For anyone interested in achieving "audiophile" level of audio reproduction, for a fraction of the price of commercially available speaker offerings, DIY speaker kits are a possible option. Many don't require any advanced electronic or woodworking skills, just some basic skills.
Most kits come with options for the crossover to be prebuilt, some kits come with the option of buying a "flat pack' cabinet (all the wood precut and ready to glue up), step by step instructions, and online forums with the designers available for questions.
The toughest part is not building the speaker to completion, and great sound quality. The toughest part is finishing the cabinets to look pretty. But these days, there are excellent iron on veneers and other options to make them look great.
Many designers of DIY kits, also design for retail speaker companies, and they use some of the most advanced computer assisted design programs and test equipment.
Some examples I've heard recently (at a DIY club meetup) are:
Jeff Bagby's "Kairos" 2 way stand mount speakers, on an optional woofer module (also Jeff Bagby design). The total for the Kairos and the woofer module kits (without wood), is about $1300. A couple of months ago, at T.H.E. Show here in Los Angeles, I heard a 2 way stand mount speaker with the same drivers (SB Acoustics "Satori"), that retailed for about 4K, and I came away thinking it was one of the best values at the show. And the Kairos bettered it at a fifth of the price, but included a woofer module. The "Kairos" portion itself is about $800.
kairos.jpg
Another kit at the meetup, was Curt Campbell and Jim Holtz' "Bordeaux". This kit uses an Arum Cantus ribbon tweeter and Accuton ceramic mids, and 2 8" woofs per side. These are near state of the art drivers. The kit is about $1800-$2000, but the end results will rival speakers at about $10K, probably more.
There's a company called speakerhardware.com that builds flat packs for many of Curt's and Jim's designs. Not cheap, but very high quality.
bordeaux3.jpg
Other great designers are: Paul Carmody, Troels Graveson, Dennis Murphy and a few others.
Places to order kits are:
Meniscus Audio.They have most Bagby designed kits, and some other designers.
https://meniscusaudio.com/
Madisound. Many kits from the most budget oriented, to high end.
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/index.php?p=home
Parts Express. They only have one kit that I think is worthwhile, a Bagby kit called the "Solstice" for about $1100. But that includes the Mass Loaded Transmission Line enclosure! These will stomp commercial speakers up to about $5K. They also carry some great subwoofer kits.
https://www.parts-express.com/
These are Troel's sites with all his designs. Some of his many designs are available as kits, others require piecing them together. And many require some pretty advanced wood skills.
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Diy_Lou...r_Projects.htm
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/
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