While looking throught he ads of the latest Home Cinema Choice mag I spotted the ad reading "Speaker kits From IPL Acoustics". I don't know if anyone has tried these products before, but they look quite interesteing as IPL appear to be another direct to the public manufacturer. One of the promising looking products is their SW3 Active subwoofer kit boasting a 12" driver, 250 watt amp and suggets extension to below 25 Hz. The full kit comes with a flat packed cabinet, so a bit of DIY fun could be had in the proccess. The sub kits are available from as low as £271 + P&P and could be a viable route for anyone on a budget wishing to try this route. The website is http://www.iplacoustics.co.uk
They have been around for a long while but have never had a particularly high profile. I am sure that one or two people around here have their subs but I don't recall a mention for quite a long while. I believe that if you are proficient enough, that DIY subs offer far more for your money than buying one and there are several forum members who have built their own supersubs at a comparatively cheap cost.
The fact is, Mr Leslie keeps a fairly low profile and is happy remaining a very small operation. He doesn't charge VAT ( which is an advantage for customers). I am simply someone who made a one-off attempt last year to get the best I could without spending silly money or taking advice I didn't understand. My several attempts to make sensible decisions based on reviews, HiFi shows and dealer listening rooms were unsuccessful and largely unpleasant. With current equipment and digital sources, speaker choice and room acoustics are the two most important factors affecting sound quality IMO. IPL's speciality is the transmision line speaker kits. but he offers a full range. He makes his own components in several cases. Subs are probably the easiest and most successful DIY speaker to build (probably takes about a day in total), but I think all the IPL speakers are comparable to commercial speakers costing 2-3 times the price (or more). If you are someone who likes to change their equipment regularly, a "homemade" speaker is quite a lot of work, and may be harder to sell on, even though there's no sensible reason for this. Because I have never had this standard of equipment before, I can't say if I would prefer Sub x or y to what I've got. ->What some customers thought. <-
I built the IPL Acoustic SW2 a few years ago, way before Velodyne came on the scene. It is fine for smaller rooms but larger ones would require a bit moree output. The IPL SW3 is a larger enclosure and has a much better driver. It is quite a well designed system, spot on with the software models in WINISD. If you are willing to get you hands a bit dirty then I would defiatly reccommend people should have a try.