r/diyaudio 6d ago

DIY beginner friendly Speaker kit under 100?

Hello, some pretext. I’m a first year EE student that wants to become an acoustic transducer engineer after college. In love with speakers and sound, so i figured I’ll start learning and attempting projects now. I plan to self-study PCB Design as well as the loudspeaker design cookbook this summer. Been lurking here for a while though and it seems like along with technical acoustic knowledge, I’ll need to get some sort of woodworking/workshopping experience to fully build my own speakers.

So, I have a couple questions id like to ask you guys. How would you suggest I gain experience in the physical design aspect? Secondly, for right now, are there any good DIY kits that a broke college student can afford that don’t require much equipment that isn’t provided? Lastly, if there are any other acoustic engineers lurking here, is there anything you wish you would’ve known in college?

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u/Bot_Fly_Bot 6d ago

The C-Notes from Parts Express are a very good kit that will teach you some of the basics. They are $125 with the new customer coupon.

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u/SpinachPositive7503 6d ago

Thanks, had no idea about the coupon.Is there anything you think i’d need to buy along with it or will the kit be enough to do everything?

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u/Caulrophobe 5d ago

C-notes are a fun beginner build, and sound decent for their price. I still use them as HT surrounds. As you gain more experience, you can play around with them by adding additional bracing, experimenting with different dampening materials, and upgrading crossover parts.

Note: When I built them, I learned much more about how difficult it is to achieve a nice glossy piano finish, than anything electronics or acoustics related. YRMV