Good call, thanks for the reminder @GeoffMillar !
I was looking at these Kanto SP32PLW stands. They seem to have a few nice features, and likely should be stable enough at 30lb/13.6kg each — even though they don’t support filling.
Any thoughts on these?
JessEm Mast-R-Lift II router table is a great tool, and it can certainly be of help in making your cabinets.
There are a variety of ways to set up a Locking Miter Router bit and I suggest you look at some of the YouTube videos for different ideas. They all work in one way or the other. And it's really not that bad. Didn't mean to scare you away. Just to advise that it will take a few minutes and maybe some trial and error to get it right. But once you do, the joints will be very strong and leak proof. And cabinet assembly will be a pleasure.
With this type of joint you can actually assemble the complete cabinet without any glue and it will stay together for a test fit.
If by biscuit cutter you mean a Festool Domino type of insert, then yes, they are very strong. But if you are referring to the small oval shaped flat biscuits, then no. They are mainly for alignment and provide very little extra corner strength. I would go with the Locking Router Miter bit instead.
personally, I prefer tongue and groove. I grove both sides and use a solid tongue right through.
Tongue and groove joints and Locking Miter joints are very similar. And both are very strong.
With Locking Miter you don't have to worry about cutting a second piece for the solid tongue and getting it to fit.
With Locking Miter you don't have to worry about cutting a second piece for the solid tongue and getting it to fit.
OK, I’ll check out some youtube videos and mess around with offcuts to see what I can achieve with the router table.
My shop has the Festool Domino DF 500 and Festool Domino XL DF 700 EQ. I don’t know how either of these work yet. I’m sure I can get some youtube training on these too.
I’d like to do mitered joints between the cabinet panels, instead of butted or rabbeted joints. I believe they will look nicer than in the unfinished state — as long as I can prevent the baltic birch ply from splintering at the edges when cutting.
Any tips to keep the edges clean when cutting with a table saw @classicalfan ?
Hmm.... I see an issue.... you want to build a pair of "normal" speakers. Nothing out of the norm.
Do you want to build your speakers because you want the enjoyment or because you think you can get a better deal if you build the kit?
(Disclaimer: I once built a Speakerlab kit... ).
From a cost savings, at your price point you are fighting the volume pricing of manufacturers... for example, the Elac Unifi 2 UB52 speakers pretty much satisfy all your stated needs and they sell for under 700 bucks... a three way with coax tweeter and midrange, metal drivers... and they reach as low as you want.
(Disclaimer 2: I do own a pair of Elac Unifi 2 UB52 ).
I think that's gonna be the decision you need to make, because your DIY path is being undercut, financially, by commercial products.
OTOH, if you really want to build it... heck, go for it and ignore me. But then, IMHO, build a crazy kit... like those spheres we saw last year.
Have fun.
@tonyEE I mostly want a fun project that will yield something worth putting my time into. I like making things, learning new things, developing some new skills and the process of researching. I.e. the journey is at least as important as the destination.
So for my first DIY speaker build, I don’t really care for it to be “good value” in the commercial sense. I’m sure I can find a fantastic set of used speakers in or around my budget.
Neither do I want to start with a project at a budget and complexity level that will leave me heart broken if it doesn’t come out perfect, or feel intimidated for the next one. There will certainly be a next one!
The lower budget kits (<$300) I don’t think are going to do it for me either. I would learn a lot from the process also, but I would feel like I could have gotten more for about the same effort. It’s just lower risk…
So for my first DIY speaker build, I don’t really care for it to be “good value” in the commercial sense. I’m sure I can find a fantastic set of used speakers in or around my budget.
Neither do I want to start with a project at a budget and complexity level that will leave me heart broken if it doesn’t come out perfect, or feel intimidated for the next one. There will certainly be a next one!
The lower budget kits (<$300) I don’t think are going to do it for me either. I would learn a lot from the process also, but I would feel like I could have gotten more for about the same effort. It’s just lower risk…
The first question and starting point is how you are going to finish these cabinets.
If you are going to paint them, then it doesn't matter if end grain is showing anywhere.
But if you are going to stain them, then it does matter. Miter joints will definitely look better if you leave the corners sharp. But if you round the corners over very much, then some end grain is going to start to appear and that might not look good if stained.
I'm not sure the learning curve needed for using the Festool Dominos is really worth it. Particularly if you are going to use mitered corners. Dominos are kind of an overkill for speaker cabinets.
Simple Locking Miter joints are easier to do and in many ways better.
Good quality Baltic Birch should not splinter much along the edges if you use a sharp quality blade in the table saw. You are going to want a blade with at least 80 teeth and preferably a thin kerf.
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That's the best thing to do if not using mitered corners and I would suggest the same.
Need a good, sharp flush trim router bit to do it well.
Need a good, sharp flush trim router bit to do it well.
Slaughtyrer,
If it's not your router table and you are not familiar with them please be very careful when you start out use it. There are some safety videos as well as articles that you can read on the internet.
Also, if you are going to paint the cabinets and don't need mitered corners there are ways to make simple tongue and groove joints with just a straight router bit. You can also do those types of joints on a table saw. Your don't even need a router table.
Finally, I hope I haven't sent you in a direction with more time and labor than is absolutely necessary. You can build speaker cabinets with plain butt joints and most are done that way. Then you can seal the inside of the joints with some caulking and there won't be any air leaks. You don't need to glue wooden strips inside the joints.
I tend to over engineer and build things probably much stronger than they need to be. So be careful taking my advice and don't let it keep you from getting your project done.
If it's not your router table and you are not familiar with them please be very careful when you start out use it. There are some safety videos as well as articles that you can read on the internet.
Also, if you are going to paint the cabinets and don't need mitered corners there are ways to make simple tongue and groove joints with just a straight router bit. You can also do those types of joints on a table saw. Your don't even need a router table.
Finally, I hope I haven't sent you in a direction with more time and labor than is absolutely necessary. You can build speaker cabinets with plain butt joints and most are done that way. Then you can seal the inside of the joints with some caulking and there won't be any air leaks. You don't need to glue wooden strips inside the joints.
I tend to over engineer and build things probably much stronger than they need to be. So be careful taking my advice and don't let it keep you from getting your project done.
@classicalfan & @markbakk Thanks for the great suggestions! It’s fun thinking through these different options and how I would set things up.
Likely I’ll stick to standard mitered joints for this build — to keep things simple. I’ll mess around with the lock miter joints on scrap pieces, and hold onto those to use as guides for the initial setup on a future build.
Likely I’ll stick to standard mitered joints for this build — to keep things simple. I’ll mess around with the lock miter joints on scrap pieces, and hold onto those to use as guides for the initial setup on a future build.
Have you decided whether you are going to paint it or stain it?
If staining, then a miter joint would be worth it.
But it you are going to paint it, then a simple butt joint is easier. You can then cut some of the pieces oversize and just trim off the excess with a flush trim router bit after assembly to get a perfect edge.
Strength wise I don't think there is very much difference.
If staining, then a miter joint would be worth it.
But it you are going to paint it, then a simple butt joint is easier. You can then cut some of the pieces oversize and just trim off the excess with a flush trim router bit after assembly to get a perfect edge.
Strength wise I don't think there is very much difference.
You could build the Meniscus Kairos.That company stopped selling the kits but I can send you the crossover design/layout if you want.That design uses premium SBA Satori drivers and I really believe is a class above most stand mount speakers.
I am not sure why one still build passive hi current cross-over filters when you have access to designing low power electronic cross-over filters with almost infinite possibilities of tweaking and can compensate for all losses, peaks and valley, phase coherency, delays and what not. I have used switched capacitive filters for many applications that have excellent results in many communication applications. There are some good reference literature available.
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You'd have to see them in the flesh, the pricing's not too bad; unlike some OEM stands in Oz, for which people ask upwards of A$600 pair!
I got a pair of nice generic stands which can screw onto the speaker base, with very short screws of course. The connecting structure is a hollow tube through which you can put wires and/or fill with sand to deaden any resonance from the tube.
Geoff
I think for simplicity’s sake I’m going to be painting the cabinets.
I think for these, creating mitered joints should be relatively easy — just need to get the table saw setup correctly, and run all the same dimensions back to back (W, L, H). That way they will all be the same. Will use a digital protractor to make sure the table saw angle is good.
Then do the tape & box clamp method for getting everything positioned and clamped.
Hi @Nico Ras
For my first DIY speakers I would like to build some passives, just because I would like the experience of doing so. Kinda like the idea that I could run these with my turn table and not need ADC/DAC, even though I would probably never be able to tell.
I am a mechatronics engineer and familiar with electronics design. I would love if you could share some literature or references with me where I can learn more about active crossover design and implementation.
For an active crossover, would you just build a speaker as best as you see fit, add drivers you’re interested in, and then do DOE’s to determine the optimal active crossover parameters for the speaker and listening room?
In my opinion active allows for easy changes implementing what you need. Passive is unwinding coils or adding winding, unobtainable capacitors of high voltage and make-up having to fit inside the box and problems with final adjustments, just a pain in the behind. DSP is probably even better than an electronic x-over, here you can make changes on the fly and evaluate or listen to it within seconds of making a change. I am not a software guy, but had a few working for me and any of them would make changes in minutes, while hardware took hours, sometimes days. With DSP you can I am told make a JBL sound like a Klipsch or anything you like not just cross over, all you need is a badge to put on them so you remember what to tell your friends what brand they are 🤔
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