AudioBanter.com - View Single Post

"Michael McKelvy" wrote:

"malcolm" wrote in message
news:LbGJb.50481$xX.270653@attbi_s02...
hello folks
why do people go out and spend multiple thousands on Loudspeakers.
when you can build your own for a fraction of the price.
are people lazy, stupid or just have too much money to spend
regards malcolm

I suspect it's fear of messing it up, coupled with having no idea of how it
will sound when done. I assume you're referring to kits available from many
places. Unless you live near to a place that sells them and has them on
display, the odds are you're getting a pig in poke.

If most folks knew what kind of quality was available from kit suppliers, I
think there'd be more participation. Those from Dynaudio, like the TWYNN,
which I've built, or those like the Thor from SEAS designed by Joe
D'appolito or any of his Focal designs offer big bang for the buck.

For those without tools and/or expertise in cabinet making Zalytron will
build them for you. Crossovers are generally sent assembled, so the only
thing really needed is a screwdriver and a crimping tool or soldering iron.

I think the Golden-Age of roll-your-own full range speaker building burned
itself out in the early 90s. At an audio club "measure-athon" held at the Bosch
laboratories ("Bring your project in an get a complete set of anechoic
measurements") for members we had a dozen projects. One of these was an
elaborate 3-way full range with a cast football-shaped concrete cabinet.

At the end of the day the Host dragged out a pair of $300 Celestion speakers
they used as monitors on the test bench. This moderate cost speaker literally
blew away ALL the projects brought in that day.

While it is true that some of my friends have made some very good sounding
home-brew speakers the main reason to RYO full range or satellite speakers is
for unusual/custom style, shape or finish. Brands like Paradigm,PSB and a few
others simply have the engineering/manufacturing/distribution chains to make
better speakers than most people can build for LESS money.

It is true that some (not all) of the more modern kits supply the engineering
for the DIY and so the job is easier than it has ever been. (Anyone who bought
expensive Dynaudio drivers on the hobbyist market in the 80-90s knows that no
two cone drivers were ever supplied as specified and seldom would you get 2
that seemed to be clones on one another.....I think they may have sold OEM
overruns and rejects to us under a single part number) but the real reason for
DIY, with one exception, today is the "custom; I made it myself" appeal and not
performance.

That exception is full-band high dynamic capability subwoofers. An enthusiast
simply cannot buy a commerical subwoofer today that will play all commerically
available recordings at reference levels.

That's the primary reason I use a DIY subwoofer; no commercial unit(s) will
deliver 120 dB @ 2 meters 10% distortion from 10 - 62 Hz to compliment the
recordings that I own which have significant output at 10 Hz and even below.
Couldn't find one on the market so I had to make my own. This particular one
also consumes no floor space and is invisible from the listening position so it
satisfies the 'style' quotient as well.

And I'm not alone. You'll find an excellent description of a DIY subwoofer and
DIY full range speaker systems published in Audio Express and the old Speaker
Builder made by my colleague Tom Parazella. Neither of these was a casual "I'll
just do this myself" undertaking. IMO it's this level of involvement that truly
justifies a DIY approach in todays environment of some damn good commercial
speakers for a modest outlay.

It's still true that there are many bad performing loudspeakers at every price
level (it sometimes seems that the more expensive the lesser the performance)
but there are also some great ones for next to nothing.

I don't mean to discourage DIY. But don't spend a lot of money before trying a
modest speaker system first to test the water.

I'm kind of surprised that there aren't more commercial tear-offs. By that I
mean a good sounding set of commercial speakers put in a custom cabinet or
otherwise modified to fit a given situation.