The most fun you can have in audio is DIYing your own speakers

Those big commercial markups also make it intriguing to modify off-the-shelf commercial speakers, particularly low- to mid-priced models where there is less concern about resale value. Such models are often well-designed, but built to cost with striking compromises in the quality of piece parts. Some projects can be done on a tabletop with basic tools and a little research.

I recently reworked a pair of two-way Jamo E800 bookshelf speakers that originally retailed for around $700 and retain negligible resale value. Solid birch-ply cabinets, good SEAS drivers, a well designed second-order crossover with decent inductors, but compromised by inferior generic electrolytic and poly capacitors, generic cast resistors, a passion-killer thermistor in series with the tweeter, el-cheapo thin copper wiring, tinned-zinc PCB traces, and junk binding posts. Replaced the caps with ClarityCap CMR and CSA wired point to point, replaced the resistors with Caddock MP930s, the wires with DIY heavy gauge silver, and the binding posts. All for about $150 plus six hours, producing a massive improvement in performance.

Then got to thinking about the instability of the molded plastic baskets and spiders on the 5 1/4" mid/woofer. Reinforced those with a thick layer of epoxy paste impregnated with brass dust. (+$30)

Now they are more Raidho than Jamo. Serious fun for short money.

@erik_squires

Also, the marketing emphasis of most high-end manufacturers is almost always on cabinets and drivers, maybe because these are the visible parts.

BTW the epoxy/brass reinforcement brought out a huge improvement in bass definition, overall coherence, and spatial cues that one customarily encounters only in high echelon speakers. I’d be tempted to try this on any driver with a plastic basket-- such as Monitor Audio.