Thanks guys.
A few more details for anyone interested. I haven't kept track of the details of what they cost, but I think they've come out just the right side of £2k or thereabouts. That seems quite a lot for a DIY project, but the SEAS and Peerless drivers aren't cheap, and I chose to buy the X-over ready built to avoid prolonging the agony with a lot of fiddly soldering. Pleased with that decision as it looks pretty cool I think. They're fairly straightforward to build actually - mostly 3/4 ply and butt joints. It took me a long time because (a) we'd just moved house and there was lots of other stuff to do (b) illness in the family has meant we've spent a lot of weekends elsewhere and (c) I made the side panels out of ply and veneered them (hadn't veneered anything for 35 years so there was a bit of a re-learning curve - if I was doing them again I'd get some nice solid wood for the sides).
Initial listening impressions?
The sound doesn't seem to be coming from the speakers! I guess this is the dipole effect, but they present a really good image with a great sense of depth and space. Things like pianos and acoustic guitars and voices (i.e. where I know what they're supposed to sound like) sound more real than I've experienced before - it's like they are really there. As a result I've been listening to more acoustic/classical/jazz and loving it. Some things sound more better than others (if that makes sense) so I think they may be showing up the deficiencies in some recordings. In general though there's a lot more detail, more life, more rhythm and more feeling than my previous set up (Bryston 3BSST/Wilson Benesch Orator). Usually when I've tried to do a critical listen I've ended up getting engrossed in the music and forgotten to listen to the speakers, which is obviously a good thing! The bass is great - really melodic and without any of the boxy sound I'd learned to live with without knowing it. The texture of bass notes is much clearer, the tune comes through, and they go very deep. They need space around them - 4 feet from the back wall is recommended and there's a definite opening up of the sound that happens around that point, so I've fitted cork feet to allow me to slide them out for listening and back to avoid getting in everyone's way. So far its all good.
