YES! You CAN build $5000 HiFi Speakers for UNDER $500 DIY vs HiFi

#hifi #diyhifi #diyaudio
Can you really save thousands by DIY your own speakers? YES, you can! DIY vs HiFi

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[ditto_]

Those speakers have absolutely no reason for costing that much money and I feel sorry for the poor fools that have bought them.

[sebastianpolcyn]

Looks like bang for the buck can vary significantly in HiFi. I bought a pair of Gamut Phi5 12 years ago for a bit over 3000€ (probably around 4000 in today's money) and when I guesstimated how much it would cost me to replicate those, I found that the drivers alone would set me back nearly 500€, so I'm guessing maybe 800€ for everything, which I honestly think is quite a lot considering that parts cost can obviously only be a fraction of the retail price.

[Russell_and_Rosko]

I go through these virtual build comparisons often…too often. This is a good eye opener, great info.

[JoeJ-]

This just proves the insane amount of markup that goes into most high-end equipment, i.e. the retail selling price vs. the actual cost to make/build it! The only thing that this doesn't account for is all of the original time, research and development, and careful design work and attention to finishing details that go into an original high-end build...

If you were to actually count all of that too, as if your time involved in building these to the exact same design and look, and fit and finish, especially with the unique box shape and all, then you'd be out many more hundreds or even thousands of dollars, depending on how long it took you to build and finish the boxes, etc. yourself, and of course how much you consider your many hours of time to be worth per hour invested in a project like this...

[robertgruber]

Would love to see you make an old school wide baffle floorstander like the JBL L100 or KEH Model 5 with modern components. Big 10 or 12" woofer with mid and tweeter. Even better if fully modern with DSP crossover but with that old school look.

[chandlerlofton]

I just finished my first DIY speakers, they are the CSS Torri. It was a lot of fun! I want to do their TDX 2 towers next. I’m using the Emotiva Basx TA1 integrated amp. The set up punches way above its weight dollar wise!

[mfkhometheater]

Having had some experience on the commercial side, the rule of thumb is that retail is 10x the cost of materials to build so yes, you can build $5000 speakers for $500.

[orange]

I like these diy budget videos. Getting into speakers can a bit costly for some. I would love to watch more budget speaker builds even a $200 build

[JukeboxAlley]

I believe with hard work (elbow grease and many hours of listening) and planning and lots of testing, yes, it can work everytime and sometimes turn out better than a mass marketed overpriced speaker. After 200 or so speakers I've owned, I built my own to my liking, and turned out to be my favorites I've ever heard, to me the best I've heard for my tastes in my opinion, but took a long time to call it complete. Used a JBL 2226hpl pro driver strictly for the bottom end and has good mid bass properties also ( very efficient, massive magnet and voice coil, very high power handling, and can get very deep in the right cabinet. Midrange I finally decided on a focal audiom 7k, likes to be crossed over lower than most other mids due to peaks around 3k but incredible tone and character when dialed in, due to the large ess heil amt tweeters able to cross over very low if needed it wasn't a problem, top end is open baffle, bottom end is rear ported and nicely designed inside (transmission line type), also have port plugs if wanted when close to a wall. Biamped, big power hooked up on bottom end and smooth clean power up top. To me they are all I'll ever need, about a grand and some change total, they are heavy at nearly 100 pounds each, but they check all the boxes for anything, movies or music, truly full range.

[spritual_enlightenment]

It's first time I saw a tweeter facing backward. I like to see contents about this, too.
10 time mark-up! That rings a bell after reading comments here. Good insight!

[presidentpotato]

As someone who owns W5’s and W8se+ and the se+ uses a different driver .. can’t wait to see what you do with crossover parts

[mikeleahy]

aboat 2 years I was going to build this speaker but changed my mind because of the cnc work involved think I have a pair of those mid drivers .ended up building a pair of Mark audio a pair 4” mini ported speakers. Also built a set of ls35a clones used mfd need to put them in birch I have a obsession. With building I feel that if you don’t sell a speaker set you can build them for your one enjoyment.

[danaolson]

The miniDSP has made speaker building so easy. Now anyone can have a perfect crossover in minutes. Sure you need more amplifier channels, but those are now so cheap it makes no difference.

[hifiman]

My biggest issue is making enclosures. I think I have a good plan. Gonna try it this week.

[jedics]

I went to a house with an el cheapo Lg all in one amp and speaker combo with the same large woofer on the side as this and I was blown away at how good it sounded and I have never heard a system without a dedicated sub that scaled the bass so well down to lower volumes and generally had a balanced full sound....Im very surprised almost nobody has continued this design.

[ta]

With the right skills and equipment, it is possible to build speakers that compete with the ridiculously expensive ones out there. But for a lot of us, the simple, proven, designs and flat pack kits are the limit of our tools and skills. For us, it is more of a fun pastime and being able to say that you built the speaker rather than ending up with one that cost 1/10th what it should have. But every day people come out with new and better designs for us to build.

[scottmcmullen]

Okay that is all and good, but have you actually attempted (or are you willing to attempt) making a DIY Boenicke W5. Looks like there are a lot of specialized features going into the W5. Would be very interested in seeing you go through the process, then a A/B comparison if you can actually get a loaner pair.

[draztiqmeshaz]

I really don't think you can gloss over the build part of this comparison, ESPECIALLY with Boenicke. The curves of the folded horn in these and the absolutely labyrinthine internal structure of their towers would be above the skillset of amateur diy'ers and at least very time-consuming for a well equipped woodshop. A cnc would be the best route for some of the bracing/cabinet, but then you'd need either an intentionally designed horn for the differences in your drivers/volume, or a way to replicate their design exactly off little drawings. I've seen some pretty impressive folded horn diy projects here around YT, might be worth a look to see what we're really getting into when making glue-ups of Dr Seuss-level-of-wonky pieces

[rickhockersmith]

I had some oak boxes I turned into speakers / end-tables. I bought an instruction book from Radio Shack on how to build them for the right drivers. It contained all of the formulations I needed. Then, I ordered my tweeters, mid-ranges, and bass drivers with the proper crossover along with the connectors. They both sounded great and looked better than any item you could buy. Plus, it is rugged enough to be furniture or moved to another location.

[jbarelds]

Recently came across a similar case. The Ophidian Minimo 2 retails for more than $1000, yet it only contains the Dayton TCP115 and some $40 Seas dome tweeter (don't remember the part nr). I just finished a pair of small bookshelves also using the TCP115 for $150 all in all.