Curved Small Thor Build

[Renron]

Thank you for the compliments.
And Yep, My order from Homestead Finishing today. Told ya.
I ordered the new MDF build and primer they just started offering it, well see how well it works. One quart.
One quart black high gloss Ultma laquer,
one gallon high gloss Ultma laquer. I need for other jobs not related to speakers.
I'll post my progress with my HVLP and turbine. Graco 700.
Ron

[Renron]

I stand corrected, by myself.
I thought I was going to recieve the "New" MDF primer....Nope!
I recieved the Fuhr waterbase primer that's being Phased-Out.
Bummer, However I'm sure the Fuhr is high quality primer / builder material.
Ron

[Renron]

As it turned out the Fuhr primer was great! On the face of the MDF only 2 coats were required for stablization, however 4 coats were required for the routered / cut edges. No problem this stuff dries fast. Less than 10 minuites between coats. It does require sanding due to the build thickness / roughness after drying.
Highly recommended as a sealer / primer.

Renron

[Renron]

These next 2 photos are kinda out of build order. Sorry, but still important in construction details.
Port tube cut to length, routered into backside of baffle and glued into place. Not shown is speaker grill cloth stretched and taped over the opening to prevent toy and food storage by children.
It also prevents viewing of the crossover components.

Renron

[Renron]

Gluing and clamping of baffles after routing proper depth to flush mount drivers. The baffle in the foreground has already been clamped and glued for 6 hours and the weight is in place for added measures until 24 hour dry time has been reached.

Renron

[Renron]

MONSTER sized crossovers!!!
They are so BIG they almost did not fit inside the cabinets!!!
Renron

[Renron]

After painting and before clear coating the sides / baffle with Oxford Ultma Waterbase Laquer in clear gloss.
Ultma Laquer black gloss on baffle / top.
6 coats black
5 coats clear over stained cherry veneer with dewaxed shellac base. Every thing is waterbase execpt the stain. All were sprayed with a deicated HVLP cup gun and 1.2 needle cap set. HVLP turbine was used and not a compressor / conversion spray gun.

Renron

[Renron]

After 5 coats of clear USL. No sanding needed between coats, recoat in 45 minuites!!! Horray!! All finish coats in one day....unheard of. Gotta love waterbase finishes. Another plus is quick flash / skin time, this helps prevent dust nibs. Big plus over oil base finishes flash time.
The top and face of the baffle are a different finish than the corners, I wanted to give the baffle and top a slight texture but wanted to keep the corners a smooth semi-gloss finish. After the 4th clear coat dried to the touch, about 5 minuites, I resprayed the fronts and tops from a distance of 14"-16". This causes the finish to dry on aproach and form "beads" that split upon impact but still have a slightly dried film. The next clear coats were sprayed only on the sides and corners of the cabinets from a distance of 2"-3" and overspray was expected and wanted. You can see how they turned out. Great!

Renron

[Renron]

A photo of the drivers installed and speakers living next to the custom HT cabinet I built. Just so you know for size comparison that is a 50" plasma Monitor. These are not small speakers!
They frame the Monitor perfectly with the black baffles and do not glare at all when viewing movies.

As to the sound:
The first disc we listened to was Metalica S&M with the San Francisco Philharmonic Orchestra. WOW! I was able to discern individual violins, French horns differ from other horns (all playing at the same time) each drum strike was unique and discernible, the guitars that were changed mid performance sounded different due to the changed configuration. Awesome...Very Happy. Even the wifee was impressed. We watched the entire DVD at a loud volume and never did it sound stressed or distorted. Later I tried full volume from the mid level Sony 100 watt player and noted the Sony distorted and not the speakers.
I knew that would happen. Upgrade advise anyone?

Next up was a Spanish acoustical guitar with maracas and bass acoustical guitar, I felt like I should tip them when they finished...It truly sounded like they were in the same room as us. I think I'll keep these speakers.....
I can't wait until I reach the 100+ hour break in mark.

Bass seems a little shy, but that could change when the drivers and x-overs are broken in. I turned up the Bass output from the receiver by +2 and they sound right on. A VERY slight addition of a sub-woofer fills out the sound image nicely when the Bass amp section is left at 0.

Thank you all very, very much for the input and calculations you made to make this build possible. I am in your debt.

AFAIK, I am the first to build a curved Thor

Renron

[Scottmoose]

If you're still not happy with the LF grunt after the suspension has loosened up, cut the port length down by 1/2 an inch.