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I have a lot of old gear, that benefits from new and better engineered components. Plus, cables are easy to make if you know how to solder.

I am a plug and play kinda guy. I really gotta believe that you can't match the research and funding required to bring out one component. As a woodworker I would love to build my own speakers but the thought of trial and error on crossovers, drivers and cabinet design

Given the overpriced and underperforming junk often sold as "High End" or "High Fi" (when the majority is by design incapable of providing High Fidelity reproduction of music), DIY is often the only solution, especially when the pockets are not bottomless.

This is exactly what this "hobby" of ours needs. More DIY kits. It beats the hell outta the model planes and cars I built as a kid. And the satisfaction is just as rewarding as it was back then. Not to mention a LOT of fun.

DIY components can easily sound just as good as a production piece. The electronics in these pieces aren't magic and it's not a huge mystery what the good designs/topologies are. The drawback for most people is the appearance of the finished product. Audiophiles worry more about how the piece looks than they care to admit. Speakers are especially fun to make yourself. Start looking for raw speaker drivers and you'll see a lot of them you recognize from major manufacturer's offerings. Then you'll be amazed how little some of the drivers cost. My DIY components currently include speakers, amplifier and active crossover. Cost me about $800 and kept me off the street.

Much of my system is DIY. The tube pre, solid-state amp, and, yes, even the speakers and cabling. My "B" system will be analog and tube based and will also be all DIY except again, the source.

I have always wanted to build a tube power amp, but my knowledge of electronics is very limited (as is my time). Every time I sit down to learn, I find myself wanting to just listen to music...

I build speakers for all of my systems and for friends also. It a great way to save money and a great hobby. PS they sound better than expensive commerial systems.

Great results for minimum finacial investment, and a wonderful sense of involvement and accomplishment in the hobby.

i have a passive preamp because i have only one source - cd. i thing that everyone who has tried it knows how good it sound for absolutly ridiculous money

I can think of three reasons to DIY:
1) The savings. (I just had several sets of roller bearings made of my own design and saved hudreds of dollars.)
2) The satisfaction. (My "Hip Joint" roller bearings sound better than the $300 commercial sets I've compared them to.)
3) DIY is fun. (I think so after hearing my roller bearing design

Well, I used to. I made my own interconnects, speaker cabinets and amplifiers during the university days.

DIY has allowed me to have champagne performance electronics on a beer budget. My wife doesn't always like the appearance, but you can't argue with the quality of the sound, the satisfaction of using your own skills, deciding yourself on what compromises to make, as well as the unbeatable customer service. :-)

Main speakers (Klones of Wilson X1-SLAMM), including custom electronic crossover; custom DIY monoblock power amps (analog with choke input power supplies, plus a class D amp for sub), all speakers in home are DIY, using Eton, Focal, ScanSpeak, MB Quart drivers.

I would love to try my hand at DIY, but since Iam a total imbecile and know nothing about electronics, I would have to have step by step instructions. There is the rub. There don't seem to be any kit makers out there that can give you all the parts (I mean, including cases) plus a step by step old Heathkit style manual for first-timers. If anyone knows of any, please inform me. Until then, I'll pass.

I was an appetizer at a DIY bug wedding.

I've been bitten many times in my 55-odd years. I remember building two amp/pre-amp combos via Heathkit and Eico. I also rebuilt a Marantz 9 power amp from tubes to chasis, and have had many forays into speaker-building. I've built horn speakers, driver speakers, and more esoteric ribbon speakers. The only component that I have held on to for all of these years is my Marantz 9 power amp. I still use it in my system today, and receive many complements regarding its sound and cosmetics. I have also received many offers (some tempting) from friends who want to purchase the unit. It's simply not for sale. I do not, however, use any of the speakers I have built in my current system simply because they don't sound "right." I purchased a pair of Klipschorns about 30 years ago in a beautiful mahagony finish (yes, we're talking REAL mahogony, folks). I suggest that everyone try to build at least one component in their lifetime, for by so doing, one realizes the enormous complexity that goes into designing and building the best that hi-fi has to offer. The translation? Wonderful, healing music.

I think the AudioAsylum.com tweak group is a riot! People who can not even identify the components inside their gear are attempting tweaks, hoping to turn their $200 CD player into a Class A product. The cable group is just as funny. Some guy last week was trying to make his own Nordost Valhalla cables!

While I have access to nearly everything that can be bought in high end audio (even at dealer cost!), due to part time jobs with two different high end audio dealers, many of the power cables and power distribution devices I use are DIY

I grew up with Heathkits and Knight Kits but along came robots to build things and cheaper labor overseas and the day of kit building was over. I don't think kits will ever come back in any large number. But if it was something really good I wouldn't hesitate for a minute, it would be great fun.

I built speakers from a kit: Madisound Twynns, with Dynaudio components. The speakers sound great, the cabinet is first class, and I saved a lot of money and have the satisfaction knowing that I built them.

I choose to go the DIY route often ,as it allows me to get the best sound possible for my money, to have the pleasure of making something unique, and because I get to decide the look of the component, making it a piece of art if I choose, not just a 19" rack case. Oh, and it's great fun and I learn a lot, as well as having a huge network of friends worldwide who enjoy this aspect of the hobby as much as me. My speakers (enclosures, xovers,cables), poweramps, preamp, one of my TTs and arm, cassette and open reels all have a healthy dose of DIY mods, or are scratch-built. I have the opportunity to compare my gear with manufacturers' products, and it all compares very well sonically and wins significantly when cost is factored in. I can afford to buy most items, so I wouldn't do it if there wasn't an advantage. Go DIY, it's huge fun.

Yes,I have made my own interconnects (RCA & XLR) which outperformed my two big brand names' $1000 cables; guess which are no longer in my system! However, it gets much better: I made the ultimate titanium audio rack and second to none decouplers; nothing that I have seen or read about and tried come close to the performance of my decouplers (a tweekers delight) or rack. For those of you that think I must be a cheep nut

I've saved hundreds of dollars from DIY power cords alone! On top of that, they're even better than some of the $180+ commercial cords they replaced.

I am of the opinion and experience that well-crafted DIY exceeds the performance of store bought hi-fi. Like clothing, autos, motorcycles, guns, & boats, I find that, for the ultimate, one must resort to custom-made components designed and executed exactly to the user's needs and desires. My DAC, phono-RIAA amp, power amp, and speakers are all DIY. I also have a couple of DIY pre-amps that share time in the system with a surround processor/pre. For details of just how far DIY efforts can go see: http://www.galstar.com/~ntracy/acg/Xtreme/xtreme.htm

Having built nearly the entire playback chain of my stereo reproduction system (self-designed amps, preamps, speakers) I feel that DIY components can certainly compete with, at least, the "medium boys," if not occasionally the big boys. However, one must note that the DIY scene is not the black art it was 10 years ago. As related to speaker design particularly, the tools available to the DIY designer (measurement as well as CAD) are nearly as powerful as that used by any commercial manufacturer. Further, resources such as the internet provide idea sharing that can help generate new and potentially successful designs. Finally, DIY'ers can apply cabinet building techniques and use parts of such quality as to destroy the profitability of all but the most expensive loudspeakers. For those interested in both sides of playback (listening as well as building), DIY can at the very least provide better knowledge about what you're getting for your dollar when entering a high-end shop.

I gutted out a nice walnut set of JBLs from the early '60s and put in my own drivers and crossover. I used a speaker-design program to find a woofer suitable for the cubic volume of the JBL cabinet and port dimensions. I found an 8" Pioneer woofer from MCM electronics and coupled it with some RadioShack midranges and tweeters and capacitors. I had some old coils from another crossover from another gutted out speaker that I used for the woofer crossover parts and they all sound kind of balanced, though I have yet to do any spectral analysis on their response. I used Monster Cable for the internal wiring, too. Surprisingly, for the money, I can't beat them! I also have another speaker project in the garage, another set of JBL decade series speakers that need some work! I also wanted to keep tabs on how much power I push to those little Pioneer woofers so I took apart an analog Radio Shack watt meter and put its guts into a full width rack case. I rigged it up with lights that turn on when the receiver is turned on. It's a nice touch to my system for, again, not a lot of money! They look nice with their analog VU meters lit up on top of my rack!

Hehehe

I have made various room accoustic treatments and power cords, using a recipe from Bob Crump.

I've built my own speakers. It was a project my girlfriend and I started together, we're still listening to them. That was about 10 years ago. Now, we are married.