Yesterday I was thinking to myself about how I am sure there are guys on this site who would love to try building some speakers but don't have the tools to do it themselves. I wanted to let you guys know that there is probably a place in your neighborhood that could build enclosures to your specs tomorrow. I'm talking about your local independent car audio store. These store will be more then happy to build you speaker enclosures but you have to keep somethings in mind.
First, some stores custom built work is better then others. Ask to look at their book of custom car installs so you can see the quality of their work. They may also have some enclosures sitting around that you can take a look at.
Second, these shops build enclosures out of MDF. This means that you will have to finish the enclosures yourself. You can ask them to paint them but if they aren't setup for paint you will get a better final product if you do the finish work yourself.
Third, you may have to emphasize how exact you need internal parts fitted. If you having them build a horn enclosure and you need everything to be exact internally so it is tuned perfectly then be sure you tell them that. This may not be a real problem but if you are going to be picky about unseen parts in the final product, then you are better off telling them upfront.
I hope this helps out some of you guys who have wanted to try some DIY speakers but just didn't have the tools. If you have had enclosures built this way please post some of your experiences.
First, some stores custom built work is better then others. Ask to look at their book of custom car installs so you can see the quality of their work. They may also have some enclosures sitting around that you can take a look at.
Second, these shops build enclosures out of MDF. This means that you will have to finish the enclosures yourself. You can ask them to paint them but if they aren't setup for paint you will get a better final product if you do the finish work yourself.
Third, you may have to emphasize how exact you need internal parts fitted. If you having them build a horn enclosure and you need everything to be exact internally so it is tuned perfectly then be sure you tell them that. This may not be a real problem but if you are going to be picky about unseen parts in the final product, then you are better off telling them upfront.
I hope this helps out some of you guys who have wanted to try some DIY speakers but just didn't have the tools. If you have had enclosures built this way please post some of your experiences.
Not always. We build for one of the local installers and he specifies BB (which we are happy to oblige, MDF sucks for speaker cabinets (pun intended)).
dave
But for a car audio shop MDF is the standard material for enclosures.
We had a pretty nice setup at my old shop- Delta saw with cast feedout tables and extensions, Bisemeyer fence and Incra rails, Incra Miter 5000 sled, centeral dust collection, 5 router router table with Unilifts, and 8 free routers...all PC 7529s or Dewalt 621s.
We could router rings out of 1/8" abs that would fit a dime and then stack another on the outside of that.
But we never got a Shopbot or CNC machine.
We had a pretty nice setup at my old shop- Delta saw with cast feedout tables and extensions, Bisemeyer fence and Incra rails, Incra Miter 5000 sled, centeral dust collection, 5 router router table with Unilifts, and 8 free routers...all PC 7529s or Dewalt 621s.
We could router rings out of 1/8" abs that would fit a dime and then stack another on the outside of that.
But we never got a Shopbot or CNC machine.
Djnubz, its great that you have brought this up seeing as not all who aspire to be DIY have the skillz. I used this route many years ago , and yes you do have to have clear communication with what you want built.
I would like to bring up that there may also be a few of us out there( I hope) that do have the time and skill to offer our expertise up to help our brethren
if they're close by?
I would like to bring up that there may also be a few of us out there( I hope) that do have the time and skill to offer our expertise up to help our brethren
if they're close by?
Another option, if you want an upscale finish, is the guys that build kitchens. For them, even a complex enclosure is a piece of cake. However, you have to watch the pricing, as they're used to customers who are rolling the total cost into mortgages or home improvement loans. When buyers are thinking, "This will only add $X to my monthly payments.", they tend to be less than thrifty.
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