New bloke

[jmgelba]

Hi all,

I'm new to diy audio but not electronics, I own a small pcb design and assembly company in Michigan. I'm here because my beloved Denon system died and I feel like building a replacement surround sound system rather than giving my money to a retailer.

I'm originally from England, moved to Michigan about 6 years to be with my wife who is a local. I'm fortunate to live very close to a lake and have been having a fantastic time fishing since I moved here. We are expecting our first baby in November and life is going well out here in the colonies.

So, as I mentioned, my project is a home built surround sound system which will include the speakers aswell. It has to be wife friendly in both size and cost. I'm really new to whats available and which way to jump. I dont need anything massive and powerful, I'm more into quality rather than quantity. So I'm looking for advice and recommendations and will document the project progress to keep everyone in the loop (if you're interested.)

[SY]

Welcome to the forum. You'll have no shortage of help getting things planned and built.

From my days in the upper Midwest, I recall that there are only two seasons- Really Damn Cold and Mosquito. Perfect for indoor activities like building a sound system.

[Cal Weldon]

Hello New Bloke and welcome to the forums.

[DSP_Geek]

Originally posted by jmgelba
I'm new to diy audio but not electronics, I own a small pcb design and assembly company in Michigan. I'm here because my beloved Denon system died and I feel like building a replacement surround sound system rather than giving my money to a retailer.

If you're looking to save money, DIY audio is perhaps not the best place, what with all the low-priced gear coming from China these days. On the other hand, listening to a good system and thinking "I made this", well, there's no price on that.


Cheers,
Francois.

[FastEddy]

I have good feelings about the Irish Hill area, in-laws in Ann Arbor (with a cabin up by the "thumb" ... and I lived around Coldwater decades ago ... nice places all over Michigan, even close to Detroit (but not inside 10 Mile) ... Check out the Ford Dearborne Village = there is so much DIY toys there it would take weeks to appreciate it all (check out the Wright Bros.' #1 flyer = the very one).

Welcome to the DIY world ...

[jmgelba]

Originally posted by DSP_Geek


If you're looking to save money, DIY audio is perhaps not the best place, what with all the low-priced gear coming from China these days. On the other hand, listening to a good system and thinking "I made this", well, there's no price on that.


Cheers,
Francois.

This is true! Read through these forums though and you'll hear people saying they built such and such for $300 and it sounds as good as the $3000 stuff in the stores. I'd never spend the $3k, but I'd spend the $300. This was what I meant by saving money. But I agree with you, there is absolutly nothing like showing off stuff you built yourself - and then making a buck selling a copy to your buddy!

Back to the project. I dont see an area to post general questions. I want to explain my listening style, type of music and goals, and get responces guiding me to the right topology or right speaker combo etc etc.

[planet10]

Originally posted by jmgelba
Back to the project. I dont see an area to post general questions. I want to explain my listening style, type of music and goals, and get responces guiding me to the right topology or right speaker combo etc etc.

Welcome.

Poke around a bit and you'll start getting the lay of the land... the forums are laid out more or less with the sperate components in mind... but threads wander all over the place. As well you can cross-link threads so that in a thread for instance, where you are talking about speakers you can link to where you (or someone else) is on amps...

The big problem with diy these days is that there is so much choice, it is hard to know where to start... but a warning, it is very addictive, your 1st diy speaker/amp/system is not likely to be your last... muhaahaa :^)

dave