Hi bill, yeah I get it. YOU definitely got the bug!!
I may have overstated my point a little, of course during the build I enjoyed it, I learned a heck of a lot (that applied to me, for example not if my life depended upon it could I design a passive crossover....fully active here) and yeah tho the journey was enjoyable I always had a 'destination' in mind..or at least was never contemplating a never ending journey.
If you have to do a trip to get to your destination, may as well enjoy it along the way.
But boy am I glad I am at the end of the trip!
You are like a lot of my mates who are true diyers, (and many here I suspect) in that once one thing has been finished then on to the next project. All power to you all and all the best.
BUT, I wonder if that fits in with the title of the thread. Without going back and re-reading it that is. I think chris (was it?) point about matching the behringer speakers...are they the active ones??...is one example of how diy might not be 'worth it'.
But enjoyment, education etc, how can you put a figure on that? You can't. That is when it becomes a 'way of life' just like, dunno. fishing, boating whatever. The enjoyment it brings cannot have a figure put upon it.
I guess I fit into this category more than the 'true diyer' who ends up having built tens of speakers/systems.
I have already nailed my flag to the mast earlier and it really feels that I am quite alone in diyland, the emphasis always seem to be on 'matching the behringers' or somesuch. Most builds etc seem to be at most a thousand or so.
Just out of complete curiosity, nothing at all to do with bragging rights or mine is bigger than yours, what kind of expense/cost would any of you put on your builds?????? (to those of you constantly building stuff this might be a meaningless question!)
I'll show my cards, all up I guess my system owes me twenty thou or so. Obscene figures I agree but it kinda just ended up there if you follow.
BUT, at least (even if not true!) I'd feel confident that it matches commercial systems many times that. Prob sounds arrogant, but I hope not.
Kind of a mini survey I spose..."where do the majority of diy members fall in the cost of what they build" or something like that.
Prob deserves it's own 'poll' thread but we can do that if it turns out to be interesting.
So out of rude curiosity, round figures yada yada, what is the value of you guys 'final' builds???
£600, ish. Maybe a little more: I'm using one channel of my bass/guitar amplifier to drive my subwoofer.
Bear in mind that I'm 18 years old, and also mountain biking, so money is often diverted into fixing my bike.
.... and yes, it was the active Behringers where, IMHO, DIY stops being 'worth it', in terms of the end product alone: many of us here could build better speakers, but I suspect they would all (all parts being brand-new) cost more.
[The above does assume that a similar form-factor is followed: ~6" midbass, ~1" tweeter. It'd be possible to use huge efficient speakers and use small chip-amps (which cost next to nothing) and get somewhere near, but the big cabinets would be a no-no for most living rooms.]
Chris
Bear in mind that I'm 18 years old, and also mountain biking, so money is often diverted into fixing my bike.
.... and yes, it was the active Behringers where, IMHO, DIY stops being 'worth it', in terms of the end product alone: many of us here could build better speakers, but I suspect they would all (all parts being brand-new) cost more.
[The above does assume that a similar form-factor is followed: ~6" midbass, ~1" tweeter. It'd be possible to use huge efficient speakers and use small chip-amps (which cost next to nothing) and get somewhere near, but the big cabinets would be a no-no for most living rooms.]
Chris
I'm a reluctant DIYer.
I built my speakers on a whim ten years ago and to my surprise they sounded better than what I owned (Wilson Watt Puppies).
Ever since they have alternately filled me with joy and frustration. They are complex because they are active 3 ways, every now and again something just goes wrong in wiring or crossover , I constantly tweak them because I can, I'm never quite sure if I have all the settings right, and they look unfinished.
Unfortunately they still sound better than everything I've tried to replace them with.
I would like a speaker I can just plug-in and ignore. But I can't afford anything that beats them sonically.
So financially they are worth it.
I built my speakers on a whim ten years ago and to my surprise they sounded better than what I owned (Wilson Watt Puppies).
Ever since they have alternately filled me with joy and frustration. They are complex because they are active 3 ways, every now and again something just goes wrong in wiring or crossover , I constantly tweak them because I can, I'm never quite sure if I have all the settings right, and they look unfinished.
Unfortunately they still sound better than everything I've tried to replace them with.
I would like a speaker I can just plug-in and ignore. But I can't afford anything that beats them sonically.
So financially they are worth it.
If I totalled up all the money I've spent over the last couple of years on speaker parts and materials, I could maybe buy a pair of £600 commercial speakers with the money - I'm sure they would be very nice. However, that would be 'it', and I would have nowhere to go except for imaginary improvements to cables etc.
Alternatively, I could 'churn' my purchases and buy and sell speakers, trying them for a while, then moving on to another pair, which could still work out expensive and stressful if I just couldn't find the right buyer at the right time. I would never know when to stop, anyway.
And then there's the element of uniqueness: I'm convinced that in whatever hobby people pursue, they should aim to make some small part of what they make 'the best in the world', even if that part is simply just the fact that it fits perfectly into their room's decor, or dimensions. For me, at the moment, my particular fascination is with active speakers and measurements, and there is a sense that this is actually cutting edge stuff, and beyond what can be bought off the shelf. Combining software with knocking together pieces of MDF is rather fun, and gives you all the 'Mad Professor'-style kicks you might crave.
In DIY audio software there seems to be scope for genuinely original work, particularly in the gulf that lies between audiophilia, and the tone-deaf nerds who are usually most expert in creating software.
Alternatively, I could 'churn' my purchases and buy and sell speakers, trying them for a while, then moving on to another pair, which could still work out expensive and stressful if I just couldn't find the right buyer at the right time. I would never know when to stop, anyway.
And then there's the element of uniqueness: I'm convinced that in whatever hobby people pursue, they should aim to make some small part of what they make 'the best in the world', even if that part is simply just the fact that it fits perfectly into their room's decor, or dimensions. For me, at the moment, my particular fascination is with active speakers and measurements, and there is a sense that this is actually cutting edge stuff, and beyond what can be bought off the shelf. Combining software with knocking together pieces of MDF is rather fun, and gives you all the 'Mad Professor'-style kicks you might crave.
In DIY audio software there seems to be scope for genuinely original work, particularly in the gulf that lies between audiophilia, and the tone-deaf nerds who are usually most expert in creating software.
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