What building my own speakers has taught me...

I would not buy any audio gear from a guy who made it in his garage, no matter how good it sounded. If something went wrong in a month that guy might tell  me to take a hike. Or, "Oh, yes, I’ll fix it. Just leave it here in the corner of my garage." Months go by, and you get the picture. 

My suggestion: if you want a deal, buy used. Off Audiogon or other used suppliers. You probably won’t get warranty support, but at least you’ll have a company to talk to if something goes wrong. And a place to buy parts if you need to fix something.

@audio-b-dog 

Respectfully, this is nonsense. 

High-end audio manufacturers go out of business all the time. What happens if "something goes wrong" then?

When they don’t go straight out of business, companies get bought out by new owners who want nothing to do with legacy products. What happens if "something goes wrong" then?

Even if none of the above happens to a company, their parts inventory isn’t inexhaustible. Many smallish speaker companies commission small runs of lightly customized drivers from reputable makers like Scanspeak. They’re based off regular Scanspeak models, but the off-the-shelf Scanspeak equivalent doesn’t fit and / or doesn’t sound right. 

Try to get replacement ProAc drivers from ProAc for 20-year old ProAc speakers. Either they’re long since out of stock, or it’ll be $750 a pop. Not that you’ll ever know though, because their inept, useless US distributor will not return your calls.

You, in fact, stand a much better chance getting DIY speakers fixed, because the builder surely used off-the-shelf drivers and parts, and those remain in the supply chain for decades.

Some DIY speakers are built by folks with decades of experience, six-figure workshops and raging OCD. Their end product rivals almost anything Sonos Faber ever made, minus the lute shape and Miami Vice high-gloss epoxy varnish.

Then again, some DIY speakers are just dumpster-ready junk that sounds like trash. Or, they may be anything in between.

If you and your ears can’t tell the difference, then you’re clearly better off buying brand-name speakers from a dealer at full retail.

But don’t dump on DIY speakers in a thread that was started by a DIY builder to share his pride in the speakers he built with his own hands.

@toddalin 

Appreciate the shout-out to ESS AMTs. Just two nitpicks: 

- Shipping is an additional $56 (to go only 2 states over)

- Their kits are for mounting tweeters on top of an enclosure. I can't find a mounting kit available that will let you integrate the AMT in a vertical baffle.

Definitely great tweeters.

There is a framework that adapts the Heil to a regular enclosure.  I’ve seen it, and this wasn’t it, though it will give you an idea.  It bolts to the two vertical bolts.  Obviously it can be done and with a 3D printer, without much difficulty.

Shipping is high because they are heavy.  But they would fit in a "If It Fits It Ships" box at about half of that.  You just need to convince them of that. 

Nice.

I built my first speakers at 15 from Radio Shack parts. Since then I've built Linkwitz LX Minis and BFM Davids. I usually discourage people from DIY unless they have woodworking experience and tools because it usually winds up costing more than they thought it would. Clamps alone for a full range speaker build can cost over $100. Sandpaper, veneer, stain, capacitors, resistors, circuit boards, batting, magnets,  grill cloth ... it just keeps adding up. And custom-built cabinets aren't cheap. But it certainly gives you a sense of accomplishment.

I would not buy any audio gear from a guy who made it in his garage, no matter how good it sounded. If something went wrong in a month that guy might tell  me to take a hike. Or, "Oh, yes, I’ll fix it. Just leave it here in the corner of my garage." Months go by, and you get the picture. 

@audio-b-dog

Well, I think you are misunderstanding my point.  I was not saying I should start a business, and you all should buy my DIY speakers. I was trying to say that running a profitable speaker business, or really ANY high-end audio business is hard as hell and I’m glad I don’t. 

Of course you can’t sell a speaker for the cost of the parts, no one can do that.  Even with books you can’t possibly sell them for the cost of the paper.  I only meant to share how big that gap is, between parts cost and what you have to sell it for exactly because of what it takes to keep the shop lights running. 

To yous your analogy however, given a choice between paying Oracle's per core licensing or installing PostgreSQL or MariaDB or even DuckDB for that matter and maintaining it myself I'm 100% not going to pay Oracle a dime.