On the other hand.....
We know the price of many hi-fi products is a direct result of the cost of the parts used to make them. They are built to a price point, compromises made to reach a target retail price. Rythmik designer/owner Brian Ding freely admits that he builds his F15HP subwoofer with a 3cu.ft enclosure to keep shipping costs reasonable, though the sub’s plate amp and woofer can have their output increased by installing the kit version into a 4cu.ft. enclosure.
If you buy the kit and make your own box (or have it built by a cabinet maker locally), you can make the enclosure not only 4cu.ft., but also double-walled (two layers of MDF or Baltic Birch, or even better one of each) with constrained layer damping (such as ASC Wall Damp) between them, and braced like Jim Salk does in his Rythmik/Salk subs. An F15HP so built easily outperforms the factory-built F15 (which has a China-sourced average-build quality box), and costs less.
In one of his GR Research Tech Talk Tuesday videos (viewable on You Tube), Danny Richie discusses the subject of the value of his DIY loudspeaker kits, comparing the quality of the parts (drivers, x/o parts, wiring, not to mention the designs themselves) in the kit with those in similarly-priced commercial loudspeakers. If you can be bothered to search for the video, you'll be very glad you did.
