On 11 Aug 2003 14:53:14 GMT, Penury wrote:

What you say is true, but that is the view from the commercial
side. The view from the amateur side is: He only has to built 1 or 2
pairs (his brother wants a pair), so he can lavish the attention on
the construction and finish to suit him with no commercial restraints.

No commercial restraints? What, you don't think a large anechoic
chamber, precision measuring microphones, a laser interferometry rig,
strain gauges, accelerometers, all the test gear attached to those
sensors, and access to several decades of research data, is a little
overkill for *properly* designing one pair of speakers? :-)

If he purchases a proven design of drivers and crossover parts,
then measures the T/S parameters of those drivers and fits each to
it's own recommended custom cabinet,

Um, where do you get the 'recommended custom cabinet' design?
Recommended by whom? We're not just talking about cabinet volume here,
but materials and construction, plus internal damping.

then spends months "tweaking" the
crossover parts to his satisfaction, he ends up with a speaker that
not only is unique, but fits his tastes.

Yes, that's true - but will it actually stack up against a commercial
design using similar drivers? Experience suggests not.

Usually his cost is MUCH less
than a comparable commercial speaker. Sure he has lots of time
invested, but it is better than drinking beer at the local tavern,
well maybe not. There is also pride of ownership involved in designing
and constructing a "one of a kind".

Sure, no argument there, so long as you're building for fun and
furniture, and are not bothered about raw performance.

P. S. The local raw driver outlet charges $5 per driver to measure the
T/S parameters using LEAP, so it is easier to match speakers to each
other and to their boxes.

Well, that gets you to the first stage of the 347 mutually
interdependent things you need to optimise...... :-)

--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering