@johnk --
"If you have no skills are lazy or have no time then off the shelf is what you get. If you have skills an open mind and are craving something unique then DIY is the way to go. Kits are fine but it's not like going your own way. And those who say DIY can not look good are only interested in what the mass market gives them. Anything that's different is perceived as wrong they crave the boring imported rectangles and cubes. A toaster must look like a toaster."
Well said. Regarding looks it's also disheartening seeing veneered cabinets being covered in freakin' layers of shiny lacquer, to such degree even that any semblance with actual wood is mostly gone. Isn't that somehow analogous with the sonic imprinting of "off the shelf" speakers in general and what's typically preferred here; something "shiny" and covering the real texture and organic feel of what's being reproduced? To me at least a DIY approach or what otherwise eschews the usual, pre-assembled product can be the better way to accommodate said texture and organic feel of something real, both one way and the other.