When I got started in DIY audio in the late 90's I was looking for a high end speaker design that could be built on a budget. I did all my research on a mailing list called 'The Bass List' back in those days (and my frustration with the difficulty of searching such a list is what spurred me on to create the first incarnation of the diyAudio forum).
Mike McCall of Shamrock Audio advertised for sale the blueprints of his Eire speakers which he was selling directly from his website for $3000 (I think I bought the design for $125). The parts were ordered and some appropriate flotsam and jetsam found to fill the gaps. With the assistance of my good friend Marcus (Thank you!) we cut them out and put them together over a period of about... two months.
Initially we tried to save money by winding our own inductors but learned quickly that it's easier said than done!
Over the years the Eires have been must trust audio companions and still sound excellent. There is a review of them on Sound Stage.
I never progressed past the basic matt black and would love to one day finish them in something nice enough to make them look indistinguishable from a commercial product, but I'm yet to devote enough time to finding the right MDF finishing technique or the time to get it done. If you have any suggestions please let me know!
diyAudio
