When I got into this hobby, virtually all speakers were DIY. You bought the drivers of your choice, and used plans put out by the manufacturers to build a cabinet. There were some good cabinet kits. Electrovoice was one that I put my Warfedale 12" driver (with wool flanel surround) in. Complete speaker systems came in with acoustic suspension (AR systems, then KLH, Advent and others). This was because the cabinet was a more critical part of the design.
DIY permits you to use higher quality components for the same money, but it may take careful design and subsequent tweeking to make you speaker sound as good as a finished commercial system that uses lesser components.
I guess this is like building your own airplane. (My other hobby). Most people spend more time building it than flying it. You have to enjoy that aspect of the hobby.
DIY permits you to use higher quality components for the same money, but it may take careful design and subsequent tweeking to make you speaker sound as good as a finished commercial system that uses lesser components.
I guess this is like building your own airplane. (My other hobby). Most people spend more time building it than flying it. You have to enjoy that aspect of the hobby.