Any DIY speaker clubs in SF Bay Area

artinaz

hello everyone,
I have been reading about DIY speaker designs on the web. There are many that read great with reviews and recommendations. However, as a newbie in DIY, I woudl love to base it on first-hand authentic experience.

Are there any DIY-ers club here in the SF Bay Area or some one who has built a pair of speakers that would like to share their experience (answer questions, share tips etc) ?

I am in Fremont, CA.

Azi

Face

Pick up the "Loudspeaker Cookbook" and "Testing Loudspeakers" by Joseph D'Appolito.

Also check out the Parts Express and HTGuide forum "Mission Possible DIY".

If you want things to be as painless as possible, start by building a proven design for the first time. A totally custom design can be a lot of work(and headaches). Trust me. After 4 months I'm finally getting "close": http://face.cleanandquiet.com/store/4-28-09%20Left.jpg

Ender

I would not be surprised if there was but I know of none, personally. Why don't you start one? I bet there are tons in SF who make their own speakers. SF has an amazing community of audio aficionados. That's where I picked up two pairs of SDA in one trip.

strider

Azi,

There are definitely a few of us here that build our own speakers, if you have any questions that we can answer over the internet just post them up and we'll do our best.

Have you checked out diyaudio.com? Everybody over there is DIY-ing something, you'll have a better chance of finding someone in your area. There are entire sections of their forum devoted to speaker building. If I remember correctly, the DIY festival called Burning Amp is held in San Fran. Not sure when it is, but definitely keep an eye out for it. Despite what the name may suggest, there are DIY speaker builders there showing off what they've built.

Whatever route you go, make sure you have fun doing it!

Ben

fredv

I'm in the SF BA, but I have yet to build my very first DIY speaker. I have been hoping someone nearby has the wood work skill and tools

With some good suggestion from other members (in a different thread), I am going to buy some "must have" tools and try one very soon. I expect the corners are not going to be a right angle as I would like, and whatever isn't what it is supposed to be, but hey, nothing is better than learning from experience/mistake, no guts, no gory

artinaz

Thanks for all the information- I am going to get myself a copy of the loudspeaker cookbook.

What DIY speakers do you guys have experience with. Reading through the reviews they all seem to have good reveiws- which is why a first experience and comparison would be great.

I am looking for speakers taht would be efficient >92, 94. I have reading on the low watt SET amps. Budget about 700 bucks. Any suggestions ?

Azi

strider

I've built these. Single driver, crossoverless monitors with a Fostex Fe127e driver in each. Good from about 60hz to 15k hz. Really superb imaging, relatively easy to build. They do have a good hump at about 6k hz that some people can't get past. There's a couple good build threads on diyaudio. Also pretty inexpensive to build.

Currently I'm building a pair of bass bins to take the low end load off of the Fonkens from 120hz down.

ben62670

First few times I strongly suggest doing a known build with plans for everything including box, drivers, and the XO's. Get a Jasper circle jig and a router. Let Lowe's make as many of the pre planed cuts as possible. I have found HD's employees nearly all incompetent when it comes to accurate cuts.
Enjoy
Ben