Mikal
I am curious about other opinions regarding DIY loudspeakers. I'm looking to attempt to build speakers myself. Any suggestions?
Answer
It depends on who's designing and building the DIY speakers. If you know what you are doing you can easily exceed the performance of retail speaker systems.
Speaker manufacturers face a lot of limitations that the DIY'er doesn't face. For example, manufacturers are limited to their own technology or to technologies they have to pay for. The DIY'er can mix and match any known technology in any way he/she chooses. This opens the DIY speaker to the possibility of combining the best of all worlds.
In terms of cost, manufacturers have far more overhead than the DIY designer. In order to make money they have to cover the cost of materials, assembly, packaging, distribution... the list goes on. Typical retail markup is 1.8 to 2.0 x. so the manufacturer only gets $1000 to $1200 out of a $2000 retail speaker sale. To make money those speakers can not have more than about $150 ~ $200 in materials. If a DIY designer lacks the quantity discount on hardware he might have to pay double or triple for the same materials but he's still spending far short of the $2000 retail price the same retail speaker would cost him.
In the lower end market, it becomes more difficult for a DIY'er to save money but easier to exceed performance. Some of the OEM drivers used in low end retail speakers are not typically available to the DIY'er so basically he simply can't get crappy enough drivers to build something as bad as these. Sometimes such drivers are available through Parts Express Buyout deals so this gives the DIY'er the opportunity to get them and build some really cheap speakers with typical low end retail performance but for a cheaper price.
In the super speaker market the DIY'er can exceed the performance for a fraction of the sales tax of some retail speakers. When you get into the five and six digit price ranges quite frankly many of those manufacturers don't have a clue what they are doing when it comes to acoustics. In this price range "snob appeal" is the selling feature so the speakers don't have to be that good. This makes it easy for a highly experienced DIY designer to exceed the performance for a tiny fraction of the price. Especially in this area the technology limitations of manufacturers come in to play more than in any other market. There might be things they would like to do but they don't have the rights and they believe it is not good marketing to utilize technology from competing companies.
The DIY'er can of course have limitations too but that goes back to my first statement. It depends on who's designing and building the DIY speakers. There are those that have access to driver manufacturers with wholesale accounts to get drivers about as cheap as many retail speaker system manufacturers. They also have access to CNC and other manufacturing equipment just like the retail companies. In such a case the DIY'er doesn't have so many limitations. On the other hand if the DIY'er is limited to typical garage power tools the construction process can be more challenging. This doesn't mean it can't be done, it just means it's more difficult and may limit some choices. I definitely would not want to have manually cut the parts for my line arrays! That would have been a pain! The CNC made this chore a breeze.
Log onto the AVSForum and go to the DIY speaker section. Also take a look at the Parts Express web site and look at some of the projects they showcase there. It's a fun and rewarding hobby if you are willing to put fourth the effort to learn. I've been doing it about 35+ years and have fellow DIY friends that have been doing it much longer...one over 60 years.
It depends on who's designing and building the DIY speakers. If you know what you are doing you can easily exceed the performance of retail speaker systems.
Speaker manufacturers face a lot of limitations that the DIY'er doesn't face. For example, manufacturers are limited to their own technology or to technologies they have to pay for. The DIY'er can mix and match any known technology in any way he/she chooses. This opens the DIY speaker to the possibility of combining the best of all worlds.
In terms of cost, manufacturers have far more overhead than the DIY designer. In order to make money they have to cover the cost of materials, assembly, packaging, distribution... the list goes on. Typical retail markup is 1.8 to 2.0 x. so the manufacturer only gets $1000 to $1200 out of a $2000 retail speaker sale. To make money those speakers can not have more than about $150 ~ $200 in materials. If a DIY designer lacks the quantity discount on hardware he might have to pay double or triple for the same materials but he's still spending far short of the $2000 retail price the same retail speaker would cost him.
In the lower end market, it becomes more difficult for a DIY'er to save money but easier to exceed performance. Some of the OEM drivers used in low end retail speakers are not typically available to the DIY'er so basically he simply can't get crappy enough drivers to build something as bad as these. Sometimes such drivers are available through Parts Express Buyout deals so this gives the DIY'er the opportunity to get them and build some really cheap speakers with typical low end retail performance but for a cheaper price.
In the super speaker market the DIY'er can exceed the performance for a fraction of the sales tax of some retail speakers. When you get into the five and six digit price ranges quite frankly many of those manufacturers don't have a clue what they are doing when it comes to acoustics. In this price range "snob appeal" is the selling feature so the speakers don't have to be that good. This makes it easy for a highly experienced DIY designer to exceed the performance for a tiny fraction of the price. Especially in this area the technology limitations of manufacturers come in to play more than in any other market. There might be things they would like to do but they don't have the rights and they believe it is not good marketing to utilize technology from competing companies.
The DIY'er can of course have limitations too but that goes back to my first statement. It depends on who's designing and building the DIY speakers. There are those that have access to driver manufacturers with wholesale accounts to get drivers about as cheap as many retail speaker system manufacturers. They also have access to CNC and other manufacturing equipment just like the retail companies. In such a case the DIY'er doesn't have so many limitations. On the other hand if the DIY'er is limited to typical garage power tools the construction process can be more challenging. This doesn't mean it can't be done, it just means it's more difficult and may limit some choices. I definitely would not want to have manually cut the parts for my line arrays! That would have been a pain! The CNC made this chore a breeze.
Log onto the AVSForum and go to the DIY speaker section. Also take a look at the Parts Express web site and look at some of the projects they showcase there. It's a fun and rewarding hobby if you are willing to put fourth the effort to learn. I've been doing it about 35+ years and have fellow DIY friends that have been doing it much longer...one over 60 years.
Marine Speaker System Help?
Jordan And
I am making a speaker system for my jet ski consisting of:
2 70w speakers and cable
A 2 channel 200w amp
A separate battery (not sure what size i need yet)
A power on button
An Ipod and 3.5mm cable
I need help on what other components I need and what sort of wires I should buy (everything needs to be waterproof)
I am new to speaker wiring so excuse and stupid mistakes :)
Thanks
Answer
You can transfer the quality of your car or home audio system to your boat. Marine audio is a relatively new market, but many car stereo products can be bought and used on a boat. Some car audio manufacturers also offer specialized products for boats. for more instructions about speaker phone or for buying go through http://www.hifiguides.com/ ,
www.transcable.com/,
www.ecocables.co/, are some of the famous websites which provides all details through online with reasonable rate . Have a look on that.
You can transfer the quality of your car or home audio system to your boat. Marine audio is a relatively new market, but many car stereo products can be bought and used on a boat. Some car audio manufacturers also offer specialized products for boats. for more instructions about speaker phone or for buying go through http://www.hifiguides.com/ ,
www.transcable.com/,
www.ecocables.co/, are some of the famous websites which provides all details through online with reasonable rate . Have a look on that.
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Title Post: Which is better Retail or DIY Speakers?
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Author: Yukie
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Rating: 98% based on 989 ratings. 5 user reviews.
Author: Yukie
Thanks For Coming To My Blog
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