Has any-one else made this mistake???

[Moondog55]

We are moving house and I have just made a pile of all my woofers and other drivers, I am a little staggered by how many I have managed to accumulate in just a few years of this hobby.

My mistake was being willing to make a pair of speakers for a “friend”. I had a cheap 3-way design in mind and when this person heard the boxes I’d built for my sons 18th birthday he made a serious inquiry about making him a pair. I said OK and drew up some plans and gave him an estimate.

He was willing and gave me a couple of hundred dollars as a deposit to get started.

As the local supplier gives a discount for buying 10 drivers and my design used 4 woofers per box I buy 10 to save a few dollars per woofer; the next day the “friend” calls to say he has changed his mind and wants his money back.

I tell him I’ve already got the woofers and cannot refund but he can have the drivers.
After a bit of to & fro and heated discussion I agree to refund half his money and keep the woofers.

Add those drivers to all the bargains I’ve picked up in the last 3 years at garage sales and Eb8 and close-outs at Jaycar and I find I need a huge shed just to store my stockpile.

Am I alone??

[MadMutt]

Not for speakers but for computers.

These days I'll design the item, tell the person where to go and what to buy.
When they bring me the parts, and a build fee, I'll assemble it for them.

Sorts out the genuine from the tyre kickers.
Also stops me from losing money and getting into arguments.

If it's parts that only I can get (trade accounts etc), I'd get the money for the parts, get the parts, and if it goes sour, give them the parts and tell em to bugger off and take it up with the supplier.

I make sure they understand this before any money changes hands.

[craigwalsh]

Wow, some friend!

I've built plenty of speakers for friends, but in my case, I have them buy all of the parts (including the wood, screws, etc). I supply them with the design and help them with tips on building. I can help them cut and assemble them, and build the crossovers. But, it's just not my responsibility once the design has been handed over and I let them know this up front. I just tell them that I will help them build some speakers, not build and hand them over. It's best to be up front about any such arrangement with friends.

I'd say you were extraordinarily generous in offering to purchase the parts with only a deposit. Was your friend going to pay you for labor as well? I don't charge my friends labor because I enjoy designing and building them, and I enjoy the end result.

[Moondog55]

I got sucked in because he was going to pay me for my labour.
I get a lot of pleasure when helping my mates fix stuff, it is easy enough to replace a blown woofer or add some polyfill to a box.
I'd never charge for helping with that sort of assistance.
This was sort of different, and poor WAF on the new speakers was part of it.

Since buying the cheap woofers my skills have improved a little but I'll use them someday, I won't make the same mistake again.

[jupiterjune]

Not quite the same mistake, but I've got piles of drivers that I'll probably never use. And yet, I am very reluctant to part with the better ones.

You can take the cheap woofers and use them to build a sub that operates below resonance. It will be the best sub you've ever heard, or your money back!

JJ

[Brett]

Unfortunately I've had a couple of similar incidents, but over an amp, not speakers. I take a very similar approach to MadMutt now.

Oh, and I've collected a lot of drivers/speakers over the years, a whole bunch of which I'm going to list here and at SNA later in the month. Need space for the new ones coming.

[Moondog55]

JJ. I have the subwoofer controller from ESP, just don't yet trust my soldering skills, also I'd need a 2Ohm stable high current amp to use all of the drivers suitable for that set-up.
Things wouldn't get so out of control if I didn't keep changing my mind, but I do have excess drivers that really have little value other than as "learner drivers" being very suitable for first projects.

[craigwalsh]

With four 8 ohm drivers, a combination of series and parallel connections gives you a total 8 ohm load to your amp.

[Moondog55]

Unfortunately I do not have a quad or octet of these cheap drivers, only 6 and no matter how I manipulate combinations I can't get a coupling I like using all of the drivers.
Excursion requirements below 30Hz mean really good drivers or multiples but I was looking to use an existing stereo amp when I gor these and I've been looking for another pair ( at the same low price ) for a while.
Craig you have to remember that drivers are 3 times the US /EU price. Shipping plus customs duty plus GST plus mark-up equals expensive, and in a couple of cases our retailers are not buying sufficient stock from the manufacturers to get the cheapest price to start with.

[nigelwright7557]

Its best to get the money upfront if you can.

I did a job for someone that took 3 weeks and when I got paid he said he reckoned what I had done was worth £3 !

That was the last time i did a favour for a stranger.