Can you actually outperform the KEFs and Perlistens of the world? They seem to have so much engineering put into their designs I don't believe a hobbyist can realistically match them.
I will admit that stuff like "speakers with quasi-active noise cancellation behind them" sounds intriguing. That's probably a good reason to get into this rabbit hole!
> Can you actually outperform the KEFs and Perlistens of the world? They seem to have so much engineering put into their designs I don't believe a hobbyist can realistically match them.
Absolutely. Don't forget, these guys are: a. Humans, and b. Operating for a company to make a profit. When you're DIYing you're (generally) not concerned about the latter part at all.
There's a few more reasons why DIY is so capable:
1. High quality drivers are available to purchase. There are companies like Tymphany/SB Acoustics etc that are OEM/ODM manufacturers selling to the big names. You can get the same/very similar models from parts express and other sites.
2. A lot of the engineering principles are well understood, public science. In fact many experts hang out on websites like DIYaudio.com. They're human. You can see their workings, opinions, doubts etc up close.
3. Some speakers like the Dutch&Dutch 8c's started their lives on forums like diyaudio. Which is to say, they went from DIY level to "well-reviewed" level in a manner that's quite clear/transparent to anyone familiar with the forum/DIY. No "hidden" black magic involved.
4. You have a lot of amazing designers on these forums putting their designs out for free. Jeff Bagby, Paul Carmody, Troels Gravesen, Perry Marshall etc. Check out Perry's comment on his speaker below. Btw, he's a professional designer having worked across a number of audio & car companies designing AV systems.
Now, if you want to design your own speakers and not use an existing model, yes you'll need to learn a lot. But it's very much doable. It may take time/money/effort, but beating a top of the line system for a fraction of the (material, not labour) cost is possible and has happened.
BTW Perry had made another comment about how his speakers sounded better than almost all other speakers at AXPONA and his kids agreed, but I couldn't find it right now. And many of those speakers were high 5/6 figure speakers.
I will admit that stuff like "speakers with quasi-active noise cancellation behind them" sounds intriguing. That's probably a good reason to get into this rabbit hole!