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What prevents DIY speakers to become the ultimate?

I am talking about DIY companies (North Creek, Zalytron, GR research and so on)and possible real DIYers.

We can get the best drivers on the market (Scanspeak, Sears and so on) and Ultimate parts (Hoveland, Alphacore and so on).

Why the sounds of DIY is not the ultimate (or at least very closed to the up scale (say..>10K) speaker?

The total brain power (= total # people with good brain)of the DIY speakers may be less than the comercial speakers, but I don't think they are any less stupid either.

The only thing I can think of is the cabinets. Comercial one may have better access to get a better design (computerized and so on), but can't think of any other things.

I know one reason that DIY speakers are not as popular is probably the low resale value, but not sure if it has anything to do with the quality.

Also I have heard a lot about DIY speaker being good or excellent, but never heard the real comparison (i.e. DIY speaker model A is better than Thiel or Dynaudio (an so on) model B or something or at least price-wise. Is it just that they don't have a direct A/B access or just that they are in fact not really that good?

Love to hear more about this.

Ake
ake
sean
6,231 posts
 
Mvwine and Unsound have said it all. Outside of quality parts, technology and skill are required to make a killer product. In most cases, one or the other is lacking to some extent in DIY designs. Sean
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rich3549
73 posts
 
Hi,

I used to be a DIY'er...I worked at store where we sold drivers, X=overs etc. I tried my hardest to get a great sounding speaker (I was paying cost too and not retail) and never made it. It is very difficult. Also, because I was only making just one speaker there is no economy of scale. I had to buy the wood, make the cabinets, go buy my parts, kept testing everything...and came out with a nice speaker, but a not great one. In my case, I guess, talent is also an ingrediant that was hard for me to DIY. It was lots of fun though and my friends ended up with my creations for cheap.Wish you well.
foreverhififc85
58 posts
 
I've heard my share of DIY desings in the past. Yes, it never ends up amounting to much, as it take more than just some good parts to make a good sounding speaker!(ALL AUDIO ENTHUSIESTS TAKE NOTE, AS THE SAME APPLIES TO THE THEORY OF GETTING GREAT SOUND WITH GREAT GEAR!!!...IT'S MORE THAN TNAT!). There is NO REPLACEMENT for experience when it comes to making a great sounding speaker. If anything, the crossover itself, as well as the sum of parts and geometry, etc, take a lot of years of skill to do right!...especially the crossover in a passive design! I've heard speakers with great drivers that didn't sound ANYWHERE NEAR AS GOOD AS what more COMPETENT and SEASONED speaker designers are making! (there's no replacement for experience, dedication, perserverence, knowledge, and skill!)....and that's with less expensive or equal parts no less!
When it comes to results, I'll take someone who's been dedicated to doing his or her craft for 20 years well, before I trust some fancy gear or parts to give me sonic bliss!!!
It's all fun though...
topnikko
14 posts
 
One of the exceptions is the Ellis Audio 1801, a DIY two-way monitor that can compete with the best of 'em.
http://www.ellisaudio.com
bhappy
1 posts
 
I have helped out an electrical/audio engineer friend on a
speaker project that turned out very well. We did not have access to an anochoic chamber and that is a serious handycap. But he had LEAP and another testing/modeling programs and went into the backyard to do the tests. He also spent two years blowing off college focusing on speaker design. It requires tons and tons of dedication and some natural talent. My opinion: for most people it would be better to build a pre-designed kit, you get most of the economic advantage and it's still fun and a learning experience. The other thing you could do is try to copy a design, more difficult but possible. Regular guys just don't have the access to equipment that the pro's do, and experince does matter! But who knows maybe your the next great speaker designer!!!! Someone will be?
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