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I might build a set for a friend or family member (who would doubtless love it) and test drive it to see if I liked it enough for my own use (wow, does that sound snobby!).
I hope it isn't too snobby because I'm planning to break in the Zaph ZA5.2 TMs I'm building as a gift before I send them so I can decide if I want to make a set for myself or if I want to skip up to the SR71. The center channel one I built sounds really good as a center channel but it is too hard to compare to other speakers as a single because the efficiency is lower so played side by side the others always sound louder.
It is always difficult judging speakers from reviews and comments as there are so many differences to the way they sound and often times reviews mention 'great for the price' and that leaves me wondering 'if I go up to the $300 ones will they be 3 times as good?'
I think the fun would be in the process, and the "I built those" satisfaction when playing them.
I agree, I have 3 amps that I regularly use around the house two of them I built and 1 my Dad built 50 years ago it does add to the enjoyment.
The added bonus would be sharing the results here on AK so people could make informed decisions.
I really wish I was better at documenting builds and writing reviews. Building these latest speakers has been quite a learning process and sharing some of my mistakes along the way might have helped others skip making them. My center channel speaker was originally going to be the first one of the pair as a gift but when I rabbeted out too wide for the inset of the tweeter they moved down from gift quality. I painted the opening black so the 1/8" around the tweeter really doesn't show that bad but for someone else to use them I want them much nicer.
I also have to learn to accept good enough results rather than insisting on perfect since when it comes to plywood joints there is smooth enough and just past that is sanded too far through the top layer.
What if: you built yourself some DIY speakers AND a DynaKit tube amp (new kits available, now) to drive them? How cool would that be? If it's your sole hobby (means of killing free time before you finally die) it wouldn't be hard to justify
The first DIY speakers I built were the overnight sensations kit and it was really fun having speakers I assembled connected to a tube amp that I built completely from scratch.
A short time later I made the mistake of killing time in a Magnolia HiFi and dropped the overnight sensations to home theater use. While those were fun I do have to say the satisfaction level is even greater with starting with a sheet of plywood and ending up with a speaker even if I am using someone else's proven design.
To me I find that building things like speakers and amps requires enough focus that you can't think about any of the other issues of the day while you are doing it so it is a very nice escape.