DIY Speaker Kits, a good idea?

As said I have heard Troels Graveson Designs and am impressed with the experiences had. 

There is seeming to be the suggestion that Cabinets are to be produced by the DIY Builder. 

This is quite askew, most DIY Produced Speakers I have heard have the Cabinet produced by a Machine Shop. 

A CNC Machine is the perfect tool to produce the parts to be assembled. 

Some CNC Services will not tie one into using the board material. 

The the option is to assemble oneself or have a professional assembly, the Matching Service can possibly offer the assembly service. 

A Basic Cabinet but well braced is approx' $400

A Complex Cabinet, with chamferring on Baffle and Bracing is  approx' $700—$900

Aesthetics are again quite an easy option. 

CheapO - Tart the Cabinets Up by ones own hand. 

Mid Range Expensive - Custom Paint Coating - 2 - 3 Coatings and Multi Coats of Laquer, or a not too rare wood Veneer. It 

Most Expensive - Rare Wood Veneer from a Cabinet Maker. 

Range of Cost will extend from $50 - $500

Drivers if acquired New and a Three Way Design will be close to $2K - $3K

Xover if Passive can easily extend from $800 to $2.5K.

A Speaker Design from TG costing approx' $4.5K - $6K using PC Triple C Wire within the Cabinet. When properly Broken In  is going to need a Particular Speaker (not any Speaker) approaching $40K to show where it has shortcomings. 

For those so inclined, here is a thread discussing a $1000 DIY speaker build (exclusive of cabinets).

The thread leans technical, but that's pretty typical of DIYaudio and also that's a start-from-scratch project. If you purchase an established kit you don't have to deal with any of that. Hope it feels inspiring!

https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/the-1000-budget-build-begins.430013/

FYI,

Not sure if this was mentioned but Solen.CA is not only an excellent alternative source of drivers but provide 3D cad design and manufacturing of custom cabinets.  

I'm not 100% sure if Maidsound does as well.

Best,

Erik 

I have built/assembled the Seas A26 and Satori Helios Textreme kits available from Madisound.

In both cases I concluded the resulting performance is on par with commercially available speakers that retail for >3X the price of the assembled kit. They are indeed a bargain in that sense. 

The Helios performs better, but it’s also the more expensive kit with costlier drivers. 

That said, for those who want a complete speaker that gives similar performance value, look no further than the Philharmonic HT Tower speaker—stupidly good value in the world of finished speakers. 

I built a speaker for the same reason I build amps — to understand better how they work. At the same time, I’ve been pleasantly surprised how well they work. I’m talking Pass diy electronics and a Parts Express-sourced speaker. All the Pass diy stuff is fairly low power, from 8 watts to about 15 watts. That meant the diy speaker needed to be high sensitivity, and I went with a full range driver rated at  just under 95 dB, then put it in an appropriate box that came as a precut flat pack. I’ve done woodworking, but I can’t match CNC machinery precision. You can find everything you need regarding internal volume, ports, resonance, stuffing and other specs online or in one of the speakers building books. A member of our local audiophiles club has the X-Otica speaker kit from GR Research and it is outstanding, not to mention a beauty. (He had it painted Ferrari red — just the paint cost more than my speaker project!), Finally, a word about Mark Audio. Nelson Pass himself is a diy speaker maker. He has designed a small EQ circuit aimed at fullrange drivers aimed at improving frequency response, and I use it. But in a post on DIYAudio, he noted that if you’re using a Mark Audio driver, don’t bother with EQ. They don’t usually need any help, he said. Quite a compliment, I’d say.