[WerTicus]

i went DIY... mine cost $1200 in parts

defeats all but the highest end.

however go spend 1200 in a shop and you get crap...spend 4k and you get crap compared to these.  

just do the math really... labour is always going to be the most expensive part of a speaker.  Unless they are made in china in which case they need to keep shipping weight down so you get thin wood.

a friend who has spend 5k on his speakers came over and said 'oh is that all you spent' and i said 'yeah but i built it myself and ill bet its better'

after a listen he went pretty quiet
eventually got over it and said 'WOW they are amazing'
so... im happy i went DIY

unless you have unlimited $ its simply not possible to get to the same level if you pay someone else!

[Code Chemist]

I'd like to take a stab at designing and building a pair of speakers.  I suppose there are probably software packages available that will help as well as books on this matter. Can someone point me to a few links?  

[WerTicus]

i highly recommend you diy with someone elses design first that is proven to work and after than (and all the knowledge that will impart on you) then tackle your very own design.

its more complex than you think it is really.
well im not a mind reader so perhaps it isnt but... you know...

[rosconey]

diy is awsome -rick craig designed my 3.5 ways

[jackman]

Roscony, are those the RC3's?  I heard them at the Iowa DIY event.  They sounded very good.  I like the sound of acoustic suspension bass.  The RC3 bargain version was not my favorite, but in fairness, the room was too large and it was tough to get an impression of the true sonic characteristics of each design.  Rick is a nice guy who has offered me help several times.  

Do you have any pix of your speakers?

Thanks,
jack

[Carlman]

After just hearing the GR-Research Diluceo's, I can whole-heartedly agree about the DIY thing.  The Diluceo's sound better than any speaker I've heard anywhere near the price... of about 1600..

However, a few things to consider:
- Know your strengths.  I'm no wood-worker.  Cabinets must be complete for me to take on a speaker project.

- Resale will generally be poor.  I wouldn't buy a used DIY speaker unless I knew a lot about who built and implemented it... and knew that I'd probably take it apart to check it out myself anyway.

-No way to hear them before you build them ....unless you know someone who has built them and is willing to ship or bring them to you.  

I know this isn't speaker related but, DIY related... I took a big leap of faith building an AKSA amplifier.  I didn't know how it'd sound but, trusted reviews.  After building it, I was very pleased... and RELIEVED!  It can be rewarding and so far, it has been.  But, I've also bought products with rave reviews only to find I didn't care for them.... if they'd have been DIY, I'd be stuck.... or taking on a new project to fix the problem....

Just some things to consider.  DIY can be great but, understand there are risks.

[rosconey]

jackman
pics are in my gallery- they are based on his phast-est design, scan speak tweeter and morel dome mid and 2 -6.5 woofers sealed and stand mount-650$ in parts and ricks labor(not inc cabinets)
they dont go very low , not designed to -i have a vmps large for that-its crossed at 90 from my rxv1-great mids and top end.
i want to do another design with rick but :roll:as i add better equipment the speakers sound better so why mess with success
everyone who has heard these looks at my surround speakers then puts a ear up to them to check if they are on also-can you say depth
the cheap bastard i am i might buy a pair of the discontinued monsoon speakers and have rick work on them, cheap way to find out if i like ribbons and they look kool

[jackman]

Wow!  Those Phastest (SP?) are very cool looking.  I've always wondered what they sound like.  Integrating all of those drivers must have been a difficult crossover assignment.  Rick is certainly up to the task!  

I was thinking the same thing about those ribbon Monsoons.  They are selling for next to nothing and I suspect the only thing wrong with them is the poorly designed crossovers.  A guy like Rick or Dennis M. could probably make them sound as good or better than commercially available speakers that share many similarities.

Good luck!

J

[JLM]

Single driver speakers are ideal DIY candidates (and as a bonus side step the active/passive question).

Perhaps the simplest DIY speaker is a single extended range driver in an open baffle design (add a subwoofer as needed for your room/taste).

Example:  $75 for a pair of Fostex FE127E drivers (91 dB/w/m, 70 - 20,000 Hz, 8 ohm, Qt = 0.43) from Madisound.  Baffles can be countertop scrap, one nice sheet of plywood, Corian, whatever.  Baffle should be at least 9 s.f. and say 20 inches wide.  Drill/cut a hole, mount the driver off center at or below ear level, connect the speaker cable directly to the driver, add something for a base and bracing and you're done.  What you'd have is a very fast, coherent bipole speaker with a deep imaging and good efficiency.

[JohnR]

Here's another approach! My Rat Coffins cost less than 50 bucks and need only a jigsaw to build.





Construction pictures http://www.tubeaholic.com/projects/page.view?RowId=63#153">here.

[Rocket]

Hi,

As an example $400us could get you a really nice sounding pair of aria 5's, i've heard these speakers many times and they sound excellent.  Friends and I have compared them to expensive proac response bookshelfs (not sure of the number) and the aria's were much better sounding.

Aria 5  Joe D'Appolito designed the Aria Series and the Aria 5 has been a best seller. In many circles an MTM kit is known as a "D'Appolito" design. The Aria 5 uses 2 Focal 5K4211 woofers along with the Focal TC90TDX tweeter to bring an extremely detailed dynamic speaker system. This design is very efficient and is a great match for SE tube amps.    

Parts  $399.00  Boxes $200.00 ea.

Zalytron sell this kit for the above price.

regards

rocket

[jholtz]

Jack,

I read your post and thought I should clarify that my JH3 Reference design is a variation of Rick's RC3 rather than the RC3. I chose to use a Focal 8K5412 woofer and a Hiquphon OWIII rather than the SS8513 tweeter and SS8545 that Rick uses in his basic kit. He does have many options available including ribbons and Excel drivers. The MDM-55 mid dome is a great basis for an outstanding speaker IMHO.

The JH3 Budget wasn't designed to be in the same class as your 1801's or the Reference design. I built it with Rick's outstanding crossover help to be a "plop in the box" design that anyone with minimal soldering skills could build. IMHO, it achieves 85% of the sound quality of the Reference for about $300 total parts cost not including cabinets.

I agree that the room was tough and the music didn't give the speakers a chance to "strut their stuff" but it was equal so no one had an advantage. BTW, it was nice meeting you there and I hope you can join us again next year.

Best regards,

Jim Holtz

Roscony, are those the RC3's?  I heard them at the Iowa DIY event.  They sounded very good.  I like the sound of acoustic suspension bass.  The RC3 bargain version was not my favorite, but in fairness, the room was too large and it was tough to get an impression of the true sonic characteristics of each design.  Rick is a nice guy who has offered me help several times.  

Do you have any pix of your speakers?

Thanks,
jack