D S D Durham Speaker Design
About
Hi - I'm Mac McNeil. I retired from a long career in I.T. a few years back and I now work part-time at Lowes. Since my teen years I've been very interested in Hi-Fi and quality music and have always owned a pretty decent sound system. I'm also an avid woodworker and general handyman.
Lately, I've been experimenting with new, state of the art, miniaturised amplifiers and the amazing sound they can reproduce through the latest iterations of small speaker drivers. It's these advancements that have enabled the bluetooth speaker revolution that is now so popular.
You can now buy a serviceable bluetooth speaker for just a few dollars but, realistically, it sounds very poor. For decent sound, you need to upgrade to a unit costing over $100 or even more. Check out the Bose units - they sound excellent but cost upwards of $250.
I did some research online and found a few guys making really good-quality units in their home workshops, using parts sourced from reputable suppliers, and selling them via Etsy and other sites. Problem is, they are all based in the USA which presents many problems when shipping cross-border - taxes, duties and restrictions on batteries shipped by air for example.
It occurred to me that a Canadian-based designer and builder of quality speakers - passive or powered, bluetooth or cabled, battery or direct power - may be worth a shot.
So I have built some prototypes and tested them and I am very pleased with the results. My speakers sound REALLY GOOD - rich and warm with plenty of power.
So now I am offering my services to build speakers to the customers specifications for a fraction of the cost of retail.
All my speaker cases are made from wood - not plastic. I use top quality furniture grade plywood for the larger cases and solid wood for the smaller ones. Face panels for all speakers are solid wood. Species are Oak, Maple, Cherry, Walnut or any other the customer chooses. The finishes can be stained or left natural but each is hand-rubbed and finished in a clear lacquer for a beautiful and durable shine. These speakers are furniture-quality.
Incidentally, I can also build you a custom amplifier with built-in bluetooth and up to 50 watts per channel to power a set of speakers you already own. I already have one satisfied customer for one of these.
Check out the Product Gallery for examples of my work and then Ordering for how to obtain one for yourself. You won't be disappointed.