Best technique to install crossover inside cabinet?

[BobPM]

I am building the Zaph L18 design and after searching the forums, I have not seen a good discussion on how to install and secure the crossover inside the speaker cabinet.

Some guides, (partsexpress and speakerbuilder.net) suggest just using hot glue or silicone to secure the crossover board in the box. My concern, however, is that the better quality (read heavy) inductors that I am using will be too much weight for the glue if the cabinet is moved or turned on its side. Would it be better to screw the crossover to the base of the box?

I have also read in this forum that there is a benefit to isolating the crossover. Does this mean building a box within a box or just using isolating material (such as the glue) to absorb some of the internal resonance that might impact the performance of the crossover parts.

I would appreciate any suggestions or experiences of forum participants regarding the securing of their crossovers inside the cabinet. If a missed a thread on this topic in my search, please point me in the right direction.

Thanks for any suggestions.

BobPM

[Ron E]

I use pegboard and tie-wrap large inductors. I hot glue everything else to the board. Velcro is nice way of mounting the crossover to the walls that is not subject to rattles, like loose screws or standoffs. I usually put the XO on the bottom of the cabinet.

Mounting outside the box is more of a convenience issue while a design is in the tweaking stage, IMO. While capacitors and inductors can be slightly microphonic, it is way down in the noise floor - microphonics are more of an issue with active electronics, where they are being amplified along with the signal.

[BobPM]

I am using ties and hot glue to attach the inductors and capacitors to 1/4 inch plywood as a base.

Can you tell me if the velcro is strong enough to keep the crossover in place when the cabinet is moved? Also, if you wanted to mount the tweeter portion of the crossover higher in the cabinet, how would you secure it to the sides?

Thanks for your comment.

BobPM

[JC Fardo]

Hi

No problem using velcro since you put the xo board in the bottom of cabinet and of coarse you´ll move your precious speaker VERY carefully as I should. For vertical instalation I´d use short wood screws.

JC

[Ron E]

I haven't used velcro for side wall mounting. No worries about the velcro coming loose if you use enough, but the glue could fail. I suppose for insurance you could staple the velcro. With Velcro you can pull the XO out without using tools in a cramped box.

If you shipped your speakers UPS and they dropped them off a conveyor, it might shake something loose, but it also might bend your driver frames or break off a magnet....

Planning on multiple transcontinental trips with speakers?

[Coolin]

Dont use too much hot glue.

As a dialectric its not very good soundwize.

If you can hear differences in cables, this has the same effect.

[BobPM]

I appreciate the velcro suggestion, but after spending hundreds of dollars on speaker and crossover parts, i'm a little reluctant to just velcro the crossover. Is this just not an important part of speaker construction?

I expect that these may eventually end up in my son's dorm room and could be moved around fairly regularly.

Is there a better or more secure way to secure the crossover than velcro or glue?

Is there a downside to screwing the crossover board into the cabinet itself? If you do attach it with screws should you put any type of resonance absorbing material between the crossover and cabinet?

Thanks for taking the time to discuss.

BobPM

[Ap]

Heres what I do.
Cut two identical boards - 1 for the xover & 1 to go in the box.
Drill holes in both for bolts, on the one that goes in the box mount the bolts. Screw/glue 1 in the box (with bolts & nuts).
Now you can just slip your xover board onto the installed one over the bolts, tighten down nuts - done!
Now you can easily remove your xover, tweak & re-mount.
I dont recommend hot glue - if you want to change components its a pain, I use cable-ties for all components.

[soongsc]

Originally posted by BobPM
I appreciate the velcro suggestion, but after spending hundreds of dollars on speaker and crossover parts, i'm a little reluctant to just velcro the crossover. Is this just not an important part of speaker construction?

I expect that these may eventually end up in my son's dorm room and could be moved around fairly regularly.

Is there a better or more secure way to secure the crossover than velcro or glue?

Is there a downside to screwing the crossover board into the cabinet itself? If you do attach it with screws should you put any type of resonance absorbing material between the crossover and cabinet?

Thanks for taking the time to discuss.

BobPM

One way of doing it is to use piece of MDF about 12mm thick, counter bore a hole to bolt the inductor to the board, us a staple gun to staple straps to the board and tie the caps and resistors on it, then glue the board to the enclosure and ad a few nails with a nail gun if you like.

[BobPM]

Ap:

On the board that you permanantly mount, how do you connect it to the cabinet?

Would it work to use both a small amount of glue and short screws to attach the base as solidly as possible to the cabinet to effectively make it part of the cabinet structure.

Also, is the glue for the countersunk bolts sufficient to keep them from spinning when you apply torque to the nut, or do you countersink with at least two flat edges so the bolt won't turn?

This technique seems like and elegant and very secure approach to creating solid removable crossover installation.

Thanks for the suggestion.
BobPM