Price Paid:  $50.00 from PartsExpress

Summary:
This is a follow up on the Madison Odin speaker.

I was never quite satisified with the high end on these speakers. I felt that they were too 'echoic', i.e., the decay was too long on many high notes. To solve this problem I replaced the Seas tweeters with a Vifa XT25TG30 and the result was quite stunning. Now these speakers are a pure joy to listen to.

If you really want to save money, you can build a great sounding monitor speaker from Parts Express with the following parts:

Parts from Parts Express:

#300 – 704 - .22 cu ft cabinet
#300 – 708 - .55 cu ft cabinet ( ½ in MDF)

#091- 1245 - Dayton gold-plated binding posts
#268 -030 - vinyl damping material
#260 – 317 - Acousta-stuf

Crossovers
#260 – 142 - Dayton 2.5 kHz
#269 - 342 - Exacta 2.5 kHz Crossover

Speakers

Woofer:
#299 -182 - Peerless 6.5 in (91.5 db eff)

Tweeter:
#279-125 - inexpensive $8.80 silk dome
#264-555 - Vifa XT25TG30 - dual concentric
#276-514 - ScanSpeak 9900 revelator

Aperiodic Vent
#296-546 - ScanSpeak aperiodic vent

Wire:

Buy 14 feet of flat wire from Madisound.

You just several hours of spare time, a little urethane glue, some spray lacquer and a little knowledge and you have a fantastic speaker, better than any of the ARs and as good as many of the $3000 speakers.

Strengths:
Very few. The response curves of the speakers tell it all. The European designs of the tweeters yield stunning results.

Weaknesses:
It'll take a little time, but you won't regret it a bit and you'll have the handyman's satifaction.

Similar Products Used:
Vandersteen, Von Schweikert VR-3s and 4s, Rogers LS3.5as, etc.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Very good speaker for the size or price. Easy to build. A couple of quality /customer service issues that don't sound.
Although there are a number of good ~$200 /pair speakers on the market, this one of the better ones. If you are a DIYer, you might think about eventually building a better XO - this one is a very simple first order. It works, but I'll bet it could be improved on.

Overall, better sound for $175 than you will normally find off the shelf

Strengths:
Narrow depth makes it easy to place in some circumstances. Relatively "full range" given the size - definately not a satellite speaker. Assembly is super simple - under one hour - only Homer Simpson could screw it up!

Weaknesses:
A couple of missing components when delivered. Quickly corrected, but...
Wish they offered a bare MDF version.

Similar Products Used:
AR, CSW, Advent M&K None were kits

Price Paid:  $964.00 from Madisound.com

Summary:
This review is for the Madisound Odin speakers. This speaker is a dual Seas 6.5" configuration with a Seas Excel tweeter. The configuration is a vented box with the drivers above and below the tweeter.

The kit comes with a state of the art crossover and some good damping material. I added additional padding for the sides of the box.

It takes about 2 hours to assemble both and the result is spectacular. I have currently loaned this set out to an enthusiast who was blown away by the clean, detailed midrange and finely detailed highs.

The cabinet is a nicely constructed, 'Chinese' box with oak veneer in either black or white.

Strengths:
Beautiful sound. Good looking. Very inexpensive. Blows away speakers costing $8000 or more.

Weaknesses:
Hard to resell due to little known vendor.

Similar Products Used:
Von Schweikert, Hales, Allison, PSB, DIY

Summary:
My friend purchased these and I put them, together.
Being the tweak I am modifications were done a week after being built and intial listening was done.

The cabinet was lined with a very very good elastomeric damping material. A Dynaudio vario-vent was added.
The result was much improved bass response. More extended, cleaner and clearer high end and more open and pronounced vocals without sounding hefty.
Value ratings are after mods were done.

Strengths:
Very musical, PRICE!!!, clean and tight.

Weaknesses:
crossover and bass is too lean.

Similar Products Used:
Paradigm,

Summary:
The speaker is good for its value. I got mine for $185 because I upgraded it to the real oak box. The real oak box is a bit bigger and more heavy. Madisound didn't spend much time on designing the crossover. It's just a first order, simple design. I think the speaker can do better if Madisound can provide a better crossover. If you have less than 200 dollars budget on a pair of speakers, I would suggest you listen to psb mini, mission 731i etc. If none of them can satify you, then try this one.

Strengths:
The bass is tight. and the tremble is clear.

Weaknesses:
The cross over design.