A couple weeks ago somebody in my site, mention that people who build audio themselves have more opportunity to build a playback as a custom expression then people who just buy audio equipment of the shelf. It sounds like an axiom but if you look in subject deeper you might recognize that it is not necessary the case. 

First of all people who do audio themselves they are greatly restricted by the two components: on musical/cultural development and on technical development. There are of course lucky exceptions but majority of the people doing it because it is easy to do and easy accomplished any result. The absence of dignifying  and noble objectives of their activity is common tendency why many DIYers end office random and none noble results. 

The people who have no interest or time to deal with building audio themselves are in a very peculiar situation when they have no industry and market able to provide audio for them in non-inverted barbaric format. Well, pretend that you a regular algebra person, with with an unlimited financial resources, and you would like your playback system emphasize melancholy, decadence, existentialism but also nationalistic patriotism in the same time. Do you have that you have any avenue to approach to any dealer or to any manufacturer and to get what you need? You know the answer. 

Pay attention, those options exist in many other industries. If you are sharpshooter, car racer, cook, musician, carpenter or even old style silver photographer then you have opportunity to approach to people who know how and demand from them, for a lot of money, to produce for you result exactly how you would like it to be done. Pay attention, you're not say to them how it's need to be done you say what need to be done, and the manufacturer by the virtue of an experience, produce demanded result. 

This practice is nonexistent in high-end audio because of multiple reasons that I would like not to dive now. I, however name just one reason. It would be presents between all the manufacturer and audio consumer a proxy layer of reviewers/dealers/marketologs. This proxy layer damps request response paradigm, which permirts manufacturers to be idiots and consumers to be idiots. I think this proxy layer is the ultimate cancer of high-end audio. Just pretend that this proxy layer does not even exist, and never did. 

You are a normal person and you need to make some kind of very complicated and sophisticated 3D aluminum detail. You begin to interview the machine shops, I'm on all of them you find very few who understand the intricacy of your project. You select even less people who appreciate the intricacy of your project. Then you select one who you feel will be able to render the complexity of your requirement.  It is exactly how it should be this high-end other when people want to obtain a playback installation with well formulated and noble objective.

We all know that there is practically no avenue for an audio practitioners to go there. And we all know how it's happening nowadays. Below is the true story. A guy I know bought very very expensive acoustic system from one of the most reputed audio manufacturer. The dealer assured him that the company installer go to his listening room and perform proper proprietary company installation. Sound reasonable and reputed, doesn't it, particular because the company is known for their very methodological installation process. The actual deal was that the company shiped the loudspeakers, and the dealer provided three gift certificates for the guy's local strip club. I am not kidding. Okay, we should be very unhappy with what the dealer did, right? I however would suggest you to think a little bit more about the reason why the person who bought the loudspeaker agreed upon this deal? In this case the dealer was at murder of company intentions and the customer objectives. They are always are. That money moves their hands, the boxes move the storages but that is just a fart in a hurricane of audio expressionism....