Smitty Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 I'm looking to upgrade my speakers and am thinking of building my own. I wanted to see if anyone had any experience and/or opinions about a project like this. I see a few upsides to this: 1) I can spread out the cost - instead of plunking down $500 - $700 all at once I can buy components slowly and then assemble them once I have everything. 2) Seems like I could build a better speaker than I could buy for the same money. 3) It would be fun and satisfying to have a set of speakers that I built myself (assembled is probably more accurate). I'm trying to decide if I should buy a new cabinet or get an old pair of speakers and replace all the components. This is my first project like this and I don't have a woodworking shop so I'm gonna skip the step where I try to build a cabinet and screw it up. Any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated. Thanks. kamalatapes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxmartinxx Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 2) Seems like I could build a better speaker than I could buy for the same money. What makes you think this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty Posted March 29, 2014 Author Share Posted March 29, 2014 Well, assuming I can buy the same components in a commercially available speaker, I wouldn't have to pay for the name/logo and I wouldn't have to pay someone to assemble it. Also from everything I've been reading I can get better parts for the same money. I'm not looking to spend thousands of dollars on a commercial set of speakers so on my budget I can get better drivers & crossovers than the ones in speakers in my price range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxmartinxx Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 There is a lot of engineering that goes into a speaker. From the cabinet to the crossover to speakers. It's not just throwing a woofer and a tweeter you find on Parts Express in a box and hooking it up to your stereo. $500 to $700 buys you a really nice pair of speakers that it would be extremely unlikely you'd to be able to replicate for less money the way you're thinking you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty Posted March 29, 2014 Author Share Posted March 29, 2014 That makes sense, that's why I'm asking for feedback. That's also why I didn't want to try and build my own cabinet or build the crossovers, I'll leave that to the engineers. I'm not sure if any place would let me do layaway on a $500 pair of speakers. If I could buy woofers one month, tweeters the next, then crossovers and cabinets I could space it out. I've found a few websites with plans and parts, would it sound terrible if I got parts from Parts Express or Madisound? I'm not a total idiot, I can follow directions and I'm hoping with some help I could build a decent pair of speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty Posted March 29, 2014 Author Share Posted March 29, 2014 I was thinking of buying an old pair of speakers from Craigslist and put new drivers and crossovers in as an experiment. But it seems like if I'm going to spend the money I might as well put it towards some better components and try and build a nice set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 you are probably better off just saving up for a while. I always got the impression that DIY speaker kits weren't really about saving a lot of money so much being for people who are really into tweeking stuff and have money to burn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty Posted March 29, 2014 Author Share Posted March 29, 2014 You're probably right. Neither of those things describe me so I'm probably better off just saving for a while. My problem is whenever I get some extra money I usually spend it on vinyl. Thanks to both of you for the feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxmartinxx Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 All speakers are different. They have different frequency ranges, efficiencies, resonant frequencies, etc. Your cab and crossover design is dependent on the speakers you're working with. It's not just some parts you buy and put together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 There is a lot of engineering that goes into a speaker. From the cabinet to the crossover to speakers. It's not just throwing a woofer and a tweeter you find on Parts Express in a box and hooking it up to your stereo. $500 to $700 buys you a really nice pair of speakers that it would be extremely unlikely you'd to be able to replicate for less money the way you're thinking you can. I've done it and there is a lot of maths involved in getting it right. Not just the physics of the enclosure but the matching of the individual cones and crossovers, everything in the design has different needs so it gets very complicated to do it right. I have also heard the results of someone just buying some expensive drivers and crossovers and making a box for them. everything was mismatched and they sounded absolutely cack. In the end I had to do all the calculations for him and he still ballsed them up, not a process I'm going to get into again, last I saw the expensive drivers were sold on ebay at a big loss Smitty 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Vool Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 I, personally, would never try to build something like speakers on my own...I just wouldn't be able to do so with my electronic clumsiness... But if you're going to build them, I'd like to see your progress and read about your experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8ight Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 If you're interested in putting some time into your gear and adding a personal touch rather than just opening a box and plugging everything in, buying vintage stuff can be rewarding. Just like well-crafted, old instruments hold up well and are often sought-after, the same actually applies to some old audio gear. Do a bit of research on old gems, and with some luck/patience you may find some ridiculous deals on old "trash." Recap/refoam if needed, polish up the wood, make a new mesh/screen... really, if you're interested in building speakers, simply refurbishing some old, quality ones is probably the best way to start. I have a pair of '70s Dynacos that sound fantastic, and I haven't even touched them yet. And you'll likely end up paying far less than $500-700, which means more money for vinyl. Smitty 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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