Updated ‘Custom Build’ Rates from 1st of July 2025

I can say with confidence that every customer who has had more than just a transactional relationship with us would vouch for the fact that we live up to our name, NB (No Bullsh*t) Audio. Our entire business has always been built on a foundation of exceptional service and genuine transparency. The idea for NB Speaker Cables was born over seven years ago out of frustration with an industry flooded with dishonesty, snake oil and misapplied/pseudo-science. When NB Speaker Cables evolved into NB Audio just over a year ago, that commitment didn’t change, and it never will.

Keeping in line with our commitment to transparency, I wanted to update customers on what our rates will be increasing to and why.

For the TL;DR version, skip ahead to “Updated Rates” section of this article. If you want a little more context, read ahead!

We won’t sugar coat it - things are busy. Too busy. Honestly, way too busy. And when I say “we,” I really mean me, Jeshua Miller, the main brother behind NB Audio. Micah, the other brother, is still part of NB Speaker Cables and NB Audio, but we also have another business in a completely different industry. That one is his baby. This one is mine. Which means, for the most part, I’m a one-man army (with the wife jumping in to help when she can).

Demand and enquiries have absolutely exploded over the past few months. There are days where I’m up before sunrise working on our other business, then jumping straight into NB Speaker Cables and Audio, and by the time the sun has set, I’m still at it, often spending another few hours replying to enquiries for custom projects. As thrilled as I am by the demand and how far it has pushed me over the last year, the reality is it’s not healthy, and it isn’t sustainable. As much as I love everything audio and I’m often guilty of getting carried away, sacrificing relaxation and family time to focus on NB Audio projects.

After comparing our cutting and assembly rates with other custom CNC service providers, I realised in some cases, we were charging half as much. Custom work takes a lot more time than our off-the-shelf products, especially with R&D and time spent on correspondence, quoting etc. That extra time gets spread across tens, sometimes even hundreds of orders with our regular products, but with one-off custom jobs, I am finding our hourly rate is a lot lower. 

Because of this, I’ve decided to make two changes to ensure NB Audio remains sustainable.

1. We’ll be streamlining our quoting process to focus on genuine enquiries and reduce time spent on casual or non-serious requests.
2. The rates shown on the ‘Our Services’ page will be increasing from the 1^st of July 2025 to help manage demand and reflect the value of my time.

The alternative is to stop doing custom builds and focus on our off-the-shelf products, but I enjoy the custom work and being able to offer something different, so I don’t want it to come to that.

Streamlined Quoting Process:

We receive a huge number of enquiries for custom projects. Because every project is unique, pricing can vary a lot depending on the complexity and exactly what the customer wants included or left out. In some cases, I spend over two hours just preparing a single quote because I need to explain all the available options. That time has to be accounted for somewhere. To help with this, I’ve put together a guide that outlines what we typically include and exclude in our custom work which can be found here and is designed to be read alongside any quote we provide.

Updated Rates

Below is a comparison of the examples rates from the ‘Our Services’ page on our website, for more context, you can find it here. These include some of the more common requests and designs however as all work is custom, rates will vary depending on the size and complexity of your project.

Service	Ending 30 June 2025		From 1 July 2025
Fusion 360 Enclosure Design and Toolpath Setup*
Minimum Charge	$120		$180
Basic Sealed Subwoofer	$180		$220
Basic Vented Subwoofer	$200		$260
Simple 2 Way Bookshelf	$250		$320
Complex 3 Way	$350		$450
CNC Cutting Service:
Minimum Per Sheet	$60		$100
Maximum Per Sheet	$80		$140
Material Cost	No Change
Cabinet Assembly:
Basic Sealed Subwoofer	$300		$450
Basic Vented Subwoofer	$480		$650
Basic Bookshelf Speaker (Pair)	$400		$500
Basic Floorstander (Pair)	$600		$750
Comprehensive Floorstander (Pair)	$800+		$1,000+
Painting & Veneering:
Rolled Duratex – Small Subwoofer or Bookshelf (Pair)	$120		$180
Rolled Duratex – Large Subwoofer or Floorstander (Pair)	$280		$360
Sprayed Duratex – Small Subwoofer or Bookshelf (Pair)	$250		$350
Sprayed Duratex – Large Subwoofer or Floorstander (Pair)	$300+		$450+
Veneering	Outsourced - Quoted
Shipping^:
Packaging Fee – Standard Wrapped	$20+	$20+
Packaging Fee – Requiring Custom Pallet	$60	$150+
Shipping Cost	$15 Flat Rate for Smaller Orders All large orders quoted

*All projects that require CNC cutting, must be drawn as we use the model to run our CNC tool paths. All services after that are optional. 

^Shipping cost largely comes down to the size of the speaker, your location and the type of the address we deliver to (Residential, Business or Depot Delivery). We use ‘Big Post’ for large shipments. For more information, head to the Shipping page on our website.

We’re incredibly grateful for the support we’ve received since launching NB Audio. The demand has proven that the leap of faith we took to invest and grow was the right move. For a bit of perspective, we haven’t paid ourselves a cent from NB Speaker Cables or NB Audio in more than two years. Every dollar from cable sales, parts, and custom projects (plus extra from our own pockets), has been reinvested to help us grow and offer more Australian Made options for audio enthusiasts. But above all, I do this because I’m passionate about audio turning it into a business makes it viable to do for the rest of my life.