Hi,

How much money will you save doing DIY compared to the commercial option you may want in its place?

Have you build a speaker before?
Have you finished a cabinet before?
Are you only considering pre-made kits?

What kind of speaker are you looking to build (bandwidth, purpose) and how loud does it need to be capable of?

Very best,

 

My current speaker cabinets are all diy but beginner speakers that have served well. Only reason I am considering pre designed (not kits) is I'm not good with crossovers (designing) but i can assemble them.
It's for home theater plus music (50/50) and I don't want floor standing. I have 2 huge subs.
Now back to my original question: Can anyone who owns Statement please chime in? From what I have read it is far superior than any branded prebuilt under $4k.

 

I apologize that I am chiming in with something you don't want to hear.

There are no shortage of high quality speakers on the used market. They often sell for less than half of what they were new, and they aren't usually any different than when they were new. You can often listen to them first, to decide if you like them, and if, in a few years, your situation changes, you can sell them in with only a small loss.

Again, my apologies, I don't know anything about the Statements, but I do know a few things about buying high quality used speakers. Hifi sharks is an excellent listing aggregator.

I fully support building your own, and we recently lost one of the kit companies, which made me sad. If you are trying to maximize dollars to performance, used OEM is the way to go.

 

Thanks for a different perspective. I have looked through Facebook market place and people base their price off original msrp and not what speakers sell for new and also their used state. There are exceptions but most people are selling junk.
You only see nice posts where people say I got these for a steal but those are few and needs luck to find. You don't hear from people who have looked for months and ended up spending more on a new B&W.
There is nothing wrong in that if their budget allows for it.

I feel like most people here just post even if they have no idea of the original question just to get upvotes and post count and link to sites they are affiliated to.
Which of these two Amps are better - Why do you need amplifier ?
Are these diy speakers good - I have no idea but you should go look for used !

I posted in a forum called "DIY speakers.." and still get a response - Why DIY?

 

Actually, looking it up, Ricci has it listed in drivers in May 2019, with a quoted 'street price' of $1,000. I know there were some deals going around for less than that, but now Parts Express is selling them for about $1209, with shipping included, which ain't too bad...

 

I know nothing about the Statements except Jim Holtz designed great speakers and helped inspire my own build with his Stentorians. I could have went with an AIY kit and probably saved some moneys. I know that I will never buy another commercially made speaker again though.

 

Go the DIY route because you want to DIY speakers, not because you want to save a buck (which is questionable if you will).

Also the Travelers is the updated version:

Jim Holtz: Travelers vs The Finalists vs Statement Monitor

What are the differences and which one would your prefer or suggest? Thank you!

www.diyaudio.com

 

I'm considering DIY to save some $$$.
Jim Holtz Statement Monitor was highly rated may be 13 years ago?
Are there any recent owners of the Statement series who can chime in?
The ribbon tweeter once $80 is $135 now and drivers are also old. Are they outdated?

Not a statement owner, but an owner of a speaker that uses the same midrange - Tang Band w4-1337SD. That midrange is NLA. Some have claimed the SDF model (ferrite motor, not neo) is a drop-in replacement and others have said the differences are noticeable but subtle. Who is right? Is the replacement better/worse?

Next point. I have listened to speakers others have raved about and thought they must be tone deaf. If people rave about speaker X, in this case the statement monitors, there’s no guarantee you will have the same taste in sound they do. You could build them and hate them or you may love them. That’s the risk with AIY vs DIY.

If you have the ability to DIY, you can change the design until you do love it. If you do not have that ability and you’re stuck with AIY, you’re also stuck with how the speaker sounds. If you hate them, you risk having little resale value too.

Many years ago I advocated for people to go the DIY route to save money. After building my own speakers and buying used speakers, the best value and least risk is buying used speakers. I would use my speakers as an example, Revel F206. After adding up paying full retail for drivers and crossover parts, it was about the same price to buy the used Revel speakers…and I would still have to build the speakers and design the crossover!

If you want to go the DIY route, go for it, it could be a fun learning experience. If you want to go the AIY route because you like woodworking, go for it, it could be a fun project. If you want to go the DIY/AIY route to save money, don’t - buy used.

 

I swapped out the woofers in my speakers and added $700 to the initial build price after the fact.. Don't do DIY to save money.

 

I thought the Statements were end game speakers years ago and really wanted to build them myself but never did. A few years later I heard them at a guys house local to me and really wasn't all that impressed. I do have Revel M126be's myself to compare to and would keep my Revels hands down. Not the best comparison because it was not my house and my gear but that's the best I can say!

If I was going the DIY route now I would probably go for one of Javad's designs like the Helios or another SB acoustics/Satori kit from Madisound.

 

I love to do AIY, I do not have the skills to design my own crossovers. There are times I will buy a kit and I need to cut all my own wood, so closer to DIY but not exactly.........

I did it because I love to build stuff. Lets me finish them the way I want to, which is typically with veneer unless it is something I don't care about then it gets painted black or I use Duratex.

I agree that for the dollar spent, used is the best deal. No fun in the build process but does have a better resale value later when you want to try new stuff. Not many are buying used AIY/DIY stuff, but they are out there.

I have built a lot of DIYSG kits. Unfortunately for me once I heard ribbon tweeters I fell in love with them, Erich needs to design a kit using them. I still have plenty of his stuff around and still like it.

 

Whats are three ribbon tweeter, 3 way bookshelf speakers you guys recommend to look for in the used market?

 

Don't need to shop used to get incredible speakers:

The BMR Monitor (Price EACH)

philharmonicaudio.com

Dennis has you covered. 👌

Very best,

 

I already have those.
While we can buy the drivers that he uses, his crossover is the real key.

 

Used philharmonic BMR Monitor for Sale | HifiShark.com

Used Philharmonic Bmr Monitor for sale on 400+ second hand hifi sites & shops. Use Hifi Shark to monitor pricing and global availability

www.hifishark.com

Currently, no, but you can see the frequency they come up and the asking prices in the sold tab.

 

Sierra Series

World-Renowned Performance And Exceptional Accuracy Our Sierra line of speakers represent the highest performance we offer, featuring low-resonance layered bamboo cabinets and best-in-class custom made drivers. These speakers best represent our commitment to our own standards. This will be...

ascendacoustics.com

No three ways though, except for the floor standing units, which you don't want.

 

Used salk surround supercharged for Sale | HifiShark.com

Used Salk Surround Supercharged for sale on 400+ second hand hifi sites & shops. Use Hifi Shark to monitor pricing and global availability

www.hifishark.com

Salk also used the RAAL tweeter on some of their speakers

Salk Sound

salksound.com

Used salk for Sale | HifiShark.com

Used Salk for sale on 400+ second hand hifi sites & shops. Use Hifi Shark to monitor pricing and global availability

www.hifishark.com

 

The Ascend SIERRA-2EX V2 and the Philharmonic BMR are around the same price and both use a RAAL ribbon tweeter. Has anyone heard both? Any comparisons?