Opinion - Every audiophile should build at least 1 pair of speakers

Erik, I couldn't agree more. I've built two sets of speakers in my nearly 50 years in this enjoyable endeavor, both of them Tannoys. My first was a 12" pair of Monitor Golds, in poorly made plywood cabinets. My current pair, which are 12" HPDs, (ca 1975, with high quality outboard crossovers, the foam surrounds being converted to "Hard Edge" as are the current Prestige line of Tannoy). I was determined to make them sound as good as humanly possible, limited only by budget and knowledge/skill on my part.

Despite my shortcomings, they have turned out to sound as good, or better, than I'd hoped. I've seen some gorgeous DIY speaker builds, mine would not be seen that way, but they do sound that way. They will be passed on to my children, though I have no way to sort out which child will get them.

The amount of personal satisfaction I got from this build was tremendous, and it carries on to this day, and every day. I've done as much DIY as I can muster, and it's been keenly rewarding. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Regards,
Dan 

I couldn't agree more....I've been eyeing that SEAS Bifrost kit for a while now.  I also like the Fostex Folded Horn kit.  I need more space in my house. :)

I believe there has been some discussion on the Bifrost kits at DIY Audio, check out the mult-way forum there!

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/


Erik

Had to laugh when I saw this.  My sister gave my parents a Sansui 1000x, a BSR 310 / Shure and a pair of Creative 3 way acoustic suspension speakers as a Xmas gift back in the day.  Little did she know that she would be responsible for starting my audio addiction.

The BSR was better than the hand-me-down GE portable I'd inherited from her a few years earlier, but not much.  The speakers and receiver opened me up to the magical world of FM stereo radio.

After a move to Los Angeles a couple of years later, I managed to get a BIC 980 with a Grace F8 to replace the BSR.  That was a real eye-opener!  I'd had no idea that records could sound so much better than radio.

Another year went by, my dad got a new receiver and speaker set (Concept 5.5 and JBL L36), so the Sansui and Creative speakers came to live in my room.  After a while, I began to understand the speakers weren't all that great, and certainly not up to the level of the Koss Pro 4 AA headphones I'd managed to save up enough to buy.

Radio Shack was a place of wonder back in those days.  After prying off the stapled speaker grilles, I discovered the Creative drivers were all paper cone with dinky little voice coils & magnets. 

Saved up as much car wash money as I could after paying for essentials like movies, bicycle parts, skateboard wheels and so on.  That allowed me to install much heftier 12" woofers, dome midranges, dome tweeters and new crossovers.  They weren't the JBLs, but those modified speakers taught me that there is much more to sound than a box you pull out of a box.

Most importantly, it taught me that money isn't the key component but is merely a vehicle.   FWIW, I still have that old Sansui and it still has a great tuner section.

Another supplier of DIY loudspeaker kits is GR Research, designed by Danny Richie.