I have enjoyed building several speakers over the years. Most of these were kits that I was able to tweak a bit with improved crossover parts, cabinet mods, etc.
It was nice when Parts Express offered cabinets. They looked quite nice and cut out the most time consuming part of the build.
I would suggest that first timers go with a nice predesigned kit from a reputable designer. Tweak things if you will. It's too hard and total guess work for most of us to design a speaker from the ground up without a lot of resources for measurements, etc.
Of my builds,the speaker that least impressed me used top shelf drivers. I was impressed by the design and specs. But it just did not involve me emotionally. Go figure. My two favorites included a full range driver in a 0.5 cf enclosure, the other used a pair of inexpensive Vifa drivers with a series crossover. Both of these were models of simplicity that truly were satisfying builds and very involving speakers. And I would suggest these did outperform commercial products at there price points.
If you add up all the time you'll spend, don't fool yourself into thinking you'll save a bundle. This is something you do as a labor of love, a learning experience. My time is valuable and I have no regrets.
It was nice when Parts Express offered cabinets. They looked quite nice and cut out the most time consuming part of the build.
I would suggest that first timers go with a nice predesigned kit from a reputable designer. Tweak things if you will. It's too hard and total guess work for most of us to design a speaker from the ground up without a lot of resources for measurements, etc.
Of my builds,the speaker that least impressed me used top shelf drivers. I was impressed by the design and specs. But it just did not involve me emotionally. Go figure. My two favorites included a full range driver in a 0.5 cf enclosure, the other used a pair of inexpensive Vifa drivers with a series crossover. Both of these were models of simplicity that truly were satisfying builds and very involving speakers. And I would suggest these did outperform commercial products at there price points.
If you add up all the time you'll spend, don't fool yourself into thinking you'll save a bundle. This is something you do as a labor of love, a learning experience. My time is valuable and I have no regrets.