Preamble: I am an electrician not a carpenter. I can make a box but not a "pretty" box. Wife will only allow "pretty" boxes in the house. Of course everything is relative.
Since PartsExpress no longer sells their good enclosures I was looking for another source when I came across this site. Has anyone used their products?
IWISTAO HIFI 2 Way 4/5/6.5 Inch Bookshelf Solid Wood Empty Speaker Cab – IWISTAO HIFI MINIMART
Any other sources for enclosures?
Since PartsExpress no longer sells their good enclosures I was looking for another source when I came across this site. Has anyone used their products?
IWISTAO HIFI 2 Way 4/5/6.5 Inch Bookshelf Solid Wood Empty Speaker Cab – IWISTAO HIFI MINIMART
Any other sources for enclosures?
Price seems ridiculously good. They state birch, but I'll assume the photos are of boxes of a different wood. as I'm quite familiar with birch, and those cabs don't look like birch - just sayin.'
Shipping and customs/import duties will be killer. And if there is any problem likely no one to talk to. I would find a local cabinet shop and have them do it. They would likely be pleased to do something other than kitchen cabinets for a change. Plus you can get them to do, literally, anything you want in terms of size, finish, or texture.
I have lots of suggestions:
1) Look up ply sellers near you, and see if they do CNC cutting. It might be cheaper and/or more satisfying to glue up your own cabs rather than import them.
To make it super easy, you could possibly just attach a new front panel onto an existing box.
2) Particularly for small speakers, you can often repurpose commercial objects.
I've made some very pretty cabinets this way, based on Ikea "Variera" boxes (different boxes pictured).
3) A variant on Andersonix's idea.
Get some simple old speaker boxes from a thrift shop or hard rubbish. Buy upgraded drivers that fit the existing cutouts.
Peel the vinyl skin off the boxes, grind off any protrusions, make whatever improvements seem worth it (extra bracing etc), and re-skin them with a veneer or a thin layer of nice ply.
For this, you can be an awful carpenter - just make your "skin" panels slightly too big. The only part that requires any finesse is sanding them flush.
4) Salvage some old boxes. Strip and smooth them.
Glue on a new front panel (e.g. CNC plywood skinned with a premium veneer).
Apply masking tape, and paint the other panels a flat black.
You'll have something that looks like the attached image (DeVore speakers), but they will cost you a lot less than $12,000 🙂
1) Look up ply sellers near you, and see if they do CNC cutting. It might be cheaper and/or more satisfying to glue up your own cabs rather than import them.
To make it super easy, you could possibly just attach a new front panel onto an existing box.
2) Particularly for small speakers, you can often repurpose commercial objects.
I've made some very pretty cabinets this way, based on Ikea "Variera" boxes (different boxes pictured).
3) A variant on Andersonix's idea.
Get some simple old speaker boxes from a thrift shop or hard rubbish. Buy upgraded drivers that fit the existing cutouts.
Peel the vinyl skin off the boxes, grind off any protrusions, make whatever improvements seem worth it (extra bracing etc), and re-skin them with a veneer or a thin layer of nice ply.
For this, you can be an awful carpenter - just make your "skin" panels slightly too big. The only part that requires any finesse is sanding them flush.
4) Salvage some old boxes. Strip and smooth them.
Glue on a new front panel (e.g. CNC plywood skinned with a premium veneer).
Apply masking tape, and paint the other panels a flat black.
You'll have something that looks like the attached image (DeVore speakers), but they will cost you a lot less than $12,000 🙂
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Freight costs etc aside, knock-down or pre-fab cabinets sound like a good idea although you have to choose a design which would work with the baffle width and volume. This may not be a problem, for example, Parts Express' Denovo MDF cabinets come in reasonably common sizes which suit a range of existing projects.
When looking at making my first pair of DIY speakers, I contacted many kitchen places and cabinet makers to get quotes: none (!) of the kitchen makers were interested and the only cabinet maker which responded was very expensive. Luckily a family friend came to the rescue and he did a lovely job for less than half the price of the cabinet maker.
No-one in Oz does knock down cabinets, either raw MDF/ply or finished, unfortunately. I found one place which would sell me cabinets but they cost about 80% of the complete speakers with drivers and crossovers.
I like the suggestion to have a look at IKEA, I'll do that although it means a trip to their labyrinth-like stores.
Geoff
When looking at making my first pair of DIY speakers, I contacted many kitchen places and cabinet makers to get quotes: none (!) of the kitchen makers were interested and the only cabinet maker which responded was very expensive. Luckily a family friend came to the rescue and he did a lovely job for less than half the price of the cabinet maker.
No-one in Oz does knock down cabinets, either raw MDF/ply or finished, unfortunately. I found one place which would sell me cabinets but they cost about 80% of the complete speakers with drivers and crossovers.
I like the suggestion to have a look at IKEA, I'll do that although it means a trip to their labyrinth-like stores.
Geoff
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Many years ago I built some cabs from not-very-pretty (or good for that matter!) chipboard. To make them look good I had my mother cover them with a bit of thin padding and a fabric finish. They looked brilliant then - and of course you can match any decor your wish. I am always surprised that is not done more often.
I think you can shop online for at least some of their stock. Or just buy equivalent from somewhere else.
Here's a pic of my Ikea speaker. Most of the workmanship was a bit naff - the only step that matters is smoothing off the rough edges at the end.
The felt front is mainly because my hole cutting was imperfect.
A fat bit of felt also has acoustic benefits, it reduces baffle diffraction effects.
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Plyco in Melbourne do CNC work. I'm sure other places do too. You could get them to make the panels and just glue them up yourself.
I'm also in Melbourne - I could donate some old PA cabs if you'd like to re re-use the boxes (e.g. put your own front panels on).
I've been meaning to find a use for these boxes for several years now 🙂
I use Allboards in Thomastown, they're good; I tried Plyco but their service at the time wasn't terribly cheerful, onl interested in larger jobs.
Allboards will also do round-overs on MDF; they quote plus or minus 1mm, compared with some nameless places which are plus or minus 5(!) mm. However, at least when I did my last order, they won't cut the speaker holes and rebates.
With accurate CNC cutting you're just about getting a knock-down cabinet anyway.
No new projects on the go, but thank you for the PA suggestion!
Geoff
Allboards will also do round-overs on MDF; they quote plus or minus 1mm, compared with some nameless places which are plus or minus 5(!) mm. However, at least when I did my last order, they won't cut the speaker holes and rebates.
With accurate CNC cutting you're just about getting a knock-down cabinet anyway.
No new projects on the go, but thank you for the PA suggestion!
Geoff