Building the Nathan 10

[markus76]

Hey guys,

my name is Markus and I'm not native English so please excuse any spelling mistakes.

After stumbling upon Earl Geddes thread DIY Waveguide loudspeaker kit I decided to send him 1200 bucks end of May and started to wait. B&C speakers arrived mid July, parts for the crossover a few days later. Yesterday the cabinet parts arrived after a 2 months wait. I guess that's the price you have to pay for being first...

So this is what's included
- Baffle with casted waveguide
- Cabinet parts in MDF
- Screws and drive-in nuts
- Pre drilled compression driver mounting plate
- Foam insert for waveguide
- B&C driver
- Crossover parts
- Luster terminals for connecting the crossover parts
- Terminals

What's missing
- Damping (?)

Tools you need for assembly
- Wood glue
- Clamping fixture
- Drill
- Screwdriver
- Sanding paper


Here's what the Nathan 10 will look like when the cabinet parts are put together loosly:



Looks like a lot of adjustments and sanding... I guess that's the price you have to pay for...

Best, Markus

[Salas]

Markus, given the extra work of putting together a kit, you got maybe the most updated* shot at what a speaker should do rightly and in what order. Good choice. Let us know how you like it when you finish.

*It started escaping to the public. Good work Dr. Geddes! Now the real life of the concept starts.

[markus76]

Hi,

after a closer examination I found that the 2 parts that build the baffle were glued slightly shifted. Furthermore the cut-out for the base isn't deep enough. So all parts would overlap the front baffle. Now there are two options: glue everything together or fix the baffle and sides first. Option 1 means a lot (and I mean a lot) of sanding and filling so I went for option 2 which meant buying a Dremel and some other stuff (e.g. missing screws for mounting the luster terminals):



Best, Markus

[augerpro]

I know it's just a box, and don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure you put it together right? That looks screwed up. I would think everything should fit near perfect.

Post some pics of where all the errors are.

I would also contact Earl and see what he thinks, he may not be aware that his supplier has botched the cuts.

[auplater]

geez. I could do better with a router and my eyes closed. QC doesn't look good for this endeavor, especially for 1200 bucks...

John L.

[Salas]

Crucial part of a concept's real life is to be delivered as promised. Dr. Geddes has to debug it soon.

[ttan98]

$1200 for the kit is by no mean cheap, like Mr Gedlee argues you get a "very high end" product and it does not come in cheap.

According to me the most valued part of the kit is the waveguide the rest one can get them separately elsewhere or make your own like the cabinet, or use different woofer or compression driver one has in hand.

I wish one can just get the waveguide separately just like any other part. How much it will cost? Even if I can get it separately I don't think it will be at an affordable price($100-200 max each) for most people. Until I can afford it or buy them separately I drop the idea of buying the kit. Currently I am using my econowaveguide even though it is inferior I can still live with them quite happily, for the time being.

[Salas]

Would you design a crossover with directivity characteristics comparable to the kit speakers, for your own box, woofer and CD?

[markus76]

The top round edges and the sides have to be rounded by yourself. That's how Earl planned it.
But variations of pre-cut parts are in the range of 0.5 - 2 mm. That's not acceptable and needs to be improved. The MDF used is not very dense which means a lot of extra work with filling and painting.
More tomorrow when little Dremel saved the baffles.

Best, Markus

[djarchow]

I guess I don't see how you are going to mate up the baffle with a curved top edge with a rounded edge on the top cabinet panel and make it look good. I know that is the way it is on the original Ai ESP10 but it seems to get that look will require lots of hand work where the baffle and top meet in the corners.

Good luck with your project.

Regards,

Dennis