What's your definition of DIY? Not intending to start a flame war or put down anyone else's efforts, just curious about how other people view this.
Building a kit? (Someone else's design, and all the pieces and parts are provided, all you do is the assembly.)
Building someone else's design, from a book, the internet, wherever.
Your own design, your own fabrication?
Where do you draw the line? No, it really doesn't matter. What counts is whatever gives you the personal satisfaction. I'm just curious about what DIY means to others.
Building a kit? (Someone else's design, and all the pieces and parts are provided, all you do is the assembly.)
Building someone else's design, from a book, the internet, wherever.
Your own design, your own fabrication?
Where do you draw the line? No, it really doesn't matter. What counts is whatever gives you the personal satisfaction. I'm just curious about what DIY means to others.
Mmmmhh...
Diy here , Diy there ...have robots started to assemble something with their will ?? Everything in the world has been DIYed !
For me , starting with speakers was the easiest way ,because it didn't involve much sophisticated equipment ,and I've learned trough mistakes . But at a certain level requires skills and application ...many compare it to cooking .
It involves also study and not thinking into compartments . Good speaker designer should be also amplifier designer and viceversa . I keep my 'sources' ( Cdp, tapes ,etc.. )under regard ,those are not to be touched because I could not start from scratch to build one ....astonished to see how splendid turntables can be made ,but that requires a certain ability with the 0.01 millimeter accuracy with machine job. Well...sky's the limit
I just can say that I cannot find things on the shelves of a shop ,my creations would not sit on a shelf or a floor of a shop ...like Peter Daniel's signature ...
It may take you a lot of time and efforts , and you may give it for free to anybody ,if that pleases you.
Diy here , Diy there ...have robots started to assemble something with their will ?? Everything in the world has been DIYed !For me , starting with speakers was the easiest way ,because it didn't involve much sophisticated equipment ,and I've learned trough mistakes . But at a certain level requires skills and application ...many compare it to cooking .
It involves also study and not thinking into compartments . Good speaker designer should be also amplifier designer and viceversa . I keep my 'sources' ( Cdp, tapes ,etc.. )under regard ,those are not to be touched because I could not start from scratch to build one ....astonished to see how splendid turntables can be made ,but that requires a certain ability with the 0.01 millimeter accuracy with machine job. Well...sky's the limit
I just can say that I cannot find things on the shelves of a shop ,my creations would not sit on a shelf or a floor of a shop ...like Peter Daniel's signature ...
It may take you a lot of time and efforts , and you may give it for free to anybody ,if that pleases you.
I got sucked (back) into DIY because I had a bunch of audio stuff laying around and decided to use it.
Had some 1990 PA cabinets, car amps, crossovers and a Logitech Z5500 system with one crushed speaker and a broken controller. Always wanted to play with isobaric loading, passive radiators, dipole/bipole, arrays, horn loading etc so those two PA cabs became one. Next thing you know the beast is unleashed and works very well.
I do it because it is fun, educational and if you mix audio and power tools--it just adds to the entertainment.
Cost? Never have I spent so much money to save so much money...
Had some 1990 PA cabinets, car amps, crossovers and a Logitech Z5500 system with one crushed speaker and a broken controller. Always wanted to play with isobaric loading, passive radiators, dipole/bipole, arrays, horn loading etc so those two PA cabs became one. Next thing you know the beast is unleashed and works very well.
I do it because it is fun, educational and if you mix audio and power tools--it just adds to the entertainment.
Cost? Never have I spent so much money to save so much money...
DIY = Destroy It Yourself ....... Ever seen some of the pictures of my experiments?
To me DIY means exploring new ground and learning new things. I will build an amp just to try out a new idea. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, and sometimes they blow up! I rarely build someone elses design, and when I do I do something radical with it. What is radical? How about extracting 250 WPC from a design intended to make 18 WPC.
How about audio, power tools, and a bench full of big adjustable power supplies for entertainment. I'm not sure which can scare me more, the table saw or the power supply that goes to 650 volts at 1.7 amps. Both can make things fly around the room.
To me DIY means exploring new ground and learning new things. I will build an amp just to try out a new idea. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, and sometimes they blow up! I rarely build someone elses design, and when I do I do something radical with it. What is radical? How about extracting 250 WPC from a design intended to make 18 WPC.
How about audio, power tools, and a bench full of big adjustable power supplies for entertainment. I'm not sure which can scare me more, the table saw or the power supply that goes to 650 volts at 1.7 amps. Both can make things fly around the room.
Well, you hit it yourself there at the end. Everyone will have their own level of understanding and rate of learning.
I mostly build others designs these days as there are lots of good PCB's available and I'm short on time. It's an easy and quick way to get good results. And there's still lots to tweak,and learn and build on...
Even if someone is just modding off the shelf hardware, that's still DIY...
hacking and having fun!
Why does anyone do those DIY things anyway?
If God intended for people to build their own equipment, he would have given them a factory.
No, it's best to spend exorbitant amounts of money for genuine, factory made stuff that was designed by people that are so much smarter than we are, that they surely were sent here from another planet!
BTW: Does anyone have plans for integrating a tin foil hat with headphones? I've looked, but they don't seem to make them.
Best Regards,
TerryO
If God intended for people to build their own equipment, he would have given them a factory.
No, it's best to spend exorbitant amounts of money for genuine, factory made stuff that was designed by people that are so much smarter than we are, that they surely were sent here from another planet!
BTW: Does anyone have plans for integrating a tin foil hat with headphones? I've looked, but they don't seem to make them.
Best Regards,
TerryO
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Hi Don,
I hope that it's at least a paper-in-oil hat!
Regarding your interconnects, I used to also hear "the Voices" urging me to spend more money on ICs. The tin-foil hat now protects me from them and they've gone away!
Best Regards,
Terry
DIY to me is a way for me to exercise my fondness of creating something myself. I'm not too fussed on whether it is from scratch or in the form of a kit, as long as it is entertaining to assemble.
My hobbies are based on the DIY aspect of that hobby rather than the hobby itself. For example, I'm not an audiophile nor have I really ever been that much of a music listener, but after seeing what was involved with building (kit) amps and speakers, I had to try it. Little by little I find myself spending more time (and money) on home audio as I continue to reach a goal that I will probably be chasing for a life time, that's what makes this hobby interesting to me. Through the DIY aspect of home audio, it is slowly making me more interested in audio itself. I'm starting to listen to music to test my system and starting to appreciate it a lot more.
I also believe that too many people my age give up at the first sign of needing to pick up a screwdriver, let alone using a router/circular saw/power drill etc. I refuse to be one of them.
My hobbies are based on the DIY aspect of that hobby rather than the hobby itself. For example, I'm not an audiophile nor have I really ever been that much of a music listener, but after seeing what was involved with building (kit) amps and speakers, I had to try it. Little by little I find myself spending more time (and money) on home audio as I continue to reach a goal that I will probably be chasing for a life time, that's what makes this hobby interesting to me. Through the DIY aspect of home audio, it is slowly making me more interested in audio itself. I'm starting to listen to music to test my system and starting to appreciate it a lot more.
I also believe that too many people my age give up at the first sign of needing to pick up a screwdriver, let alone using a router/circular saw/power drill etc. I refuse to be one of them.
that about covers it.
It's why many people buy fashion clothes as well right? they don't trust themselves to have any taste? but if brand x is "accepted" then they need only to buy a style and attitude to be "accepted" (not to dis anyone here who might happen to like fashion
)strange how many other consumer goods of all types seem to sadly follow this.
I gave up and realized early on I don't quite fit anywhere. Whether "they" are smarter or not, I can do what I like
DIY means avoiding making the assumption that the designer of something was smarter than you are Also its whatever's needed to patch up the chasm between what the customer really wanted and what the engineers would have built if only marketing had listened and engineering could have understood what marketing was droning on about.
Also its whatever's needed to patch up the chasm between what the customer really wanted and what the engineers would have built if only marketing had listened and engineering could have understood what marketing was droning on about.I don’t think this is true, I think these designers are very smart but they are making a commercial product that needs to serve the masses.
the problem with the commercial brands is that they make different compromises than I am making. commercially you can’t have a speaker cabinet that takes 2 hoursto put together or it will cost thousands. when I make a speaker the longer it takes to make the greater the satisfaction when the sound very good! Also with amps there are this compromises. So I make my own, having the best time making them, getting better at it all the time!
For me DIY is a hobby gone mad, it started making big boom boxes for my first car.
And it evolved from there, making kits, modifying things and now making everything from scradge. I think this is all DIY.
You're most welcome to disagree with my view, but the second half of your sentence doesn't offer any support for why you disagree, its just a restatement of your disagreement
And there are plenty of speakers out there that cost thousands. Do you only have some very mass-market brands in mind perchance? From having worked in the industry myself, most of the money didn't go to the manufacturer but rather to the distributor. That's why he drove the Porsche and the guys on the shop floor... I can't even remember what they were driving.
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