2. speakers
  3. 131013-20253

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

I think everyone who does this, even just once, would be forever changed and become an improved music listener as well as equipment hobbyist.

Whether you build a single driver speaker like the LM-1S or the 2-way desktop LM-1 (designs are free) or any other kit from


I think you would find yourself with very different biases and understanding of how parts interact, how drivers work, and how much a good pair of speakers should cost, and most likely you would have a different opinion about what a good speaker sounds like.

Would you build world reference speakers for $50 a pair? Not likely at all, but when I see audiophiles argue over thousands of dollars in speaker cables and interconnects, I think to myself, their opinions and biases about where to spend their time and money would be forever changed if they built but a single pair of speakers.

Also, of course, building speakers is fun as hell, and a great project to introduce kids to electronics. Especially girls, we need more girls who grow up to be speaker makers, amp designers and audiophiles!

Best,


Erik


erik_squires
erik_squires OP
16,373 posts
 
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
effischer
565 posts
 
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.


bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,923 posts
 
Another supplier of DIY loudspeaker kits is GR Research, designed by Danny Richie.
terry9
2,354 posts
 
I see audiophiles argue over thousands of dollars in speaker cables and interconnects, I think to myself, their opinions and biases about where to spend their time and money would be forever changed if they built but a single pair of speakers.

I do SO agree. Ditto for building electronics, turntable, or tonearm. Even doing a really good turntable setup would be sufficient, I suspect.
Post removed 
More to discover