I had an eye opening experience in Japan around 1988. I had dinner with an incredibly insightful guy. At the time there was this very glossy magazine (I can't find a reference to it now) but the title translated as Direct Heated and it was Japanese only. The magazine was basically flea powered amps and ultra-efficient single driver speakers. There is a famous Japanese hobby store, Tokyo Hands, that had kits out on the floor for some of the speakers. If you think about it this is like Home Depot having pre-cut speaker kits as a stock item.
I asked him about this and he told me about how hobbies in Japan are a means for an individual to express a personal identity without upsetting cultural expectations. Our culture is very different but the balance between creation and possession has to be dealt with.
Looking at the pcb I’d have to disagree with you completely:
You are not thinking from the perspective of the average individual attempting DIY. You are in the 1%, so to speak.
Part of my discussion was the increasing potential for the novice to be misdirected, increasing the headache for the veteran.
I would suggest that this does not best meet the needs of either party.
You are speaking from the perspective of the veteran, where things appear obvious or can be tweaked using your skill set.
I think if you ask the average intro diyer you will get a much different response as to the overall viability.
Again, my commentary is directed at minimizing veteran distress and reducing snake oil proliferation. Not taking jabs at or advocating specific designs. Only providing a specific example at the request of other posters.
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You do realise that you are about 10 years too late for this forum? Things got confusing for the new person a looong time ago. The light touch mod style (which is what keeps me here) makes it worse, but also does also some wonderful creativity.
What distresses veterans is lazy intro types who wont even do a single search and want to be spoon fed EVERYTHING.
Are DIY projects mostly 2 channel because most of us have 2 channel systems, or do most of us have 2 channel systems because DIY projects are mostly 2 channel? I don't think it's a simple answer like multichannel is hard. I doubt everyone is 100% DIY from source to speakers.
Yup to that last part, particularly for the surround sound/home theatre crowd. I'm living proof that decent enough speakers and even power amps don't particularly require rocket science level math skills or brain surgery level dexterity, but the complexity of functions found in today's HT receivers that can be purchased for less money than some extreme audiophools pay for a power cord would incorporate a long learning curve to achieve.
HDMI DRM stifles DIY. No point if you have to buy a prepro or HT receiver to get your signals out.
Again, you are looking at the result and using that as an argument that it was preordained.
If this was a car forum, would you be saying no point hopping up a car if you can't refine your own gasoline? If you can't cast your own aluminum or forge your own steel? Or would the hobby just develop around practical limitations?
I don’t believe the moderation style plays into the issues I’ve raised. Why 10 years? Do you think the forum is decaying? Seems odd to me that you’ve been a part of this community for 10 years and all you can offer is critiques of the behavior of others. I really enjoy being able to trust the engineering feedback of those without a vested financial interest. This seems to be a rarity amongst forums. It’s interesting that there seems to be no willingness to consider how you may possibly contribute to the larger picture. And that’s not to say there’s some drastic fault, but rather that I think the best analysis should always involve a thorough sanity check.
I think it’s hard for those with vast experience to understand how absolutely overwhelming and daunting the whole process is. Sometimes I think the intro types don’t even know what to be searching for to begin with.
It can take a great deal of time to get a even a basic grasp of what’s going on. I think perhaps you underestimate the amount of time novices spend trying to understand. Of course there are instances in which people may not do all that they can, but to cast a verdict like that is I think missing the full picture.
I think it’s a noble pursuit but also kind of infantilizing to place yourself in a situation far outside your chosen field or areas of experience / comfort in which you’d like to learn. I think people should be treated with respect who are taking that leap. Perhaps if you placed yourself in a situation like this it would come into better focus.
The lazy whipper-snapper routine is nothing new, older generations have been using it on the younger ones since Roman times, as if they were simply born with their knowledge and skill set, or that they where not once in the same position. To me, it points more to general impatience and the deterioration of their memory.
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Again, Id like to reiterate that I believe my suggestions would help to mitigate this effect, encouraging learning while also being mindful of the immense gulf in comprehension between someone such as yourself and a novice.
I also believe it would help to greatly soften the huge time burden many of you take in addressing general misunderstanding.
As a general example: the time it would take for the more talented here to provide learning topologies and materials to point the misguided toward that aren’t too far above their heads to implement successfully would likely be far less than the time spent in the more curmudgeonly correction I see frequently.
SMD may look intimidating, but with a little practice it is amazing to me that working with some pretty small parts turns out to be surprisingly doable. Some small tools, adjustable lighting, and comfortable magnification may be needed to do much, but most people seem to be held back much more by fear of trying than by inherent inability.
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