sasaki@harvard.ARPA (Marty Sasaki) (02/14/85)
There have been a few articles recently about building and modifying speakers and I was wondering what peoples opinions were about building audio equipment. It seems to me that if one is willing to not count time spent on a project (I love to make things, so the time spent is relaxing and fun anyway) that in the mid-fi range a lot of equipment can be built by the hobbyist with access to a modest shop. Speakers seem especially suitable in this way. One can buy the drivers and with the help of books and magazines like Speaker Builder one can test and design a loudspeaker box and crossover. There isn't that much black magic, is there? Does anyone have any experience with speakers from Speaker Builder, or electronics built from articles found in The Audio Amateur? -- Marty Sasaki Havard University Science Center sasaki@harvard.{arpa,uucp} 617-495-1270
rocky@masscomp.UUCP (Rocky Sandy) (02/25/85)
In article <378@harvard.ARPA> sasaki@harvard.ARPA (Marty Sasaki) writes: >It seems to me that if one is willing to not count time spent on a >project (I love to make things, so the time spent is relaxing and fun >anyway) that in the mid-fi range a lot of equipment can be built by the >hobbyist with access to a modest shop. My personal experience has shown that building audio and other electronic stuff from kits or published plans is a fun thing to do. If you wish to save money by *growing your own*, I might warn that sometimes you can save those bucks, but usually you won't. If you enjoy building your own equipment, as I do, then go for it. Also, many of the kits and plans that you may obtain via Speaker Builder or Audio Amateur Magazines are decidedly *hi-fi* and not *mid-fi* at all. I like those two magazines a great deal. I reccommend them to anyone who likes to do a little more than just spin records and listen. >Speakers seem especially suitable in this way. One can buy the drivers >and with the help of books and magazines like Speaker Builder one can >test and design a loudspeaker box and crossover. There isn't that much >black magic, is there? >Does anyone have any experience with speakers from Speaker Builder, or >electronics built from articles found in The Audio Amateur? I agree that speakers are especially suited for building at home, even with modest tools and skills. Speakers are usually quite expensive when you consider the actual cost of manufacturing and materials. Aside from some of the exotic speaker technologies, once designed and tested (a very expensive process to do well) a speaker might be built for a relatively small sum. (Those exotic speakers often require very expensive components.) I have built a pair of speakers from a kit that was advertised in Speaker Builder Magazine. The components came from a company called SEAS, which I understand was once the speaker-kit branch of DYNACO. The kit was easy to build, although I strayed from the assembly instructions by flush-mounting rather than surface-mounting the drivers. I feel that I saved about $200 dollars to get a very good quality small pair of speakers. (As I recall, the kit price was about $175, wood and all.) I now have a larger pair of SEAS speakers that were built by a friend that I am also very happy with. Check out those magazines for plans and, of course, kits. You might find that you can have fun building your own speakers, and you might even save a bundle. []