Glad to see your friend is getting the DIY bug.

A quick story: Friend had some mod sized commercial speakers. Spent nearly $750 on the pair (and felt he'd spent a lot). Heard my big DIY speakers. Asked if I could improve his. Pulled out the orig. XO (cheap electros, tiny coils). ordered some decent polyprop caps and some 16 ga. air core coils and few resistors and such for simple zobels. Owner was blown away by improvment. Cost him about $50 and actually made the speakers listenable (for me).

Moral or the story: Ya get what ya pays for......but ya don't hafta spend a bundle to get decent sound.

PS