Fixing your cable problems forever.

I would never trust myself to make my own cables for goodness sake!! And SPEAKERS????

And this is exactly the problem. We rely so much on others that we have no idea what is bs and what is truth or what is worth a certain amount of money. We trade speakers and amps endlessly.

My goal in suggesting you make your own cables or speakers at least once in your life is not because I think you'll save money or stop buying speakers from a retail store but because you'll become an educated consumer.

The more educated consumers we have in this hobby, with first hand experiences, even when they disagree with mine, the better off audiophiles will be as a culture.

Of course, there are some for whom the real part of the hobby is spending money or feeling satisfaction in the accolades of others who also spend money as a hobby. Nothing here stops you all. Go right ahead.
Best,
E

I started from scratch after having sold all my stereo gear 20 years ago.  It took a good two years to really learn speaker design, and I’m still just scratching the surface. But, for me, the process was as enjoyable as the end product.  And honestly, there’s a certain thrill to comparing what one can build for a fraction of what one can spend on a commercial product.  It’s really changed my perspective on the cost of high end speakers.  As a diy-er, there’s labor and materials- that’s it.  For commercial speakers, all those ancillary costs figure in-  a $10,000 speaker might have $1000.00 in parts, yet there’s this tendency to ascribe a certain level of quality just because it’s a $10,000 speaker.

One major financial benefit to making your own speakers is having direct control over the sound balance.

It is much more effective to change a tweeter or midrange cap, or adjust the level or balance in the crossover than to play the amp/cable/power cord swap game.

+1 erik_squires- with diy you can really tweak to get the best response with your equipment/room.  With my diy speakers that meant upgrading the caps from Clarity Cap PX to Mundorf Supremes.  They remain a work in progress; with a commercial product I’d certainly be more hesitant to dig into the guts of a crossover.