Building the Tritrix MTM TL Speakers: DIY Audio That Actually Competes

I've spent way too much money on speakers over the years. My KEF Q500s set me back a decent chunk of change, and they're good speakers. But when I stumbled across the Tritrix MTM TL kit on Parts Express, I had to know: could I build something that sounded close for a fraction of the cost?

The answer, after building them? Pretty much yes.

Here's how I did it, what went wrong, and what you need to know if you want to try it yourself.

• Tritrix MTM TL speaker kit (from Parts Express)
• 1 sheet of 4x8 MDF board
• Table saw or circular saw
• Router with circle-cutting jig
• Cabinet screws
• Wood glue
• Nylon fiber stuffing
• Soldering iron and solder
• Power sander
• Polyfill (for cosmetic fixes)

The kit itself runs about $130-$150 for the drivers and crossover components. Building your own cabinets instead of buying pre-fabbed ones saves about $100. My total build cost came in around a quarter of what I paid for the KEFs.

Start with one 4x8 sheet of MDF. Cut it into 2x4 strips for easier handling — trust me, moving a full sheet of MDF around is miserable.

Mark out every piece you need before cutting. I used a combination of table saw and circular saw. The old "measure twice, cut once" advice is good. I tend to follow the "cut, pray, love, then keep cutting" philosophy instead. It works less well.

The front piece needs holes for the two woofers and the tweeter. You'll need a router with a circle-cutting jig for this. If you don't have a jig, you can make one — there are plenty of guides out there.

Take your time here. The recesses need to be clean and accurate for the drivers to sit flush.

Glue and screw the cabinet together, but leave one side off for now. You need access to wire everything up later.

Pro tip: Drill pilot holes. I didn't. Then I had to go back and do it anyway. Just drill them the first time.

Use cabinet screws with counter-sunk holes for a cleaner look.

The crossover takes your audio signal and splits it into frequency bands — lows go to the woofers, highs go to the tweeter. The Tritrix uses a second-order crossover, which means a double filter for each driver.

When you've got multiple inductors (the coil-looking components), orientation matters. If you place two inductors parallel to each other, they'll create mutual inductance — basically they'll interfere with each other. To avoid this, mount one horizontally and the other vertically.

Solder all connections between inductors, capacitors, and ground. Then place the crossover inside the cabinet.

Mount the drivers and run wires down to the crossover. Cut your wires to length before soldering — excess wire just clutters up the inside.

The woofers in this system are wired in series. This increases the total resistance the amplifier sees, letting it run cooler and more efficiently.

Fill the cabinet with nylon fiber stuffing. This helps dampen internal reflections. Then seal it up with the final side panel.

You can paint or vinyl-wrap the cabinets at this point. I had to do some cosmetic work with polyfill and a power sander to get them looking decent. They're not showroom quality, but they look good enough.

I ran a blind test with three volunteers, comparing the DIY Tritrix against my KEF Q500s.

The results were consistent: everyone preferred the KEFs, but the DIY build wasn't far behind.

One listener said the Tritrix had "sharper highs" but the KEFs had better low end. Another rated the Tritrix a 7.5 and the KEFs a 5.5 — wait, that's backwards. Let me re-check my notes.

Okay, the actual scores averaged out to the Tritrix around 6-7 and the KEFs around 7-8. The DIY speakers were "a little cloudy" in the mids according to one listener, and another said they "needed a subwoofer."

But here's the thing: the Tritrix cost about a quarter of what I spent on the KEFs. For that price difference, I'll take slightly muddy mids and add a subwoofer.

If you're comfortable with basic woodworking and soldering, absolutely. The kit is well-designed and the instructions are solid.

But I'll be honest: if you're not confident in your woodworking, get the pre-cut cabinet pieces. My cabinets came out fine, but I've got experience. If your cuts are off or your driver holes are sloppy, the whole thing falls apart.

The Tritrix MTM TL is a great entry point into DIY audio. You'll save money, learn a ton, and end up with speakers that genuinely compete with commercial options at several times the price.