[net.audio] Building audio equipment

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.

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