What can I possibly get with a budget of about $1000

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Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum and obviously new to audio DIY so I might be posting rookie questions.
Reason I want to enter this domain is that soon it will be my grandpa's 80th and I want to give him a meaningful gift, as he's always enjoying the music I think a handmade loudspeaker can be a good choice.
I know there are merchants selling speakers online and many also offers corresponding design for DIY. So as for this part there might be no problem, but question to someone with almost zero experience like me is... Which one to choose?
I have a budget of $1000, any suggestion on which to buy?
 
Hey nrstly, welcome to the world of diyAudio. As KaffiMann said – there are many unknowns here, like how big is grandpa’s setup and where will grandpa’s music come from?

However, here are some suggestions to get you started. Consider something like these standard TABAQ speakers, using these drivers. They should be easy to build, probably cost less than $100 to make, and probably sound much much better than commercial speakers of $1000. These speakers should give grandpa endless music pleasure for the rest of his life.

Don't let your experience level intimidate you. I (like many other forum members here) also started at level zero.

Then, here is how you can spend the rest of your money:
1) Build yourself a set of really really nice speakers like these, using these drivers.
2) Build a Class A Pass amp, starting with this one.
3) Donate a few $ to diyAudio.

By this time you will be so addicted and all over the forum searching for the next preamp, power amp, speakers or DAC to build. Enjoy the ride.
 
Thanks a lot for your response, you guys are amazingly kind-hearted.
1. As for kits no idea yet, someone told me that first thing is to get a good driver so I'm going to start from this part. I've scanned some on the internet but soon got confused because really not much idea about the parameters. Seems experienced ones like you can tell immediately once you see the specifications, how I wish I can do the same...
2. I'd like to get something with a 10' driver and to me it's big enough.
3. Woodworking is not a problem for me, what's more, I am not going to make something with complicated conception like shown in some posts.
4. I still have about 4 months so still plenty of time.
5. I am not intending to get an amplifier because the speaker is already a lot of work for me. He got lots of amplifiers so as long as I don't bring him something very unusual there won't be questions about amplifier...

And, thanks once more for your kind answers and suggestions. I'd take sometime to learn about audio to even understand some points of your suggestions. Anyway I'll be working hard to learn.
 
Keep in mind that the “full range” sub forum generally refers to “single driver” / wide band drivers, or at least systems with limited support of bottom octave or two, most often with separately powered woofer(s).
There are relatively few 10” full-range drivers, but quite a few excellent choices in the 6-8” range - many of us frequenting these fora will have our own favourites / axes to grind :D, and no doubt your cited budget would more than suffice for many of us.
 
While I am sure there are some nice 10" options out there, I would be inclined to stick with 8" or smaller, simply because I find the larger drivers lacking sparkle.

I owned Visaton B200 with phase plugs that were quite nice and my first foray into full range drivers. They were nice and had good highs but the sweet spot wasn't very large.

I went with a 2 way using an EPI 1" tweeter and a 10" Seas woofer that was used open baffle. This combo was much more pleasant to me. What I began to realize is that you need to prioritize your needs.

If a single full range is a must, and no crossover, then full range driver it is. The smaller ones tend to sound better off axis, especially with the phase plugs.

As you age, high frequencies become less prominent and at your father's age, high end may be of lesser concern, and therefore lend itself well to a large full range driver.

If you mean traditional multi-way speakers, like a woof, mid, treble... As someone mentioned, the other sub may be better.
 
I think that you should ask yourself why he has already, if that matches the kind of music he hears and if he is an adventurous kind of guy.

This is the full range sub forum, so here you’d find good ideas for an open baffle or fast if you want bigish drivers.

I think I will try a LX-mini next, though not full range. I’m just finishing a frugelhorn XL now, it is a well liked speaker but with smaller drives. It goes pretty low regardless. The LX-mini has a complicated crossover that is available on the diystore, or you can use a MiniDSP for an easier and less expensive solution. That would require two amplifiers though.
 
I think that you should ask yourself why he has already, if that matches the kind of music he hears and if he is an adventurous kind of guy.

This is the full range sub forum, so here you’d find good ideas for an open baffle or fast if you want bigish drivers.

I think I will try a LX-mini next, though not full range. I’m just finishing a frugelhorn XL now, it is a well liked speaker but with smaller drives. It goes pretty low regardless. The LX-mini has a complicated crossover that is available on the diystore, or you can use a MiniDSP for an easier and less expensive solution. That would require two amplifiers though.

Thanks a lot, yes I'm pretty sure what I want is a full-range and am going to make an open baffle.

As for the driver, really not very sure which one to pick and a friend suggested that I buy from Amazon premium so I can test and return without losing anything more than delivery fee if that doesn't match.

I searched 10" driver and only found several cheap ones and the only one which seemed to be high-end enough has a brand name "Xizi Audio" and worths around $600, I don't know what I should expect at this price, the seller annonces a sensitivity of 99dB and I've heard that above 85dB it's somewhat of high quality.

Also I've considered taking some famous brands like Lowther but question is either price too high or too low or size not match...

To be honest it starts getting me a headache and it's for the first time in my life I hesitate so much for choosing something to buy...
 
nrstly; take scottjoplin’s query seriously - OBs are not a universal magic bullet solution. They can be - to say the least, very room dependant - and take a lot more work to get right than just “cut a hole in a board, and yer dun” .
Neither higher sensitivity nor larger driver size by themselves guarantee nothing . 10” is a great size for woofers, but there’s a lot of good reasons for the dearth of modern full-range drivers of that nominal dimension.
 
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nrstly, indeed follow the advices given here.

You mentioned early on that the most important is to find a good driver.
It is not.

The most important is to find the best combination of driver and enclosure that will work well in your case, being the room and the music it is intended for.

OBs need space to breathe, so they need to be away from walls. Also, using a single 10" full range driver per side will surely result in a poor performance that will have you cringing and crying when you bring it to your grandpa. There will be no bass, and the highs will fall off so hard, you will think that OB people most be nuts to think it is the best sound they heard. Even if you pay $600 per driver.

headache and it's for the first time in my life I hesitate so much for choosing something to buy...

One more reason to not just buy an expensive driver, slap it on a baffle and call it a flop.

There's a lot of info to digest before even attempting to build your first successful pair of speakers. Looks like you will go crazy before that. :)

So, follow the recommendations here, find a proven design, buy the parts for that design, assemble and bring smiles to both you and your grandpa.

Lots to choose from. A short list, there would be more... Frugel horn, TABAQ, Nola Brio clones, and if the room is suitable, the Manzanita OB.
 
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nrstly - note that the Manzanita's cited by Perceval are at the minimum, two ways - with 15" woofer and 4.5" wideband driver as mid-tweet. FWIW, I've been "mucking about with boats" since the late '60s, and have yet to hear an OB that sufficiently floated mine to make the extra effort and sometimes considerable expense - once you consider the ancillary expenses of room design / treatment - to getting them to shine, worthwhile. That doesn't mean they aren't just what the doctor ordered for some folks, just not this sailor.

Manzanita - Open Baffle Speakers, High Fidelity
 
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Hi Nrstly,
Here is my suggestion, if you want to have a single 10" driver with higher than average efficiency there is one other possibility than a fullrange: coaxial driver.
A design based upon a Beta 10cx ported (and a matched compression driver) could make something around 93db spl efficient speaker in a relatively small box.

Here is an example of what it could be:
Kaiutinrakennusohje Yksisilmaiset veljekset - hifi-PA-kaiuttimet Eminence Beta-8CX, Beta-10CX ja Beta-12CX -koaksiaalielementeista | AudioVideo.fi

Not a fullrange ( this is a two way) but you stick to your prefered 10" size and you have a medium efficiency that could match well with low to medium power amplifier with around 50liter box volume ( and the low end response should be adapted as i suppose your grandpa don't listen to dub, hip hop or dubstep...). It should not break the bank too as drivers are not this pricey : you'll need the beta10" and a apt 50 in the example so approximately 120euros per speaker, with the filter expect maybe 270/300euros total per speaker if you don't go with 'audiophile' overpriced components ( the self and capacitors are the pricey items in the filter).
This should let you have some budget for box and a nice finishing.
 
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