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DIY Loudspeakers ?

When choosing loudspeakers I usually

  • Design and build my own

    Votes: 16 31.4%

  • Get someone to make them for me

    Votes: 3 5.9%

  • Buy an existing DIY speaker kit

    Votes: 19 37.3%

  • I only buy commercial loudspeakers

    Votes: 13 25.5%
  • Total voters
    51
Adam N

Adam N

pfm Member
I'm interested in finding out just how many people DIY their loudspeakers and how they go about it.
 
I couldn’t design a scrambled egg but I did build my own wd25tex. It’s not exactly difficult especially if you get a pro to spray them.
 
I have the HIFI World KLS3 kit, but also JBL L110's and Stirling LS3/5A's. I've owned other commercial loudspeakers and 2 3 other kit designs, so I don't think there is a definite place for me in terms of answering the poll.

For instance, now I won't be moving house and don’t need a small speaker, I'm mulling over replacing the LS3/5A's with either another kit design or a commercial speaker.
 
I’m lucky enough to have a speaker builder of high quality nearby and he does a tremendous job.
I roughly pay 1/2 to 1/5 of the price of an equivalent commercial speaker with similar performance.
The last ones they built for me did put the Dynaudio Special 40 in a very dark shadow for about 1/3 of the price !
 
Design and build my own over the years, with varying degrees of sucess. Usually based around full-range-drivers and DSP/Active.
 
Gervais Cote said:
I’m lucky enough to have a speaker builder of high quality nearby and he does a tremendous job.
I roughly pay 1/2 to 1/5 of the price of an equivalent commercial speaker with similar performance.
Click to expand...
Is he a cabinet maker or specifically just builds speakers?
 
Adam N said:
Is he a cabinet maker or specifically just builds speakers?
Click to expand...

He sub contracts the cabinet and he does all the rest. Everything he according to HIS specs though.
He also has a few softwares to optimize the volume, crossover, port and so on.
He built some replica of large 4 way Wilson speakers using the exact same drivers so the sound was the same but half the price. Amazing !
 
I've done both. I haven't had access to a shop for a number of years and therefore have to settle for commercial products.
 
Mostly always built my own, but use some commercial speakers too. Obviously I sell kits and have noticed that market has just grown and grown since I've been at it. Of course that could just be the natural growth of the company rather than a growth in the market. I do think though that as the price of audio gear goes up and up more and more people are attracted to the DIY end of things.
 
Speakers are the one area where an amateur has half a chance of making a reasonable stab at a finished article in the hifi world.
I used to make my own, back when I was a poor student, but still had access to my Dads facilities. but since many years have bought commercial.

Retirement looms and possibility of a small workshop area means I can dream about making some again - probably only small ones for TV reinforcement or a bit of fun.
 
orangeart said:
Mostly always built my own, but use some commercial speakers too.
Click to expand...

I'd hoped you build your own Stefan - so would I if I had my very own CNC machine :D

orangeart said:
Obviously I sell kits and have noticed that market has just grown and grown since I've been at it.
Click to expand...

And this is a really interesting trend - I think more people will look for cost savings but still want performance as belts get tighter in the next couple of years when this recession bites. DIY Kits are a great way of achieving that.
 
I chose Design and build my own, but should've probably picked Pretend to design and build my own whether available.

I made little experience with two way towers, a small two way monitor kit, few sealed subwoofers, whilst my best results have been achieved with a two way dipole with 16cm full range woofer I had laying around and a supertweeter.. yes.. but where's the bass most will say? :)

Now trying to reverse engineering/improve a commercial cheapish three way monitor.. admittedly three ways are much more difficult than two ways imho..

Having said this my current speakers are smallish commercial two ways monitors, I am pretty sure I could not better them with diy in the 1000/1500GBP roundabouts, not feeling any itch at least.
 
orangeart said:
Mostly always built my own, but use some commercial speakers too. Obviously I sell kits and have noticed that market has just grown and grown since I've been at it. Of course that could just be the natural growth of the company rather than a growth in the market. I do think though that as the price of audio gear goes up and up more and more people are attracted to the DIY end of things.
Click to expand...

I think the market has grown. Resources and information seemed so scarce in the '70s and '80s when we were at it, now there are all sorts of online vendors with all the parts that used to be so hard to get, and tons of information. DIY audio, and DIY in many other fields, seems to have exploded. Another DIY field that I enjoy, guitar amplifiers, has come from nowhere to become an active community over the past 20 years or so, with numerous vendors and tons of information. Who would have thought the demand would be there for either hobby to support competing vendors across the globe?
 
Adam N said:
I think more people will look for cost savings but still want performance as belts get tighter in the next couple of years when this recession bites. DIY Kits are a great way of achieving that.
Click to expand...

I think that as hifi has become even more of a niche hobby/market, and people like Amazon and Google have hit the middle ground strongly, manufacturers have had to increase prices so perceived value (at least by myself) is just not there and I'd rather build my own or buy second hand. We're getting back to the state things were in the fifties and sixties really with this stuff, all for the better in my view.

Now where did I get to with those Mark Audio drivers.....???...hmmm.....
 
If the OP would like to design and build DIY loudspeakers, I thoroughly recommend reading Vance Dickason's Loudspeaker Design Cookbook. Then Martin Collom's High Performance Loudspeakers. Doing it properly will entail the need for measurement and modelling software. I used LspCAD and a calibrated mic for my Ergo designs.
 
Many years ago I partnered with an acoustic engineer and an bespoke medical electronics engineer with the intention of designing and manufacturing a loudspeaker and a single ended class A amplifier. The amplifier never made it past the simulation stage, but the speakers went through quite a few prototypes, but when it came to translating the prototype into a commercial product we couldn't make the maths work. We were trying to sell a small bookshelf speaker in 1988 that would have cost about £650. No one would buy it. The Acoustic Energy came along with the AE1 - and that didn't even have integrated decoupled stands!!! So, if you can make, or get made, decent cabinets, DIY speakers are the bargain of hifi. My Kitchen speakers are Moldovan LS3/5a boxes with Monacor drivers, B&O icepower amplifiers and MiniDSP active digital x-overs. Not as good as the ML Summits in the room next door, but sound stunning considering their less than ideal positioning and size. As we limit the volume, the bass is quite something!!
 
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