Hey Master-of-None,
It wasn’t too long ago that I was in a similar situation. My wife plays violin but listens to music on her laptop, the live quartet vs the laptop speakers is a pretty pale comparison. I built her a 2.1 from Dayton gear. I had not been introduced to Tiod at the time so I purchased a plan from KMA. Electronics are from parts-express. I’m also a builder and the box was part I knew how to do. The dimensions for the box are from his instructions, A moved the port to the front and dims came to 7-3/4″ x 9-1/2″ x 5″ (Fremont Kit, 4″ mids & 5/8 Tweeter). The .1 is a 6.5″ down firing sub kit from Parts Express.
The system lives in a 300 sq/ft (-ish) room and is more than enough. I run the system off the Dayton DTA2.1 BT2. at 60W/ch it has more than enough juice and I find that I don’t turn the volume much past the 10 O’clock position (i’m also not in college and my volume requirements are different). This system is a fairly small package and fills the room very nicely.
My requirements for the build were based around string instruments. The lowest note on an upright double bass is 41Hz. The little 6.5 sub gets down to 45 before it rolls off so I still get the base that I am looking for if not as full.
I’ll post pictures in the near future. I’m happy with the build but I’ve fallen victim to wood movement. my fault for not seeing the defect in the front baffle when I made it.
-Rook