Hi Guys,
After quizzing you all about some potential speaker projects, I decided to build a nice pair of AviaTrix speakers using the plans from Curts Speaker Design Works page.
It was alot of fun and challenging for someone who was undertaking alot of firsts.
1. First speaker build.
2. First woodworking project... ever.
3. First time veneering.
4. And hand dying.
Probably a few more but you get the idea.
I made a few mistakes but in general, things went quite well. I'm not at ANY standard to design, so following instructions was good enough.
So here goes, the general run down was this:
Found designs and purchased 18mm panel of MDF from hardware store.
Aquired a reliable CNC service and did my cut designs in Illustrator. That way the CNC'er could convert my exported vector straight into his machine.
Gluing and clamping was easy with an accurate CNC. It was difficult at first to line up the panels with the woodglue slipping but I perfected my technique and it was simple from then on.
I braced the cabinets internals and put the poly in prior to putting the baffle on. I placed very light material in between the sections so I didnt get any bunching of the poly and so it kept the port chamber clean.
I prewired with stiff solid core which helped with cable placement. I liked using it. Just felt solid.
Front baffle went on without too many issues. Was slightly off by maybe half a mm at most. So I hit it with a 40grit which made mince meat of it. Cleaned it back to 250grit and was smooth as a babies bum.
After I'd smoothed it off all over, I started my veneer. I selected a maple veneer. Very thin, and was very fiddly to work with. Super easy to break. Next time Ill look more at something thicker or even solid wood construction. Either way, I managed to get it done. I glued using contact adhesive and it went on (forever!!!) no worries at all. Routed of the edges and trimmed it nice with a 250grit sanding block. Luffly.
The cardboard in the holes was placed with a tiny amount of PVA just before I stuck the baffles down. I wanted as little amount of finishing rubbish getting in there as possible. Took 2 seconds and was perfectly effective.
I cut the internal speaker holes with the router and cut the rebated section with my multitool. I have to hit the tweeters cutout for terminals with a saw as well as I made them a little too small.
Oh! Forgot to mention I'd read some bad reviews about T-nuts stripping for speaker bolts and decided to go with a home remedy. I multi-tooled some rebates for the bolts on the inside. I stuck them down with stick forever glue and they worked a treat. Next time though, ill cut with square bolts as the hex ones really tested my tool skills.
Anyhoo... Once I was happy with the veneer, I sanded back to take it back to raw untouched wood. Then I attacked it with a barrage of dye.
6 helpings until I was happy. I would hit it with a half dose black first. Then double that up concentrating on the edges. Then I blended that by sanding out the middle sections grading outwards. Hard in the middle then light on the outer edges. I then soaked it in a custom red mix. The dyes stock red was too pink so I tweaked it with some black and yellow. PERFECT!
When I was happy, I covered the dyed areas with plastic and sprayed the backs. Not before hitting them with another 40grit sand up to 250grit to get them as smooth as possible. I sprayed 2 coats of primer. And then 3 coats of matt black. I used car paints as they were recommended for their thickest coverage. The coat was thick, bold and very even. Success.
Some orange peel effect and some light tooling marks showed up after it dried and the light made it stand out. So I hit it with some 1200grit on a sanding block until Id blended the whole panel. It was flat and dull but covered evenly. That was all about to change...
I dont own a compressor and I wasnt really in a position to purchase a spraying setup, so my local paint place found a solution in custom made spray packs. I bought 5 of these for an extensive cover of the whole speaker. Theyre an acrylic urethane with no real visible colour tint. No yellowing etc. A sore finger or two later and I have a few coats down. I was impressed.
The surface was a little rough to the touch so a very very light sand with the 1200grit took it to a smooth touch. It improved the sheen as well.
Right... time to seat the bits and bobs. But not before I built the crossovers.
I purchased what I could based on Curts parts list but had to substitute the main cap for a 400V version. Apparently it makes no difference to the end sound. I cut some 4mm MDF into smaller pads, and sprayed them with some black. Just for my own personal satisfaction.
Soldered and hot glued and we were done.
If you can pick the error in my Xover then you're clever.
I wont say what it was, but it was major but I spotted and fixed it before placing them into the speaker.
I stuck some velcro on the backs of them, soldered some quick release crimp connectors to the main points of interest and glued them onto the internal floor of the cabinet. I was clever enough to make the crossover thin enough to fit through the port hole. But nearly wasnt...
Then I soldered my speakers up and seated them. Easy peasy.
I also sprayed my generic bolts heads black for effect.
A quick touch up of the bolt heads...
Listening impressions to come.
Hope you enjoy this.
-Mitch
After quizzing you all about some potential speaker projects, I decided to build a nice pair of AviaTrix speakers using the plans from Curts Speaker Design Works page.
It was alot of fun and challenging for someone who was undertaking alot of firsts.
1. First speaker build.
2. First woodworking project... ever.
3. First time veneering.
4. And hand dying.
Probably a few more but you get the idea.
I made a few mistakes but in general, things went quite well. I'm not at ANY standard to design, so following instructions was good enough.
So here goes, the general run down was this:
Found designs and purchased 18mm panel of MDF from hardware store.
Aquired a reliable CNC service and did my cut designs in Illustrator. That way the CNC'er could convert my exported vector straight into his machine.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Gluing and clamping was easy with an accurate CNC. It was difficult at first to line up the panels with the woodglue slipping but I perfected my technique and it was simple from then on.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I braced the cabinets internals and put the poly in prior to putting the baffle on. I placed very light material in between the sections so I didnt get any bunching of the poly and so it kept the port chamber clean.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I prewired with stiff solid core which helped with cable placement. I liked using it. Just felt solid.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Front baffle went on without too many issues. Was slightly off by maybe half a mm at most. So I hit it with a 40grit which made mince meat of it. Cleaned it back to 250grit and was smooth as a babies bum.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
After I'd smoothed it off all over, I started my veneer. I selected a maple veneer. Very thin, and was very fiddly to work with. Super easy to break. Next time Ill look more at something thicker or even solid wood construction. Either way, I managed to get it done. I glued using contact adhesive and it went on (forever!!!) no worries at all. Routed of the edges and trimmed it nice with a 250grit sanding block. Luffly.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The cardboard in the holes was placed with a tiny amount of PVA just before I stuck the baffles down. I wanted as little amount of finishing rubbish getting in there as possible. Took 2 seconds and was perfectly effective.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I cut the internal speaker holes with the router and cut the rebated section with my multitool. I have to hit the tweeters cutout for terminals with a saw as well as I made them a little too small.
Oh! Forgot to mention I'd read some bad reviews about T-nuts stripping for speaker bolts and decided to go with a home remedy. I multi-tooled some rebates for the bolts on the inside. I stuck them down with stick forever glue and they worked a treat. Next time though, ill cut with square bolts as the hex ones really tested my tool skills.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Anyhoo... Once I was happy with the veneer, I sanded back to take it back to raw untouched wood. Then I attacked it with a barrage of dye.
6 helpings until I was happy. I would hit it with a half dose black first. Then double that up concentrating on the edges. Then I blended that by sanding out the middle sections grading outwards. Hard in the middle then light on the outer edges. I then soaked it in a custom red mix. The dyes stock red was too pink so I tweaked it with some black and yellow. PERFECT!
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
When I was happy, I covered the dyed areas with plastic and sprayed the backs. Not before hitting them with another 40grit sand up to 250grit to get them as smooth as possible. I sprayed 2 coats of primer. And then 3 coats of matt black. I used car paints as they were recommended for their thickest coverage. The coat was thick, bold and very even. Success.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Some orange peel effect and some light tooling marks showed up after it dried and the light made it stand out. So I hit it with some 1200grit on a sanding block until Id blended the whole panel. It was flat and dull but covered evenly. That was all about to change...
I dont own a compressor and I wasnt really in a position to purchase a spraying setup, so my local paint place found a solution in custom made spray packs. I bought 5 of these for an extensive cover of the whole speaker. Theyre an acrylic urethane with no real visible colour tint. No yellowing etc. A sore finger or two later and I have a few coats down. I was impressed.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The surface was a little rough to the touch so a very very light sand with the 1200grit took it to a smooth touch. It improved the sheen as well.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Right... time to seat the bits and bobs. But not before I built the crossovers.
I purchased what I could based on Curts parts list but had to substitute the main cap for a 400V version. Apparently it makes no difference to the end sound. I cut some 4mm MDF into smaller pads, and sprayed them with some black. Just for my own personal satisfaction.
Soldered and hot glued and we were done.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
If you can pick the error in my Xover then you're clever.
I wont say what it was, but it was major but I spotted and fixed it before placing them into the speaker.
I stuck some velcro on the backs of them, soldered some quick release crimp connectors to the main points of interest and glued them onto the internal floor of the cabinet. I was clever enough to make the crossover thin enough to fit through the port hole. But nearly wasnt...
Then I soldered my speakers up and seated them. Easy peasy.
I also sprayed my generic bolts heads black for effect.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
A quick touch up of the bolt heads...
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Listening impressions to come.
Hope you enjoy this.
-Mitch
Indeed! 😀
WRT T-nuts, I've built dozens of stereo pairs with nary a problem, but they were all marine or similar grade plywood. For any kind of particleboard, I use threaded inserts, which don't require any patience challenging woodworking: Amazon.com: Threaded Inserts - Fasteners: Industrial & Scientific: Helical Threaded Inserts & More
GM
WRT T-nuts, I've built dozens of stereo pairs with nary a problem, but they were all marine or similar grade plywood. For any kind of particleboard, I use threaded inserts, which don't require any patience challenging woodworking: Amazon.com: Threaded Inserts - Fasteners: Industrial & Scientific: Helical Threaded Inserts & More
GM
@GM
Threaded inserts for the win!
Thankyou my good man!
@Johndaf
Very much so! Ipad + Airplay + Spotify. I was very satisfied.
Mitch
Threaded inserts for the win!
Thankyou my good man!
@Johndaf
Very much so! Ipad + Airplay + Spotify. I was very satisfied.
Mitch
Depends what you want. The Linkwitz Thor is one project that immediately comes to mind: THOR - subwoofer
But there are thousands of sub projects out there, of varying quality. I quite like very low tuned EBS alignments (the emphasis on the 'very low' part there, and assuming a driver with a sufficiently low Fs to allow a reasonable alignment with an Fb < 16Hz).
But there are thousands of sub projects out there, of varying quality. I quite like very low tuned EBS alignments (the emphasis on the 'very low' part there, and assuming a driver with a sufficiently low Fs to allow a reasonable alignment with an Fb < 16Hz).
I know this is late, but I am building this same kit now. How do they sound imaging and soundstage wise? also how many watts are you giving them? It stages they play well down to 40hz, I'd imagine a sub is only needed for Movies right?
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