Stuck at home? Make a kit!!

On the other hand.....

We know the price of many hi-fi products is a direct result of the cost of the parts used to make them. They are built to a price point, compromises made to reach a target retail price. Rythmik designer/owner Brian Ding freely admits that he builds his F15HP subwoofer with a 3cu.ft enclosure to keep shipping costs reasonable, though the sub’s plate amp and woofer can have their output increased by installing the kit version into a 4cu.ft. enclosure.

If you buy the kit and make your own box (or have it built by a cabinet maker locally), you can make the enclosure not only 4cu.ft., but also double-walled (two layers of MDF or Baltic Birch, or even better one of each) with constrained layer damping (such as ASC Wall Damp) between them, and braced like Jim Salk does in his Rythmik/Salk subs. An F15HP so built easily outperforms the factory-built F15 (which has a China-sourced average-build quality box), and costs less.

In one of his GR Research Tech Talk Tuesday videos (viewable on You Tube), Danny Richie discusses the subject of the value of his DIY loudspeaker kits, comparing the quality of the parts (drivers, x/o parts, wiring, not to mention the designs themselves) in the kit with those in similarly-priced commercial loudspeakers. If you can be bothered to search for the video, you'll be very glad you did.

To add to the posts of mc and Duke, make a GR Research sub or four. Rythmik sells the F12G as a factory finished model, and GRR sells it as a DIY kit. The kit includes the Rythmik A370 plate amp and a 12" woofer, which are used together in a servo-feedback system.

The Rythmik F12 has a 1.5cu.ft. enclosure, but the woofer may be used in an enclosure of up to 2cu.ft, which provides slightly higher output. Build the enclosure in any proportions you desire, and finish any way you like. Building it yourself, you can brace the h*ll out of it (take a look at how Jim Salk braces the enclosure he makes for the F12), and even use two layers of MDF or Baltic Birch ply (better yet, one of each), with constrained-later damping between the two. Dead as a doornail!

If you aren't interested in building an enclosure, Parts Express sells some real good sub enclosures as knock-down flat packs, very easy to assemble, wood glue and a few clamps (or even masking tape) the only tools required.