DIY Speaker Kits, a good idea?

My feelings are that the best reasons to go DIY is for the fun of it.  The worst reasons are because you started pricing components out and now are thinking "Well I can get the same parts as brand X for 1/20th the cost..." 

If you aren’t really jazzed at building and learning along the way you are not going to be happy.

Having said that, Audiogon needs more actual builders and less arm-chair builders.  The more people we have with hands on practical experience the better overall our hobby will be. 

So, yes you absolutely can get into any particular type of speaker for a lot less than commercial speakers in many cases, but if you aren’t already thinking about what you want in a speaker made just for you I think you are missing out and always run the risk of building a speaker kit based on how much money you save.

I am a victim of this often.  I see golf clubs which are $5,500 off for Labor Day and I immediately want to buy them.  I don’t even golf.  At all. 

If you do want to investigate this further head on over to DIYaudio or the Parts Express forums where the hard core builders hang out. 

Audiogon needs more actual builders and less arm-chair builders. The more people we have with hands on practical experience the better overall our hobby will be.

Word.

As a long time DIY’s, I would say that kits are an excellent way to go. 

From a sonic standpoint, the end results well end up sounding like a commercially available speaker at several times the price (5X is not unusual. 

That difference will drop a bit if you buy kits that include flat packs. 

If you can live with the cosmetic results, and the lower resale, DIY is the way to go sonically speaking. 

My current (hopefully my last*) DIY project is a pair of Curt Campbell’s and Jim Holtz’, "Bordeaux" designs. They are semi-open baffle. 

They use Aurum Cantus Aero Stricture tweeters, Accuton ceramic mids, and 2 8" woofers per speaker. I have about $3000.00 invested, but the end results are easily comparable to speakers at around $12-$15K.

Full disclosure, These are not mine, I haven’t decided on the finish yet. 

Other sources to check:

Troels Graveson - one of the best designers out there, Has many great designs. His high end level designs are pretty special. 

CSS

SpeakerHardware.com - Source of several of Curt Campbell and Jim Holtz’ kits and flat packs. This is where I got my Bordeaux flat packs. 

Speaker Design Works - Campbell’s and Holtz’ own site. Their new Anthology II are fantastic. Just a small step below my Bordeaux. 

Javad Shadzi is a fantastic designer. His Helios CM designs are a extremely good. 

*yeah, I've said that before. My previous pair of speakers, the late Jeff Bagby's Kairos and woofer modules were supposed to be my last. 

If you have the room and much of the proper equipment to do a good job of building the cabinet, then go for it with one of the established companies’ great kits. But economically, if you don’t already have all that fairly expensive equipment and know how to use it to good effect, then it doesn’t make much sense. Those who do can enjoy the building and view that as part of the "fun". I know a few people who build custom furniture for "fun". Are you willing to put off your gratification until you can get the speakers done and finished in a way that you or your wife are going to appreciate for a long while? But there is something nice about pointing to a great set of speakers and say "I built that."

At the end of the day, how much is your time worth? If you are going DIY to "save money", yet it takes you 100 hours of your dedicated time over a few weeks to build them and make them look pretty, is that 100 hours worth it to you? 

I mean, there are people who build airplanes in their spare time, so speakers aren’t a big stretch for those who have the means and the time. If you do this, enjoy and good luck. 

At the end of the day, how much is your time worth? If you are going DIY to "save money", yet it takes you 100 hours of your dedicated time over a few weeks to build them and make them look pretty, is that 100 hours worth it to you? 

@moonwatcher 

That's why they call it a hobby, isn't it?