I'm happy to say I'll be building your LM-1Cs :).
What building my own speakers has taught me...
Hi Everyone,
After 8 years or so I have finally finished my "reference" speaker system. I say eight years because what started as a small, high end 2-way has morphed into a 3-way active system. Really happy with the results for myself... but I wanted to step back a little and reflect on the audio industry right now.
First, I’m not here to convince you to DIY your next pair unless you NEED to build something. And I’m not here to rail against the high price of gear, which does have some merit. Mostly what I think about is how difficult it really is to make a business selling audio gear, and that I’m actually SHOCKED at how many companies attempt to do so, and even more when they thrive.
Pricing out all the components in my speakers I come to a total parts cost. Lets say it’s $1,000. It could be $10, the actual amount doesn’t matter, but pretend it’s $1k. If I try to imagine "How would I take this product to market?" I simply can’t get to a selling price under 15 to 20 times manufacturing cost.
At the same time, the cost of the average "reference" speaker over the last 20 years has really skyrocketed, while the audio enthusiast market has dwindled. Then along came HDMI whose ridiculous licensing and technical requirements seems to at least have been partially responsible for Meridian and Theta Digital dwindling from the market.
I can’t imagine how hard it is for anyone besides say Sony or Harman or Samsung to be in the market for audio gear. Increased costs, high competition, dwindling consumers..... are we in a bubble or does every generation think "this is it, this is the end of high end audio?"
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I told you I inherited a Hovland Radia amp. At the time I had a McCormack DNA-1 upgraded to the top of Steve McCormack's many upgrades. It sounded damn good for a non-Boulder-priced amp. It was very musical and made me happy. I didn't see any reason to change to another amp. When I first compared the Hovland to the DNA, I thought it was a no brainer. The McCormack was much more "musical." But being an audiophile, I continued to compare them for weeks. And suddenly--I can't remember what I was listening to--there was no contest. The Hovland was so much better. The McCormack threw an enticing wall of sound, but I could hear into the music with the Hovland. A soundstage I'd never heard before because I never had the money to buy a good amp. And for me, it wasn't something that I could hear right away, or even in an hour. When my friend who made preamps left his at my house for several weeks, hoping I'd buy it, it sounded better than the CJ at first. It was a very seductive preamp. It reminded me in a way of an ARC LS22 preamp I bought many years ago. That took me a review from the late, great Wes Phillips at Stereophile to really hear. Again, seductive mids and mid-bass, but not great treble that I never noticed until Wes Phillips pointed it out. I have a feeling many people out there still have their LS22s and love them. So, what has this got to do with buying something from a guy who makes one speaker in his garage. In other words, he has one speaker design which he reproduces. I might very well be taken with the guy and with his speaker and a month or even more later decide there was something about it I hadn't heard and I really didn't want to keep it. What to do? Sell a non-brand speaker on eBay? Really, you're kind of stuck. A good dealer will let you trade it in on something you do like, or I can sell my Sonus Fabers. People know about them and know that they're considered good speakers. So, it's perhaps mostly my problem for taking a while to really hear a piece of equipment. But I bet others have the same problem. And I'd advise them to go to a dealer and buy a name brand. |
devin, keep checking ebay for a set of ESS AMT mounting hardware for cabinets. I sold an extra pair a few years ago for $110 + shipping. jssmith, I agree with most of what you have posted so far. You seem to have a grip on reality unlike a lot of the audio nuts on this site. I encourage you to post more of your realist thinking! Happy holidays. |
I’m glad @erik_squires has completed his speaker project so can now enjoy them - greatly appreciate his contributions to this forum |
I helped my nephew diy a 3 way horn on a recent weekend. He’s got a active crossover used klipsch heritage running on a cheap behringer dcx2496 i gave him at some point...I guess it made him feel he’s a horn guy. Had to deal with something like this for a bit.... https://www.tiktok.com/@northvalleygrp/video/7525237586105863454?lang=en My daughter could have built it for him with her eyes closed. Eminence 12 inch woofer JBL selenium driver and some cheap PRV compression drivers Cabinet with a single woofer in a ~ 2ft by ~2ft by ~13 inch sealed mdf box and bracing, extension down to around 40hz. Mid and High drivers screwed on to jbl horns, open baffle above the box...Approx, 650 dollars in parts....With the active crossover dialed in, it started to sound like it could put a hell lotta speakers out of business . I would wager that he won’t be missing any qualios and voltis and whatever anytime soon...
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