Top DIY speaker resources / projects of 2023?

[fineMen]

Thanks! Yeah I kinda half forgot about MiniDSP.

In contrast to your musings I would say frankly that even a ready made speaker, be it studio grade top material or some sluggish high-end rip-off, needs the DSP. At least for room correction in bass. Once one has it, why not use in DIY, mandatory?

The entry point where (knowledgible!!) DIY would superseed commercial product may be seen at, say 5k/pr or so. On the commercial side you'll have the best of the best Genelec, Neuman etc, or KEF R7 for instance and uncountable misses in fancy veneer over smelly fish.

To superseed Genelec in general for instance will be virtually impossible, though LOL, you would be left to build a pair of subs/lowbass as to supplement the next smaller model as to save like 1k.

Special interest, sentimentalities, that's where I see DIY today. Or in the field of superficial 'high-end' as you mentioned it with naming the infamous all so important 'Scan Speak tweeter'. Same performance: Peerless for 24$/pc.

 

[Deleted member 62801]

Measurements for speaker MTG Designs AlTi DIY

www.spinorama.org

MTG Designs - AlTi

Full measurements for the AlTi DIY 2-way Bookshelf Speaker Design Link to the AlTi Design Thread The following measurements were performed on my 10' tall outdoor turntable, measurements taken at 2.83v / 2M on the tweeter axis and scaled 6dB for approximate 1w/1m level. Measurements gated at 14ms

www.mtg-designs.com

MTG Designs AlTi DIY is a great value DIY speaker and people also report that subjective impressions are excellent. Good directivity (though not perfect) for a two-way with no waveguide.

Spinirama measured outside and processed with VituixCAD. Not a Klippel but the measurements are not smoothed.

Especially considering the part prices, budget Directiva, perhaps?

 

[Phranque]

Allow me to add this German souyrce. While I don't see spin-o-rama results, many speakers are measured and a few are reviewed.

Daniel Gattig: Lautsprecher / Loudspeaker / Haut-parleurs / Altavoces / Altoparlanti - do-it-yourself

www.lautsprechershop.de

 

[Head_Unit]

In my experience, DIY by far exceeds retail commercial products for bang for the buck. Which is logical. As the company that makes the speaker needs to profit, the price of the speaker needs to be greater than the cost of its parts. [etc]

- There's truth there, however the scale factor is missing. Production cost for most all products depends heavily on quantity. Thus something produced in big quantity can be cheaper than DIY.
- Note that this doesn't really apply to boutique/niche firms; they don't sell enough to get much savings from scale.
- And this all ignores the CABINET. That is a big factor! Making a production-level finished cabinet is not easy, even emulating an inexpensive one. If one has the skills for veneering or professional-grade painting, great. If not, and you (and others in your household in particular) don't want to have stuff that screams "homemade garage project!" then DIY is maybe not a good idea.
- Personally I feel the pendulum has swung-back in my teens I could not afford huge loud speakers, but I could afford the parts and I had tools to do woodworking. I could build a variety of speakers at a better price than buying, for sure. I got so fascinated I went to engineering school and became a loudspeaker engineer. Then Asian production and better simulation tools came in, and DIY stuff seemed the same cost or even more expensive at least for non-exotic designs. Now some DIY designs that seem quite good are available at low prices, maybe better than mass produced.
- Perhaps this is because the coming of Bluetooth speakers etc have eroded the mass brands' production quantities? (I once visited the Orange County factory which had produced Fisher etc back in the 70s-they had their own railway lines coming into the plant!!)

 

[seefees]

What about this DIY kit?

Satorique S3 – high definition for your ears

Satorique 3, high definition for your ears, High End loudspeakers made by yourself

www.satorique.de

Does it worth on spending 1500 € with the pieces of wood for the cabinets included?

 

[617]

What about this DIY kit?

Satorique S3 – high definition for your ears

Satorique 3, high definition for your ears, High End loudspeakers made by yourself

www.satorique.de

Does it worth on spending 1500 € with the pieces of wood for the cabinets included?

Look nice but finishing and assembly are not trivial.

 

[Rick Sykora]

What about this DIY kit?

Satorique S3 – high definition for your ears

Satorique 3, high definition for your ears, High End loudspeakers made by yourself

www.satorique.de

Does it worth on spending 1500 € with the pieces of wood for the cabinets included?

Seems too comparable to SB’s Rinjani from my perspective.

 

[Gahf]

You keep saying you want ‘cheap’, or some kind of price point project. These days I don’t think that is what DIY is all about. If your true objectives are performance and a pretty attractive price point, you are better off buying some ready-made products, eg a JBL 305P and a string of other options at various price points.

Today, IMHO, DIY is the best choice for one of two reasons:-

1. You simply love DIY
2. You want to do something a bit different to the ready-made options

cheers

Allow me to add point 3:
Or you wish to achieve a $40k set of speakers at around $10k. Whether or not it measures truly to the reference system, still it holds similar or higher value to the DIYer.

 

[Gahf]

I think once you've gone active, you would never want a passive crossover again. And if you take it as step further and go DSP, the tuning capabilities become infinite....

Agree. If one can hook up 3/4 amps and even an analogue DBX 234 or similar crossover, it just becomes easier achieving satisfactory performance out of a DIY effort.

 

[Jukka]

Troels still makes new designs. They are closed kits, but you can get ideas.