Last weekend I ran the router and shaper around the speaker cabs and the matching cases for the F5 Turbo v3’s. Cut out for the drivers, ports, rear panel and venting on the amp cases.
Today, after a little pre-sanding, I shot 3 medium wet coats of automotive primer. I’ve learned on previous projects it’s better to get the primer on before spreading any filler on joints and nail holes.
Today, after a little pre-sanding, I shot 3 medium wet coats of automotive primer. I’ve learned on previous projects it’s better to get the primer on before spreading any filler on joints and nail holes.
it might be good to check your driver's parameters - that alnico spec doesn't fit vented boxes too well theory-wise. Also, my two pairs of Audio Nirvana have free air resonance 1/2 octave or more higher than spec - they seem to have stiffened. My AN10 has qt ~0.53 and fs around 65Hz. My AN stamped frame Super 8's resonance moved from ~40 to mid 40's.
Thanks for posting!
What would you think would be a better driver for this size cabinet? In 8”.
This is a second system for my “office/workshop” so more for background listening. But the cabinets are more important to me than the drivers. I like to try different construction techniques, so these are somewhat an experiment. The dampening compound I used between the Medex and marine grade ply really changed the sound of the wood. So trying to see how this and the weight affect the results.
Use the AN Super 8's in those cabinets sealed. If the specs are reasonably close, you'll get an F3 of about 50 Hz with about 0.7db of peaking. The bass will be 'full' though reasonably articulate. If the bass is too full or soft, move the cabinets away from walls and corners. The Xmax (linear excursion limit) is a bit low, but you should be fine at background levels. Actually, the slight lift in the bass may partially balance the rising treble. For your purposes, these speakers should sound quite nice. If you like a soft, rich bass, you could tune the cabinets to 45 Hz. You'll get a peaked (+6db @ 72Hz) bass response. Try each and choose the one you like. Let us know how they turn out.
Thanks for taking the time to write a thoughtful, articulate, informative, response. Hopefully I’ll be listening to them in a couple weeks. I will definitely be reporting back!
Since Presidents Day was a free day for me I spent the day prepping the cabinets for paint. Filled nail holes, wood seams and joints with Rage Gold body filler. After a good half hour sanded it and the primer with 400 grit using both a 3M short sanding block and a Snap On DA. Then 3 more coats of 2k primer. This was 8 hours.
Primer dries fast enough that I could prime and wait a bit, flip the cabinet and spray the last side. Not going to work with finish coat. Due to the weight of the speaker cabinets I couldn’t figure out a good way to suspend them like I did the amp cases. So this afternoon I final sanded the bottoms with 600 and sprayed 2 coats of paint. I’m using Nason Ful-than 2k urethane, single stage automotive paint.
If you notice in the pics I’m using a little trick on masking. If you stick the tape on the material, then pull back the edge your going to paint up to, you create a softer feathered edge, instead of having a tape line
Now this weekend I should be able to sand and spray out the balance with the cabinets standing upright.
Primer dries fast enough that I could prime and wait a bit, flip the cabinet and spray the last side. Not going to work with finish coat. Due to the weight of the speaker cabinets I couldn’t figure out a good way to suspend them like I did the amp cases. So this afternoon I final sanded the bottoms with 600 and sprayed 2 coats of paint. I’m using Nason Ful-than 2k urethane, single stage automotive paint.
If you notice in the pics I’m using a little trick on masking. If you stick the tape on the material, then pull back the edge your going to paint up to, you create a softer feathered edge, instead of having a tape line
Now this weekend I should be able to sand and spray out the balance with the cabinets standing upright.
Thanks guys for the comments and taking time to post.
I worked all day today on the cabinets. The overall finish coat was pretty good. But since I’ll be looking at the front more critically I decided to color sand and buff just the fronts. 1000 grit, then 2000 grit, then 3 stages of polishing using 3M pads and matching compound system.
With such a nice automotive finish it has to have racing stripes!
Not easy to see in the pic but the rear center mounted leg is 3/8” shorter than the front two, makes about a 5% angle back.
Time permitting tomorrow I’ll try to install the drivers and binding posts and see how it sounds.
Some specs on the cabinets with the legs. They are 46 1/4” tall, 19 3/8” wide, 10 1/2” deep, the driver is 37” AFF. And without a driver they weigh 95 1/2 lbs, each!
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Simiar to what we did on our Ellispa WAW, except, taking a hint from Triangle, 1 foot on th efront under the drivers and 2 on the back. Chris had to turn around the custom aluminum footer plate he had built for them.
dave
A single front foot with a pair in the back would be a little more stable with the tip back.
I have enough mass that it would take a good whack to tip these back though.
They are alive!
It’s been a good, fun, productive week for me. I received the Mano ULTRA music streamer I ordered from Magna HiFi, added an I2S input to my RAKK DAC to take advantage of the Mano’s I2S output, and finished this speaker project.
This morning, after installing the binding posts (Cardas), wire the driver, (12 ga wire from Transparent), and installing the drivers, hooked them up. I weighed the drivers, 7 lbs. that makes the total weight of each speaker over 102 lbs.
To try them out I hooked them up in my living room, pardon the mess, the Mano and amps don’t usually sit out on the console. Equipment was the Mano, the RAKK DAC, McIntosh C2300 pre, and SST-70/KT150 K&K Audio designed amps. Interconnects and speaker cable all Transparent Super.
Of course, since I’m prejudiced after spending my last few weekends building them, I’m going to say they sound good. In reality I really think they sound great! Actually a little surprised. I need to move them into my inside “shop” and play around with them now to really judge.
The ports are just the holes sized for the pair of 2” port tubes and the cabinets are over half filled with blue jean insulation. First round I left the pair of subs off and was surprised as to how much base. I angled the speakers to cross just in front of my listening position and the sweet spot was pretty large. Walking around the room the music sounded full. Even though the sweet spot was a better place to sit and listen I didn’t feel like I was missing everything not sitting there. I turned on the pair of subs and, as you can imagine, the music was fuller and deeper. My living room area is fairly large and open to an equally sized sunroom. So no normal sized speaker is going to gain much from the room.
I started this project to find a place to use these drivers I’ve had sitting on a shelf for 4 years, and thought something for my little work room would be nice. This turned out much better than that.
It’s been a good, fun, productive week for me. I received the Mano ULTRA music streamer I ordered from Magna HiFi, added an I2S input to my RAKK DAC to take advantage of the Mano’s I2S output, and finished this speaker project.
This morning, after installing the binding posts (Cardas), wire the driver, (12 ga wire from Transparent), and installing the drivers, hooked them up. I weighed the drivers, 7 lbs. that makes the total weight of each speaker over 102 lbs.
To try them out I hooked them up in my living room, pardon the mess, the Mano and amps don’t usually sit out on the console. Equipment was the Mano, the RAKK DAC, McIntosh C2300 pre, and SST-70/KT150 K&K Audio designed amps. Interconnects and speaker cable all Transparent Super.
Of course, since I’m prejudiced after spending my last few weekends building them, I’m going to say they sound good. In reality I really think they sound great! Actually a little surprised. I need to move them into my inside “shop” and play around with them now to really judge.
The ports are just the holes sized for the pair of 2” port tubes and the cabinets are over half filled with blue jean insulation. First round I left the pair of subs off and was surprised as to how much base. I angled the speakers to cross just in front of my listening position and the sweet spot was pretty large. Walking around the room the music sounded full. Even though the sweet spot was a better place to sit and listen I didn’t feel like I was missing everything not sitting there. I turned on the pair of subs and, as you can imagine, the music was fuller and deeper. My living room area is fairly large and open to an equally sized sunroom. So no normal sized speaker is going to gain much from the room.
I started this project to find a place to use these drivers I’ve had sitting on a shelf for 4 years, and thought something for my little work room would be nice. This turned out much better than that.
Very pretty.
They look like the solid copper ones, i had to use a pair of those once, don’t like tham at all.
Also the FR drivers do not use the current that the 12g can deliver, it behooves you to try some skinny (like 24g) solid wire and see if you like the difference.
dave
They look like the solid copper ones, i had to use a pair of those once, don’t like tham at all.
Also the FR drivers do not use the current that the 12g can deliver, it behooves you to try some skinny (like 24g) solid wire and see if you like the difference.
dave
Thanks for the advice on wire. I’ll try that when I get to the tweaking stage.
Right now I’m on a mission building a few different types of speakers, tube amps, and solid state amps. When I’m done with this round I’ll be able to voice a few different types of combinations. So in my building I’m using a few baseline items the same throughout. Transparent Ultra and Super interconnects, speaker Cable, and power cords, Transparent 12 ga wire in the speaker cabinets to the drivers, Cardas binding posts, Furutech IEC inlets, Furutech RCA sockets, Cardas silver Quad Eutectic solder, and stranded silver coated copper TFE Teflon insulated hook-up wire. Then later I can tweak from there.
BTW, last night, prior to frying some parts in my latest amp build, I set up the system in my work room.
The last 3 pairs of amps I’ve built all are switched on/off by a 5-12v signal, no manual on/off switch at all. So my work room system is a Bluesound Node2 feeding a pair of KT150 tube amps and then these new Audio Nirvana based speakers.
The Node2 outputs a 12v signal when played, and then stops the signal about 15 mins after you stop the music. So pretty cool to be able to completely control the system with my iPhone of iPad, including volume. And with my Tidal account can stream virtually any music, all from my phone.
The Node2 is not as good as the new Mano/RAKK DAC combo sound wise, but perfect for my work system.
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