DIY is not all about saving money

Eric:

I totally agree with you.  Decades ago, I used to really enjoy assembling HeathKits.  Assembled many of their kits including test equipment, tube and transistor audio equipment, and even a color TV as well as many other of their kits.  No greater satisfaction then powering up the finished product and having it work as advertised.  

As a result I now have five Heath W5M amplifiers in my basement!  Not sure what I will do with them.

I also made DIY speakers in the 1960’s and 70’s that were designed for my by a civilian sound engineer who worked for the Navy.  Even wound my own coils for the crossover.  Sounded wonderful for their time.

I made my current speaker cables about 20 years ago.  The currently connect my Diablo 300 to my Sonus Faber Amati’s.   They sound good.  I see no need to update my speaker cables at this time.

Don’t let anyone get you down about your DIY.  Keep up the good work and more importantly, continue to enjoy what you are doing.

@erik_squires 
I totally agree.  It's not about meeting the standards of manufactured products, it's the pure pleasure you get when you make something.  I used to do lots off wood working and construction.  And in reality many times you can make a better product,  especially with woodworking. I could hire, but I just enjoyed what I was doing.  Not for anyone to see, but for myself enjoyment of creativity.  Not everyone is capable of making things with there own hands and that's fine.  Maybe the resistance you get is do to jealousy.  As far as your pc making goes, I'm sure you can get better results than most companies.  You should use your new cord on your class d. Good luck, Pete.
Again thanks for the room correction advice, u where spot on.

At 13 I built 6" reflecting telescope and mount,  and a Dynaco ST-400 when I was 14. After college I built transmission line speakers, which sounded great with my home brewed beer. In between I rebuilt my 240-Z engine and suspension. It'd be a bit of a stretch to say I built the home I live in, but only a stretch and not a total fabrication. My turntable, equipment rack, and most recently distributed bass array subs were all built right here at home by me.

Which is why I know you guys are absolutely right when you say DIY is great if you just plain enjoy doing it. That alone will justify it. As if it ever needed justifying. DIY is worth doing simply for the sense of accomplishment and if not that, even if you totally botch it, still worth it for the virtue of the pursuit of self-sufficiency. You got a real good chance of learning to understand how things work a whole lot better. Maybe even gain some appreciation for just how much work and planning goes into professionally manufactured products.

Indeed, it is hard to think of anything bad to say about DIY. For the record, I sure can't. I highly recommend DIY. Often. Twice just today in fact! One tone arm/plinth, one speaker stand.

What I don't understand and what does bug me is when instead of focusing on the genuine benefits of DIY people talk about benefits that just don't exist.

Like, you are not usually gonna save money. Well, sometimes. A turntable sand box, speaker stand or rack, a few things like that IF you already have all the tools and stuff. Even then probably not if you truly match finished quality. Certainly not when including your time. 

But there are plenty of things where you just cannot come even halfways close to what you could buy for parts costs alone, yet DIY'ers can't resist talking about saving money. While assuming "just as good." Spare me. I've tried, and seen plenty of others try. Look at it this way. Caelin, the guy who runs Shunyata? Dude toiled away for YEARS before he came up with anything anyone would actually think is worth some money. Ted Denney (Synergistic Research)? Same deal. On and on. But you're the exception? Spare me.

By the same token, I also don't see anything in DIY that entitles one to act all superior, like you are the one who figured it all out. Those other poor saps, 95% of them anyway, don't know what they're hearing. They're just throwing their money away.

Right. 

There's plenty of really good reasons to DIY. Why not just stick with those?

millercarbon,

You do realize one can make a tube preamp, for example, with the same circuit and design of a “brand” with better parts for some 1/2-1/4 the retail price. Tube amp circuits are still pretty much the same as they were decades ago and one can build a nice tube amp for under $1200 that would sell for at least 3-4 times that retail. While this is not the point of this thread I feel like your post just went too far off the reality road. The real point of DIY is passion and the process, not the end savings. We agree on that. However, I don’t see your last point as being accurate in many circumstances.

erik,

Your reasons for DIY make tons of sense.

As it happens, it’s not where I prefer to put my own time and efforts.Maybe it’s laziness, or the amount of time I work or whatever, but when I have time to relax, listening to music (or watching a movie, or going out to dinner...) is what I want to do, not build speakers.

As you indicate, it’s all about the individual and what he likes doing. My pal built his own back deck. He enjoyed the process and was proud when he finished. I get it. But to me every description of his process sounded like a chore, not something I’d get pleasure from.   Same goes for some geek-heads who like to build their own computers.  If that's what interests you, then it makes sense.


But I’m not a DIY or handyman type, more an artsy fartsy, so there ya go....

I really appreciate the knowledge that some DIYers like yourself bring to the rest of us numbskulls.