[ooheadsoo]

I've noticed that there's not too much buzz on diy speakers here in general. Of course, this isn't exactly a diy community, but in these trying economic times, every leg up is usually appreciated, no? I haven't built a diy pair of speakers yet, myself. For me, it's a lack of time, experience, and most importantly, tools. I don't have the money for clamps and stuff. The thought of flush mounting a tweeter gives me cold chills. Otherwise, there are so many tasty designs out there available on the web that sound like they would blow me away (assuming I had the right amplification and all that jazz...) I'm going to have to hold off until I have a budget for some real amplification along with the rest of the gear.

Anyone else have their own reasons for not going diy, either currently, or no plans on ever doing it? It really seems like one of the best bang for buck ways to go. For example, the Eros MKII 3-way speaker consistently gets reviews saying it beats Vandersteens in the $3-4000 range. Parts cost for the Eros is $500 for drivers and crossover! Build the cabinet with materials and finish of your choice. There are just so many great designs out there, it's hard to know which one to sink your teeth into first.

 

[needgoodphones]

I was considering DIY speakers but opted for prebuilt speakers for several reasons:

1. I was able to find someone who has the speakers I have just ordered, after a very brief audition I like the speakers (Ascend Acoustics). With DIY speakers they can sound different depending on the type of crossover components and the cabnet construction, good luck finding a pair of DIY speakers to audition using the exact same cabnet and crossover components.

2. People claim that DIY speakers are much cheaper, but almost never account for good cabnet construction. If you don't have tools and experience, and you want something more than just an unfinished MDF cabnet without fulshmounting, you either need to spends big bucks on tools and real wood veneers or you have to have the work done by a furniture maker. If you have a carpenter make your cabnets for you you aren't gonna save any money.

3. If manufactured speakers break I can send them back. If they break in warrenty I can send it back and get new speakers for free. If they break outside of warrenty I can choose to fix them myself or buy new speakers. With DIY designs if it breaks you have to deal with it. Even though I am knowledgeable on how speakers and crossovers work, it is nice to have someone to call and say "these aren't working, what do I do".

4. I like my free time free. I'm a college student, however even I can ean in two days the difference between the speakers that I bought and the speakers that I were considering building. I consider these two speakers to be comparable, so I don't see and more value in a speaker that I have to spend a weekend to build rather than a speaker that costs two days additional pay.

5. Soldering, i'm not a big fan. I can do it, but I love music, not my iron. I don't need any more scars.

edit: spelling and grammar

 

[Textual Intercou]

well, I know terabyte for one built his own Daytons, but aside from that I don't recall anyone else offhand, though I think there was a thread about it.

I was considering it, but decided to go for magenpans instead. besides, as someone with more money than time, and more time than space, it's not really feasible that I get a large mass of materials and keep them around for a few weeks while I work on them intermittently.

a friend is making DIY electrostatics, though, and when he's done we can compare, see whether his time was worth it.

 

[Super-Gonzo]

I've built several speakers myself, starting several years ago in college. It saved me a lot of money at the time, and I learned a ton about cabinet construction, cross-over design and the many many drivers available.

My first set was a 3-way design using carbon fiber woofers and a titanium tweeter. I subsequently built a sub to go with that system. I kept that system for a couple years, and then decided I wanted to get into home theater, so I built 5 identical tower sized 3-ways, and 2 giant subs with 4 isobarically coupled 8's in each(!)

I've subsequently sold or given away all of these systems, but each time I built something I came out knowing more, and making smarter decisions when it came to my next purchase or project.

I HIGHLY recommend giving it a shot if you are willing to invest the time and effort... but make sure you have access to a table saw!

 

[ooheadsoo]

If you can make $1k+ consistently on a weekend, that's pretty good. I'm also a college student, and I sure can't do that

Cabinet making is furniture making. Unfinished MDF sure looks ugly. However, I've found that a coat or so of primer and then some spray on truck bedliner looks pretty darn good, actually. That would undoubtedly be my finish of choice. Truck bedliner costs a few dollars a spray can at walmart. Remember, as long as the inner volume of the cabinet is the same, it's all good. Well, don't forget the baffle...

It helps if you can make speaker building into a hobby, rather than a means of getting a new pair of speakers for cheap.

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

The reason there isn't a lot of talk about DIY speakers is because this is a headphone forum, Audio Asylum has significantly more info on the subject. I'm currently in the process of building my own speakers from a design layout from Rick Craig of Selahaudio. He figured out what the crossovers would look like and the necssary volume of the cabinets, I'll be doing the rest. The speakers I'm building aren't available for any reasonable pricerange from a manufacturer as they have a 3 foot ribbon tweeter on each side as well as 6 midrange drivers each. I've also got a Focal Audiom 15KX and a custom made amplifier waiting to be put together... ahh if it weren't for school and work I might actually have time for these projects.

 

[rsaavedra]

More than a year ago I went ahead and decided to build my speaker stands

which is a much humble and simple project than building speakers. That was such a tough job for me, thought it would take me two nights, it took me all the nights of more than two weeks.

Besides, getting all the materials took me about three weekends before starting. Needless to say I didn't have to deal with electronics at all, just cutting/sanding wood, drilling concrete, barnishing, etc., a whole lot of work. But needless to say, had a lot of fun doing it.

Speakers I wouldn't try because I think is a task beyond my skill, but anyone who tries I admire you and wish you lots of DIY fun, and best luck!

 

[ooheadsoo]

Rick's a good guy. Are you using the seas excel woofers or your own little line array design? You could have done the cabinet dimensions yourself (assuming you're not doing his excel array or linus 2 - or his brand new omega array,) it's pretty easy if you get WinISD (freeware.)

I'm torn between making one of Rick's designs first or one of Dennis Murphy's designs. Dennis' New Vifa Tower is a 3rd or fourth (final in any case) revision of his improvement on ACI's Opal, which sold for about $1k. Well, Dennis wasn't happy with the way his Opals sounded so he completely redid the crossover many times and ported the cabinet to better match the Qts of the woofer. What's more, I've priced this project (with truck bedliner finish) out to around $250. Not bad for vifa woofers drivers in a full range design.

I realize that this isn't the diy forum of AA or diyaudio.com, but we're still human, aren't we?

 

[Textual Intercou]

Quote:

Originally posted by ooheadsoo If you can make $1k+ consistently on a weekend, that's pretty good. I'm also a college student, and I sure can't do that Cabinet making is furniture making. Unfinished MDF sure looks ugly. However, I've found that a coat or so of primer and then some spray on truck bedliner looks pretty darn good, actually. That would undoubtedly be my finish of choice. Truck bedliner costs a few dollars a spray can at walmart. Remember, as long as the inner volume of the cabinet is the same, it's all good. Well, don't forget the baffle... It helps if you can make speaker building into a hobby, rather than a means of getting a new pair of speakers for cheap.

lol, I don't make that much, it's just that a part time job of $500 a month with food provided by my frat and free tuition equals a lot of money. I'm looking forward to summer, when I live with my parents and make like $5000, with literally nothing to spend it on.

you know, I think I'll get into DIY speakers, I'll have time and some cash and no speakers system back home. maybe I'll do the Eros , that looks pretty nice and not too bad on the wallet. you've convinced me.

 

[ooheadsoo]

Everyone loves the Eros! For $500+cabinet, it's a little investment that can really pay off big time. It's got all the ingredients. Unlike Ctn and his aussie neighbors, we don't have any speaker manufacturers here in the US that sell speakers for 20% profit!!

In America, this kind of stuff's gotta have at least 100% profit at every level of the chain or it's not profitable enough to stay in business.