Build my own speakers?

You might take a look at the Linkwitz Orion (http://www.linkwitzlab.com/index.html). Siegfried has done all the critical design work, you need to assemble parts & build the cabinets...or just order a premade set. Note that the Orion is an active speaker, though the amp he suggests isn't expensive.

There are a few tried & true DIY recipes out there if you look around. I'd avoid just buying good components & assume they'll sound good together. Much like photography, a great photo (finished speaker) doesn't necessarily require an expensive camera (pricey drivers)...it's what you do with the tools that really matters.

And then there's the resale value...well known DIY recipes may have some demand while unique designs will probably have little resale value beyond used parts.

Look over this site.

Browsing their catalog,you will find drivers,crossovers,individual parts and components,**books that tell you how to design speakers,and **a crossover service-tell them what you have in mind,and they will use a software program to design a proper crossover.

Also,they have a forum where many informed,helpful people post and answer questions.

I have Maggie 1.6s,but I have almost ordered this kit.

These speakers seem similar to the North Creek kits-which have been discontinued.

Other then the right tools to make the enclosure you also should have at least an RTA. Making a balanced speaker strictly using your ears is more then difficult even for the very experienced.

You should also keep in mind that buying expensive drivers does not mean there freq. resp. will be exactly the same, typically the will not. When I worked for Legacy Audio, we used a very expensive Eton midrange driver and out of a pallet of drivers there was usually 20-25% that we couldn't use because there freq. resp. was too far out. My understanding is that John Dunlavy rejection rate was above 50%.

Also if you are going spend $400 on tweeters you don't want to lash them to a cheap crossover. You can computer model a crossover to get pretty close to the crossover component values you will need but you will need to fine tune the crossover which will mean a selection of component values which mean $$$$ if you use anything of decent quality.

I am not saying that you can’t make something that sounds decent but that does not appear to be what you are going for. Sounding decent IMO is a long way from really good/great which take a lot of time/money/effort. Much more so in my experience then buying something well engineered used ie Revel, Dynaudio, B&W

I've built a set of Edgarhorns in kit form this past year. Even though the cabinets are finished for the most part and I'm using the crossover designed by Bruce Edgar I still find many parameters to tweak, adjust, experiment with. I knew going into this project that there are many things that Bruce knows that I don't know so I'm sure that the performance I'm getting is only about 80-90% of what it would be if I'd just bought an Edgarhorn system from Bruce. But I've saved close to 1/2 the cost.

Some of the kits from GR Research have also caught my eye. Danny has done all of the work with driver selection and component matching so you just supply the sweat and lumber. Many have reported that his open baffle kits rival planars in dynamics. I'd like to have a listen for myself before diving in.

I think you can learn a lot by DIY and a speaker kit may be one of the easier projects in this hobby to take on. This does depend on your skill level and tool chest. However, the quality of sound has little to do with how good the cabinets look. You can still get very good results. There are suppliers that will help you match components, just like buying tubes. I believe it is possible to DIY a speaker that will compete with many speakers costing around $10-12K, maybe more. It may take a good deal of effort, both physical and mental. If you like to tinker this should be a project right up your alley. You will probably make a few mistakes, but you won't be learning much if you don't.

Don't expect to get much of your money back if you build speakers and then want to sell them to buy something else. Even if the cabinets are gorgeous, they may still be a one-off speaker.

You can get an decent RTA for free. Just Google RoomEQ Wizard. It will work with most currently available sound cards. TrueRTA is also a great product but will cost about $100 or so. I would suggest using a good Behringer test mic. Parts Express has an ECM8000 for a decent price. The source for the RoomEq will also have a calibration file for this mic that will be close enough to do what you need. There is also software to help design cabinets if you want to go all out from the ground up.

Visit AudioCircle, DIYaudio, AudioKarma.org, and AudioAsylum. There is tons of info out there on DIY speakers.