20 years ago you could have said that diy made no sense when an amplifier or speakers were so cheap to buy.
These days new products have become more expensive. A PM6006 is around UKP270 for 454Wx2 ie about what you get from a pair of LM3886s
A FMJ A29 is around UKP850 for 2x80W, you can definitely make your own quality design for less than that.
These days new products have become more expensive. A PM6006 is around UKP270 for 454Wx2 ie about what you get from a pair of LM3886s
A FMJ A29 is around UKP850 for 2x80W, you can definitely make your own quality design for less than that.
It's a hobby, no other reasons required as a hobby, by definition defies logic.
in my opinion DIY isn´t dying, but changing as everything. Like programming changed from assembler over higher languages to VB or other simplified code. Someone can earn a lot of money only using "modern" languages without knowing exactly what´s happening underneath or knowing how to write assembler.
Same with the electronics. You can do something "yourself" by gathering modules and tinkering around with these. It´s a different DIY without inventing the wheel all for yourself again, with all it´s pros and cons.
I´m a mech. engineer, my knowledge in electronics is school basics (yet, now I wanna learn moar!). Nevertheless I´m building myself a headphone amp right now without having a clue how to design an amplifying circuit this complex (but I know the principles, prop-valves and stuff
...).
Same with the electronics. You can do something "yourself" by gathering modules and tinkering around with these. It´s a different DIY without inventing the wheel all for yourself again, with all it´s pros and cons.
I´m a mech. engineer, my knowledge in electronics is school basics (yet, now I wanna learn moar!). Nevertheless I´m building myself a headphone amp right now without having a clue how to design an amplifying circuit this complex (but I know the principles, prop-valves and stuff
...).
I'll have to agree with Dave, Pano and several others that have pointed out that DIY is far from dead! I formed the "Sound DIY Club" a few years back and we've had some great gear designed and built by our members in the last few years. Speakers, DACs, Preamps and Amps, along with many other devices and gear. We've had Solid State amps and Tube gear designed and built along with some very interesting talks given by members in areas that interest them.
Great fun and besides you can learn a great deal about sound reproduction!
Best Regards,
TerryO
Great fun and besides you can learn a great deal about sound reproduction!
Best Regards,
TerryO
Yes, plenty DIY about, and growing - look at all the "maker" shops & workshops, 3D printing etc.
My wife does a lot of knitting and crafts - from all the online groups it's clear there are more young folk involved than for long time. Sure you can but it made in a sweatshop for a lot less but that's no fun, apart from any other issues.
Making stuff is on the increase, it's good.
My wife does a lot of knitting and crafts - from all the online groups it's clear there are more young folk involved than for long time. Sure you can but it made in a sweatshop for a lot less but that's no fun, apart from any other issues.
Making stuff is on the increase, it's good.
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For me it's all about the sense of achievement i get from building something from scratch and looking at the end product with the unique love only a ' parent ' feels for his ' child ',
It might be ugly but it's mine and i created it
Cost isn't really a factor for me i could probably buy the equivalent mass market version of any speaker i build for a fraction of the price , but wheres the fun in that?
I wonder how many ' classic ' speaker , amplifier designs started with an enthusiastic diy model many years prior to mass production ? , a fair few i reckon.
It might be ugly but it's mine and i created it
Cost isn't really a factor for me i could probably buy the equivalent mass market version of any speaker i build for a fraction of the price , but wheres the fun in that?
I wonder how many ' classic ' speaker , amplifier designs started with an enthusiastic diy model many years prior to mass production ? , a fair few i reckon.
DIY will never die. It will just move onto using more and more integrated circuits and integrated PCBs which plug into other main PCBs.
You don't craft/laser etch your own Transistors or ICs do you? Well then I can safely say that you are not doing DIY audio truly to its name.
If we are using prefab PCBs with circuits that have already been made it just means that that part of DIY audio has completed development and research stages and has reached a point whereby there is no longer a need for further engineering.
But there are still plenty of other areas which still need engineering and research and the application of said research.
You don't craft/laser etch your own Transistors or ICs do you? Well then I can safely say that you are not doing DIY audio truly to its name.
If we are using prefab PCBs with circuits that have already been made it just means that that part of DIY audio has completed development and research stages and has reached a point whereby there is no longer a need for further engineering.
But there are still plenty of other areas which still need engineering and research and the application of said research.
I spent more than half my life buying surplus and new parts. Now DIY is free!
When you buy a completed product you don't learn anything.
There were never a lot of people doing DIY of any sort, at least not since the years after WWII. It's been dying for a long time, but the total number of people doing it has probably been going up in absolute numbers. What they're DIYing has changed radically.
When you buy a completed product you don't learn anything.
There were never a lot of people doing DIY of any sort, at least not since the years after WWII. It's been dying for a long time, but the total number of people doing it has probably been going up in absolute numbers. What they're DIYing has changed radically.
Often, not only with audio replay equipment but a lot of other things of actual daily need and use I do have pretty solid ideas what I want that thing to be, do and look. Searching for that thing can take hours or weeks. Often going to shop for metal raw stock and getting on to the lathe/mill/welder takes a couple of hours.
Then again I'm still working on a power amp I started building around four years ago. Loads of money went into that, loads of time, loads of frustration. It probably isn't really that bad but there are still issues with it. I'm not sure at all if (as it's been called) "this ridiculous machine" has given me more joy or more sorrow. Sometimes I get a chance to listen to really expensive "high end" fabricated gear. And mostly I'm really happy to come back home to my ridiculous stereo as to me it sounds so much better.
rant, rant, rant....
Then again I'm still working on a power amp I started building around four years ago. Loads of money went into that, loads of time, loads of frustration. It probably isn't really that bad but there are still issues with it. I'm not sure at all if (as it's been called) "this ridiculous machine" has given me more joy or more sorrow. Sometimes I get a chance to listen to really expensive "high end" fabricated gear. And mostly I'm really happy to come back home to my ridiculous stereo as to me it sounds so much better.
rant, rant, rant....
yeah I always had that gut feeling of being a latent nihilist, not until I read this thread did I become aware of it... just a last DIY wish before I turn into dust, am still waiting for that 3D printer which can print the whole amp and speaker up from the ground based on a file downloaded somewhere from the internet with just a single mouse click. 
I don't believe that DIY is dying. As with EVERYTHING the times, and projects are changing for the majority of DIYers.
Yes, many of the people here might have started out building audio "stuff" years ago and still do it. I am one of those, but there have been periods of zero audio stuff, and periods with other DIY interests ranging from computers and ham radio, to race cars, but I have always returned to audio.
The reasons for DIY have changed with the times too. When I started in the mid 60's, surplus and junked electronics were everywhere. There were several surplus stores selling ARC 5 and other military radios for cheap, and dead radios, TV's and HiFi sets were often as close as the neighbors trash. Parts for tube stuff were free and plentiful.
Having time and parts (not always good parts) and some insight or flat out guesses as to what to build "IS a tremendous learning opportunity." I learned to appreciate the smoke monster, even if my parents didn't. At the least it tells you what doesn't work.
In the 60's I had those two resources, a ham radio guy a block or so away who worked at a radio station and knew a whole lot more that a 12 year old kid with a box of parts and a Weller soldering gun. Of course, I saved up the 35 cents each for my monthly fix of 3 electronics magazine and was standing at the corner drug store when they came in every month. I built some of those projects as published, then tweaked them until smoke happened, or took my best guess as to how to make them with the parts that I had.
For those who had the money, there was always Heathkit. I got to build two Heathkits for my next door neighbor in exchange for his old equipment.
There was a loophole in the 70's and early 80's where several electronics "correspondence schools" were deemed "eligible educational institutions" for those covered under the GI bill. Several offered Heathkit TV sets, Stereos and even ham radio equipment as part of the "educational experience", and the US government paid for them! There was some DIY going on here that helped extend Heathkit's lifetime and even taught some basic electronics.
Today there are the few of us still building audio, but most of the DIY effort today revolves around the current "maker" movement. "Maker" computer boards have been around since the late 70's, and gained some traction in the 2000's with some powerful embedded Linux boards, but the real catalyst behind this had to be the Arduino, followed by the Raspberry Pi.
When you put a $10 computer board into the hands of a "12 year old kid" (or even a 65 year old kid) who has an idea and some rudimentary coding skills, anything can happen. Add an internet full of forums and YouTube to find others with similar ideas and discuss them and you can see the DIY effort blossoming again.....it's just not same one we see here on diyAudio.
OK, 65 year old kid with a $30 CPU board, a $15 codec board, some vector board, a box full of pots and basic coding skills wants a music synthesizer. This is what results:
YouTube
Yes, many of the people here might have started out building audio "stuff" years ago and still do it. I am one of those, but there have been periods of zero audio stuff, and periods with other DIY interests ranging from computers and ham radio, to race cars, but I have always returned to audio.
The reasons for DIY have changed with the times too. When I started in the mid 60's, surplus and junked electronics were everywhere. There were several surplus stores selling ARC 5 and other military radios for cheap, and dead radios, TV's and HiFi sets were often as close as the neighbors trash. Parts for tube stuff were free and plentiful.
Having time and parts (not always good parts) and some insight or flat out guesses as to what to build "IS a tremendous learning opportunity." I learned to appreciate the smoke monster, even if my parents didn't. At the least it tells you what doesn't work.
In the 60's I had those two resources, a ham radio guy a block or so away who worked at a radio station and knew a whole lot more that a 12 year old kid with a box of parts and a Weller soldering gun. Of course, I saved up the 35 cents each for my monthly fix of 3 electronics magazine and was standing at the corner drug store when they came in every month. I built some of those projects as published, then tweaked them until smoke happened, or took my best guess as to how to make them with the parts that I had.
For those who had the money, there was always Heathkit. I got to build two Heathkits for my next door neighbor in exchange for his old equipment.
There was a loophole in the 70's and early 80's where several electronics "correspondence schools" were deemed "eligible educational institutions" for those covered under the GI bill. Several offered Heathkit TV sets, Stereos and even ham radio equipment as part of the "educational experience", and the US government paid for them! There was some DIY going on here that helped extend Heathkit's lifetime and even taught some basic electronics.
Today there are the few of us still building audio, but most of the DIY effort today revolves around the current "maker" movement. "Maker" computer boards have been around since the late 70's, and gained some traction in the 2000's with some powerful embedded Linux boards, but the real catalyst behind this had to be the Arduino, followed by the Raspberry Pi.
When you put a $10 computer board into the hands of a "12 year old kid" (or even a 65 year old kid) who has an idea and some rudimentary coding skills, anything can happen. Add an internet full of forums and YouTube to find others with similar ideas and discuss them and you can see the DIY effort blossoming again.....it's just not same one we see here on diyAudio.
OK, 65 year old kid with a $30 CPU board, a $15 codec board, some vector board, a box full of pots and basic coding skills wants a music synthesizer. This is what results:
YouTube
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