What building my own speakers has taught me...

@toddalin 

I don’t run them as a dipole.  I think that the rear wave bouncing all around willi-nilli hurts imaging.

Mine are modified so that the rear wave is reflected back through the diaphragm totally changing the frequency response and adding detail like you can’t believe.

----------

I do, somewhat.  It’s worth experimenting a lot more, imo. Over 4+ decades, having tried them freestanding, with different type wave guides, and other combinations, on the set up I use now, I have sound coming from just behind my shoulders on both sides, in a reguar seated position. Its about as close to 3D I’ve ever gotten and none of my soft/hard some high frequency builds could match it.   I find the wave guides to be beamy and too focused for my taste, and less air around the sound stage.  It’s all a matter of preference. ESS Professional Series had a horn and that produced its own type of sound as well, projecting out and around like a good horn does.

One guy had his AMT Great Heils suspended mid air with cables floating above the speaker. In the right room, I would have liked to try that once.  

When you add the rear reflector to alter the frequency response, you block the rear wave so pretty much lose the dipole anyway.

 Add this, but push it in a bit more...,

And go from this:

To this:

Or even this:

Look at all of that "detail" added.  Now they can be run in a 2-way system without compromising the midrange.

@devinplombier 

Sorry if it sounded like I was dumping on @erik_squires. I thought I was agreeing with him, discussing all of the financial headaches that name-brand speakers have. Although, I have taken issue on another thread when someone called manufacturers like Sonus Faber greedy. But we won't get into economics.

@erik_squires said it took him nine years to build his speakers. The fact that he went from two-way to three-way is part of the same process that all speaker manufacturers go through. And I think he's right when he says that the parts might have cost him #1k but he'd have to sell them for 15 times that much. What's his labor worth? And his expertise that built a certain sound that pleased him and I'm sure others.

I have been an audiophile for at least a half century, and by the way, I have a pretty damned good ear. But we couldn't possibly resolve that issue with words. But to agree with you on some things you said, like about manufacturers going out of business. I purchased Apogee Slant 8 speakers just before they went out of business. I blew a ribbon and maybe could have gotten another one from a guy in Australia, but I didn't want to get into a garage-made part, especially from somebody halfway across the world. 

Prior to my Sonus Fabers, I owned a pair of Golden Ear 2 speakers. I wasn't at the same financial level then. Anyway, a woofer blew and I found that Goden Ear had moved on to the 2+. So, I had to pay more money for a "trade-in" Yes, buying from a manufacturer and dealer can be risky, too.

But, on the other hand, I have owned VPI turntables, ARC preamps, and a McCormack DNA-1 amp, and all of them have supported me for decades. McCormack sold out to Conrad Johnson, but Steve was still around to upgrade my amp.

A slight digression--a friend of mine passed away and I had helped him 20+ years ago to buy a fairly expensive stereo. I inherited his stereo. He had a Hovland Radia amp which was made 20+ years ago, just about the time Hovland went out of business. Man, that is one damned good amp and I wanted to keep it. People on Audiogon said Amps wear out. Lucky for me, I live in L.A. and Bob Hovland, the maker and designer, is still around. I got him to check out my amp and say it was like new. Apparently he used military parts. But that probably bolsters your argument. People who make audio equipment love it and would be happy to stand behind it. Even a garage manufacturer. And I've known a few.

I think it's wonderful that a person would build their own speakers. I've had a few friends who have done it. I had a friend who built a very seductive preamp. To his ears it was the best preamp on earth and he wanted me to buy it. It was a warm-sounding preamp that many people would love, but when I compared it to my Conrad Johnson Premier 14, I realized that as wonderful as this home-made preamp sounded in the mids, its treble was etched and buried behind the bass. 

So, everybody should build their own stuff. I think everybody should be passionate about something and become involved with it. But no, I just wouldn't buy anything made in someone's house or garage or whatever. 

I could tell by your tone that you feel much superior to me, especially when you mentioned my paying for the expensive finish on my speakers, and questioned if I could even hear the difference between speakers. "This guy's not a down-and-dirty audiophile, he's bourgie," I heard you thinking. Well, man, I have owned everything under the sun. From $300 speakers powered by a very cheap receiver, to the typical NAD system with inexpensive JBL monitors. And I've alwlays loved every system I've had because it brought music to my ears. I just happen to love my present, more expensive system more. 

Mostly, I'm 78 and don't have the energy I used to to run all over L.A., Ventura, and Orange counties comparing gear. The Sonus Faber was at a dealer near me who would offer services I needed, and I loved those speakers on first hearing. They fit my "house sound," so to speak. Musical, with a great soundstage, detail, etc., but not analytical. I did compare them to Vienna Acoustics and Magico speakers, which I found to be cold. When I helped my budy buy his expensive stereo 20 years ago, he bought the first Wilson Sashas, and I never liked those speakers. I thought they were dry and distant. At least give me the benefit of the doubt that I'm an audiophile who goes his own way and has an ear for what I like. Like @erik_squires who built the speaker of his dream.

@audio-b-dog 

I appreciate your post. Other than your aversion to garage-grown enterprises, I agree with you and your points are well-taken.

I am sorry for picking on Sonus Faber speakers. I am sure they sound very good. BMW makes good cars, too (though not transformative like in the 70s); a person can pick any model off the sales floor with the assurance that it's a solid choice that sends the right message to the world. There's nothing wrong with that.

But maybe I do have a soft spot for "down-and-dirty audiophiles", to borrow your excellent expression :)

@devinplombier 

I used to own a BMW and loved it. As I became a grandfather, I needed a larger car to pick up my granddaughters from school.

There is absolutely a difference between people like me who have only a passing interest in the electronics and mechanics of audio versus its sound. And even regarding its sound, it has taken me many decades to believe audio writers who talk about "air," "soundstage," etc. I have had to own equipment that can produce those sounds to buy into their existence. 

I have had friends who upgrade their systems with better capcitors, etc. Even friends who have made their own equipment. I am jealous. I wish I had that apptitude. I am a writer and I listen to music while I write. 

The Sonus Faber Olympica Novas are the first really good speakers I have ever owned. Prior to those, I had the GoldenEars as I mentioned. I thought they were wonderful until I had an inheritance which allowed me to purchase the Sonus Fabers, which are in a totally different class.

Anyway, I love music, and I like people who love music. Whether people's budgets are relatively low, as mine has mostly been, and they buy used or they make their own gear, I would much prefer to talk about the music itself. I go to hear live concerts a lot. My wife and I have tickets to the L.A. Phil and I go to hear jazz at the Soraya on the CSUN campus.

Probably one of the reasons that I would not buy from somebody who makes equipment is because I know so little about their workings. I've known a lot of electrical engineers who try to talk to me about how an amp or preamp works, and I get bored quickly. 

So, I'm glad we understand one another. Basically, I think it's the music we both really love in the end. In that regard, I think everybody on all of these forums are brothers in arms, although we might spat from time to time.