Is DIY worth it ?

[KatieandDad]

When you get to the real Hi-End of Hi-Fi it's not always the "PERFECT" sound that you are looking for. It's more the "SIGNATURE" sound. Krell Owners will declare war over Pass owners as will owners of other Hi-Fi designers. It is the DIY spirit that will enable you to find that audio Nirvana that is unique to you.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. If YOU like the sound of a system, then that system is the one for you. You may of course change your mind occasionally as I certainly have over the years.

The gainclone is not the only excellent audio contender though. It might be worth considering in advance what you can use over and over again to experiment between say a pass F5 and an LM3886 build. The amp itself is only a tiny part of the project build cost - the expensive parts can be re-used to play in this enlightening hobby. I've only chosen those two examples as they are fairly similar in cost to implement.

[MASantos]

In some cases DIY can be cheaper that commercial stuff, take an F5 for example.
first watt sold them for around 3000$ if I remember, and you can build one for 500-750$. the exact same circuit, same parts, different aesthetics.
The new F5turbo can be built for around 1000$, if probably won't find a class A with such a performance and power figures for less than 5000$.
If you build speakers (several kits around the web, you can spend around 5 or 6 times less than a comercial equivalent.

But for low budget electronics I believe one can't beat the quantity pricing and cheap labor of comercial (and professional ) amplifiers and speakers.

[KatieandDad]

My Brother-in-Law built the Aleph 4 (100W / Channel Pure Class A) for just over £500. But he did take many months collecting parts and saved himself over £15K.

I've still got the link to the effort that he put into building this fantastic amplifier.

However, let us not turn this thread into another contest of amplifiers. the question remains, is it worth doing things DIY.

It's interesting how perceptions change over the years.

Once upon a time QUAD's motto was something like - Anything less than perfect is unnaceptable.

The legendary Quad Power Amps are now slated as poor rubbish in the light of current trends. E-Bay offers loads of Quad clone boards for those that want to try to recreate something akin to the original Quad idea.

NAIM and NAD are even more contenders for E-Bay cloning.

Are these amps even close to the originals? I don't know, I've crept into higher eschellons.

[Beacon64]

I prefer wabi-sabi to nirvana. An acceptable imperfection beats the unattainable everyday of the week ;-)

[KatieandDad]

I'm just wondering wether or not to dip my feet into the DIY speaker World. I've got a pair of B&W DM683s which are beautiful but I would like to try a pair of 802D's. Second hand they can be got for about £5000 but is there anything DIY that can reliably outperform them ?

[BrianDonegan]

Is cooking worth while?

There are plenty of pre-cooked/pre-made foods out there. Some expensive, some cheap.

When cooking for yourself, you can spend a lot, or a little. Depends on the ingredients you use.

Some people love to cook, some people hate it.

I have many unfinished DIY projects. Even though they are not done, some of them are my favorites. It all depends on what you are looking to get out of it.

[KatieandDad]

That takes us back to my Post 31. If you like the flavour buy what is out there, if you want to make it different then DIY.

[qusp]

right on Brian! very good analogy

if you are asking this question, then I suspect no, it will not be worth your time/money

[madtecchy]

I like to salvage reuse and modifiy. latest find a studio master mixing desk.. control surface in a bad way but inside. a 350Watt rms at 4 Ohm per channel stereo amplifier inc protection, psu, and all sockets .. £10.00 ..

[billyk]

Originally Posted by qusp

if you are asking this question, then I suspect no, it will not be worth your time/money

I suspect you are correct. I do like to see other folks philosophy on the subject though...