With wood working tools there usually are several different ways to get something done. Some methods are simple and cheap, and others are elaborate and expensive. Usually the cheaper methods rely more on hand work, and aren't as readily repeatable as the elaborate methods. Some people swear by their table saws, and others get by without them. I don't own a table saw, but have gotten to use my router more and more.
For building speaker cabinets, I use a hand held plunge router, a DeWalt DW621. It has a 2 horsepower electric motor. I use it to cut circles in MDF and to trim edges so several pieces are the same dimension. All that works hand held.
When the bit diameter you use gets larger than about ½", a table mounted 3 hp router is said to work better. For example, if you wanted to make front baffles with a ¾" roundover, the bit required is very large in diameter.
Amazon.com: Freud 34-128 Quadra-Cut 3/4-Inch Radius Rounding Over Bit with 1/2-Inch Shank: Home Improvement. For that I'd want to use a table mounted router. I've thought about building one, but have never done it yet.
Before I started building speakers, I had no wood working experience at all, other than watching Norm Abrams on TV (he makes it look way too easy
). Routers are extremely versatile tools, limited only by your experience and imagination at making a suitable jig. I took a 2 hour intro to the router course at a local wood workers shop, and was very glad I did. After that course, I began to get a feel for using a router, and that there was a lot I could do without an elaborate router table.
