Don't be dumb!!! ASK!!!

[Keithp76]

First of all, I want all of you that think building speakers is simple, to forget about that notion. I went and spent good money building a set of speakers that were high end looking and sounding. I put a Cerwin Vega crossover and they turned out looking beautiful. I also got really lucky, in that they do sound better than store bought. These are TMWW configuration and 4' tall, I want thump..right? Well I got it and so much more...but now that their built and I spent all that time into building what I thought was the perfect speaker...I found out that a 5.25 mid would have been better (can't change that), I put my tweeter directly above my mid and I put it to far away. I found out alot...after the fact and who's fault was that?...ME!!! If I had a brain and my ego didn't get in the way...all I would have needed to do was ask...right here on this site with all these very knowledgable and very nice people.
I understand that if I had 1) asked first then built, I would have a set of speakers that would make my neighbors never want to leave. Thanks to one very awsome and kind guy on this site, I will still have a great set of speakers. He was so kind to design and walk me thru the parts list and schimatic and from what I understand...I will be blown away by the imaging and clean sound I am very sure I will have thanks to some great people here.
THANK YOU EVERYONE THAT HELPED ME.
Keith P

[Steve Henry]

Don't be so hard on yourself, Keith. The learning process is part of this hobby. Consider it a journey, not a destination. We all learn something either through the great contributors on this forum, or by trial and error. Enjoy your new build. Oh, it won't be your last:D.

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

nicely said keith. glad your here.

[Servicetech]

Don't be so hard on yourself, Keith. The learning process is part of this hobby. Consider it a journey, not a destination. We all learn something either through the great contributors on this forum, or by trial and error. Enjoy your new build. Oh, it won't be your last:D.

I've been building since the 80's. Started with some garage sale drivers and built some boxes in my uncle's basement. STILL won't buy store bought speakers to this day.

[johnnyrichards]

Yep, if you want to do it right the first time, ask a lot of questions, read everything you can get your eyes on and duplicate a proven design with good documentation that will relate all that stuff you read to a physical product.

Of course, you can also read all of the information out there and then buy a nice pair of speakers and, except for the awesomeness of assembling it yourself (and possibly saving a couple bucks), you will be in the exact same position - except you will know what it is like to have the wife cuss you out for getting wood glue on your good pants.

At some point (and this point is different for everybody), you have to take the plunge and start designing your own. At least, if you want a deep, personal knowledge of the hobby. Some people are totally groovy with building a few designs and moving on with their lives. Some of us hoard drivers, compulsively build stuff, argue about stuff that makes a 1 or 2% difference in a design, spend a ton of money driving all over the country to sit and listen to other peoples stuff, memorize model numbers running into the 20 digit zone, etc etc.

I have never built someone else's design. I also spent the first ten years of the last twenty in this hobby building failures. The next five I spent building hardly anything, ever, I was just absorbing stuff - primarily reading reviews of speakers and, if possible, going and listening to them myself and correlating what I heard with what the reviewer babbled about to the measurements posted.

Now, I build crap all the time - but, each build is a different color of crap - as I try different things. Right now, it seems I have an obsession with as minimalist as possible on crossovers. This is something that I first became very interested in with my Rompicollo build, and am looking at exploring it further.

The point I am trying to make is that you can read the entire "Speaker Building Bible" sticky a thousand times, read every text ever written on loudspeakers and acoustics, sit on forums for hours and days and weeks and months - all that is ever going to do is provide context for what you like to listen to.

Designing loudspeakers is purely objective, appreciating loudspeakers is purely subjective.

TL;DR - Build more, but only after reading more. Build a variety of designs, and by variety I don't mean eight different 5" based 2-ways with 4th order LR networks.

[Keithp76]

I've been building since the 80's. Started with some garage sale drivers and built some boxes in my uncle's basement. STILL won't buy store bought speakers to this day.

I kind of have the same problem as Tim the Tool Man Taylor...Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!!! I tend to modify things because they build everything so cheap anymore...total crap...China. Woodworking is my Forte' and music is my passion. I did good with these speakers I built...but I could have done much better, and that is truly my point. You can be good at a lot of things and when you try to combine them, your knowledge about the two, is not as good as the one. And that's because it is another discipline and something else to learn first and then step into...it's not cheap or for the faint of heart.

[Keithp76]

Yep, if you want to do it right the first time, ask a lot of questions, read everything you can get your eyes on and duplicate a proven design with good documentation that will relate all that stuff you read to a physical product.

Of course, you can also read all of the information out there and then buy a nice pair of speakers and, except for the awesomeness of assembling it yourself (and possibly saving a couple bucks), you will be in the exact same position - except you will know what it is like to have the wife cuss you out for getting wood glue on your good pants.

At some point (and this point is different for everybody), you have to take the plunge and start designing your own. At least, if you want a deep, personal knowledge of the hobby. Some people are totally groovy with building a few designs and moving on with their lives. Some of us hoard drivers, compulsively build stuff, argue about stuff that makes a 1 or 2% difference in a design, spend a ton of money driving all over the country to sit and listen to other peoples stuff, memorize model numbers running into the 20 digit zone, etc etc.

I have never built someone else's design. I also spent the first ten years of the last twenty in this hobby building failures. The next five I spent building hardly anything, ever, I was just absorbing stuff - primarily reading reviews of speakers and, if possible, going and listening to them myself and correlating what I heard with what the reviewer babbled about to the measurements posted.

Now, I build crap all the time - but, each build is a different color of crap - as I try different things. Right now, it seems I have an obsession with as minimalist as possible on crossovers. This is something that I first became very interested in with my Rompicollo build, and am looking at exploring it further.

The point I am trying to make is that you can read the entire "Speaker Building Bible" sticky a thousand times, read every text ever written on loudspeakers and acoustics, sit on forums for hours and days and weeks and months - all that is ever going to do is provide context for what you like to listen to.

Designing loudspeakers is purely objective, appreciating loudspeakers is purely subjective.

TL;DR - Build more, but only after reading more. Build a variety of designs, and by variety I don't mean eight different 5" based 2-ways with 4th order LR networks.

Thank you.
I put your site on my favorites and I will spend some time checking it out.

[Keithp76]

Don't be so hard on yourself, Keith. The learning process is part of this hobby. Consider it a journey, not a destination. We all learn something either through the great contributors on this forum, or by trial and error. Enjoy your new build. Oh, it won't be your last:D.

Ya...I know...just don't tell my Wife.

[Keithp76]

nicely said keith. glad your here.

I too, when confronted with beautiful sounding music, loose myself. In fact, I loose my train of thought and will gravitate toward the music. Music that surrounds you, envelopes you and brings emotions to the surface, can be quite satisfying to the SOUL and mind.