Would love to see some of your prints on here! When I was younger my dad and I built a 3D printer, and I loved it. Since then I haven’t had the funds/time/space to get back into it but as that was like 12 years ago, I know 3D printing has gotten much higher tech.
No problem! If you’re already designing speakers, printing vs making them out of something else will come down to your CAD skills/speed vs how long it would take you to make a finished enclosure out of a different material like wood.
I wouldn’t call anything about the process hard, but it can be a bit time consuming if you’re not a CAD ninja already. Either way, doing this will probably improve your CAD skills.
If you’ve never designed a speaker before, you could purchase a kit for one of the many DIY speakers out there and print the enclosure. My first DIY bluetooth speaker was an Overnight Sensation MTM stuffed in a very undersized, and ported, wood enclosure with a built in bluetooth board, basic BMS, and amplifier. Parts-Express, Madisound, and a number of players make getting a complete DIY kit easy.
I never designed a speaker. I have been looking for designs a few weeks ago, and there’s too much stuff out there and too little to go on if it’s actually worth it/better than HiFi speakers I already have. Maybe some day, if I find a good bookshelf speaker project that seems achievable.