DIY mid to low end speakers. Worth the price?

Man you guys have given me a lot to think about!

A couple of thoughts:

Most of the appeal of this would be building the hardwood cabinets. I had already drawn up simple plans for Mission (Arts &Crafts) style cabinets which would go well in the log cabin. I have a lot of beautiful figured quarter sawn white oak boards that I milled a few years ago. But it seems very clear that solid hardwood cabinets are a bad idea. And to be honest, I have no desire to work with MDF, flat packs from a kit or veneers. That’s just not fun for me. 

Since I have no problem with the Polks I already have in terms of SQ  (they are ugly as heck though) and I don’t want to work in MDF, etc. I don’t really have a good reason to build a kit at this point.

But that’s why I posted the question and I really appreciate all the responses. It helped me clarify what I want to do.

I think what I will do instead is make a Mission style cabinet for the components (NAD integrated amp, Denon tuner and a CD player).

I’m not abandoning the idea of building speakers totally. We’re thinking about building an addition on the little cabin and if we do I’ll make the current spare bedroom into a smoking and drinking room and a pair of kit bookshelves would be just right in there.

@n80 

Agreed. Polk Audio made some very interesting speakers besides the Best Buy debris they sadly became known for. 

They are driven by an NAD 316BEE integrated. They sound remarkably good together.

I would respectfully suggest that your speakers would sound even better if they were driven by a halfway decent amplifier.

How you execute the use of a material is just as important as the material itself.  Hardwoods can certainly be used...they're just expensive for manufacturers to use.  Good plywood is always an option for cabinets if MDF doesn't appeal, and you can trim with with as much hardwood as you like. 

@devinplombier These Polk Monitor 70s might be Best Buy junk for all I know. You may be right about the little NAD but it reviewed quite well in its day. All of this stuff was bought used for under $500 total and is primarily used for ambient background listening. But I do some sit-down listening at night and for the price and the setting I still maintain that the sound is satisfying.

@knotscott I was thinking about all this last night. I have a decent band saw and could resaw some of my nice white oak and use that like a veneer on the front. I could not cut it anywhere near as thin as bought veneer but I might play around with this idea. 

I'm a rough carpenter by trade and got a bug to build some furniture, 75 gal fish tank cabinet and later a sub for my work truck. I was surprised at how well the veneers I bought survived the day to day damage inflicted to bott pieces and where's a bit of planning and skill still involved using mdf, chipper bits, and the the veneer and finish after