Home Theater Hacks

Chapter 9. Do It Yourself

Hacks 75–83

Home theater presents myriad reasons and options for DIY, or do-it-your-self, activities. Reasons can range from and be combinations of saving money, starting a new hobby, meeting particular performance goals, meeting particular appearance goals, the challenge, the satisfaction of the end result, or even just because you're bored on a Saturday afternoon. The formula that will determine if DIY is right for someone will be unique to each person. Actual DIY projects can range from buying a complete kit—where all you have to do is make a few wire connections and turn a few screws—to designing and building amplifiers.

I'll start with a word of caution. Building audio equipment needs to be a lifetime hobby if you intend to attempt your own designs, especially if you're trying to design a crossover for a speaker or build an amplifier. You won't save money with these activities, and it might take you years to gather all the necessary equipment and learn enough to design and properly implement a speaker or amplifier from scratch.

Tip

An exception to this is a subwoofer enclosure. With a few weeks of research, you can learn enough to build some very good subwoofer enclosures.

On the other hand, loads of designs are available on the Internet where all the hard technical stuff is done for you. All you have to do is buy the parts and assemble them. Provided you have the tools and some basic skills, these kits or sets of instructions can provide exceptional value. ...