A while back I decided I'd build a world class speaker. Bought the Loudspeaker Design Cookbook and started talking to people on the Partsexpress diy forum. I'm no genius but far from stupid. Not considering the money involved I learned trying to design a speaker is a long way from simple. I got far enough into it that added up costs. Cost for a 3 way speaker that needs a sub would have been over 3k. That's over 3k on a bet more or less. Odds are high that doing this would have been a nightmare and expe ...
I couldn't have written my own thoughts any better than this! I agree completely. Previously I had romantic notions of thoroughly studying all the xo design info I could get my grubby little hands on, getting the best drivers and xo parts, and building a high-end speaker. However, the further I investigated it, the more questions I had. As I studied further to answer these questions, I came up with even more. It also became apparent that there are no texts, or even combinations of texts, with sufficiently comprehensive information to enable someone to design a high-end speaker.
Initially I thought the typical "build a kit" response on the speaker design forums was just a brush off or lazy response. Now, I have come to the realisation that it is probably almost impossible to design a high-end speaker (especially multi-way) without a great deal of study, practise, experience, and decent test equipment and the knowledge of how to use it properly. Cost aside, this would probably take years for anyone with a fulltime job.
However, the speaker design knowledge I have gained through this process enables me to more accurately select a pre-made speaker or speaker kit, designed and tested by an expert, that suits my requirements. So, I am less likely to make costly mistakes.