"Chris Morriss" wrote in message
news
In message , Dave Plowman
writes
In article ,
Jem Raid wrote:
Must be great to know how something is going to sound before you've
even made them. Are you trying to sell the kits or something?
LoL there aren't any kits, most DIY speakers and amps are far superior
to the overengineered and overly priced rip offs that crowd the pages
of
the so called 'hifi' magazines.

*Most* diy amps and speakers? Wonder if you'll feel the same after you've
made yours - or will, to the point, others?

e.g.classic milestone DIY amps, the JLH Class A (1969) and what is now
known as the Gainclone (2001), both using ordinary components in a
different and innovative way, and then copied and sold to the punters
for 100 times the price of the components. In the case of the Gainclone
the component price using the very best availaible would be about £100
for a pair including the (2) power supplies; the cost of buying a pair
of Gaincard amps and a pair of power supplies is about £7,000.

I wouldn't dream of defending high priced fancy 'naimed' stuff. However,
at the decent budget end, NAD etc, you'll not even buy the components -
even in bulk - for what they cost.

As regards DIY speakers, few will have the equipment or skills to make
them *look* other than DIY, and poor diy at that.

I'm not knocking making sound equipment. But it's best to make the things
you can't buy at a reasonable price.


But the finish quality of most modern hi-fi speakers is pretty poor.
(With the exception of people like Monitor Audio who do produce superb
cabinets).

I recently bought (cheap, to monitor some pro-audio DACs at work) a pair
of B&W DM601s. Perfectly OK speakers, and I know they are low-cost ones
at a selling price of £300, but the finish quality is appalling. Tatty
black vinyl wrap that looks as if it comes with a £50 system from Tesco.

An amateur, with a bit of care can produce far higher quality cabinets.
--
Chris Morriss

Dear Chris,

Your coments bear out my experience in engineering, the people who do know
how to do things well are all over 50 and most of them want to or do get out
of it, creating a skill shortage despite the shrinkage of manufacturing.
This obviously spills over into other industries as well, it's a shame and
it looks as though the DIY'ers will have to carry the skills as best they
can.

J