Some suggestions from the german DIY scene:

A step up from the overnight sensations, the Twiggy BR: http://www.hifi-forum.de/index.php?action=browseT&forum_id=2... Built them myself, hard to improve on price-performance ratio. They have no right to sound this great given their size & budget.

The Bantams are supposed to be very good as well, suitable for eg desktop use, haven't heard or built them myself yet: https://techtalk.parts-express.com/forum/speaker-project-gal...

There is also a more fancy version called Bantam Onyx, for when looks matter: http://www.hifi-forum.de/viewthread-205-1154.html

Reference class monitors DXT-MON 182, 36-20000Hz, completely flat frequency response: https://heissmann-acoustics.de/dxt-mon-182/

I'd like thank you and the GP for posting these links. My daughter has a synthesizer that she would like some monitor speakers for and making them might be a fun project. These links are great.

Especially for monitors there are several very good plans, and sound quality can be reference class.

If you don't have a workshop to work on wood, you can buy pre-made speaker cases for some of the speaker plans, I only know german shops though:

- https://lautsprecherbau.info/de/

- https://www.speakercase.de/produkt-kategorie/gehausebausatze...

Very important: price and sound quality are at best very loosely related in the consumer market! I mean off-the-shelf products here. Never assume expensive stuff sounds great. This is counter-intuitive but true.

Thanks for these links. Do they make kits for soundbars? I'd like to get something short to put in front of the TV and it feels like I should be able to make something. I guess the problem would be integrating ARC into it.

Edit: nevermind there is one with ARC: https://www.parts-express.com/AudioBar-powered-1.5-way-2-cha...

I have a semi-crappy Onkyo CR-N575 bookshelf receiver[1] on my desk because I wanted a small system that could play CDs, radio, Bluetooth, Spotify, etc... (there's not much out there for this anymore).

I've always wondered if buying (or now I'm thinking about making) better speakers would make a noticeable difference in the mediocre sound? I only ever play at pretty low volumes and the receiver itself is no gem.

The manual says RMS output power is 20W + 20W, 1kHz, 10% THD 6 ohms, but then a couple of lines later says THD is 0.05% line in, digital in 1kHz 1W. That's pretty bad, right? If so, then speakers may not be worth upgrading. If they are, how could I tell if these[2] are compatible?

[1]: https://www.intl.onkyo.com/downloads/manuals/pdf/cs-n575d_ma...

[2]: https://www.parts-express.com/HiVi-B4N-4-Aluminum-Midbass-Ro...