Build my own speakers?

I am kidding. I am going to save up to purchase his speaker. Happy New Year everyone !!!!!!

Radrog,

I am going to design and manufacture the best speaker in the world for under $20,000.

There is plenty of engineering but also a lot of hands on knowledge too. If you are going to design your own "amazing" speaker from a blank piece of paper and theory then I sure hope Richard has got lots of time for you. There is a lot of hands on knowledge in speaker design.

Can I be your friend too? ;>) (especially if you DO design the best speakers)

I have built several speakers over the years.

Good sounding speakers are not just a function of the electrical performance of the drivers and crossovers.They are a result of the acoustic performance of all the parts when acting together-and this can be something that can be very hard to asses and manipulate-even with sophisticated equipment.

Even the mainstream makers manage to get things seriously wrong with remarkable frequency.Really great speakers are the exception than the rule.

Having said all this I have friends who are using digital crossover/equalisers like the DBX Driverack and bi or triamping, who are now making some great sounding speakers-something that they never achieved with passive crossovers.

Established kits like the SEAS Odin look good in theory -with their quality parts and designer credentials-but in reality sound quite poor.Similarly priced mass produced speakers like the Monitor Audio RS6 sound much better.

You are absolutely correct. Most speaker companies do just that. Purchase pretty good drivers and "stick um" in a MDF box. I would go for some space age cabinet material like Aluminum or Carbon Fiber. These and other composite materials will be the future of good speaker design. They hopefully will do away with the unwanted storage of the resonance that come hand in hand with MDF. Violins use plys of real wood for "wanted resonance". Vanderstein is experimenting with Carbon Fiber. Wilson benesch from England, not to be confused with Wilson Audio from Utah has been building speakers from Carbon Fiber for a number of years.
It seems like all I see in the industry is speaker companies coming out with new drivers made from all these different materials, ceramic, diamonds, titanium etc. They never really address the real problems of resonance. Planar speakers manage to eliminate lots of that because they just have a frame and not a storage box. I think that is why they
often sound so clear. I would not assume that these new drivers like the revelator are superior to the old, but tried and tested and user friendly, soft dome tweeters. Also I would start with a monitor speaker. Simple two way. Lots less cabinet to build. Someone once correctly stated "big speakers--big problems" The beauty there is you can build the monitor to sit on top of your bass drive when you get to that.
Good luck keep us informed.