DIY Speakers for Less Than $300! 

Holy crap, that intro was so low energy for LTT! I hope no one died or something like that

Jesus linus, those speakers look awful. You have materials and tools but tweeters look off center and you could use at least fornir for the front. BTW are those Morels' tweeters? It is nice that you show this stuff to the masses tho. Hi fi is lost art.

The final finish is terrible, take some pride in your work :)

That was some really shitty wood work.

Perhaps it was just b-roll, so apologies if that's the case, but I couldn't help but notice the mega thick blindfolds covering their ears. I would imagine that would make hearing high frequencies pretty difficult so may have affected the speaker comparison tests in some way (better or worse I can't say!). It doesn't matter too much I guess, but it's worth noting anyway. Still, great job introducing speaker building to the masses! It's one of the easiest and most rewarding builds you can do at home, so I hope many people give it a go!

looks like you found those speakers in the garbage.

This is a very bad example of a DIY speakers.

Covering ears while testing speakers lmao

Why make them look like shit?

the script felt really off. Kinda cringie and angsty.

6:16 testing for sound quality with ears covered, ok?..

7:23 "For my birthday, _earlier this year._" Like when is your birthday? What date is earlier then 1.1.?

He nailed the pilot holes Actually he screwed them up 😂

What I got from this video was: pay 100 bucks extra to save yourself a lot of trouble and end up with a better result.

That woodworking skill is terrible, I won't complain if it is done by jigsaw alone, but wth?

I just grabbed a pair of Klipsch home theater speakers for 50 bucks at a yard sale, and then found they are $1200 online, score

you should make more electronics videos not only computers get some employee that is interested in that stuff to do the job +1 if you agree

Doesn't 2016 feel like it was just yesterday?

Glad to see Linus doing some DIY electronics stuff! When the testers were rating the speakers in the same room, I wish they took turns instead to eliminate the chance of bias.

The build looked promising, and then the final product looked like a turd wrapped in burnt hair. What happened? I could have sworn you were going to show the actual decent looking DIY speakers at the end, and those ugly things standing next to you were just a prank/joke. Oh well, I bet they will sound decent in the office.

ugliest speakers i've seen 2017

The front baffle actually plays a large role in how the tweeter sounds. If the tweeters had been countersunk and the finish were a bit smoother, then the treble could potentially become a bit clearer. It also appeared from some of the images that the tweeters in the DIY speakers were at a lower height than the tweeters in the KEFs, which would also make a decent difference in clarity and imaging.

Plot Twist! The part where he says he's not gonna let Tyler write the scripts anymore, IS ACTUALLY IN THE SCRIPT!

You didn't offset the tweeter or flush mount the drivers properly, you completely changed the sound from the crossover design, Curt Campbell spent time designing this kit with the intended crossover and intended baffle, listening to it or comparing it to anything is pointless as you have made it incorrectly and if you think those baffle issues don't matter, well then, you don't know anything about speaker design. That Tri Trix kit crossed at 90hz/12db with a sub will sound fantastic. And I guarantee to the point that you will say to yourself, this sounds nothing like what i built.

How do they always manage to make it look so bad? I mean, a bit of sanding and a good paint job would go a long way...

You saved a whole $94 to spend hours of your time building shittier, uglier speakers? No thanks.

My dad is a carpenter by trade and always made his own speaker enclosures. They looked great and sounded just as good as store bought high end units.

You can get very decent mid 80's 2nd hand speakers for around $50 to $100, and an amplifier for an extra $100. You do NOT need to buy new with audio equipment!

I said it once and I will say again I don't like the new LTT thumbnails

When I take a dumb, all I see in the toilet is these new thumbnails...

I love the DIY stuff, keep it coming! Also, Tyler's opener was pretty funny when coupled with Linus' wit.

So..., the testers preferred the Kefs 3 out of 3, the finish of the Kefs is obviously better and currently they are discounted, warranted, built and delivered to your door and you recommend to build it them yourself. hmm...

Linus, Learn to solder. Stop moving the solder around with the iron like you're doing - that makes cold solder joints. The iron is a heating device only. Make a good mechanical connection first. The solder & flux will flow on their own if the parts are clean.

Based on the thumbnail I'm going to assume Linus broke something

hey linus, it's awesome that you are exploring diy audio. I have been building custom high end systems for several years. If you ever do a remake I would be happy to lend some advice as to materials and dimensions. You would be amazed with what you could cheaply build with better information, materials, and methods.

Hey Linus glad to see you do some audio stuff too. Here’s an idea: I’ve always wondered what you might come up with if you were to do a computer build of an htpc. Specially one focused on hi fi audio. The program most often recommended by audiophiles is jriver, another respected one is jplay. The ideal computer to run it would be powerful enough to transcribe music files on the fly, up convert low bitrate files into high bitrates, like dsd, and be silent running, and not run any processes that are not directly associated with making the audio, eliminating possible data corruptin or distortion. Finally there’sthe all important dac, or digital to analog converter usually an external one is preferred,. It has to be able to convert all the cutting edge file types as well as the common ones,!and do it “perfectly”. I’d love to see what you and your team come up with.

My god this guy can cater to every single subscriber.

whats with these weird thumbnails!?!?!?!?!?

i love where LTT is going !

I'm really glad you made this video :D

they look extremely horrible.............

Why were the speakers compared while they were having these bands OVER THEIR EARS? Of course the one with less highs will sound dull. But what if that one sounds okay without the bands and the other one is too sharp without the bands?

Awesome video. Thanks for mixing it up.

"which we totally nailed!" HAHAHAHA!!! I got that reference!

#Hello2017 #FirstCommentOfFirstVideo2017

For half the price, you get speakers which look much worse, everyone agrees sound worse, and take you hours to build. Why not buy second hand? Or pay full price. I wonder what how a pair of new speakers which cost the same as the DIY ones would compare?

on the floor this week good job guys

The careless put together of these speakers made me subscribe...job well done!

For your next DIY project could you make an Inwin 805 infinity style LED and mirror mod?

If they knew what they were doing, they wouldn't have had bad quality audio.

I might use this tutorial some day before the decade ends. Great video, I liked the blind sound test.

A LTT video that's not overkill. Nice.

Sounds like tyler just lost his company health plan

speakers are like designer lamps ...the margins are craaaazy

you all are magicians. I read the intro message thingy right after I was done drying from the shower and it made me realize i forgot some clean new clothes

Linus' advertisement transitions are often my favorite part of the video haha

Why does Linus talk so slow now

The writing was fine. Linus just pulled a Mariah Carey with the script.

Wish you would do some more like this someday. Lots of options out there. Especially with subwoofer builds. Very large DIY value there.

Protip: When doing a blind survey, you should separate your participants. The answers of the participants questioned first will influence the answers of the ones questioned later if they're in the same room.

Last time I was this early, it was 2016.

"website making from scratch spills" yeah, ok.

I personally think this is really cool! Speakers look pretty terrible, but I appreciate the message and it gives some less woodworking-skilled viewers hope. Definitely a solid starting point to go out and explore speaker building in more detail. That's exactly what I'm currently doing :)

Feedback: - use a stepped baffle or angled baffle to time align the drivers - the cabinet is obviously to large for those small midwoofers, Also, make seperate enclosures internally for each midwoofer, this makes the sound much more clean - add some lead bitumen on the inside of your cabinet walls to help damping them - use a bit more inner bracing to help prevent/reduce cabinet resonances - use multiple layers of wood meterial (MDF/HDF) to make the cabinet walls more rigid - use a first order series filter for smoother crossover and less resistance - work on your woodworking skills... ;-P Enjoy the music!

baffle... i see what you did there....

Hearing marsh mello in this vid makes me happy

Kef speakers. It's very cool to see someone on the internet owning a set of Kef speakers. I've got two old Kef Carlton 3 speakers, they are 30 some odd years old and still sound amazing. Kef, really high quality stuff, I would not want anything else.

I own Yamaha HS8 studio monitors and i could never go back to anything else. The sound quality is just unmatched!

Website-building SPILLS

Dude... Red wine all the way.

About 10 years ago i found some Cerwin-Vega AT-8's in the garbage during spring clean up and they were great but the foams were ripped so i fixed them for like $30 and they still work now

Hi Linus , I am following your Videos for a while now , the first one i liked was your Sennheiser factory Visit , And later this is the second One i like the most . .Good work keep it up man !! need more stuffs like this ..

why not just get some pioneer sp-sf52s for like $90 each??? They outperform everything I own that cost less than $600. I see windows media player, I assume a lossless source was not in play?

Safeti is numba wan prioriti. BOOM

ltt went to the next level

News Years Day and you made this???,,,Excellent! ,,Dedicated!

Just stick to building computers my dude.

finally a diy project that doesnt make me cringe.

once again LTT amazes its audience with its superlative craftsmanship skills

I've used Rockford fosgate T2 6.5s with Rockford fosgate tweeters (came with the set of speakers) then I used a 200 watt RMS amplifier. It knocks and sounds good

lmao the new guy tyler screwed up some scripting lol

this guy looks like idubbbz

good video, i liked the calmer more informative style.

In Germany we say "Schallwand" that means "soundbaffle". The name is because it is the baffle where the speakers are mounted on. Not a bad job! You did it VERY good on the crossover. Most ppl just put it together as close as possible and not even putting one at an angle. Then the coils are "talking" to each other and they wonder why it sounds bad. I have build a pair of open1001 and they are VERY good! As a musician i can say that they reproduce without colouring much. They just need a sub for very deep notes.

Early April fools joke?

why stuffing in a vented cabinet?

You can make great tweeters that handle heaps of power for hardly anything. I got an amp that has 200 + 200 watts @ 0.1% distortion, and I haven't blown one tiny full-range "tweeter" yet (and I keep blowing normal tweeters all the time). So I had to do something, so I tried using 2" full-range speakers (Logitech one's) from computer speakers. lol But I radically modified them and I run them out of the box (slightly resisted for 6 ohms). With a sharp object I scribed a line around the voice coil center on the full-range cone, about 5 mm out, around in a circle. This allows more transient response cos it can vibrate like independently to the rest of the cone. I also got rid of the center piece on the full range speaker and left a hole in the center. I then glued a 6 mm triangle made of coffee-can-seal (tin-foil) onto where the cone starts, and the tin-foil triangle is pointed in toward the center. The foil makes cymbals sound like they are being hit and sound like they are made of metal. lol Great "S's" too, really pleasant treble (with power handling). Also being ran outside-the-box is essential cos it not only makes the treble go higher, but also makes the treble louder. And the top-end is so sweet (when it's ran out-of-the-box). Only use a 2.2 mf cap on the 2" full-range, any bigger cap will sound harsh (being out-of-the-box) and so you obviously need to run it with the cap on (and never without one when out-of-the-box). lol The cap also makes the treble go higher than without a cap, cos the cap "pushes" the high-end signal through the cap more than it would normally flow (without the cap). And with the small cap, it will increase frequency response in the top-end and this is also how you get such a great power handling. A 2.2 mf cap with 200 watts going through the full-range is like 2 watts without the cap (which is about what the speakers normally handle). 2 watter full-ranges have thicker voice-coils than tweeters and that's why they handle so much (with a cap). But if you get high wattage tiny full-range drivers, they will have even thicker voice-coils. So the 2 watters are better. lol Combined with the two mods mentioned above, and being out-of-the-box, and with the cap, it sounds pretty amazing for how cheap it is. Try it, before you start thinking I'm a nut-job. :) I run mine with 6" med drivers (coaxial and phase-aligned) set inside a large voice-coil throat in the med drivers (rare as rocking horse shit). I also run the med driver out-of-the-box (with the 2" full-ranges in the centers. Running med out-the-box is tricky, I choked and heavily resisted the out-of-the-box med and combined with some med coming from the woofer as well (and blended). The woofer is in a double chamber bass reflex box. They are the best speakers I have heard, with the open cone sound combined with mellow med from the woofer (blended as much as I can with the crossover). To run med speakers out-of-the box you have to be really radical with the crossover to make it sound even acceptable. lol But I have practice a lot and my speakers are sounding much better, since I started and it's a lot easier to make crossovers. The crossover is more expensive than the drivers (the copper coils). Cheap woofers are "boomy" but sound great with the right crossover (that costs more than the woofer). The sound quality is there but badly lack efficiency after making it sound good with the crossover. lol But my full-range tweeters are not very efficient either (but sound amazing and high power handling) and with 200 watts who needs efficiency. But my speakers are still way-way more efficient than electrostatic speakers (by-a-large-measure). And with phase-aligned treble&med and the out-of-the-box open sound, they sound nearly as good as electrostatics. But at a small fraction of the price.

I love that you are breaking off into the DIY speaker category! Very useful and fulfilling stuff! However, I'm afraid I have to point out a kind of noob mistake that many DIY audiophiles try to avoid... When you put a Tweeter between to woofers, the propagating waves emanating from woofers on either side cross and can cancel out some waves of the tweeters... never ideal, and it's only done in Center channels because of the need for audio to be perfectly centered and symmetrical... And so they look "cool." -Side point, I think this may be why they design schematics showed the tweet off-center. An attempt to count some* of those effects.- Klipsch even acknowledges and tries to rectify this by giving the opposing woofers on its Center Channel different crossover points, so the same waves don't intersect. Still an awesome video, though! Although, I would suggest opting for the two woofers on the bottom. :-) This brings the voice higher, where it should be (head-level) , and keep the bass low, where it should also be (think of how a bass drum and subs sit on the floor).

This was only 3 years ago and you can tell how far as a person on screen linus has gotten

It kills my OCD that the table top line isn't straight with the RU-vid player timeline bar!

Oh my god, Tyler's scripts are really funny. "Cut, pray, love, then keep on cutting" XD

If you want to up the quality check out the Parts Express CBT Line Array speakers. The design gives extremely even coverage across all frequencies.

2:38 ayyyy self harm is funny!

Thanks to AliExpress, I can build this for 10% of the cost.

The cabinet actually has alot more effect on the speakers then you think. I dunno if you calculated the volume of the box but thats very important. Also the construction of the box to make sure there is no gaps and rattles. Finally you countersunk the woofer but not the tweeter. Countersinking the tweeter is very important for diffraction. Also rounding off the corners of your box also is very easy to do and makes a big difference.

Linus, I don't recall you mentioning whether or not you did a proper break-in of the new speakers you made but that is a very important aspect of new speakers! All speakers require a proper break-in period which is typically about 50 hours+ of constant use and will open up the bass/mid drivers as well as smooth out the tweeter's frequency response (this takes longer). You will achieve a much smoother and more balanced frequency response comprised of deeper bass, and better imaging. I would highly recommend that you give them another month or two to break-in, using them as your primary set to do so or just playing them overnight in another room, several times (that one's up to you); Another thing I would love to see is the addition of some I.C.E. amplifiers mounted inside of the speaker for some DIY WiSA, self-powered speakers. PM me if you want some more info on some of these. I have a pair myself and I've been in the industry for many years. P.S. I'll be at CES; Let me know if you want a pro to show you around the Hi-Fi at Venetian this week at at the show... If you've never been, you'll love it.

DIY bomb for under 20 bucks

This low energy, hostage linus needs to go #makelinusgreatagain

Coming from someone with years of car audio experience: Pro Tip #1: Use Liquid Nails for you box, not conventional wood glue. Liquid Nails is more flexible, and can withstand the vibrations of the drivers better over time. Pro Tip #2: Use active crossovers. For one, they add more flexibility should you decide to change cut-off frequencies or slopes. Plus, they don't rob power from the drivers like passive crossovers. Pro Tip #3: Don't overdue it on quantity of drivers. You should typically only need a single driver per channel to cover a particular range of frequencies. Introducing 2 identical drivers on the same channel is causing audio to hit your eardrum from two different sources at potentially two different times. I don't know if time-alignment is a feature typically offered in computer audio pre-processing, but it wouldn't even help you in that case as both drivers would be on the same channel anyway. To the naysayers about the build and sourcing of parts, aside from aesthetics, there's nothing inherently wrong with his build. I'm not familiar with those particular drivers. But I did my last car audio build using a pair of Seas silk dome tweeters from Parts Express. They only cost like $70, and they are hands down the best tweeters I've ever heard.

I have an old $20 speakers and I am happy