JVC's build-it-yourself speaker set, but why would you?

A self-assembled speaker set that costs $370 isn't the best value proposition we've ever seen, but we're sure a few of you could figure out why to opt for an unbuilt set of speaker components. Maybe you just need a little more control over the build quality, or maybe JVC's just trying to pass off putting together a box full of speaker bits as a bit of fun. Either way, you'll have to head to Japan to pick up the set of 85mm cones and cherry wood cabinets: yeah, it's get-it-yourself too.

[Via Gadget Lab]

[Sauerkraut @ Nov 18th 2007 1:15PM]

Slow news day?

[Conrad Quilty-Harper @ Nov 18th 2007 1:54PM]

Yuuup.

[T-Bone @ Nov 18th 2007 1:59PM]

What do you expect on a Sunday?

[Carbonize @ Nov 18th 2007 2:09PM]

Nice to see a "blogger" being honest for once.

[b&M @ Nov 18th 2007 1:18PM]

pretty nice...I could use some good speakers..but their pretty expensive...something cheaper would be better.

[Kurt MacD @ Nov 18th 2007 3:00PM]

Explain to me exactly how cheaper is better, while there may be the odd exception, usually more expensive does mean better build quality to some point and degree.

[b&M @ Nov 18th 2007 3:02PM]

Not better in the terms of quality. It just would be more adequate if they were cheaper. Because you can probably get better speakers for the same price.

[max andrews @ Nov 18th 2007 3:03PM]

There are plenty of kits you can get in the US that will sound a lot better for the same price or less. I have built over twenty projects so far, all with great results. Any speaker worth paying for has at least a 5" speaker and a tweeter, this kit from JVC is cute and small but it won't have any bass nor any "sparkle" that you get from a tweeter.
This is a fantastic project with audiophile sound quality, costs about $130 without the cabinet:
http://www.rjbaudio.com/Microbe/microbe.html
Very impressive bass for only a 5" speaker, but you'll still probably want a small subwoofer to really fill in the low end. A good companion for these speakers is the "cerberus" subwoofer designed by the same guy. It's only a 6.5" speaker but it's very powerful for its size. $125 in parts: http://www.rjbaudio.com/Cerberus/cerberus.html

For a slightly larger project, this one is cheap and has excellent sound quality, although it will need a more robust amplifier than your typical sony reciever: http://www.zaphaudio.com/BAMTM.html

Parts for these projects can be found at partsexpress.com
and madisound.com

There are literally hundreds of projects out there to fit all shapes, sizes, and budgets. You usually get a cost/performance benefit of about 5X by building it yourself, meaning you'd have to spend five times as much in a store to by a speaker that had similar sound.
Here's links to some other projects:
htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=13154&page=1&pp=35
rjbaudio.com/projects.html
zaphaudio.com/
partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/projects.cfm

Help can be found here: pesupport.com/cgi-bin/config.pl
I post there regularly and there's a lot of really helpful guys.

Happy building!

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Nov 18th 2007 7:58PM]

You can get a set of better sounding Axiom M2 or M3 v2 speakers and still have money left to burn. Axiom is a company with a great reputation for quality and custom options. If you really love bass, then check out their subwoofers.

http://www.axiomaudio.com/bookshelfspeakers.html

[Armstrong @ Nov 18th 2007 1:30PM]

Don't know if it does have a good sound but never gonna buy that kind stuff. Hah? Where is my speaker?

[Rick @ Nov 18th 2007 1:27PM]

Awesome, I like the DIY option. However, for the size, they're way toooooo expensive.

[max andrews @ Nov 18th 2007 3:06PM]

See my reply to B&M above

[SuperQ @ Nov 18th 2007 1:42PM]

If you're looking for custom-built speakers, you're better off with madisound.com or partsexpress.com. A friend of mine built a really nice speaker set for about 1/2 what you would pay retail for the same quality speakers. Of course, all that missing cost is the labor of making the speakers.. but he likes doing woodwork, so it was fun for him.

[dataminer49er @ Nov 18th 2007 1:41PM]

What a deal! I would like to see for an additional 50 bucks the option of growing my own tree and mining my own raw materials to manufacture the components to build my own speakers. LAME!

[aardvark sandwich @ Nov 18th 2007 1:47PM]

First off, the whole point is to put the $ into the materials, not labor. Second, Audiocube ships to the U.S. from Japan; thats the whole point of their site. Lastly, being small doesn't make a speaker bad. By that logic, all speaker manufacturers would be making speakers the size of cars. From the picture, it looks like these are another stab at making wooden drivers. The thought is that the best Stradivarius violins were made from wood, and sounded amazing, so wooden speakers should sound amazing too. There are of course different view points on that matter.

I like how the article title judges the content for you rather than allowing the viewer to make their own decision. Thank you, impartial engadget reporters. Ughhh.....

[roflercopter @ Nov 18th 2007 2:56PM]

Hey buddy, this is engadget. We speak the first thing that comes to our minds on all subjects including those we have little to very knowledge on.

You can take your sensible thoughts on a seemingly (to us) pointless product else where. We don't need folks of your ilk here. We want those that rush to judgment and fail to think critically about their own ideas.

[andyo @ Nov 18th 2007 3:50PM]

Bigger is indeed better up to a point. There is a sweet-spot, you know. Audible sound waves have their range of sizes, and cabinets are also size-limited for the best sound, depending on the design. That's why you don't see car-sized speakers.

Why do manufacturers make small speakers? Because of convenience. There is ALWAYS audio quality compromise when talking about very small speakers. And not even just that. Just look at Bose. Their marketing trumps all attempts at making the best compromise between quality and size, so a speaker company can be very successful in not just selling small speakers, but very sub-par ones too.

And the claim about Stradivarius? Man there is indeed so much BS running in the audio world. Is is "controversial"? Sounds to me like Intelligent Design Creationism-speak. There is no real controversy because there is no real science in there. There is no credible evidence provided besides some wild claim.

[Brian @ Nov 18th 2007 1:51PM]

Dont hate on diy, this market is huge and way better than paying retail if you can woodwork. Sure those speakers may suck but listen to what super q said. I build these for about 250 total and would put them up against any speaker pair under $1000.
[IMG]http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/bonehead848/Picture002.jpg[/IMG]

[Chris @ Nov 18th 2007 8:28PM]

nicely done! I don't know much about speakers, but they sure do look purdy!

[Brian @ Nov 18th 2007 1:53PM]

stupid image code...
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/bonehead848/Picture002.jpg

[B @ Nov 18th 2007 2:01PM]

They are cutting down assembly costs :D

[T-Bone @ Nov 18th 2007 2:05PM]

Being small does make a speaker bad. It limits a speaker's low range power significantly. The only reason I got 10-inch subs in my car was because the other speakers didn't play the low ranges. A band or symphony is incomplete without bass.

[zargon @ Nov 18th 2007 2:22PM]

@T-Bone

No, the size of the speaker does not make a speaker bad, or good for the matter of the fact. You are taking your personal opinion needing low freq out of a speaker and assuming a speaker is good or bad because of that.

Smaller speakers obviously are not meant for bass since they do not have the bass drivers due to size. This however does not mean they do not do a good job at producing sound. The idea of smaller speakers is just that, they are smaller. Supplementing them with a sub is where you get your bass from. You use this very example with car audio, why wouldn't it apply to home?

Personally, I rather take a speaker that sounds good in the mid to high and lacks bass and rather, buy a good high quality sub (SVS, Paradigm, Velodyne, etc...), or two to get my bass from. Rather than speakers that come with built in power subs, where the compartment for the bass is not ideal designed like it is in a true dedicated sub.

This is the vary reason I went with the Paradigm Studio 60s, rather than the 80s or 100s. I did not need the bass speakers built it, I get my bass from my PS-1000 and Servo-15.

[zfurie @ Nov 18th 2007 2:23PM]

"A band or symphony is incomplete without bass"

I did a double-take on that. I thought I read:

"A band or symphony is incomplete without a DUMBASS"

[Yem @ Nov 18th 2007 2:36PM]

Rear-ported bookshelf speakers. Genius.

[BigDaddyM @ Nov 18th 2007 2:39PM]

Why not also kill the DIY spirit with a title like that.

[Klaus Burton @ Nov 18th 2007 2:40PM]

zargon is right. Some of the best quality stereos around have small speakers, because if you have great quality little tweeters and a large subwoofer, that subwoofer gives the illusion that those little speakers are huge and have a lot of kick. All of my stereos have little speakers that attach to the walls, but the systems cause earthquakes in China.

[T-Bone @ Nov 19th 2007 12:51AM]

Could you please point out the subwoofer and tweeters in this kit?

[Kaminix @ Nov 18th 2007 2:55PM]

Sounds like fun, I'd get them in a second if I wanted speakers like that.
IKEA here in Sweden have been applying the same technique for years by the way, cutting down on assembly costs by letting the user mount the parts by him/herself.

[tiuk @ Nov 18th 2007 2:59PM]

Which is great, if putting the parts together passes savings onto the consumer. For $370, this seems like JVC is just out to rob its customers.

[Kaminix @ Nov 18th 2007 3:11PM]

I don't know anything about speaker prices really, so I can't really reply to that. ^^ Figured it might've been good speakers or something.

[Kurt MacD @ Nov 18th 2007 2:57PM]

T-Bone:
>Being small does make a speaker bad. It limits a speaker's low range power significantly. The only reason I got 10-inch subs in my car was because the other speakers didn't play the low ranges. A band or symphony is incomplete without bass.
. No no it doesn't, just because a speaker is small doesn't mean it's Freq. response has to be small, it just all depends on the quality. That being said, these are actual WOOD cones and I know psb or someone (panisonic or some company starting with a P) was/has one in the works and has been for 20 years just experimenting with it in the labs. The tone and resonance of these wood coned speakers is supposed to be spectacular.

Zargon:
>Smaller speakers obviously are not meant for bass since they do not have the bass drivers due to size.
.Yes and no, a small driver and still re-produce a good amount of bass, it's just not as loud due to the reduced cone size.

Yem:
> Rear-ported bookshelf speakers. Genius.
. It is genius, the sound will be deeper/louder should the sound waves have something to bounce/resonate off of. Just like how bottom firing home theater subwoofers make the biggest boom compared to the ones with the sub cone facing the floor.

BigDaddyM:
>Why not also kill the DIY spirit with a title like that.
. I feel ya, everyone is used to EVERYTHING being made for them so they can take their hot little hands and scoop it up off the retail store shelves. No one knows what work actually goes into making great products, and this is a good start, although an actual DIY speaker driver where you actually have to put the driver and cone together would be even more fun.

My conclusion? I would definatly buy this if I had the extra cash because not only are they wood cones (I bet they sound wicked) but putting together something that actually works is fun and a learning experiance.

Sunday thing:

.I think that the editors use sunday as an excuse to slack off or not work at all. I've only seen a couple new posts today and I sure as hell know that if it were me on the editor team I would garentee a slew of (worthwhile) posts that would probably get you guys so much traffic there would be traffic jams (yeah, on the internet).

[max andrews @ Nov 18th 2007 3:18PM]

Wood cones are snake oil. You don not want you speakers cone material to resonate in any way, you want them to reproduce the original signal perfectly without adding any noise or coloration. The resonance comes from the instrument that was originally recorded, not from a 3" wooden coned speaker. They try to market it as if it's the greatest thing in the world, but they're research really was about how to charge people 5 times too much for a tiny wooden speaker.

It is true that size doesn't necessarily mean no bass, but it's also true that there is no replacement for displacement. You always lose something when reducing the size. It could be the volume the speakers can play without distortion, it could be how low they can play, it could be how clear they sound. Also, the samller a speaker box gets, the more distortion you gte due to the sound waves bouncing around the inside of the speaker. These sound waves reflect back into the speaker cone but with a slight delay because of the distance traveled, and they muddy the sound. High end speakers are usually very deep and heavily stuffed with acoustic foam to absorb these rear sound waves.

If you really want to build something worth your money, look here:
http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/projects.cfm
http://www.rjbaudio.com (the microbe is great, costs $130 without the boxes)
http://www.zaphaudio.com (Bargain aluminum MTM is a great value)

[Jotenks @ Nov 18th 2007 3:22PM]

I could have paradigm mini monitors for that price, which I believe will smoke any speaker that jvc has ever produced.

[DarkLightConnection @ Nov 18th 2007 3:23PM]

Is it me the only one who thunk "great project for kids"?

Not too soft (buying it all made) and not too hard (starting from zero with dangerous tools and materials)

[DarkLightConnection @ Nov 18th 2007 3:25PM]

Oops, didnt want to reply to that post

[T-Bone @ Nov 19th 2007 12:56AM]

Your reply to me and zargon basically said what I said. Of course these produce bass, it just isn't audible at normal listening distances. Any dumbass with headphones can test this for himself.

[Kurt MacD @ Nov 19th 2007 11:33AM]

>Your reply to me and zargon basically said what I said. Of course these produce bass, it just isn't audible at normal listening distances. Any dumbass with headphones can test this for himself.
.And I suppose you've already bought these and listened to them yourself? Course you haven't and so don't even say shit about what they sound like until you actually have heard them play. They could sound like crap with barely or no bass or they could have a nice warm bass, while being a little light but they probably still reproduce the bass fairly well down to 120hz at least.

Please stop being dumb and wasting pixels on my computer monitor

[Norad 4 @ Nov 18th 2007 3:25PM]

I think I'd rather build a speaker from scratch out of cardboard, metal plates and wire.

[bluesky_v2.01 @ Nov 18th 2007 3:22PM]

I love Lego! This is awesome.
. . . wouldn't wanna screw it up though.

[Jotenks @ Nov 18th 2007 3:27PM]

Oh, and Mac, the low story count is mostly because there really aren't any type of major announcements being made on the weekend. Kind of like how your weekend news on tv is more fluff than substance.

[Grant @ Nov 18th 2007 3:42PM]

FLUFF!?!
i was quite relieved to find out that mittens the kitten was safely brought down from a tree by the fire department!

[Grant @ Nov 18th 2007 3:40PM]

is everyone missing the point that these are made of Cherry Wood??
last time i checked, it's pretty expensive stuff and it's pretty well known for it's good audio qualities.
supposedly the cones made out of this stuff has much better quality that your typical polyolefine, but i have never been able to compare the two side by side.

[Jotenks @ Nov 18th 2007 3:54PM]

Your drivers aren't supposed to resonate like wood does. Speakers are designed to reproduce any given audio signal as accurately as possible. Cherry wood is pretty and nice for instruments, but I'll take polymers or a stiff paper weave almost anyday.

Btw, deals can always be had even on major brands. I got my Klipsch Rf-82's for $500 directly from Klipsch through a reseller accomodation program. Not saying they're the greatest speakers, but they sure are one hell of a bang for the buck!

[mmmmna @ Nov 18th 2007 7:21PM]

85 millimeters = 3.34645669 inches.... The main driver is 3 1/3 inches? bah.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-642 is currently less than half price and has a 6 1/2" driver AND a 1 1/8" tweeter. The Parts Express kit costs "$139.00 PR" on sale right now, but even when not on sale, $239 for the pair, the Parts Express speakers are better in the bass region. For less money.

Why does JVC bother?

[skoochy @ Nov 18th 2007 8:20PM]

Why does JVC do it?

1) smaller stuff sometimes costs more than bigger stuff (the partsexpress speaker kit for $139 must not be as good a deal as claimed if a 12" kit is available for less).

2) maybe some people actually don't mind spending more for something not made in china. the people that always complain how something should be cheaper, they're the ones that are buying everything lifestyle related made in china and making gas and everything else important more expensive here.

3) it's always good to have choices. more choices means more competition. and you can't possibly predict what other people's requirements are (maybe i have a space that is exactly the size of those speakers), so filling a niche can be important.

bah, at least i can enjoy the comments about "this is engadget, we only want people that rush to conclusions". someone should make a "jump to conclusions" mat or something.

[max andrews @ Nov 18th 2007 9:08PM]

1) there is no 12" kit available for less. If there is, it's only a subwoofer. The BR-1 kits are an absolute steal for $139/pair, you will not find a speaker that sonically compares for anywhere around that price.

2) The parts for these are still most likely made in china. And why would I spend more for something that is not put together? I can sell you a car for $5000, or I could sell you all the parts you need to make the car for $6500. Which would you like?

3) I agree with you that choices are important. In this case, the choice they have made for how much to sell it for will determine whether their product is commercially successful. Based on my experience with speaker building, these cost too much and offer too little. If you want something that sounds the same and costs under $100, try this: http://www.zaphaudio.com/audio-speaker18.html

4) Nice jump to conclusions mat reference.

[Phil_B @ Nov 19th 2007 12:09AM]

Cost aside - did anyone notice the lack of a tweeter and crossover? This is apparently a full-range driver and these have a bit of a cult following.
http://fullrangedriver.com/

[jamesrdoe @ Nov 19th 2007 5:27PM]

Yeah what Phil_B said. In Japan building your own speakers is a popular thing. Also these are single drivers. There is a large number of people who prefer small single driver systems because of the lack of crossover. A crossover can often create breaks in the frequency band and it also has the problem of the highs and mids being spread out rather than coming from the exact same location. These aren't your typical rock, rap, or techno speakers. These are speakers that will excel at acoustic instruments and music such as classical, or jazz. I've got a couple 4" drivers similar to these (no wood cone) but I haven't finished the boxes yet. They do have a completely different sound to regular speakers so clear and lifelike. The small size is typical for Japan.

[etane @ Dec 2nd 2007 1:59PM]

At 81 db sensitivity, this isn't exactly going to win over the single driver speaker crowd.