DIY home theater speakers....

[GRIFFIN1]

I got real stupid last week and decided that I would save some money and build my own home theater speakers. I ordered the Audax kit from Madisound without the cabinets and without the subwoofer. I then placed an order at parts express for a 250W amp and a 12" subwoofer. This puts me up about $950 just for the drivers and a sub amp. I was able to borrow a circular saw from my girlfriends dad, but I did have to buy a router and 3 bits which cost me about $100. I have also spent around $150 on wood, screws, PVC pipe, and other various items. Wood veneer is damn expensive at Lowes. $26 for a 2' x 4' roll. I did find it online for $31 for a 4' x 8' sheet, but I haven't ordered it yet.

After crawling around on the floor of my garage all weekend, I am still no where close to being finished with this project. Getting acurate cuts with a circular saw and a straight edge takes a lot of time and very careful measuring. I also realize how out of shape I am. I had trouble walking this morning after spending all weekend working on the floor of my garage.

If I had known how much trouble it was going to be, I don't know if I would have even started this.


EDIT
They have been done for a week now, but I'm just now getting the time to put up some pictures. I'm happy with everything but the sub. The sub can really shake the stuff on the walls, but the volume depends on where you are in the room. It's also just too big. I think my next box will be down firing with the port also facing down. This should allow me to build a taller box that takes up less floor space.

I think I'll build some stands this weekend.

See the pictures here.

Oh yeah... don't even ask me what my final cost was. I haven't had the stomach to total it all up. What I do know is that I had to send a $2000 check to the CC company a couple of weeks ago. Not all of that was for the speakers, but I would guess that I spent no less than $1400 for everything.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: GRIFFIN1
I got real stupid last week and decided that I would save some money and build my own home theater speakers. I ordered the Audax kit from Madisound without the cabinets and without the subwoofer. I then placed an order at parts express for a 250W amp and a 12" subwoofer. This puts me up about $950 just for the drivers and a sub amp. I was able to borrow a circular saw from my girlfriends dad, but I did have to buy a router and 3 bits which cost me about $100. I have also spent around $150 on wood, screws, PVC pipe, and other various items. Wood veneer is damn expensive at Lowes. $26 for a 2' x 4' roll. I did find it online for $31 for a 4' x 8' sheet, but I haven't ordered it yet.

After crawling around on the floor of my garage all weekend, I am still no where close to being finished with this project. Getting acurate cuts with a circular saw and a straight edge takes a lot of time and very careful measuring. I also realize how out of shape I am. I had trouble walking this morning after spending all weekend working on the floor of my garage.

If I had known how much trouble it was going to be, I don't know if I would have even started this.

Yeah, but when you're done not only have you saved a few bucks (you'd do well not to calculate your hourly rate, since it's probably small on this as you're a novice and it took forever, kinda like me taking 2 hours to get a damn oil filter off), but you can say you did it yourself

 

[CurtCold]

Just think it will be worth it, when your sittn' in front of the TV chilln' out listening to the game, or watching LOTR.

No pain, No GAIN...

 

[ATLien247]

I don't think DIY will save you any money, if you value your time. Then again, if you enjoy what you are doing, then it all works out in the end.

 

[GRIFFIN1]

Originally posted by: ATLien247
I don't think DIY will save you any money, if you value your time. Then again, if you enjoy what you are doing, then it all works out in the end.

This is something I have wanted to do for a long time. Back in the late 80's I built car speaker boxes for myself and my friends. We never tried to make a ported box, and they were always covered with carpet. Since this is something that will be in my living room, I'm going to try to make sure it is as perfect as possible. I'm not even going to figure in my time in the final price. I spent a lot of time drawing up plans in microstation so I would know how to get the most of my wood. It was also a good way to reduce the number of cuts that I would need.

 

[arcas]

Depending on what you choose to build, DIY can be alot cheaper than commercial plus DIY kits often have better thought-out crossovers than similarly-priced commercial offerings so the results sound better. The D'Appolito and the Audax stuff both have good reputations and when finished, you should end up with a setup you're proud of though IMO the Audax kits are rather expensive.

I respect your courage, though, to jump into the fire and build an entire home theater setup as a first DIY project (I'm assuming this is your first project since you didn't already have the tools). Might have been a bit better to choose an inexpensive 2-channel kit -- say one of WayneJ's kits such as the D-III -- just to get a feel for what's involved. Like you said, getting straight cuts with a circular saw is painstaking but it can be done and working with veneer can be a bitch the first couple times. Then apply that experience towards your 5.1 home theater setup. The 2-channel kit would make a good birthday or christmas gift if you decided you had no use for them.

Excellent choice on the Titanic MKII, BTW.

 

[FenrisUlf]

Ditto what arcas said, except I would go with the original Titanic or Shiva (I've done both). The Audax kit is very highly regarded and you probably wouldn't be able to buy anything even close for twice the price. It helps to have a table saw or someone who has one to make the cuts, then it goes quick. I would recommend TapeEase for veneer, good service and great prices. I use the wood glue iron on method - it's (IMO) simpler and safer than contact cement, although it does take longer. Check the Parts Express Tech Talk forum for advice and if you have questions. It sounds (no pun intended) like you've got a great system in the works. Good luck.

 

[GRIFFIN1]

TapeEase is the site I was going to buy the veneer from, but I wanted to get an idea about their shipping prices.

 

[Lithium381]

Yeah, that's a HUGE first project, you could have gotten the BR-1's from parts express, i heard those are really nice, i'm thinking of buying two pair for a home theatre, i've already got a subwoofer, though i'd have to enginer my own center channel, though that wouln't be TOO hard.......so far i've only built two main speakers(two way, 6.5") and a sub(8", w/ 120w amp)......only cost like 250 and it sounds like MONEY

 

[GRIFFIN1]

I'm almost done. See the pictures and the update above.

 

[flashbacck]

that's so cool! I'm jealous.

I've never really heard of diy kits for speakers. What do they come with? and what do you provide and have to do?

 

[EvilYoda]

nice job, very cool! I'm still waiting to finish my sub...but when I do...the neighbors better be nice, or they're never sleeping.

 

[GRIFFIN1]

The kit from Madisound came with everything you need except for the wood. It includes, the drivers, crossovers, acoustic foam, polyester fiberfill, binding post, rubber gaskets for the speakers, solder, and screws for mounting drivers and crossovers.

I was able to borrow most of the wood working tools that I needed for this job, but it would have been much cheaper and easier to just buy the cabinets from madisound if I didn't have the tools. I doubt the cabinets from madisound come with veneer, so you would still have to buy that. The veneering and finishing steps take a lot of time.