenty loud.

the next thing that comes out is how smooth midrange is. For the music we heard it did not at all sound recessed, as 2-way speakers sometimes can. and it was not at all shouty either. Like the story of Goldilocks, it was just right tonally.

There was a limited amount of time so we pretty much heard one song from each album. So I am posting an overall impression. To digress a bit, just a few years ago, I assembled the headphone rig that's in my signature. it was expensive, but is it the best in the world? Absolutely not! But overall, to my ears, the way those 3 pieces of kit come together, is so satisfying, I have lost any urge to upgrade.

Why am I sharing this story? - I think FM MPW should be in the same place with his system now. Again, huge kudos to Sadik for the attention to detail, as well as to MPW for taking an expensive leap of faith. I think it paid back well!

Happy Listening MPW! I will be back for a more serious listen over a drink or three. :)
 
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Thank you for putting up your listening impressions.

Jeff Bagby was a Guru for DiY folks and it's nice to see his design here in India. His contributions to DiY community is immense.

The Merlins were also created by a person passionate about music.

The build is very good and the outriggers add to the majesty and maybe in this case these outriggers are better than spiked feet.

The mid bass drivers from Morel seem to be top of their range too and the CAT 308 is a remarkable low cost high performance tweeter.

Good to see such builds here in India where a person takes it on and it pays off..

We can only envy the West where multiple such options are available.

Great going !
 
Thankyou @kapvin for taking out your precious time and penning down you reviews in this thread. These speakers are not only good in room, One can also enjoy them even in outdoors. Do not underestimate the performance by size of these drivers, they will easily beat many higher size drivers.
 
About the color, when I first saw the pic. after the color was applied, that Sadik shared, I thought - "meh"! It was different, and I like different but this particular color just didn't do it for me. But then: I am at the final lap of redoing some interior work at home and I wanted a shelf on the wall of the living room - I wanted a bright color for it but the designer who we hired, firmly put her foot down and negated a bright color. She wanted it to blend with the wall but provide a contrast too. She said - "leave it to me". For the first time, I left it to her and once, when I was out the whole day, I came home to this simple 2 layer shelf on the wall sprayed in I think either the exact same color of this Solstice or a tiny shade darker than it. I think they call the color "Mushroom". It looked fabulous and the first things that came to mind when I saw it was "Solstice", "Sadik" and "mpw". :)
 
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Wharfedale Linton Heritage Speakers in Walnut finish at a Special Offer Price. BUY now before the price increase.
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