An Objective Review of Bose Speakers , The Problem with Bose , The Bose FAQ
If you are genuinely interested in putting together a truly first class audio system, have a look through the links below:
I've recently discovered that most high-end retail stereo items that you can purchase have their prices marked up nearly 1000% over the cost of the actual materials. (As a side note, stereo gear sold by Sears, Circuit City, Best Buy, or any other store in the mall does not remotely come close to anything even vaguely resembling "high-end stereo.") This means that if you spend $1000 on a pair of speakers in a typical retail store (a fairly large investment for a decent quality speaker - or so one might assume), you are typically getting only $75-100 dollars worth of individual drivers (components) inside the speaker box! Similarly, a $2000 receiver (again, what you would assume to be a high quality piece) would typically contain about $200 worth of actual parts. The rest is research & design, advertising, profits, etc. So I have decided that from now on, I will build what I want myself.
Example #1: An acquaintance of mine recently had his subwoofer fried by a lightning strike. He was told that for an out-of-warranty repair "flat fee" of $165, the (very reputable, high-end, and well known) company would replace *everything* (amplifier and drivers) in his $1895 subwoofer. For those of you without your calculator handy, that retail price represents 11.5*replacement cost of all components!
Example #2: A very respected amplifier manufacturer in the audiophile community sells a stereo amplifier for $2000 that can be built from equivalent parts costing less than $200! (Makes you wonder just what is inside that $200 integrate receiver/amp from Circuit City...)
Example #3: A highly regarded loudspeaker for home theater applications sold for $4,300 per pair (it is now discontinued). Each cabinet contained a $22 tweeter, a $32 midrange driver, and a $125 woofer. Total retail cost of the drivers alone for one pair: ONLY $358! Throwing in the crossover network probably brings the cost up to an even $400 per pair. Remember, this is retail - the manufacturer purchasing in bulk likely obtained each set of drivers for less than $200 per pair! It must be those laminated particle board cabinets that drove the cost up by $4,100 per pair, right?!?!? If you have some woodworking skills, you are FAR better off spending $1000 on parts or a kit and building your own speakers than spending that same money on the finished product!
In keeping with this Do-It-Yourself philosophy, I am currently building a Pass Labs a40 amplifier. This is a high current, pure Class A push/pull design which produces approximately 40wpc into an 8 ohm speaker. Over the past two years, I have been assembling a list of parts and information about vendors for this amp which also includes estimates on cost. Now that this project is nearing completion, I hope (one day) to build a pair of full range floor standing speakers to go with it. I have also gathered some parts to build a Pass Labs Aleph 2 amp (100wpc Single Ended Class A) and as well as a Pass Labs Aleph-X. Also, be sure to check out the new PassDIY web site for other Class A power amplifier designs. The DIYAUDIO banner above has an entire forum dedicated to designing and building Pass Labs amps.
If you are at all interested in DIY tube audio, you might want to check out some budget 300B and 2A3 based designs by GabeVelez. If you want to spend some serious money on DIY tube projects, Andrea Ciuffoli's web page is definitely worth a look. Other manufacturers of tube amp kits include Bottle Head, Decware, Welborne, Wright, and Moth Audio. These low-powered tube amps (3-10 watts per channel) are well suited for very high efficiency speakers (97dB+ 1W/1m).
DIY Speaker Resources:
My very first DIY speakers are nearing 20 years old and were essentially old cabinets stuffed with nearly random drivers from Radio Shack and an almost nonexistent crossover. We won't dwell on those too much except to say that they now make and excellent pair of test speakers that won't upset me too much if they blow up...
My first REAL do-it-yourself project was constructed 2 years ago: a homemade subwoofer. It is based on an Audiomobile (now defunct) Mass 2012 S24 driver in a 135L vented enclosure tuned to 19Hz. For under $500 complete, it is quite capable of making large concrete slabs resonate, and I will put it up against any subwoofer costing up to $3000-$4000 in the retail market. Measurements reveal flat response down to approximately 17Hz in room. For those of you without a subwoofer, you'd be surprised how much of a difference a real subwoofer can make! If its not BIG and its not HEAVY, its not a real sub... While this may sound like the "bigger is better" mantra that many people seem to despise, there are specific principles of physics and acoustics that simply dictate low bass does not come from little boxes.
Now that I have a home made amp and sub, I need a new pair of speakers to go with the amp. I'm currently in the process of gathering parts for a speaker designed by Tony Gee in the Netherlands, the HATT. This is a small, vented bookshelf speaker with a series crossover. I'm curious to see how it performs compared to my Atlantic Technology AT350 speakers - the drivers in the HATT cost several times those in the System 350...
Since the HATT will be my first speaker "pseudo-kit", I suspect it will be a valuable learning experience that will allow me to tackle some more complex projects. I've been interested in the Scan-Speak line of drivers featured in such kits as the Northcreek Rhythms or BESL Series 4.5k. If you feel really ambitious and have both time and money to burn, have a look at some of the excellent designs from folks like Tony Gee and Troels Gravesen that have been attracting a great deal of attention on the web.
For those of you who prefer to fly solo and design your own from scratch, the Loudspeaker Driver Selection Guide has information about virtually every driver available today, various manufacturers and other product evaluations! Some additional information about books and online forums for DIY speakers can help get you started with the DIY experience. Here is another set of links to anything and everything DIY (speakers, amps, preamps, etc).
Finally, if you liked some of the tube amp designs listed above, you might want to learn about some high efficiency speakers such as those from Hammer Dynamics, Lowther (single-driver full-range kits are available through Classic Audio), AER, PHY-HP, or Adire Audio. Additional information can be found at the Single Driver Webpage.
What's the difference between an average speaker and an audiophile grade speakers? Here's one place to start...
Check the links below for discussion on Equipment, Movies, and Related Topics
The above links are great places to find out more information about the world of home theater and pick find deals on used home theater equipment.
Home video is changing rapidly and keeping up with these changes can be difficult. DVI and HDMI are output formats that connect new DVD players to new high definition televisions. A few trends are beginning to surface and if you are interested in purchasing a new high-definition TV or a new DVD player, there are a few thing you need to consider. What makes DVI and HDMI special is that they are the first ALL DIGITAL connection between a DVD player and a high-def television (S-video and component connections are both analog connections). The greatest improvement in picture quality will be seen on HDTVs that use digital display technologies such as LCD, DPL, or Plasma that enable direct pixel-by-pixel display. HDTVs based upon older CRT technology are likely to also show some improvements with these new connections, but not to the same extent as digital HDTVs. The link above provides a comparison of various display technologies. The links below contain information about recent DVD releases including reviews.
I am also an avid film enthusiast. If you are too, here is a page you
don't want to miss! Its a list of the top grossing box office movies of
all time! Other information at this site includes top grossing movies of
each week, along with actor information. 
Also, from abcnews.com is their Mr. Showbiz column that has lots of current news and events on the film & entertainment scene. This is worth a look for latest movie reviews, too.
There is also an incredible database of all kinds of movie facts, trivia, and information. Just click on their logo:
Be sure not to miss the recent web page from the American Film Institute which celebrates the top 100 movies over the past 100 years!
I also enjoy a wide variety of music from Classical to Rock, and have an extensive collection of music CDs. Here are a few places where you can window shop or make purchases.
Last updated May 15, 2001