Opinion - Every audiophile should build at least 1 pair of speakers

Having a great time and learning experience building an active tri-amped 2.2 system. 3 Crown XTi-2 power amps contain all the digital adjustment control over EQ, crossover, driver gain and delay one could conceivably ever need, no limitations with crossover design ever again. About $500 for each amp and they happen to sound terrific. Aurum Cantus 25120 tweeters (1 per channel) and 3" GR Research "LGK’s" (4 per channel) to make for a MMTMM config. This is loosely based on Danny Ritchie’s "Wedgie" design, except that, on a bit of a whim really, I’m adding horns into the equation, just to see (Flying Wedgie??). An OmniMic 2.0 rounds it out.

The standmounts are about $900/pair to make and the pair of 15" Hawthorne Audio "Augies" add around another $500. The amp/speaker package is roughly $2900 retail. Pretty sweet considering that I’m no longer paying a speaker manufacturer to try to guess, or suppose, what it is that I want from a design. Now I have what I’ve been after all along: the flexibility and control it takes to dial in just exactly the kind of sound I happen to want, regardless of whatever room it all goes into or whatever source I ever end up using.

I now know it would take me a whole Heap of money and a long time looking to find the next best thing in the speaker market, new or used.

No going back for me. I don’t think I’ll ever buy another pair of manufactured speakers again. :)

Amen, Erik.

From the looks of this thread, and the amount of people who might lament about how much speakers cost and/or how hard it is to get what they’re after, then, among existing audiophiles anyway, this may be the next wave...if it isn’t already.

DIY speaker building has been around forever, but everything (increasing costs in the speaker market, less disposable income these days, the overall lack of movement in the global audio market and the wide availability online of affordable, high-quality parts, materials as well as easier, faster testing methods, etc) seems to me to be pointing in this direction more and more.

Increasingly I have learned to tweak, modify and now DIY my way forward. Just accepting at face value alone the terms that manufacturers are willing to dictate to everyone has grown to be no longer an option for me. Lots of gains to be realized IMO once you decide and bother to learn how to start to buck that established trend.

And yes, I said "buck". What did you think I meant? ;>)

@erik

"I don’t expect every audiophile to build top class speakers, even if purchased as a kit. But I do wish more audiophiles would build something themselves. If even 1% of audiophiles built their own speakers, our hobby and environment would be so much better."

In complete agreement here, no argument from me. Just meant to be speaking for myself that that particular door I went through remains as open as ever, really.

Like you I’m convinced that even, if not especially, very modest DIY efforts price/performance-wise would have something well more to offer than any typical factory made counterpart. And that's a great learning opportunity.

Great thread.

That would be awesome.